Arie takes a step forward and powers up with a buff.
"Let me fight on my own. I'd like to see how I stack up against this final floor. I want to feel like I've earned this core."
He stops right before the portal at the end of the hall.
"Of course, slip in the final blow to get whatever skills you need, just don't help me in battle unless I'm in really bad shape. I doubt I will be, but you never know."
I nod, and he jumps through without saying another word. I do the same, letting the transport magic bring us to the final floor of this peculiar labyrinth.
It's not much different than the labyrinth we faced back in Solara, and only a few floors higher. However, something feels too perfect about this place.
The teleport magic brings us into a wide open boss room that is forest and earth-themed. Thin dark green trees reach up to the blue sky, and rocky mounds of hills and stone formations riddle the landscape.
For the most part, it's very flat and calm. However, near the back of the boss room where the danger always lies, the dense presence of two mana figures comes rocketing our way instantly.
I do a full inspect and appraisal while stepping to the side, letting Arie know what's happening.
"They're on their way."
I cross my arms and airstep backward to sit on a tall boulder, and take a look at just the level and skills from the two approaching figures.
[Lv. 707]
Telepathy [Legendary Grade]
Body Double [Legendary Grade]
Dungeon Walker [Special Grade]
[Lv. 707]
Telepathy [Legendary Grade]
Plunderer [Legendary Grade]
Combat Magic [Advanced Earth Summoning]
The shadowy figure of a Greater Demon with two red horns coming out of its forehead and curving behind its head comes into full view as it glides above the treeline, standing on the back of a massive Earth Dragon almost the size of Ember.
The Demon's eyes are sharp, and it stands almost 3 meters tall. It has an impressively strong and tight build, wearing dark red armor with impressive defensive stats. It wields two daggers and stares both of us down from a distance.
The dragon lets out a loud roar, and I observe its glossy tan scales reflect the clouds and the blue sky from above and the dark green trees below it on its white underbelly.
The flapping of its wings ceases once the two touch down on the opposite side of the small wooded clearing we're in, and a surprisingly pissed off voice comes through our telepathy link. It seems like we're just pests that woke it up from a nap, rather than hunters challenging its throne.
"What are you two doing here? I thought we had a deal. I won't kill your men in the dungeons around here, and you'll let me grow my labyrinth in peace. I almost have that unique floor 30 ready for you, so what's with the interruptions?"
The demon rolls its eyes and starts to get closer, gripping its two jet-black daggers and imbuing large amounts of mana into them, giving off a growing aura of intimidation and hostility.
As I piece the puzzle together that the sector 2 leader must have had some kind of deal with this Demon to allow it to grow its base while not interacting with hunters that farm the nearby dungeons for supplies, it seems Arie has come to the same conclusion.
He manifests a white bow and arrow, speaking out loud to the Demon and massive earth dragon.
"Deal's off. The Leader you made that deal with is dead. You'll be fighting me now."
More intense aura pours out of the Demon, and its calm stance shifts to a much more serious battle-ready one.
"Fine. Filthy humans, you all can never keep your word. The ones that can are always too weak and die before any deals can be done. I was foolish to believe that man was any different."
It glows white, and 3 body doubles separate from its main body, all of them have nearly identical amounts of mana control as far as I can see.
They charge forward, leaving the main body and the dragon behind, slowly making their move.
Arie smirks, spirit-stepping upward, and releasing a full-powered arrow strike far faster than anything I've seen him send off in the past.
It collides with the dense shielding of a nearby demon's clone, while the other two blip out of existence and reappear on opposite sides of Arie with their daggers poised to kill.
One goes all in for a shot at his neck while the other aims its daggers at his heart.
He summons two small walls of white energy in front of his vital points using his ranked-up buff, and the buzzing noise followed by fragmenting metal is all I hear as the daggers break against a nearly impossible to penetrate barrier.
Meanwhile, the dust and mana cloud around the double Arie shot at that is still on the ground finally clears, and a bright white arrow is lodged right through its chest. Blood drips out, and the Demon does not look happy as it pulls it out from its chest with bare hands.
The creature dungeon walks up to help its two other partners with the close-range attack.
As it materializes, Arie turns his gaze and releases another arrow that punctures right through the already injured demon's head, killing it on the spot and the double disintegrates into pure mana.
He twists his body around, jumping higher in the air while blocking the onslaught of more close-range jabs and slashes from these two remaining demons' knives.
Unexpectedly, three of the small shielding circles Arie summons to block their strikes morph into a long white spear the moment their attention leaves it. One of the unsuspecting Demon's copies is impaled from behind, skewering it three times with multiple new manifested spears from its blind spot.
In the same moment, the last body double is thrown off its game for a split second while witnessing the gruesome and instantaneous attack out of nowhere, and Arie takes this moment of hesitation to charge his bow back up to its full potential, landing a fully charged arrow to its forehead at point-blank range.
It doesn't even get to scream, and the double disintegrates away.
The mana disperses, and the only thing I can think to do is clap slowly.
That was an impressive display of raw power and battle IQ. I have to give it to him, Arie has improved.
However, based on the reaction of the real Demon's body that storms his way, it's not as impressed.
It jumps up in the air, glowing brighter and brighter white itself, while the earth dragon by its side begins to activate what I can only assume is its ranked-up buff.
A thick barrier of liquid stone surrounds the dragon, and a pair of crimson wings the same color as the demon's horns come jutting out of the Demon's back once the white light goes away.
I sense its mana control increase by over 50%, meaning it's activated some kind of ranked-up buff too, with a shapeshifting perk that I've never seen a demon wield before.
As it flaps its wings and flies into the air, the dragon jumps up and, even with its heavy stone armor on, gracefully spins through the air.
