“Immovable Fortress!” Rhino shouted.
A golden barrier expanded.
Li Xiuman's downward slash with the bone sword was instantly deflected.
He gave up on using the bone sword further. After all, he wasn't of the Swordsman class and didn't know any sword skills; he could only rely on close combat combined with magic to apply tactical maneuvers.
Trying to deal high damage with pure swordsmanship was simply unrealistic.
Pulling his wand from where it was embedded in the stone wall, he aimed it at Rhino, who was holding up his Immovable Fortress.
Rhino wanted to dodge, but he didn't dare lower the Immovable Fortress.
All he could do was grit his teeth, glare at Li Xiuman, and grip his shield tightly, his muscles tensing like solid iron.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Three layers of magic circles—red, yellow, and green—unfurled.
Flames compressed, stone spikes wrapped around, and a whirlwind propelled them in a spiral.
Only this time, he wasn't using standard Fire Magic, but Burst Magic.
“Tier 1 Magic, Bursting Wind Spiral Spike!”
The spiral spike shot forward, slamming heavily against the golden barrier.
The golden barrier dented violently inward as the spiral spike drilled a hole right through, getting wedged halfway in the barrier.
Then, it violently exploded!
The Immovable Fortress was shattered in an instant, and the explosive shockwave sent Rhino flying.
A massive network of cracks spiderwebbed across his heavy armor.
“Tier 1 Magic, Fireball Rain!”
Red magic circles opened one after another in the air, raining down a torrent of Fireballs toward Rhino.
Gripping his shield, Rhino watched the incoming shower of Fireballs, despair blooming in his heart.
He braced his body against his shield, enduring fireball after fireball.
With every blast he blocked, the shield grew hotter, its surface gradually melting away.
By the time the barrage of fireballs subsided, Rhino's hands had been practically cooked by the heat of his own shield.
Yet, he still held his ground, desperately bracing against the shield.
Hearing no system notification, Li Xiuman raised his wand once more, opening a fresh array of magic circles in the air to begin a second round of bombardment.
[Ding! Killed Heavy Warrior lv20, Experience +600]
The system notification finally rang in his ears.
In the settling dust some distance away, the shield had half-melted. Bracing against it was a corpse, its arms covered in molten metal that had fused with the shield itself.
Only then did Li Xiuman stow his wand and walk toward the vampire Rorona.
“I'm taking you with me.”
Lifting Rorona onto his shoulder, he ripped away the magic stone that had fused with the flesh of her hands, spread his Bone Wings, and flew toward the upper levels of the dungeon.
At this moment, the area was already surrounded by swarms of fire crocodiles and Firewing Beasts.
“Lord Skeleton, please let me go. I don't want to live anymore.”
“I can lure these fire crocodiles away for you, Lord Skeleton. As long as you can escape, that's all that matters.”
The vampire's weak voice drifted up.
“We haven't reached that point yet. If we truly end up in a situation where I have no choice but to abandon you, I will do so,” Li Xiuman said as he cast another wind magic circle behind him, propelling them forward a massive distance.
“It's good that you think that way, Lord Skeleton.”
“I've been tortured by humans for so, so long. Being able to meet you at the very end is more than enough to make me happy.”
Dammit, she's already starting with the death flags.
Usually, characters who say stuff like this don't survive very long.
“I really wish... I could see the sunset of my childhood one more time.”
“Stop stacking flags. If you stack any more, even the Goddess of Light herself would have to face her end here today.”
Li Xiuman gripped his wand and activated another wind magic circle, flying forward a large distance.
He was headed straight for a Firewing Beast.
Drawing his bone sword and raising his wand, Li Xiuman charged ahead without dodging, staring down the roaring Firewing Beast.
“Mud Bullet!”
A yellow and a blue magic circle opened simultaneously, and a Mud Bullet struck the Firewing Beast's eye with pinpoint accuracy.
Immediately after, he swung his wind-imbued wand, scattering an incoming fireball.
The two were practically on top of each other.
Li Xiuman raised his bone sword and thrust it out with practiced ease, impaling the Firewing Beast's head.
Scalding blood sprayed all over him.
[Ding! Killed Firewing Beast lv19, Experience +500]
With no time to worry about the notification in front of him, he kicked the Firewing Beast's corpse away, flapped his wings, and used wind magic to propel himself toward the twenty-third floor.
Looking up from below, the massive lava waterfall was an incredibly spectacular sight.
The oncoming heatwave made Li Xiuman's flying body wobble, the intense heat making the bones on his face ache.
Rorona hastily unfolded a dark barrier to shield Li Xiuman from the heatwave.
However, she left herself completely exposed to the blistering current.
“What about you?”
“As long as you are fine, my Lord. I am a vampire, so I can recover even if I am injured.”
“I will be satisfied even if I die for you.”
Rorona forced a weak smile.
Wasting no more time, he dashed toward the waterfall, using wind magic to continuously generate updrafts.
They climbed higher and higher. As they got closer to the lava, the temperature soared ever higher.
Until they finally broke through to the twenty-third floor.
However, the fire crocodiles and Firewing Beasts swarmed up after them, refusing to give up the chase.
“My Lord, we must destroy that magic stone to quiet this monster stampede.”
“Otherwise, these monsters will go all the way up and break out of the dungeon.”
“Can we just throw it away?”
Li Xiuman glanced at the heart-shaped magic stone in his waist pouch.
“I am sorry, my Lord, but if it is not destroyed, even discarding it will be useless.”
Li Xiuman tried to break the magic stone, but it was so incredibly hard that he couldn't damage it at all.
“Lord Skeleton, I can fuse the magic stone into my body.”
“Then, you can throw me into the lava to destroy it.”
Rorona suggested.
“That is the worst possible plan. There's another way.”
Li Xiuman rejected her proposal.
“Lord Skeleton, you are the only one who has not detested me and has treated me with kindness. Before I met you, I was always in pain and torment.”
“Screaming in agony only invited more brutal abuse.”
“If I die for you, then death will no longer be painful.”
“There is no other way, Lord Skeleton.”
“If we drag this out, I will be the death of you, and I would never be able to rest in peace.”
Rorona reached out, groping at Li Xiuman's waist to snatch the magic stone and throw herself down.
“Stop it. I said there's another way.”
Li Xiuman was only willing to survive by stepping on the corpses of his enemies.
Surviving by stepping on the bodies of his companions was not his style.
A solution... there must be a solution.
How do I destroy this magic stone?
Li Xiuman's eyes lit up as he turned to look at Rorona.
“If a vampire gets an arm chopped off, can it grow back?”
“...Yes,” Rorona answered.
“In that case, can you manage to completely fuse this magic stone into your left arm bone?”
“If you lie to me, I will hate you forever.”
Dammit, what kind of shoujo manga line is that?
Have I really fallen so low as to say something like this?
But for the current Rorona, the threat of being hated was incredibly powerful.
“I can, but that will only change the form of the magic stone.”
“When the time comes, even if you cut my arm off and throw it into the lava, it won't destroy the magic stone.”
Rorona reminded him.
“That's not the kind of destruction I have in mind.”
“It's a process of digestion.”
Li Xiuman handed the magic stone to Rorona.
“From now on, you must follow my orders to the letter. Do you understand?!”
Li Xiuman instructed with absolute seriousness.
Rate on N.U.
