Chapter 113 - A conservatory melee
Along with the others, Scarlett made her way through the hidden paths of Abelard’s Doll mansion that had connected to the secret laboratory. They’d climbed dark stone stairways, squeezed past tight passageways running behind the mansion walls, and now, they eventually found themselves exiting out from behind a large painting frame into a long lobby with painted walls and bright, magical lights hanging from the ceiling. There was a tall set of doors at the end of the lobby, with a doll guarding either side. Both dolls turned to them, but neither moved from their position.
Scarlett looked around. They were before the conservatory—or rather, the boss room—and had skipped most of this section of the dungeon. It wasn’t exactly optimal, at least not when looking at it from a loot-gathering perspective, but that wasn’t an actual issue. They could always backtrack through the mansion later, after they dealt with things here. It was easier doing things in that order, really.
She shifted her eyes to the two dolls, studying them for a moment.
To her artifact-empowered sight, the telltale signs of their weak points showed as small whirlwinds of movement in their magical defenses.
It seemed the [Tablet of Sovegrephor] had done its job. She’d used it on her [Charms of Apperception] before they left the laboratory since it could be useful to see these things in the upcoming fight. The new ‘level limit’ for the charms was unknown, but considering the tablet had been epic-tier, she wagered that the [Charms of Apperception] would now work against enemies somewhere in the 65-70 range if you went by the game’s power levels.
That should be enough for this place.
She gestured towards the dolls. “Sir Leon. If you would take the lead.”
The tall man gave her a brief look before readying his sword and moving down the lobby. Both dolls remained motionless until he was within a few meters of the doors behind them. Then, as if on command, both raised their blade-like arms and lashed out at the knight.
Leon’s sword lit up as he blocked one set of arms, the other doll being pushed back by a burst of light from the blade. A moment after, Fynn came rushing in like a truck, leaping at the second doll with both arms raised and glowing claws above his knuckles.
It shifted its focus to him just in time to block the attack. Then its head was knocked back as a small bolt struck beneath its eye, creating a thin crack in its marble face.
Beside Scarlett, Allyssa quickly got to reloading her crossbow.
Fynn jumped on the opportunity and slashed his claws through the doll’s left arm, almost tearing half of it off. Scarlett conjured a wall of fire to block its sight to the left, and Shin came striking with his sword from the right. The doll blocked the man’s attack without issue, and it didn’t appear afraid of Scarlett’s flames. That was its mistake though, as a second later, Leon’s sword came soaring through the firewall and separated the doll’s head from its body in one fell swoop.