Worthy Core

Despite their early setback, Floor Three proved to be of little difficulty to Lady Cerise and her remaining party. The traps and nuisance monsters hardly gave them any trouble at all, and even the boss duo were defeated in only a matter of minutes. Cerise herself proved adept at disorienting the undead with mind magic, and while Woosley kept Dips distracted, Farlossus smashed Tank into scrap metal with his warhammer. Dips herself went down not long after, and soon the trio found themselves standing at the entrance to Floor Four.

After taking a moment to collect herself, Cerise addresses the others. "Well, here we are. As the fifth floor is not on the path to the core chamber, this ought to be the last floor between us and our goal. We know the Church of Bounty recently cleared the dungeon, unfortunately our sources were not able to give a full report of what they found here. From earlier reports, we do know however that this is an open-plan floor, and contains both ground and air-based nuisance monsters, as well as a trapped cliff. However, it's exceedingly likely that there's more difficult challenges on the upper level of the floor, and there certainly seems to be a boss of some sort."

"Pfaw, only bold Advanced-class Challengers have attempted this prior to the Church, yes? We shall easily overcome what they could not. Let us go onward!" Taking the lead, the draconic confidently makes his way down the tunnel connecting the two floors and into the floor itself, although even he has to slow down and take a moment to admire the view he finds. "This is...more than I had expected. A few trees and some grass, yes, but...this forest is quite detailed. Flowers, weeds, mushrooms...there may be even more diversity here than in the average acre of actual forest."

Woosley shrugs as she comes up behind him. "Never spent much time in forests, so I'll take your word for it. I get what you mean though - this is a lot of stuff for a dungeon to be able to make, right? At least it gives me lots of room to hide in, mind if I scout ahead?"

"Certainly, but not too far. And I must agree...I'm not entirely sure I'm sold on the claims of this being some sort of gift from the goddess Kahlia. She must truly like this place to be so generous...something to ask questions about, if we can." Cerise eyes the place warily as Woosley fades into a slip of a shadow, one that dances into the treeline ahead. As Cerise and Farlossus follow after her, the occasional squeal of a wounded or dying animal indicates that the kobold is doing an efficient job of clearing the area ahead of them.

Eventually they reach the cliff separating the two levels of the floor, and as Cerise inspects the various climbable locations, Farlossus scoffs. "The cliff is trapped, you say? I can easily carry the both of you up without issue. In fact, shall I scout the floor from the air? We could likely shortcut straight to the floor exit."

"Do so - but clear the pests first, if you would." The succubus indicates a flock of spitwings swooping down on their position, and with a grin the draconic swings his hammer before him several times. While the weapon itself never comes close to any of the creatures, each swing cracks with the sound of thunder, and a good portion of the flock falls to the ground stunned or dead, crackling with electricity. Only a small handful avoid that fate, but Cerise has no trouble picking off the remainders with a few arcane bolts of her own.

"Haha, barely a warmup! I shall return in but a moment!" After bracing himself, the man leaps into the air - only to return far, far sooner than Cerise had anticipated. With a thunderous slam the Hammer crashes back to the ground, wrapped up in a bizarrely red-colored net that seems to be...sizzling. "Gah! This net! It - it burns my scales!"

Up above, Sincere quickly dashes away from the slime cannon he had been stationed at, as Xenia's avatar floats alongside him. "Are you certain we couldn't have used a shade to do this? Or at least DEATH, this is his floor, after all!"

"The Shun are way too slow to react to hit a flying target, not even close. And DEATH needs to be ready to guard the exit! But hey! You scored a hit on your first shot, good work, Core Guardian!"

"Well, yes, thank you. Let's just hope they take the hint and I don't need to worry about engaging in combat out here. The last-ditch trap I arranged for you is...touchy."

Xenia grins as she watches the draconic squirm through her dungeon senses. "No worries - I bet they won't even make it that far!"

With Woosley quickly returning and assisting with her blades, the party was eventually able to free Farlossus from his slimy prison. It wasn't merely a sticky net however, but an acidic one, and between the trap itself and his uncontrolled landing the draconic's wings were in a sorry state. His appearance wasn't much better for that matter, as while draconic scales resist the burns from a flame they're not so useful against burns of the chemical sort. The wounds were merely scale-deep, however, and a healing potion was already working to restore the worst of the damage. The wound to his pride meanwhile was much deeper.

