Chapter 56 - The Test [13]
BAM!
At Vael’s signal, Zion and Cindy rushed in again to the Lizardman Warrior.
They sprinted forward together without missing a single beat, closing the distance instantly while the monster was still recovering.
SWIIISH!
Zion started attacking relentlessly, each swing from him was aggressive, forgetting about defending at all. He gripped his weapon tight, pouring all his energy into a wild series of heavy slashes aimed directly at the creature’s exposed torso.
TINK! TUNK! CLANK!
-KUEK...!
With the Lizardman losing its grip on its spear, it used the hardened tail to defend from the attack.
It gritted its sharp teeth, bringing its heavy tail around to intercept the incoming iron edge before the strikes could land on its chest.
It groaned, the scales on its tail were slowly getting chipped away each attack it blocks from Zion’s strikes. Small bits of dark green scale shattered off into the air with every heavy impact, unable to fully absorb the continuous force behind the blows.
And as the Lizardman was busy defending—FWISH!
Cindy slithered behind it and targeted its nape! She moved silently across the dark stone floor like a shadow, slipping right past its peripheral vision with her short blade raised high.
"Huh?!"
But to her surprise, the Lizardman ducked down just in time to avoid the strike without even looking at it!
She gasped in shock as her blade cut through empty air, failing to make contact with the back of its neck by a fraction of an inch.
Like hte monster had an eye behind its head!
It reacted purely on battle instinct, dropping its head toward the ground with unbelievable physical coordination.
Then with a huge frown on its face—TWHACK!
It launched a back kick as a counter to Cindy!
Its thick back leg snapped out backward like a coiled spring, driving its clawed foot directly toward her upper chest.
"UGH...!"
Cindy was able to block in time with her arms, a numbing pain settling in on them as she was pushed several meters back.
She crossed her forearms in front of her face just before impact, but the raw kinetic force skidded her boots back across the smooth stone.
And not only that—TIIIIIIING!
"...?!"
With its sharp claws, it slashed toward the incoming sword of Zion, parrying it effortlessly!
Zion’s eyes widened in surprise as the monster’s left hand caught the side of his steel blade mid-swing, knocking his weapon completely off course.
Zion’s arms shot up because of that too. The sheer shockwave of the parry knocked his guard completely wide open, forcing his upper body back and leaving him exposed.
The Lizardman quickly picked its spear again with his left hand, it was waiting for its right arm to heal up.
It scooped up the fallen polearm off the stone ground, holding the heavy weapon awkwardly with its non-dominant hand while its right shoulder remained frozen.
But before the monster could even follow up an attack on Zion—SPLACK!
A bright blue stream of liquid wrapped tightly around the spearhead, pulling the shaft away before it could lung forward at Zion’s chest.
Zion used that time to retreat back.
He stumbled back several paces, regaining his balance quickly and resetting his combat stance away from the monster’s melee range.
And now that there are no allies around the floor boss—
"HUP...!"
SPLOOOOSH!!!
Cordelia unleashed a flurry of attacks, uncontrolled and violent swings of her whip lashed onto the floor boss! She snapped her wrist continuously from a safe distance, sending relentless waves of pressurized water crashing down on the Lizardman Warrior’s location.
And the Lizardman—
-KRAAAAAA!!!
It had no choice but to be defensive again.
It let out a frustrated roar as the relentless barrage of water strikes rained down on it from every angle, forcing it to hold its position.
BAM! TWHACK! BOOM-CRACK!
The Lizardman Warrior parried as many attacks as it could with its spear, but with one hand, it can only do much—so it compensated with its tail to block the ones coming from his right side.
It twirled the weapon frantically with its left arm to deflect the direct strikes, while constantly whipping its heavy tail around to cover its blind spots.
And if it can, it will slither away and dodge the remaining ones, making Cordelia hit nothing but the ground.
It darted left and right across the room, letting the heavy water strikes smash harmlessly against the stone floor beneath its feet.
