The sound of a dry impact echoed through the cave as Enrico rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a slashing blow from Zubai. The creature advanced with distorted, fast and silent movements, except when it released its bursts of sonic magic. The darkness in the cave was nearly absolute, and the flame Enrico kept in his hands illuminated little more than a palm's width in front of his face.
He propelled himself forward with Fire Kick, leaving an orange trail behind. Zubai appeared on the left, wings spread, and launched a wave of high-pitched sound. Enrico's chest trembled from the invisible impact, staggering backward.
[Attack from behind!]
Without hesitation, Enrico jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the claw that would have sliced his spine. Still in the air, he shaped a Fireball, splitting it into nine smaller projectiles that shot straight at the enemy.
Zubai crossed his arms to block, but even so, the heat made him retreat for a moment. And it was in that moment that Enrico propelled himself again with Fire Punch, concentrating the maximum mana in his right hand and making the fire grow larger, illuminating the surroundings for a brief second. In that second, he saw the core glowing on the creature's back.
Without thinking, he jumped from behind, spinning in the air over Zubai and fired a double arrow that crossed the darkness and hit the core squarely.A cracking sound echoed, and Zubai howled, showing pain for the first time. His body bent, and the wings closed reflexively.
'I couldn't destroy it, and that was the strongest I could do.'
The creature turned with fury, its eyes vibrating in dark tones, and a thick, suffocating Black Mist began to spread throughout the cave.
[Enrico, I'll try to help again. The constellations are having fun.]
'Bastards.'
The light of Enrico's flames was reduced to an almost insignificant glow. He could barely see his own arm. The attacks came soon after — quick, invisible, silent slashes. One tore his side, another sliced his leg, and another cut part of his shoulder.
"Ghh…!"
Enrico turned, trying to counterattack, but there was nothing there. Only darkness.
[Attack from behind!]
He fell to his knees, and Zubai passed over him and vanished again. Blood dripped from the wounds, and he breathed heavily.
Enrico had an idea and pressed his hands to the ground.
"Spread."
With small pops, small flames appeared in distinct points of the cave. It wasn't an attack, only a way to improve the situation enough to reveal the path for a few seconds. He saw a shadow coming from the right and countered with an Ascending Fire Kick that hit the creature's chest squarely.
Zubai recoiled, dragging his claws on the ground but didn't fall. The mist surrounded him again and extinguished each of the scattered flames.
Everything returned to darkness.
[Better think of something else.]
"Shut up, I'm thinking."
Enrico spoke while breathing heavily. His body trembled, and every muscle screamed in pain as more blood dripped to the ground. The next strike was brutal. Zubai emerged from the ceiling, opening his wings and descending with both fists. Enrico only had time to cross his arms before being thrown against the cave wall, cracking the stone.
However, when he rose, his eyes were glowing — Crimson Eyes activated. He could detect the magical direction of the fire he was leaving in the air, so if Zubai passed through those places, he would know. It was limited, but enough.
With a short breath, he summoned the Elemental Clone. Since he had dispelled it quickly in the previous fight, he still had time. The fire figure formed beside him. He stood behind the clone and leaned against the wall, waiting.
Zubai advanced, and Enrico noticed thanks to Crimson Eyes. The clone stood in front and was sliced in half, exploding into a curtain of fire. The flame illuminated part of the environment and revealed Enrico's flanking approach. He jumped with strength, spinning his body, and then:
"I need to take advantage of this moment."
A Fire Punch with half his magic hit the base of Zubai's left wing. The membrane tore, and a guttural scream came from the creature. A piece of the wing fell to the ground, charred. Zubai quickly staggered back.
Both were in horrible shape, so they had to be smart. Enrico looked at the wound without taking his eyes off Zubai. He was covered in cuts, arms scratched, part of his chest burned from friction, his face dripping blood. He tried to breathe a little more while analyzing the damage to himself.
The creature growled ahead and disappeared into a mist, and Enrico understood quickly. Zubai was fleeing to hide and strike again.
"Not this time…"
He ran toward the dungeon entrance — there, the darkness was less intense, and the mist wouldn't last as long. He looked back and saw a mist quickly approaching. Zubai was pursuing him.
He dodged sonic attacks, and when Enrico rounded the last corner, natural light reached his skin. The place was brighter — just enough.
Zubai noticed too. A larger new mist rose to cover the entrance and block the light. Then, the creature released a sequence of sonic attacks. Each vibration hit Enrico internally — organs trembled, ears bled, vision wavered. He quickly covered his ears.
[Moderate internal damage, plus a deep cut detected on the side.]
Zubai appeared from behind and launched an attack with his right claw. Enrico stepped back, still receiving a lighter cut, and let Zubai pass by him. Looking at his back, with all remaining energy, he drew the Double Arrow, one in each hand, and fired both with precision. They tore through the air and hit the core — cracked since the start of the fight.
The arrows exploded together.
The core shattered into pieces, and Zubai, even near death, launched a final attack. The claws slashed Enrico's left arm, cutting deeply from shoulder to elbow.
"GAAHH!"
He fell to his knees, his arm bleeding. But in front of him, Zubai disintegrated into fragments of mist, his body losing cohesion. The last two fragments of the Red Night Bat fell to the ground with a metallic clink.
[Fragments collected: 7/7]
[You have completed the collection of the Red Night Bat Artifact]
[Congratulations on clearing a Dungeon solo]
Light flooded the cave. The mist slowly vanished. The once-dark environment now seemed almost peaceful.
Enrico was still breathing heavily. But he remained standing.
This was, in a way, the first victory against a truly strong Nartheis at the top of level two. He had also faced Rirus in the fake dungeon, but there he used a self-sacrifice strategy since he knew he wouldn't die and threw himself with Rirus into a giant pit, falling to the bottom with Rirus hitting the core first and Enrico being pulled back before falling. That's how he got the two percent from Rirus to his core.
"Huff… Think it's time for a rematch against Rirus head-on."
Then Enrico sat on the ground, leaning against the stone wall. His arm was bleeding heavily, and his whole body ached.
[Enrico, you're at risk of fainting. Treat yourself immediately.]
"…Damn. I need… to take care of this first. Before I bleed to death."
He looked at the fragments beside him and gathered them all in a safe place. Then he began to bandage his wounds with what was left of his pants from the battle.
After that, he grabbed the bag he had left outside the dungeon and put on the clothes he bought in Balia City — a red noble outfit with black pants.
He took the dagger from the bag and placed it at his waist.
[And now what are you going to do?]
'I'll need help for the next ones, so I'll have to recruit someone, and I already know who it is.'
Enrico leaned back to rest, wanting to close his eyes, but not yet.
[Who?]
'A villainess who, in my view, has potential but was easily defeated by her sister in the future just to show how strong the new girl who appeared in the story was.'
[Interesting. I'll research who.]
'Wait, weren't you supposed to have learned about the story… don't tell me you skipped some parts?'
The system disappeared quickly while Enrico's face twisted in disbelief, lowering his head because someone was treating his favorite story like that.
He looked at the fragments and began assembling them. It was time to use them.