"What nonsense! Caught in a net like a common bird! I have more than half a mind to destroy the dungeon just for such an indignity alone!"

"Easy, big guy, let's not take it personal. I'm assuming you wouldn't do much better, Lady Darktouched?" Woosley looks up at her leader, who nods.

"I am actually quite vulnerable in my bat form, so an acidic net like this could quite possibly kill me in that state. It seems perhaps we'll have to stay low to the ground, unless you found something else worth checking out?"

Woosley waggles a hand. "Nothing major, but I did follow the nearby stream back to a waterfall. Mind if we check it out real quick? There's usually good stuff hidden behind waterfalls, in those dungeons that got em anyways. Seems like some sort of dungeon law or something."

Cerise thinks on it for a moment, then nods her head. "While we're not exactly here for the loot, it would be good to know what secrets the dungeon's prepared, and it shouldn't take long I imagine. Lead the way."

It takes only a minute or two to follow the cliff to the nearby water, and as the other two watch Woosley quickly hops through the watery curtain, having to wade a little as she goes thanks to her short height. "Gonna have to dive for a little bit here, but there's gaps I can see through though so I know there's a space back there. Just be a min!" A minute later they hear her voice again, a little more distant, shouting out. "Yup, there's a chest here! And...a big-ass sword, fuck this thing is heavy. The swim's not far though so I should be able to get it back in no time!"

"A sword is unlikely to be a match for my hammer, but it could be of interest. Be speedy though, I tire of this place." Farlossus crosses his arms and watches for the Shadow to return while Cerise keeps watch, occasionally magically blasting the odd rabbit or flying reptile who comes too close. After the fourth monster explodes into gory bits however, the succubus begins to grow concerned.

"This is at least twice as long as it took for her to find the thing. It couldn't be that heavy, could it? She wouldn't attempt to swim with it if it would slow her down this much."

"Perhaps it was large enough to become caught in the rocks on the way back? She will sort herself out quickly enough if that's the case."

The pair wait for another minute longer, Cerise's fingers nervously tapping out a pattern on her opposite arm, until eventually she growls and begins casting a quick ritual. "This isn't right, allow me to check something..." As she finishes tracing glowing symbols into the air, a magical pulse bursts across the floor and the woman's golden eyes briefly turn blue. She scans the surroundings for a moment, then gasps. "No! There's - there's elementals in the water! And...I can't find any trace of Woosley's mana signature. The - fuck! The waterfall treasure was simply bait! ...I can't even trace her remains, they must have dragged her somewhere!" Cerise takes a moment to calm herself, although her expression grows angry even as she takes deep breaths. "Where did the dungeon get elementals?"

Farlossus frowns as well, or as much as his reptilian snout allows him to. "An...an unworthy death, for a valiant soldier of the Domain. A Rogue of her caliber should at least have the chance to face death in battle."

Cerise sighs, her face suddenly showing a trace of exhaustion. "I suppose we should expect nothing better, when we tell the dungeon to expect us to fight for the highest stakes. Come...we must complete the mission, and with no more sidetracking."

The pair return to the cliff, and while they're unable to find a path up that isn't trapped, they do manage to locate one where the traps can be easily smashed by Farlossus's magic hammer. The pair make their way up fairly quickly thanks to the draconic's claws and overall size, and already being nearby to the dungeon's river, they quickly spot the island at the center of the floor. As they approach the water surrounding it they eventually find the stone plinth guarding the way across, and this time Cerise smiles slightly at the sight of it.

"Ah, a key-based puzzle. I'm no Rogue, but I do have a few useful tricks from my Dark Agent days. Skeleton Key!" A blast of mana flies from her palm and into the stone, causing the bunny-head-shaped lock to light up, and soon after the stone bridge begins to rise from the waters. As does a boy's voice, surprisingly.

"Cheaters! Cheaters! That's not how that works!"

Although neither of the two spot anyone in the area, the voice seems to be coming from the river itself, and Farlossus blasts it with a bolt of electricity from his hammer on general principles. There's the sound of a yelp, and the man grunts.

