Solo Dungeon Runner-Chapter 40: [ Sacrifice ]

Alexander stood before the door to the boss area, Fae by his side.

He looked at his profile, nodding.

"Clearing the entire dungeon was worth it," he said.

He summoned his profile before him, his level going from 1 to 17 in a single dungeon was a game changer, and he hadn't even faced the boss yet.

[ Name : Veil ]

[ Level : 17 ]

[ Archetype : Specialist ]

[ Class : Beholder ]

[ Fate : Command, — ]

[ Effects : Darkness, Will Breaker's set, The Weight— ]

"I might reach 20..." he said.

Fae had grown significantly stronger, the girl he met in his inner path was no longer the same.

The only explanation he could find was that she matched his level, and that the stats she gained were more important than his.

Considering he was a specialist, anyone else most likely got a more significant change while leveling up in terms of raw stats.

He sighed, piling up everything they had collected near the boss's door.

"No point in fighting with our pockets full."

It was mostly cores, with 6 rubies, two for each archmonster they had defeated.

The archmonster they fought after the crow had been significantly easier, Fae essentially taking care of it by herself.

"We'll grab everything on the way out," he said.

She nodded, her face still hidden behind the mask she never took off.

"Once inside, we'll try to activate your mask."

She nodded once more.

"And I'll try my new spell."

Fae pushed the doors open, Alexander right behind her.

They opened into a large but empty room. It was almost as large as the Adventurer's Guild testing room, with only a single throne that seemed to be one with the floor and wall at the opposite side.

It looked like the throne had been pulled out of the rock, the way it extended outward with sharp edges. The backrest was raised almost halfway to the top of the room, an ominous seat in an overly large room.

Each wall had pillars carved into them that made it look like they were in a temple. In between the carved pillars were torches that lit up the surrounding area, darkness still present in most of the room.

[ Darkness ] was coming in handy one more time.

As they took several steps inside, the doors closed behind them in a loud bang that echoed through the room.

On the ceiling burst into flames several chandeliers that hung almost a third of the way down.

They were simple circular chandeliers that held a dozen candles each.

All of them burned with a bright blue flame, creating a colorful contrast with the rest of the room.

As the room lit up, two glowing eyes shone bright on the throne.

"Blue gemstones," he said to himself.

The boss sat on its throne while holding a long staff, its upper end was a large detailed ring that had inner circles in it.

It wore a black robe, with a dark blue outline that ran all around it.

On its collar were thin spikes resembling needles that rose higher than its skull, all connected by a dark metal band.

It stood up, the torches on all the walls suddenly turning blue like the torches on the ceiling, their flames now burning wild.

Each fire quadrupled in size, the room now bright with a blueish tint.

Alexander nodded at Fae, who separated from him and started walking up while he remained behind.

The boss walked down the few steps that led to its throne, its staff reverberating through the room each time it struck the floor.

It's a Lich.

Its skeletal form, paired with its staff and apparent proficiency for magic gave it away.

The whole dungeon was populated by undead and moving statues, a Lich would make sense here.

"Careful," said Alexander loudly, "it uses magic."

Fae glanced back, nodding.

She still held her two dull sickles that stood the test of time.

The room slowly rumbled.

The Lich raised its staff when Fae was halfway to it.

The trembling resembled an earthquake, Alexander carefully remaining upright while Fae was barely affected by it.

The ground split four times before the Lich, but no darkness came out of those—stone emerged, statues rising from the tiled floor.

Four statues that had the same size as the archmonsters appeared.

A sound that resembled rocks smashing into one another filled the room as they slowly came out.

Grotesque in appearance, they barely looked like anything he had seen. It looked like they had quickly been put together with little thought.

One of them was slightly taller and larger with a lion's head, another was shorter with insect-like limbs.

The remaining were by far the most detailed ones, the best work he had seen in the dungeon.

Their heads resembled those of hawks, and compared to the others, they had armor on.

It was all carved out of stone, yet it looked like an actual layer that they wore, resembling plate armor.

Each of them had heavy long bows that shook the ground once they laid the tip on it.

They had quivers on their backs with dozens of stone arrows inside.

They hadn't faced a statue with armor yet, let alone a weapon.

It's going all out. It respects us.

Alexander glanced at Fae, unfazed by the four enemies before her.

The Lich then hit the ground with its staff, its feet leaving the ground as it floated meters above.

He grabbed its staff with both hands and raised it once more, a dozen torches on the chandeliers extinguished—their flames rushing toward the Lich's staff.

Its weapon glowed blue while it tilted its head backward.

Hands suddenly broke through the floor beneath Alexander.

He jumped forward, then turned around.

Undead pierced the ground where he stood, hands, then whole arms, then entire bodies exiting the broken floor.

He jumped sideways, more arms piercing through and lunging at his feet.

His eyes went up, the Lich was tightly positioned between the stone archers, absorbing flames while it raised more corpses.

"Fae."

She nodded, calmly walking toward the giant statues.

He then concentrated his thoughts on his new spell.

[ Sacrifice ]