Five seconds passed, five people died. Ten seconds passed, ten people died. Bit by bit, the Demon Guardian started to thin out the numbers of the S-Rankers. Those that stood closest to it and had no capabilities of teleporting away had all turned into mush paste. It couldn't beat the Demon Guardian's speed and power. No entity in the world could. Especially since it had regained its magic memory.
It was now a crazed Berserker with only one thing in mind. Murder.
A dozen bodies, all proud S-Rankers that would cause an uproar each time they went out in public, dropped down lifelessly onto the ground. Most of them didn't even have intact bodies. Their entire organs were flattened, and their faces caved in. Only those lucky few who were far away from the Demon Guardian were able to escape that carnage.
The Angel Guardian was utterly destroyed, and it had nothing else to lose. In due time, it'll lose all of the mana in its body, and the golem would cease to move, especially since it had cast its space locking ability. So, before it died out and faded into oblivion, the least it could do as an Eternal Guardian, was to eliminate as many of the pests that dared to walk into its sanctuary.
"Arius! Should we attack it?!" White Sorceress Minerva grabbed onto the Guardian Paladin's right arm, praying that her leader had the solution.
However, what she got was a shaking head. "We can't hold it back anymore… It has reverted back to its ancient self. It will not stop unless its mana is depleted or… unless… all of us have been eradicated."
"..." The S-Class Sorceress dropped her hands. She looked at Arius. The indomitable man was shivering. He was the pillar that held everything together. He was the man that claimed the job of a Guardian Paladin. Arius wasn't supposed to be frightened. He was supposed to be a warrior until the very end. Then, she turned to the Demon Guardian. It didn't have a mouth, but she swore that the monster was howling. Its four limbs were moving so fast that it had become illusory. Who wouldn't be afraid of such a being?
But, now is not the time to be afraid. Minerva barked out, taking over the command from the incapacitated Arius. "Everyone form up inside of my barrier! We can't just stand here and let that Demon kill us all! If you want to survive! If you want to go home tonight! Stand up with me!!!"
The S-Rankers all looked at one another. There was still fear inside of their eyes. They had seen how the Demon Guardian mauled through every single one of them. Who could resist that monster? Some of them had even given up entirely, ready to succumb to their fate. But not everyone felt that way…
"I'm not going to die here!" Rhykius cried out. There wasn't any authoritarian tone in his voice. In fact, those who were more sensitive could sense the tremors that he released. Nonetheless, Rhykius still resisted fate. "Glorlaf, Clint, and so many others have just been killed! If we just let ourselves die, who is going to tell their stories?! Who is going to take care of their widowed family?! Who is going to take care of our families?!"
The Arcane Warlock didn't want to die. Who wanted to? So, if he didn't want to die, he had to fight.
"Rhykius is right!" Rogue Lord Kama added on. The dagger in his hands was trembling in pure fear as well. "We can't die here! We have to fight on and live!!!"
Flame Thaumaturge Nassisa took a stand as well. "I'm going to go back home to my husband! I can't die here!"
Ridan the Brawler and Andrew the Blood Lancer took a few steps forward as well. "Hmph! I killed the Angel Guardian, I can kill the Demon one as well!!!" Ridan bellowed.
"What do you mean, you killed it? I was the one who landed the final blow!" Andrew swung his bloodletting spear.
"Buahahaha!!! We can discuss that later!!!"
There were weaknesses in both men. One had just thrown a punch that utilised all of his strength, every cell in his body and tore every muscle in his arm. The other had sacrificed a massive percentage of his blood, all for that one fatal blow. It was a miracle that they were both standing and able to hold up their weapons, let alone fight another round with the most powerful being in the world.
"..." Aria watched the noble souls form a barricade in front of her. They knew that the Demon Guardian was likely to claim their lives, and yet, they still stood up to fight another day. To think that she was about to leave these heroes behind in exchange for her own safety! The Archmagus felt ashamed.
She held up the precious wand and stroked it gently. There was no time to act selfishly. Aria jumped towards Minerva and grabbed the lady by the wrist. "Senior, take this wand."
"This is..." The White Sorceress eyes glistened, seemingly unsure of the artefact's purpose.
"It'll boost any magic by one level. Right now, we need your Barrier Magic more than anything else that I can make." Aria explained, her heart churning at giving such a valuable item away. "Don't lose it! When we win, I want it back!"
