Chapter 167: The White Witch (1/2)
A few moments before Kaelith found Rakna, Flavia and Tyran were facing the Boss on the last floor of the Dungeon. It was a giant zombie with two heads. Its eyes were red and crazed and it wielded a spiky chain that was wrapped around its waist, upper body, and arms.
”RRAAAAA!!” The zombie yelled and brought his two fists to the ground. It shook the entire floor and dug a sizeable crater. The chain was dragged by the movement and turned into a deadly whip headed in Flavia's direction.
She calmly eyed the weapon and her pupils dilated as her telekinesis bent its trajectory so that it would be buried next to her. She then decreased her weight with gravity and flew toward the head of the zombie with her sword at the ready.
At the same time, Tyran charged at full size and stomped on the zombie's arms before it could lift them again. He then bit into one of its necks, causing it to roar in anger. Flavia came soon after and applied telekinetic pressure on her blade before stabbing the second neck with all the momentum she had accumulated through her flight.
She twisted the greatsword and widened the wound until the muscles around were weak enough for her to use her telekinesis again. She concentrated all of it on the open gash and huffed as the giant's neck snapped loudly. As if on cue, Tyran managed to tear out the second head along with a part of the zombie's spine.
When the two were done, they jumped back and watched the Boss stagger before it collapsed on the ground, immobile. Flavia sighed when she was sure that it was over. ”It was a bit tricky… but where is the hidden part Rakna mentioned?” As she said so, a System window appeared.
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You have completed Marie's Tomb!
Difficulty: Normal.
Number of Participants: 1 | Average Level of Participants: 51.
Rewards: 10 000 Talys, Manesis Chest plate.
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The Host has been detected to be eligible for the Hidden Floor!
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Do you wish to leave regardless?
Yes/No
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”Well, that's right on time,” she commented with a smile and selected no. Immediately after, the body of the two-headed zombie doll dispersed into particles and in its place, the earth was pushed to the sides to reveal a wide underground staircase.
Flavia nodded at Tyran, who shrunk his body a little so that he could enter without trouble, and they started going down the stairs. There was nothing fancy about the slanted tunnel and it didn't appear either old or new.
When they reached the bottom, the sight that was presented to them was a spacious room with a high roof. The floor was tiled with expensive-looking material and the walls seemed to be covered in something similar to plaster. There were also several paintings and statues as decoration.
Other than that, there was pretty much nothing else. However, there was one notable thing. At the far back, there was a massive painting that took nearly the entire surface of the wall it was hanged on to. The painting was the portrait of a beautiful woman with snowy hair and eyes. Her clothes were also pure white and her skin was extremely pale.
”I wonder if that's supposed to be the Marie from whom this Dungeon was named,” Flavia thought out loud and tried to get closer to the painting when Tyran suddenly blocked her path with one of his legs. ”Tyran…?”
The fledgling Asura snarled and lowered his center of balance whilst glaring at the painting. Flavia also decided to take a closer look and after half a minute, she gasped as the woman depicted moved her eyes to look at them.
”Hm… that beast has quite the flair,” her mouth moved as she spoke. ”I wanted to do it quickly and without disruption. I just needed her to get a bit closer. Well, it doesn't matter,” she expressed and slowly began to detach herself from her two-dimensional confinement.
She stuck her arm out first, then her head, and she pulled the rest of her body like that. Her bare feet landed on the cold floor of the room and she smiled coldly at her visitors.
”You are right,” she said. ”My name is Marie. But you can call refer to me as the White Witch, Vellai Cuniya. It is a… pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she stated and performed a formal greeting by lifting the edges of her one-piece dress.
Flavia raised her guard and prodded her spiritual energy, preparing herself to use her telekinesis at a moment's notice. ”Are you perhaps a Hidden Boss to this Dungeon?” She asked cautiously.
”Hm, a Hidden Boss? That is not an incorrect way to put it. However,” Cuniya grinned. ”You were looking for a certain hidden piece in this Dungeon, right? The one that requires you to be a mage-class fighter. It normally opens a secret room back on the third floor where you will be given a test of your magical talent and given rewards based on the result.”
Flavia scowled because of what she was implying. ”Are you saying…?”
”Yes. I'm afraid I'm not the secret prize you're looking for,” she declared and raised her hand. ”I'm your unluckiest draw.”
In the blink of an eye, a magic circle whirled into existence in front of her and launched a formless mental spell. The speed was such that everything happened in less than half a second. Flavia only had the time to notice it and completely failed to react.
Cuniya smirked as her spell was about to hit its target but that was quickly replaced by surprise as a figure stood on the way.
Tyran received the invisible blow and instantly began to roar in pain as something tried to crawl into his mind and destroy his ego. But his Magic Immunity and Reflection kicked in to resist the brunt of it until he got rid of the rest with his Magic Eater.
On the other side, Cuniya grunted and held her temple. 'Backfired? Impossible,' she thought as the spell she had just launched partly turned against her. 'That spell should have been enough to make even a level 80 Host into an empty shell…'
Meanwhile, Tyran was shaking his head to clear his mind. On top of that, a few veins had popped and his nose had started bleeding due to the shock. The Dreorin realized on the spot that even if he could resist the spell's intent, he would probably suffer lethal damage to his brain if it was used too many times on him.