It was doing really well and handling the battle amazingly despite having its dominant arm injured. If it was a one on one against any of the party members of the group, then it would’ve dominated the fight easier and probably won!
Its combat experience and high base attributes allowed it to survive an overwhelming assault that would have killed a normal monster instantly.
But alas—this fight was not a one versus one.
The monster was facing a fully coordinated party with complementary abilities, perfectly covering each other’s gaps to keep the pressure constant.
"[Earth Bind!]"
GRRRAACK!!!
Crystal cast a spell at the right time, and as soon as she did—the ground beneath the Lizardman Warrior moved and grabbed onto its legs and feet!
She thrust her staff downward, causing the stone floor under the monster to soften instantly and wrap around its ankles like heavy cuffs.
-?!!
The monster gasped in confusion, its yellow eyes bulging as it tried to yank its limbs free from the solidifying stone grip.
It was unable to move back to dodge, and because it was taken by surprise—
T H W A C K!
Cordelia was able to knock away its spear again for the second time!
Her water whip snapped forward with maximum force, striking the middle of the spear shaft and sending the weapon flying across the cavern floor.
The Lizardman Warrior was completely wide open now, its main weapon gone, its feet trapped in stone, and its right arm still paralyzed by frostbite.
-KEK...! KRAAAAA!
It gritted its teeth, frantically trying to channel its remaining mana into its tail to break the earth spell binding its legs. It tried to calm down and do something, searching desperately for any way to escape the trap or block the incoming follow-ups.
But he was just a beat too late—
F W O O O O O S H—!
Vael, who was watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity, didn’t give it a single second to recover or formulate a counterplay.
He slid through behind the Lizardman in a flash, taking advantage of its disarray.
Then with a calm, calculated look on his face—
STAB!
He drove [Frost] at the back of the floor monster, aiming for the heart.
The sharp, frozen tip of the rapier pierced right through its thick back scales, sinking deep into its upper torso until the hilt touched its hide.
And as his weapon was inside the Lizardman—
"[Absolute Frost]"
Vael muttered that.
It was one of his skills, unleashing every bit of stored ice mana directly into its internal bloodstream.
And slowly... The blue glow from the rapier flared intensely, spreading outward from the point of entry like a spreading web of bright blue cracks.
Then the Lizardman Warrior started to freeze from inside and out.
-KEK?? KAARAAAA!!!
The Lizardman Warrior let out a strange, choked cry that quickly turned into a muffled screech as the cold energy consumed its vocal cords.
And in a few moments... it became nothing but an ice statue. The thick green scales, the muscular tail, and the panicked expression on its face were all completely locked under a dense layer of solid frost.
"..."
That’s when Vael pulled his sword back.
He placed his boot lightly against its lower back and yanked [Frost] clean out of its body, stepping back casually as the blade slid free.
CRACK—BOOM!
The moment the weapon left its body, the extreme tension inside the frozen structure reached its breaking point.
Then the ice statue of the Lizardman Warrior shattered to multiple pieces.
The frozen carcass burst outward into hundreds of tiny, glinting blue fragments, scattering harmlessly across the stone floor of the boss room.
The heavy silence returned to the dark cavern, broken only by the faint sound of small ice bits bouncing off the stone walls.
"And that’s that."
Vael said softly, sheathing [Frost] back at his hip as the blue aura around the weapon completely vanished.
Zion, Cindy, Cordelia, and Crystal stood in their positions for a few seconds, staring at the pile of shattered ice where the floor boss once stood.
"Did we... actually beat it that fast?"
Zion asked, lowering his weapon slowly while looking at the mess on the floor in utter disbelief.
"Yeah, we did."
Vael replied with a small smirk, turning back to face the rest of the group.
"The second floor boss is officially down, now we just need to rest and travel back the entrance of the dungeon before the time of the test runs out."
He added with a casual wave of his hand.