"Aria, you..." For the self-centred Archmagus to hand the wand over… It must have been quite the mental turmoil. Minerva was stunned for a moment before a radiant smile buried her expression. "Hehe, I'll use it well."
Aria felt pain in losing the wand and was reluctant to completely let go. However, as the Demon Guardian continued to wreak havoc on the other side of the Boss Room, the Archmagus didn't have a choice. She rushed straight into the frontlines and screamed into the intercom. "All of you listen up!"
The new voice of authority took the rest of the S-Rankers by surprise, and they uniformly turned to the black-haired maiden. Almost sixty pairs of eyes were focused on Aria, something that she was highly uncomfortable with. She winced, and both her shoulders crept up. Aria really hated attention, but now was not the time to be held back by her fears.
"The Demon Guardian doesn't have a Magic Core! It's only relying on the remnant Magic Circuits in its body! In the end, once its mana runs out, we'll win!" Aria cried in a whinging voice. "I have a plan! Senior Minerva's Barrier Magic will be boosted by my Wand of Fushi so her Higher Barrier Magic will reach level 10! If all the supporters boost her, she'll be able to cast a strong enough barrier to withstand a few hits by the Demon! The rest of us will use everything at our disposal to waste the Demon Guardian's mana! Once it hits zero, we'll win!!!"
It really was a simple plan. Hold on to dear life. That really was it. Beautifully enough, that was also the only winning move that Yudonia's Raid Force had.
The Demon Guardian was still in its berserk state. Most of the S-Rankers had escaped into Minerva's barrier, leaving just empty space between them. Mana continued to flow out of the golem like a maelstrom. There was no way that it was sustainable. Aria knew it, and so did the Demon Guardian. It released yet another surge and barged forward at its top speed. Over a dozen bodies had been added to its kill count. It didn't mind a dozen more.
"Everyone ready?!" Aria didn't have the luxury of time. Immediately after describing her plan, the Archmagus summoned a massive golem using her Creation Magic. And she wasn't done. All of her Higher Magic, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning and Wind, were being utilised by her summon. Aria created a massive fireball that possessed enough heat to melt diamond and condensed it into a small sphere. Two lightning charge magic circles appeared outside of the barrier as Aria compounded her Earth and Wind Magic together.
Gravel and colossal rock spun around while an inverse tornado scooped them all up. The immense pressure given out by the earthen elements unleashed a false gravity that messed up the Demon Guardian's movements. At the same time, Aria's whirlwind struck violently against the Boss, striking it off balance entirely. And that's when the ocean came. Taking advantage of its sudden change of posture, Aria dropped a few thousand gallons from the heavens, pushing the Demon Guardian straight onto the ground and only then, did the two magic circles unleash hell.
Thunderbolt after thunderbolt launched straight at the Demon Guardian as if Aria was enacting Zeus' fury. A thunderstorm could never boast the same ferocity that Aria was bringing to the table. Never has any of the S-Rankers seen such dense lightning elements. However, Aria wasn't done… The condensed sun in her hands was flung over like a baseball. Minerva had to open up a hole in her barrier just to let that dangerous ball of fire through, lest it destroyed her Magic from the inside.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
The entire Boss Room was filled with blaring light, and many were blinded temporarily. It was as if the sun had appeared within the confines of the Boss Room. Almost universally, the entire surviving Raid Force stared at Aria as if she were a freak. That barrage of magic was really something only an Archmagus could accomplish.
"HAHA!!! I knew that she should have been an Elementalist!" Only Luke could laugh at the woman's heroic display. The Elemental Archer took out a crystal and created a flaming bowstring to attach to his trusted weapon. At the same time, a metallic arrow appeared in his dominant arm. Mana transferred from the bowstring into the arrowhead, and it quickly started to burn in a lavender hue. "What are you idiots spacing out for?! It's coming!!!"
Luke's sudden words snapped everyone's attention back to the blazing sun right before them. It had lost ninety percent of its radiance, and soon, the recipient of the attack quickly came into view. Even after the elemental barrage that Aria had placed it through, the Demon Guardian was still standing upright, and intense mana flowed out from its cracks.
