The explosion shook the room, broke windows, and set the carpet on fire, which Grace quickly extinguished thanks to her fire manipulation. Steve and Charles ran forward, weapons ready.
The boss's health bar was at 70%.
"Did we interrupt his 'villain speech'?" Dan asked aloud. "It feels wrong."
"Yeah…" I whispered. "I feel kind of dirty now."
"I don't care!" Grace shouted while preparing another spell. "Shouldn't you do something useful, Dan?"
"You insolent wretches!" Dylak shouted after ridding himself of his burned cloak, revealing a fine, masculine--I mean: His exposed white-as-the-moon skin. "HOW DARE--!" he tried to say, before being interrupted by one of Dan's arrows.
"There! Are you happy now, Grace?!" Dan cried.
But it didn't do any damage. I saw Dylak breaking the arrow with his sharp teeth and spitting out the iron arrowhead a second before Steve bashed him with his shield. Beside them was Charles, swinging his sword. "Pathetic," the black-haired NPC said. He had stopped both shield and sword with his bare hands.
Was he as strong as the Housekeeper?!
I glanced at the timer.
+++ Dungeon closing in 16:24 minutes +++
"You'll be our triumph card," I whispered to Grace, who squinted at me, a new ball of fire was being cast in front of her.
"That's obvious! I'm the only one that has harmed him!"
"That means that…" I watched Steve being thrown away with a kick, and Charles receiving a punch that took away a third of his HP. "...The boss will take care of you first…" I whispered as Dylak looked in our direction.
"You'll pay for this, witch!" The attractive middle-aged man formed a grin so wide it almost reached his pointy ears, showing us razor-like teeth.
Y-yeah… I think I have a thing for vampire-like men.
"It's coming this way! Shoot it, now!" I cried, but Grace looked at me in anguish.
"I-I'm not done yet! If I interrupt the spell, it'll vanish!"
Even though several feet separated us, I knew that the humanoid monster could reach us in an instant. I turned to Dan, who was pointing his bow towards him. Scenes from the last two days flashed in my mind. Had Dan been useful during this whole quest? Well… yes. He was the one that came up with the idea of making the housekeeper and the butler fight. But besides that? He barely does damage to the ene--NO! I shouldn't think that way!
I shouldn't---T-t-the boss is moving!
"Protect me, T.!" Grace's girly voice cried behind me.
You didn't have to say it. I know my role!
I prepared my hammer, ready to block or counterattack, but as Dylak dashed toward us, turning his long nails into claws, he jumped aside at the last moment. My head turned to my left, seeing everything in slow motion. Dan had been stabbed in the chest. No… Better said, Dylak's entire arm was coming out of Dan's back. Tears ran down his cheeks.
"Charlie, please! Save me some of the treasures!"
I clearly heard Charles snicker before replying. "Sorry, pal! That's not going to happen."
Just as Dan's entire body turned into pixels and dissipated, the Boss licked his bloodied claws. His HP bar had returned to 85%.
"Give me five seconds, T. Please," Grace whispered behind me. Was she asking me to shield her from a monster that could kill us in a single hit?!
Wait… I'm not like Dan…
I'm not useless like him!
I have the Monster Hunter Passive Skill!
I could do this!
Steve and Charles were already on their way to help me. Five freaking seconds were nothing.
I got into a defensive stance, ready to withstand whatever Dylak threw at me.
"Pathetic," he muttered without glancing at me, and in the blink of an eye, jumped towards us. My body knew how to react, even if my mind was still processing what was happening. I raised the hammer so it could take the full impact of Dylak's 'axe' kick.
That strength was unnatural… I didn't even know we could move like that inside The Novus. It reminded me of all the action series I'd seen. For a brief couple of seconds, Dylak transformed into a martial artist. And he looked cool as--"Huh?!" the woman inside me released a high-pitched cry the very moment I felt the ground beneath me falter.
"Begone!" Dylak shouted triumphantly, applying even more force.
The floor cracked as Steve reached out his hand to save me, but he was too far away. The resulting sound echoed through the boss' room when the floor finally gave up. I felt gravity pull me down just as Grace's spell got overwhelmingly hot behind me.
As my body fell through layers of wood and concrete, my sight got locked upwards. Through that human-sized hole, I could see a flash of orange light, signaling that Grace had successfully cast her fire spell. Had she hit Dylak? Who knows?
The only thought crossing my mind is that we were slowly reaching superhuman territory.
***
This was the third time…
Three times I've fallen and let others take care of me.
It felt frustrating.
I… I didn't want that to happen again! So before my consciousness faded to black, I mustered all the strength I could to stay awake.
500 gold were at stake… And nothing would step in my way to get them.
My eyes finally blinked, telling me I had made it. My back and butt hurt like hell, and my hand instinctively closed, trying to feel the grip of my hammer, but nothing. I felt like a toothless dog.
I glanced upwards, seeing the hole that I left behind. The kick had sent me back to the ground floor, to some sort of room, actually. I've never been here before, so this had to be the place Dan and Steve fought the 'creepy twin maids'. The beds, furniture, and mirrors were all torn to pieces… As my HP… I was now at 10%.
Did my current level help me survive such a thing? I'd have to investigate what all these stats do, especially this 'Vitality' I keep hearing constantly. In the meantime, I stood up, barely, feeling my knees shaking. The pain almost made me cry.
+++ Pain Endurance Level 3 activating. +++
Oh, I forgot about you, thanks!
Like an adrenaline rush, my Passive Skill allowed me to face the constant warning signals my body was sending me and shrug them off. The constant struggle from my team reached my ears, bangs, and the roaring of fire. I couldn't waste another second standing there.
They were still going, and I was not present to help them. "Okay, let's do this, Taylor."
Then, a wall next to me started glowing. What? …No, it was more as if it was melting awa--oh, I get it.
"Firebreath!" Grace's voice was heard from the other room, while a burst of fire almost burned my hair.
"Dammit, you freaking pyro-bitch!"
"Taylor! You're alive!" she cried, and I could see her distressed face through the recently created hole.
"Of course I'm alive, you--!" The burned wall in front of me suddenly exploded, sending flying bricks that missed hitting me by mere inches, and for half a second, I distinguished Steve holding his shield up, trying to prevent an enormous purple humanoid from biting his neck. "What's happening?!" I cried. "Is another boss atta--Is that Dylak?!"
"Yes, his second phase," Grace informed, reuniting with me. "Sorry to ask this after what happened to you, but can you still fight? Because we really need you."
How much time was I out? I quickly glanced at the timer: 7 minutes until the dungeon closed.
"What's going on? W-where's Charles?!"
"That bastard…" Grace said with closed teeth. She looked more upset than the time I rejected her offer to join her future guild. "He disappeared."