With literal mountains of glittering treasure awaiting me just steps away, I felt like a kid set loose in a candy store. Golden statuettes, jewel-encrusted weapons, silver and obsidian armor sets...not to mention more ordinary coins than I could ever spend in multiple lifetimes!
And it was all mine for the taking now that I had phased right through the deadly Ensnaring Ward trap. Being able to compress dimensional energies around myself for metaphysical shifts was a lifesaver! Guess those visions from my future self showing innovative applications of my SSS-Rank Spatial Domination abilities really paid off.
Greedily I started shoveling priceless relics and fancy gems into the large burlap sack I had picked up earlier. The bag of holding seemed to have extradimensional properties too since it never bulged or overflowed. In no time I had 'requisitioned' over ten million gold pieces worth of treasures by my rough estimate!
My grin threatened to split my face. Just wait until I hauled this sumptuous payload back to the surface world! I would be set for life with these riches. Maybe then I could focus on honing my space-time abilities further and taking my first steps to becoming the mythical conquering hero that my destiny foretold.
But before I got too far ahead in the daydreams of fame and glory, my hunter's intuition suddenly screamed that something wasn't right. An ominous prickle ran down my spine unrelated to dancing visions of wealth. It was the unshakable sensation of being watched...and not by anything friendly.
Whipping my head up from the heaps of gold, I scanned the shadowy chamber portal I had just warped in through. Two glowing crimson eyes peered back at me from the darkness! I barely had time to dive out of the way as a familiar lumbering reptilian form came charging into the treasure hall - it was the Komododon boss monster I had trapped earlier!
The creature let out a earth-shaking bellow as it stamped closer, stone floor cracking under its thick tree trunk-sized legs. Razor sharp claws flexed eagerly for my blood while spiked armored scales rippled with each movement across the hulking frame. Somehow it had broken free of my Spatial Lockdown that should have held it captive indefinitely!
"You gotta be kidding me!" I yelled, rolling back to my feet. "A measly A-Rank beast escaping an SSS-tier special attack?!"
The creature responding with a roar that sounded almost...mocking? Bristling, I checked the creature's danger rating again as it plodded towards me, swiping its thick muscular tail that could easily bash my ribs in:
[Komododon - Rampaging Reptile Boss]
[Threat: A+++ Rank]
[Abilities: Ironscale Defense, Sweeping Tail Assault, Spatial Charge]
"A-Triple Plus?!" I yelped out loud. That meant it was halfway to S-Rank at this point! And what was that last ability? My eyes skimmed to the description:
[Spatial Charge: Destabilize dimensional energies in nearby environment to escape time-space binding effects.]
"Well that explains it," I grumbled, mentally kicking myself for underestimating this lizard. It seems my spatial powers weren't the only reality-bending tricks in play anymore. If the Komododon could disrupt the very fabric of spatial domains, then my normal tricks likely wouldn't cut it. This just got a lot more interesting...
Cracking my knuckles, I called on the dimensional energies again to open up a pair of shimmering portals for evasion. No more holding back - that stash of treasures depended on me defeating this dungeon raid boss for good!
"Alright ugly, round two! Try breaking through this!" I yelled, unleashing a concentrated beam of chaotic spatial waves from both hands. The trippy energy blast struck Komododon head-on, wrapping its body in undulating rings of distorted space that immobilized most physical objects. Unfortunately, the hulking beast just snorted in annoyance and flexed its torso, somehow immediately shattering the spatial bindings like taut ropes!
"Oh come on!" I exclaimed, hastily rolling sideways as Komododon's thick tail swiped through the air at me with bone-crushing force. Clearly my normal space-time techniques were child's play for an adaptive menace who could alter dimensional physics on contact. Every second this rampage continued was another fortune in treasures at risk!
I needed an ability that could inflict damage directly without needing to restrain Komododon long enough for me to focus. Bursts of prismatic energy spun wildly in my mind's eye as I deftly wove between the monster's punishing strikes, its claws gouging chunks from ornate pillars instead of my flesh by narrow inches.
Then suddenly the glow of inspiration came to me - maybe more literal destructive explosions would do the trick! I attuned my inner senses towards the chaotic fury of colliding galaxies, stars gone supernova, and black holes violently consume all matter that strayed too close to their crushing gravitational pulls.
Yes...the forces that could unravel solar systems and warp the very cosmos were now mine to evoke!
"Try tanking this, tough guy! Hidden technique...Stellar Detonation!" I howled at the lumbering Komododon. Forcing my palms together, a blistering orb of fusing gases and blazing stardust flashed to life, filling the entire chamber with searing intensity like a second sun. The miniaturized nuclear reaction built to a brilliant crescendo between my hands, fed by my desire to protect the fruits of my labor.
Then with a primal roar I hurtled the intensely hot sphere straight towards the boss monster's face. Blinding luminescence lit up the treasure hall as the tiny star made contact, swallowing Komododon in a violent explosion of displaced energy and scorched matter!
The deafening blast kicked up a boiling shock wave that tossed piles of gold coins everywhere and caused my already ragged clothes to flap wildly. I stood firm against the cosmic gale though, eyes blazing with determination through the destruction. When the roar of the dying star finally dimmed, clouds of scattered dust still partially obscured the aftermath.
Waving the haze away I sought out my adversary. The great reptile now lay flat on its back amidst the rubble! Severely scorched scales and nasty plasma burns covered its unconscious body. Twitching legs signaled I had succeeded in my improvised finishing move. Komododon the dungeon boss was down for the count! No dimensional tricks could save it from a point-blank mini-supernova to the noggin.
"Haha! How'd you like a taste of real cosmic power, tough guy?" I taunted the comatose beast. I couldn't resist a little payback gloating after it busted in to threaten my fortunes. Maybe next time it would think twice about facing -
My boasting was cut short as another earth-shaking stomp rang out from seemingly empty air behind me. Whirling around I suddenly saw the fabric of space itself tear open as if sliced by an invisible scalpel. Blood red energies oozed from the slit, quickly coagulating into a hulking and very familiar shape...
None other than Komododon itself! Unharmed without any of the grievous plasma wounds my mighty Stellar Detonation should have inflicted!
"No way! I just deep fried this stupid lizard!" I protested in dismay. But as my eyes bounced between the apparently dead boss behind me and the new arrival crunching its knuckles, awful comprehension set in. That Spatial Charge ability must allow it to hop dimensional planes at will!
This was an endurance battle across infinite realities that I was utterly unprepared for. Each Komododon copy could keep ambushing me after I defeated the previous one with impunity. A truly terrifying implication for what I had assumed was a mere dungeon miniboss...
Swallowing nervously as those implications sank in, I quickly opened up a shimmering escape portal. I still needed much more training and tricks up my sleeve before attempting to conquer this space-hopping leviathan.
As the mythical throne-seated visions from my future self had shown...real power meant choosing battles carefully rather than just blindly charging forward. Sometimes even SSS-Rank adventurers needed to make tactical withdrawals in the face of never-ending reptilian legions!