Stamping its feet, all of the elements that surrounded it dissipated into nothingness, leaving nothing but gravel and dirt behind. Aria's bombardment was definitely powerful. No S-Class being alive could stand after being on the receiving end of something that immense. Alas, the Demon Guardian wasn't an S-Class monster. Even at the verge of destruction, the Boss was far above that peasant level.
"Senior Minerva! Have I bought you enough time?!" Aria screamed out as she wiped her forehead full of sweat with her sleeves.
"Plenty!!!" The White Sorceress intensified her barrier, thickening it by a hundred times. All of the remaining magicians that didn't have sufficient offensive magic either buffed Minerva or supplied her with all of their mana. No one was going to be selfish in this situation.
And it paid off.
BANGGG!!! BANGGG!!! BANGGG!!!
The Demon Guardian landed three immense hits on Minerva's barrier. The first punch shattered the surface of the barrier like it was broken glass. The second broke through the surface, leaving just one more layer for the Demon Guardian to breakthrough. The third entered into the holy territory but was purged out immediately. All in all, Minerva's enhanced barrier held firm. For the first time ever, they had resisted a charge by the monstrous being.
"Everyone let's hold on!!!" Aria screamed, this time not into the intercom. She shouted at the top of her lungs. "Attack it with all you've got! Don't hold back!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The place turned into chaos. Formation? Cohesive military tactics? Everything was thrown out of the window. Everyone was just using their magic and skills for one reason only… To survive.
"ATTACK!!!"
The whole Raid Force went into a frenzy. Archers shot at a rate they never thought possible. Magicians didn't care about mana exhaustion and continued to unleash all of their magic. And most astonishingly, melee-ranged fighters were willing to move out and stand toe-to-toe with the behemoth. They just needed to exhaust the Boss before they exhausted themselves.
Come on… Come on…
Everyone cried out in their heads. They wanted to live. Please, you ancient fuck, just die already…
Magic flew everywhere, melting stone and breaking mosimeter records. Aria was confident that this Boss Room was the most mana-dense place in the entire world. And it didn't help that the Demon Guardian just won't let up.
SPLLLAAATTT!!!
Another Paladin was picked up by the Demon and slapped onto the chamber's surface. It created a puddle of blood and gooey matter dripped onto the other combatants' bodies. However, the S-Rankers weren't deterred. They had to persevere. They had to continue on… If they wanted to win.
Another died, another died, another died, another died…
If they stopped to count their fallen, the S-Rankers were sure to go crazy. So they didn't. They climbed on top of the bodies of their brethren and continued to attack.
Seconds turned into minutes and slowly but surely, Aria could sense that the Demon Guardian's movements were starting to get sluggish. The surviving S-Rankers felt the same. It was getting slower and slower. The fists that were blindingly fast were now dodgeable. Magic spells started to connect more often and eventually…
The Demon Guardian leapt all the way back to the other side of the Boss Room. It didn't want to continue attacking anymore. No, it couldn't. The mana circuits within its body were completely drained. There wasn't an ounce of mana left. It was a miracle that it could still move. Battered not only by the Dragons of old but also by mother time itself. Not only that, the Angel Guardian that accompanied it had long been decommissioned. So why was it fighting so desperately then?
Because of its oath.
Standing in front of the Treasure Room, the Demon Guardian spread its arms wide, heightening the senses of any who watched it stand. They were afraid that the Demon Guardian had one more trick up its sleeve and were ready to defend themselves, no matter what the cost. Alas, their worries were unfounded.
There wasn't the slightest ounce of mana left. Aria could tell. Her Astral Vision saw everything inside of the Demon Guardian, and it was nothing more than a lump of stone now. However, even in defeat, the golem never waned in executing its duty. It was protecting the treasure… It was defending the treasure that it was placed here protect. And… It failed…
The final light that kept the Demon Guardian going slipped out of its large cracks as it still stood in front of the Treasure Room like a faithful Knight protecting its Emperor. Even in death, it was still carrying out its duty.
"Is… Is it over?" Yvette asked, her knees wobbly and arms completely out of energy.
Aria glanced backwards. The exit that had been clogged was finally open. Space was no longer sealed. Fatigued out of her mind, the maiden dropped her butt onto the floor. Both her palms stuck on her lap, and her head flung back. They really did it… They had won.
"Yes… Yes, it's finally over..."
They have conquered the S-Class Dungeon...