Ericks body expanded as his mana reached untold levels. This was a forbidden body boosting art he'd learnt for worst case scenarios. He couldn't ordinarily cast it and needed the boost from the Althea project before he could use it because it put a lot of strain on his body.
His body easily reached the dragon kings level. "[ God's hand ]".
His loud as thunder voice echoed as he raised a hand. A golden apparition if it reached out towards the dragons form, instantly holding it down.
"Selene, aren't you done. I can't hold it down for long. "
Already he was struggling as the beasts large mana reserves unceasingly clashed with his.
"[Shadow movement : Dance of the hidden world. ] "
With a roar Thalia turned into a blur as she raced across the form of the dragon king, slicing down its body as much as she could. She was like a winding river , leaving a path of gore and sliced skin wherever she passed.
"[ Wild card ] "
Melina split the air before her with her spear, sending an arc of concerntrated magic at the dragon. In mid air , the attack split into three separate slashes that cut into the creature deeply.
The dragon roared loudly as it's mana once again increased.
Meanwhile , Selene was closely observing the dragon. Her eyes were glowing a deep blue as they raced all over the dragons body. A moment later, she grinned. " I got it. I've even determined the next three most likely places that it's going to shift it to. If you at-"
"- We know. We're not amateurs. Just tell us already, " Erick all but roared.
Just then , he lost focus and the dragon king pushed him back. With a grunt he managed to stabilize himself.
" Okay guys. This is our last attack. Give it everything you've got and we just might win this. "
All the members of Epsilon had gathered around him, awaiting his command. They were like well oiled machines , waiting for the command to act.
"Selene, point us in the right direction. "
The beautiful arch mage grinned. " I can do much more than that , " and just like that , she transmitted the information directly into their minds.
"Just try not to die. It would be very stressful to find new party members. "
Melina chuckled. ," You know that if this attack fails,none of us will survive right. ," she shook her head. "Then again, it doesn't matter. 'Cos we ain't gonna fail ."
She tightened her grip on her spear as her gaze hardened.
"Here's how were gonna do this....."
Selene raised her staff, and instantly teleported all of them out of the way just as the undead dragon fired a heavy breath of miasma at them.
Already, her spell was starting to fail as it sucked at their life force. Anymore and the after effects would become very deadly. But it was the only thing that was keeping their overly exhausted bodies going. Without it...
Zeke was the first to strike, firing his most powerful attack spell. "[ Holy ray]"
A gigantic beam of light shot out of his staff right at the dragons left side. It was so concentrated that the magic tool that he used was cracking from the shear force of it.
"[ Pontifex's Judgement. ]
Eight massive ice spears formed above Selene's head and dashed straight towards the undeads head, while Melina charged forward with Thalia ,"[ Crossguard ] " [ Whirlwind ]"
The plan was for Zeke , Selene and Erick to attack the beast head on while everyone else distracted and restricted its movement. The three were to hit the three most likely places that it was going to shift its core to next.
It's left side , it's head and.....
Erick stepped forward ,"[ Divine metal ] "
As his mana coated his hand , it turned a dark grey, like it was forged from the toughest material in the world.
With a roar , he sent it crashing against the dragon kings right shoulder, punching right through it , and bringing out a dark crystal like item the size a three footballs.
The dragon king roared as it lost its power source and began to rampage as it shut down.
"Everyone get back ," Erick roared as he cancelled his enlarged form and retreated . But, it seemed the spell had taken more out of Zeke than anyone else. The cleric collapsed as they raced away , his face as white a paper.
"Zeke , " Erick tried to rush to his friend but he didn't have enough strength. "No.....
Melina rushed forward just as the dragon claw smashed down on Zeke, pushing the exhausted man out of the way, she took the full brunt of the attack and was blasted away with several deep cuts over her body, some of which were bone deep.
"Melina ," Thalia shouted in despair.
"You bastard," with a roar , Selene raised her staff again , drawing on her already exhausted magic power. "[Ageless cocoon] "
She cast a sealing spell on the beast to restrict its movement as Erick rushed at the beast. A green aura flowed over its body, encasing it in an ethereal transparent halo , that instantly constricted as Erick jumped towards its head with his mace , "[Emboldened Clash]"
His magic infused his weapon and it enlarged to over three times its size. With a final roar , the magic warrior brought it down with impudence.
...
Salazar watched the group of adventurers that he'd tailed for the last four years with wonder. Although they couldn't face of head on against the undead dragon monster, the power that they displayed really impressed him.
When I'm I gonna get power on that level.
Then he glanced at the undead dragon king that was struggling at deaths door. Again. I wanna be like that guy. Strong as hell , and with my intelligence, there's no way I'm gonna lose.
The Monster King. I wonder what kind of existence he is.
But now was not the time for that. He saw one of the Epsilon guys go down. Her name was ....Melina, a spearwoman.
At least they managed to avoid any deaths, and soon , he'd be able to leave this place. He didn't know what the world outside was like , but at least it'd still be better than this place....
It would be nice if I could eat that woman. Then I. Could learn the skills that used acquired in her memory, in this way, it's be way easier for me when I go to the human world in the future.
The one human he'd eaten earlier was an archer, a class that personally, he held little to no interest in.
His eyes flashed as Erick and Selene moved away from Melina and Zeke, the two most injured , with only the cute assassin -Thalia watching over them.
It seemed they were discussing how long it'd take until the exit opened. They seemed to exited about something.
Thalia wasn't really paying attention after treating Melinas wounds , and Zeke was basically unconscious. This was his best chance.
He transformed into a sonic bat. Although they make a lot of noise when they move, it was his fastest form, and the adventurers wouldn't be able to react in their exhausted state.
Let's go.
With a silent prayer , he rushed towards Melina. The distracted Thalia realized something was wrong a moment too late , just as he swooped in a grabbed the young spear woman. In a second he had shot off into the darkness of the cave, to the background cries of the Epsilon party.
His prey tried to struggle but he quickly ended that using the Three eyed Centipede queens poison. Swallowing his guilt at attacking and killing a defenseless girl he began to assimilate her just as he received a notification from the system.
[The dungeon has been completed. You are being forced out into the Monster Continent. ]