Three more doubles of the Demon form all around it, with wings of their own this time around, and twist and swirl through the air with impressive agility.
Arie stands still, drawing his bow back, and not moving from the circular 1-meter wide white manifested platform beneath his feet.
Then, less than 10 meters before impact as the 3 body doubles dungeon walk closer and the real demon and its ranked-up dragon swirl around it attacking from both sides, a dark crimson aura emits from Arie and I watch blood-red arrows fly.
Streaks of red energy are left in the sky as the instant Arie activates his Red Hydra's buff, his speed, agility, and power are multiplied by a factor of nearly 3.
The doubles are disintegrated in the blink of an eye, and I see a barrage of crimson arrows crack through the defenses of the earth dragon's stone imbued ranked-up shielding.
It takes a few hits in the exact same spots, but eventually, one of his arrows pierces right through the dragon's left wing.
The Demon ruthlessly sends more and more doubles at Arie, but they get weaker and weaker every wave. Arie takes them out with ease.
The great thing about the Red Hydra's buff is you're able to keep up the same intensity until the battle is over, only then will you have to face the consequences. The Demon is unaware of this, and I'm starting to see the look on its face change from annoyance and anger to helplessness and fear.
This Demon has never faced a fearsome opponent in its life. It's been able to sit back and enjoy the luxuries of growing its labyrinth with the Sector 2 leader watching over its lackeys, never having to actually protect its throne.
The battle instincts of a Demon that it was born with are surely there, but its will to survive and win by any means necessary are lacking. It's very clear to see, Arie's sharp eyes, determined grit, and battle experience over the years will easily bring him to victory here.
Another 30 seconds pass and Arie gets closer and closer, chipping away at the Earth Dragon's armor and dispatching dozens of body doubles that come three at a time. He finally sends a red arrow through the walls of protective doubles and shielding to hit the Demon's main body in the thigh.
It yells out in fury while blood flows through its wound, opening up a telepathy link as a last ditch effort. The Demon's voice is wavering and much more nervous than before.
"L-Let's make a deal, come on! That was just a test. I see a very profitable future in your midst."
Another red arrow comes curving around the back side of the dragon, past its wings that have a few arrow holes of their own pierced through them, and the shot lands right through one of the Demon's wings on the same side as its injured leg.
It erupts into a massive display of mana shielding flying into the air and red residue from the red hydra's buff as Arie releases yet another arrow, threading the needle through the tall trees, explosions, and distractions placed in his way.
"You should have spoken up before you tried to kill me. Your core is all mine!"
His next arrow hits the Demon's other wing, making it begin to fall to the woodland floor. Arie spirit-steps and narrowly dodges every one of the body doubles with ease, making eye contact with me for a split second, letting me know he's going in for the kill and I should get ready to do what I need to do.
I activate my buffs and pull out my sword while Arie releases his final shot aimed straight at the Demon's heart, charged up with as much of his Red Hydra's buff soul energy and mana from his skill as possible, making it a strike that is a guaranteed fatal blow.
I grin, filling my blade with mana and igniting my body on fire as I air-step into battle. I follow the crimson arrow with all my buffs activated and extreme speed on full blast. I zip through the trees, soar beneath the wing of the massive earth dragon, and swing my sword at the Demon's neck as it falls toward the ground.
There's a satisfying sound of dense mana slicing through weaker mana as my blade melts through its shielding and cuts off the demon's head in an instant. However, fractions of a second later, the dark red arrow pierces its heart and the body of the creature goes limp before it can even hit the ground.
In the resulting thud, the soul bond agreement between demon and dragon is triggered and the eyes of the mighty Earth Dragon gloss over and it falls to the ground as well.
My eyes, on the other hand, light up with excitement as the notifications in my vision appear.
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Body Double
Upgrade: Legendary Grade
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption]
Skill: Dungeon Walker
Upgrade: Legendary Grade
[YES][NO]
As I choose yes on both of them, notifications that they've been transferred to my main body fill my vision.
Then, Arie walks over while powering down his Red Hydra's buff.
He catches himself on a nearby boulder as he almost passes out from exhaustion, but I run over and help him walk toward the Demon's dissolving corpse to claim his prize.
"I'm impressed. That may have been the most extreme battle I've ever seen you fight in. Taking on a Demon and Dragon over level 700 on your own... not bad."
I crack a grin, and he tries to smile back, but the fatigue is definitely kicking in.
The cleanly sliced neck and perfectly circular hole through its heart are signs of seasoned killers at work. We both admire our shots, but I can feel Arie's breathing is very heavy and his eyes are threatening to shut.
The moment the corpse finally dissolves, a mana crystal, bright red horn, and small black core fall to the boss room floor.
I point it out, and Arie reaches down to grab it.
Just like the two times I received my cores, the moment it touches his palm, it begins to sink into the center of his hand, and a long black line starts to form from his wrist, up his shoulder, down his chest, and stops right above his heart.
He then falls to the floor asleep with a wide smile across his face.
I can't help but to let out a laugh.
"You did well. I've been in the same exact place many times. I'll watch over you while you recover."
I take the demon's horn, two mana crystals, and single earth dragon scale as loot from the battle and place them in my item storage.
Soon after, the Labyrinth begins to fade away, bringing us back to the canyon.
However, the instant my feet hit the damp rocky floor of the underground cave system, an overwhelming aura of death and destruction fills the air unlike anything I've ever felt before.
My head instinctively turns in the direction of the city, but the aura feels as if it's coming from much further out in the desert. Whatever it is, that seems way out of my current body double form's league. It feels as if gods have clashed. So, whatever it is, the fact that I haven't disappeared from existence means my main body is taking care of it just fine.
Still, I begin to air-step my way out of the cave system while carrying Arie to reach the surface to check out what happened for myself.
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Author's Note:
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