A massive, lizard-like creature sat atop a vast hoard of treasure, its imposing frame a sight to behold. Rae could sense the challenge ahead as she observed the creature's hardened scales, which would surely be difficult to penetrate. In the distance, a gate stood at the far back of the room. It seemed that defeating the beast was the only way forward.
Rae felt something ominous was following them ever since she and Eleanor entered the dungeon. At first, she dismissed it as a trick of the mind, but Eleanor hadn't seemed to notice anything unusual.
Without warning, the enormous lizard leaped from its treasure hoard, landing with a force that shook the ground beneath them. Rae felt the tremor with each step it took, its presence far more massive than she had anticipated.
"Welcome, challengers. I am the floor guardian of the first level of this dungeon. You've done well to come this far. To proceed, you must defeat me," the creature boomed.
Rae suspected this was the case, but hearing it confirmed did little to ease her nerves.
Quickly, Rae assessed the creature, looking for any weaknesses. But its thick scales seemed impervious to attack. Was she even capable of inflicting damage on it? She noted the scales resembled metal, which gave her an idea—perhaps fire magic could work. But then she remembered she no longer had access to her fire magic.
Before she could consider another approach, the beast swung its massive tail. The air vibrated with the force of the strike, and Rae only narrowly avoided being hit. If not for her vampiric speed, she would have been struck. The tail's force continued to ripple through the air, and when it collided with a rock formation behind Rae, it shattered the stone like a twig. From the rubble, a human head emerged—one Rae recognized.
The foreign princess, how did she get here? Was she the presence Rae had been sensing all along?
The lizard was relentless, not giving them a moment to recover. It raised its immense front legs, ready to stomp the ground with all its weight. As it did, Rae and the others lost their footing and fell.
How could they possibly defeat such a beast?
An idea struck Rae. What if she could use Ice magic to lower the temperature of the creature's scales, making them brittle like glass? It might work.
But the next challenge was finding the right place to strike. Rae knew the neck was the most vulnerable spot. If she could reduce the scales there, perhaps she could penetrate the skin and deal a fatal blow.
She rose to her feet and immediately began preparing the necessary magic circles. Her concentration was intense, and she kept moving to avoid the creature's attacks. The beast was no easy target, and Rae found herself dodging and weaving to buy enough time to target its neck.
Finally, the creature shifted just enough to expose the thick scales around its neck. Rae took her chance and unleashed a massive wave of Ice magic. The freezing blast hit its neck, and the creature seemed caught off guard. Rae's first use of Ice magic had worked better than expected.
But her triumph was short-lived. As the icy surface began to form, Rae noticed the temperature around the creature's neck rising rapidly. The ice melted away, revealing a fiery, red glow beneath. What was this? Fire magic?
The creature opened its enormous mouth, preparing to unleash a ball of fire. Rae's eyes widened as she saw both Eleanor and the foreign princess in the path of the incoming flames. If the attack hit them, they would be incinerated. Rae had been so absorbed in the fight that she'd completely forgotten about their presence.
No, she couldn't let them die because of her mistake. She quickly began to conjure a water magic circle, hoping to quell the flames before they could reach her companions.
But the lizard didn't release fireballs as Rae had expected. Instead, it unleashed a powerful, cone-shaped stream of flames. Rae's heart sank as she realized there was no time to stop it.
She watched in horror as the flames surged toward Eleanor and the foreign princess. Any hope of their survival seemed futile as the fire consumed everything in its path. Rae's eyes welled up with tears. Eleanor, so kind-hearted, did not deserve such an end.
The flames eventually ceased, and the beast turned to watch the aftermath, clearly reveling in the destruction it had caused. Rae couldn't stand it any longer. She rushed toward the scorched remains, desperate to find her companions.
The rocks around the area still glowed red from the fire's intensity, and pockets of flame smoldered, but as Rae reached the site, she saw something she hadn't expected. The foreign princess was completely unharmed, and although Eleanor was badly burned and unconscious, she was still alive, her injuries not immediately life-threatening.
Seeing the true danger of the beast, Rae knew continuing the fight was too risky. She needed to get them out of here, fast. The only option was to use spatial magic—a technique Merle had taught her. Though Rae hated using chant-based magic, there was no time to create a proper magic circle. Merle had once taught her an abridged version of the spell, and that was all Rae had to rely on.
Visualizing a quantum gate like the one she had created on Earth, Rae began to channel the magic words. To her surprise, a dark portal opened in front of her. Was this dark magic? She didn't have time to question it now.
Rae quickly scooped up Eleanor and signaled for the foreign princess to follow her through the portal. The lizard watched, seemingly uninterested in stopping their escape, perhaps bored by how weak they appeared. Whatever the reason, Rae wasn't about to question it. She just needed to get them out before the creature changed its mind.