"Elementals. Let us be across before they cause more mischief." The pair move quickly, reaching the other side without further harassment, and soon move onward though the mist-covered gate marking the way to the boss arena. Things appear quiet at first, but even before the mist begins to swirl within the cemetery the two find inside, Cerise shouts out a warning.

"This boss is heavily magic-based! Prepare yourself!" Farlossus has just enough time to raise his hammer as the shadows and clouds coalesce into a hooded figure, one who quickly swings a heavy scythe in the man's direction.

"NO PALADINS TODAY, I SEE. PERHAPS THIS SHALL BE MORE AMUSING."

Cerise's eyes go wide as she recognizes the language the boss speaks. "That's - YOU! WHY DO YOU SPEAK THE TONGUE OF MY ANCESTORS!?"

Quickly hovering backwards before Farlossus's counterattack can strike him, the undead grins in her direction - or at least, so it appears, given the lack of skin on his bony face. "WHY IS ANYTHING AS IT IS IN THIS PLACE? BECAUSE IT AMUSES MY MISTRESS THAT IT BE SO. SPEAKING OF - YOUR PRESENCE IS QUITE UNAMUSING. DIE NOW, IF YOU WOULD."

Cerise begins to prepare some of her heavier spells to blast the monster with, but before they can fire off a stinging sensation strikes her from her legs. Glancing downwards she quickly spots the vampire rabbits diving under her light robes, snapping at her ankles and thighs, and the succubus grimaces. "Farlossus! I need a moment to clear these out, I cannot focus my attacks on the boss with these distractions!"

"No worries, Emissary, I can buy you all the time you need!" The two combatants begin to truly engage each other then, swinging their equally over-sized weapons in each other's directions, Farlossus's charged with crackling electricity and DEATH's with chilly shadow. For a time they seem equally matched, with DEATH dodging most blows and Farlossus blocking most of the undead's, but eventually a serious issue becomes clear. Even when Farlossus manages to score a hit on his opponent, the hammer seems to largely pass right through him, and even the magical electricity appears to do only light damage. Sensing his advantage, DEATH suddenly rushes forward, willingly taking the hit the next time the draconic swings at him.

The blow does harm him, but not nearly as much as Farlossus is hurt by the scythe that sinks into his right shoulder. The cut alone would be bad enough, but the weapon's shadow magic begins to spread into the man's wound, quickly turning the man's arm entirely numb. The draconic tries one more swing single-handedly but it's far too weak to be a threat, and the man shouts. "Bah! I need no weapon to defeat my enemies! Face the power of a dragon's descendant!"

Glaring at the boss, the man's face begins to glow and crackle until he suddenly opens his jaw wide. A bolt of lightning fires from his mouth, straight though DEATH's chest and scarring a stone monument standing behind him...but DEATH shows no sign of pain. Despite the damage done to him, as Farlossus takes a moment to recover from his own assault the boss quickly finds the energy to leap straight up into the air, to a distance several feet more than Farlossus's own impressive height. When the boss returns to the ground, so does his weapon - which sinks into the top of Farlossus's skull, killing the draconic instantly.

As DEATH turns to face Cerise next, the succubus shouts out in defiance. "No! You - no! YOU WILL NOT TAKE ME, MONSTER!" Ignoring the final few rabbits which had been harrying her, Cerise focuses all of her attention solely on the boss, blasting him with arcane bolt after arcane bolt. It's not as elegant an attack as the ritual she had been attempting to prepare earlier, but it proves more than sufficient for the already-wounded undead. After several more holes are blasted into his form DEATH dissipates, and even the remaining rabbits suddenly turn and scurry off into the mists. Cerise fires off a few more bolts in their direction, but only half-heartedly, and every shot goes wide.

Sinking to her knees next to her fallen comrade, the succubus takes a moment to move his body into a position of rest. She attempts to find words for the man she barely knows, but another whisper escapes her lips instead. "This...this mission wasn't supposed to go like this. Was it? Is...is this what the Dragonlord wanted? Would our sovereign be pleased if we all fell this day?" Cerise spends some time there, then shakes her head as she glances at the hidden stairwell that suddenly reveals itself. "...No. I shall survive. I shall not die today, Xenia - I swear it. And your test is not yet complete."