I hear words echo through my brain from the figure at the back of the room loud and clear, but I'm not sure I can believe what I'm hearing.
It speaks.
"Visitors don't come here often... I never would have expected a Demon and a Dragon to show their faces in a place like this."
I stop walking forward and raise my sword.
The red cloud of mana-infused fog consolidates around what seems to be the being's head.
Standing on an elevated stage at the back of the room, it towers above me around 3 meters tall. It's wearing what looks like a black suit of armor. It's so dark that it looks like the shadow of a Knight in physical form.
The blood-red mana creates a sphere around the figure's head. It continues to speak.
"Have you come to challenge me? I thought I'd never see that day when Dungeon Masters went rogue. To think you'd attack a Labyrinth at a time like this! Defying our leader's rules before the great collapse? Could my eyes be playing tricks?"
The figure lifts one of its arms, pointing a finger at the wall to my right side.
I watch small threads of thin mana leave its jet-black fingers and shoot off toward piles of empty silver armor and wooden crates. The threads attach themselves to the piles of abandoned armor, then they begin to move...
I whisper under my breath while jumping backward to put a few rows of white tables between us.
"Mana Manipulation..."
That's how it worked before. That's why I was gaining no levels from defeating those guards. The Knights outside were just tools being controlled by this ominous figure's mana.
The armored suits begin to glow, then stand up on their own, covered in a dense layer of mana shielding. The shadow figure speaks up again.
"You may leave now, I'm not one to fight my own kind over a meaningless break-in."
I tighten my gaze, watching the Boss at the back of the room and keeping an eye on its new minions. It continues to speak through our link.
"Unfortunately for you, the Dungeon Master will be hearing of this, I must report all oddities."
The manipulated suits of armor stand guard and the shadowy figure doesn't move. I smirk, finally replying.
"You're... The Behemoth...?"
My smile turns into a chuckle.
"I thought you'd be a lot bigger..."
The clang of metal armor rings out in the room as the monster before me breaks its thin threads of mana that were previously keeping the guards upright.
It takes a mighty leap, jumping off the stage above to drop down in front of me.
My eyes are locked straight, and my sword is fully charged, but I continue to sidestep through the white tables keeping my distance of about 15 meters away.
It hits the ground with a loud thud, cracking the stone tiles and sending a shock wave through the ground.
Its deep voice rings out in my head as the monster moves closer. I can't see its face through the cloud of red fog, but I can feel a curious evil gaze.
I keep all my stat-boosting skills fully active, glowing red and gold while drinking a mana potion to re-up my MP bar.
The moment I raise the glass bottle, the anonymous figure speaks again with a lighter tone than before.
"A potion... You're a human aren't you...? Now... this is quite a surprise."
I finish my bottle, replying through my link.
"I am, and you're the Lower-Floor Boss are you not?"
It pauses for a moment, then lets out a slow laugh.
"I am. Straight to business it is. You're the first one in over half a century to challenge this floor using those unique skills. Telepathy and a Plundering Ability... from a human..."
It laughs loudly and slowly while I grit my teeth, continuing to sidestep through the tables, trying to get a good angle on the monster as it walks around crushing more and more stone tiles with each step showing no urgency to fight me.
It seems this monster has some self-control. Most Bosses are mindless beasts that attack anything in sight. This one seems to have free will.
It doesn't matter much to me though.
I reply.
"That's all I needed to hear. You're the Boss, so I'll defeat you."
I watch the Knight shaped shadow gaze up at the ceiling, fully exposing its left side. I air-step forward, aiming my charged sword directly at its weak spot.
It's standing in the middle of the banquet hall without a weapon or a shield... It has let its guard down because it thought I was on its side.
This is the perfect time to strike.
I let out a 1000MP slash from less than 10 meters away just moments after it speaks its last word. The dark crescent of fire rockets toward the Floor Boss without making a sound.
It doesn't move a muscle, the Boss just stands completely still... Blissfully unaware of my deadly approaching strike.
As my attack gets closer, I feel the ground rumble beneath my feet.
The stone tiles next to the shadowy outline begin to ripple like water and the perfectly square-shaped flooring begins to twist and turn.
With my All-Seeing Eye active, I watch mana pour out of the monster's arms and legs saturating the floor below it.
The air and dungeon mass all around this creature waves and churns as my attack nears.
The stone floor rises from the ground in a liquid form, wrapping around the dark figure's legs and climbing up its torso.
My eyes widen as I watch its entire body become covered in a thick layer of stone. Mana threads are weaved in and out of the material in such a fine grid-like pattern that I can barely tell the difference between a mana shield and the rock it's manipulating into a stone suit of armor.
Now, standing over 4 meters tall, a grey suit of stone armor turns to me. It molds its right arm into a double-sided stone blade to counter my incoming attack.
It coats its weapon in a dense layer of shielding and thrusts it upwards as my black blade makes contact with its stone armor. Without a hint of resistance, my incoming strike is deflected into the sky.
It spins out of control, cutting through the glass ceiling above and flying off into the Dungeon's open air.
I gulp, as I just witnessed all of this go down in fractions of a second...
This monster went from a defenseless shadow talking smack, to a Stone Knight ready for war.
The Deep voice of the Floor Boss rings out in my head again.
"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get. You better not waste my time. With skills like yours, and the nerve of you to come in here with another Labyrinth's Dragon, you better put up a good fight."
The stone armor covering its left arm shifts into a sharp blade as well. A small slit in its stone helmet opens up and dense red fog pours out. I still can't see the monster's eyes, but I know it's staring right at me.
So I glare back.
Glossy sharp blades of stone line both of its arms, and they're dripping with dense mana. Similar to my own sword...
Not only are its bladed arms leaking mana-dense aura, but the entire rest of its body is covered in shielding intertwined with its mana-manipulation ability.
It's nothing like the shielding I saw from any monsters before, not even like Fisher's when I tested my strike back on Floor 10.
Most shielding is invisible to the naked eye. I'm only able to perceive it because of my All-Seeing Eye ability.
This shielding is glowing crimson-red, bright as day. Even without the use of my perception ability active. I'd be able to see its defenses without a problem.
The blood-red glowing stone-covered Knight takes a step forward. I expect it to crack the floor beneath its feet, but the ripping water-like visual appears again as it seemingly bounces off the floor.
In the blink of an eye, the creature lunges toward me with its bladed arms pointed at my neck.
I Dungeon Walk backward about 20 meters the moment my battle instincts kick in. Opening my link with Ember, I give the order that starts our brawl.
"Run. This is a battle between the Floor Boss and me. It has two skills that I'll need for future fights, and I want to defeat it fair and square then steal its power."
My eyes light.
From across the room, the Stone Knight comes charging toward me. Its red glow reflects in my eyes as my battle-obsessed grin creeps across my face.
I run forward as Ember flaps his wings to fly high up into the open air of the large banquet hall.
The battle against the Lower-Floor Boss begins. Soon I'll find out why this beast is called... The Behemoth.