"Help! Lord Adventurer!!! Help… ahhhhhh!"
The Hybrid Pallum opened its mouth wide and bit down on Akshi's head, causing the little guy to flail wildly on the ground.
To this, Isagi and Tiona exchanged a look.
Then, the boy drew the long blade at his waist, stepped forward, and in a flash, was in front of the little Goblin, swinging his sword down!
Did it connect?
He felt the sensation of cutting through flesh and blood. Isagi had originally thought that a small-sized BOSS like this would be a high-speed type, but was that not the case?
No…
As he continued his attacks, Isagi realized that the Hybrid Pallum before him wasn't lacking speed or unable to dodge his blade; it hadn't moved at all from the very beginning!
The BOSS, lying on Akshi's body, only stiffly raised its head after being hit by the first slash.
Then, it let the long blade in his hand repeatedly slice across its body.
It wasn't without damage.
This guy, with a body that had a bit of every monster's characteristics, was seeping dark pus and blood.
But it still wore no expression, even giving the illusion that it was staring blankly at him.
Until.
Isagi's blade rose and fell. With a flash of moonlight, the opponent's head just fell off, landing with a thud next to Akshi.
"Ah?!"
The little Goblin scrambled away, hiding behind him.
Immediately after, Isagi saw the headless Hybrid Pallum reach out, pick up the head it had just dropped, and then reattach it to its neck.
Except it put it on backward, so all Isagi could see now was a bald, sore-covered back of the head.
What's going on?
It seems to work just fine like this!
The Hybrid Pallum didn't care at all that its head was on backward. It just plunged its lizard-claw-like hands into its own chest.
It stood up, raised its head high, even stood on its tiptoes, and with great effort, finally pulled a long blade made of a mixture of flesh, blood, and organs from its body.
Then, it assumed the exact same stance as him.
Is it learning how to use a weapon from me?
Step forward.
Swing the blade!
The Hybrid Pallum's sudden attack was exactly the same as what he had just done to it!!
Fortunately, Isagi already had rich "smithing" experience. A sword fight of this level was nothing to him, especially since the opponent was completely copying his moves.
Metal and flesh clashed. In the dark cavern, only the continuous, ear-piercing sound of collisions could be heard.
But.
As the battle continued, Isagi noticed that the long blade in the Hybrid Pallum's hand had changed again. The flesh mixed with organs slowly "grew" a bone-like sharp edge.
It seemed to be using his strikes to slowly transform it into a weapon in the truest sense.
This is too ridiculous. Is this BOSS the type that infinitely adapts and evolves?
In that case, I have to nip it in the bud!
Just as Isagi was thinking this, Tiona's voice came from the other side!!
"Ah! It ran away!!"
The Amazon girl was originally watching the Golden Killer Ant, while also preventing this BOSS, the Hybrid Pallum, from suddenly attacking Lefiya.
As it turned out.
Just as Isagi was locked in battle with the BOSS, that very fierce-looking Golden Killer Ant actually ran away without looking back?!
Tiona had wondered if it was some kind of trick, like pretending to flee.
But that wasn't the case at all!
This left the Amazon girl "stunned" on the spot for a moment, making her completely unable to join the boy's fight.
However…
Isagi's side was also over.
In the midst of the exhilarating, fierce sword fight, the Hybrid Pallum suddenly took a step back, sheathed its blade, paused for a moment, and then, mimicking his own iaijutsu combat art, swung out a [Full Moon Slash] like a flash of lightning—not!
His "Iaido Full Moon Slash" was a combination of the weapon's [Characteristic] and a combat art read out with magic. It couldn't do that, so it slashed out nothing but air. It had the form, but not the substance.
Both its speed and destructive power were far inferior to his own Full Moon Slash.
The Hybrid Pallum was also stunned, seeming to sense that the slash it had unleashed was completely different from his.
And at the same time.
Isagi also used his Iaido Full Moon Slash, adding the repetition of [Glimmer Echo] for a two-hit combo.
"Z"!
A silver moonlight streaked a brilliant trail through the cavern, instantly cutting the Hybrid Pallum's legs into several pieces.
This thing doesn't die from being beheaded, so it seems I have to find the Magic Stone inside its body and destroy or dig it out.
In that case.
First, I'll cut off its legs to disable it!
The fact that it picked up its severed head and reattached it instead of growing a new one meant that dismemberment was effective against it.
And to prevent the BOSS from having time to reattach its legs, Isagi's attack did not end; on the contrary, this was just the beginning.
Spirit Essence skill activated, transform—
[Meat Cup Princess]!!
A cloud and mist of a completely different style swirled in the cavern. In an instant, a female Kobold of flawless beauty appeared out of thin air.
Flying in the air, her right hand transformed into a long blade. Towards the now-legless Hybrid Pallum before her, she unleashed a mad dog combo.
Pierce, slash, chop—she even grabbed the opponent with her left hand, slammed it to the ground, then brutally stomped on it with her long legs and kicked it away.
Isagi was dumbfounded.
He thought to himself, so the Meat Cup Princess had this side to her? I've never eaten this before!
But it wasn't over yet. The Meat Cup Princess's hands once again transformed into sharp claws, and she pounced on the Hybrid Pallum, which was still flying in mid-air, unleashing a combo even more rabid than before.
For the entire duration of the Spirit Essence skill, the beautiful Kobold flying in the air continuously pursued the target, but it was too brutal. Tiona and Lefiya couldn't intervene at all and could only watch from a distance.
A god-tier single-target skill, I guess.
When it was all over, the Hybrid Pallum's tattered body lay in the cavern like a broken burlap sack, only able to emit strange, gasping sounds. "Hoh... hoh..."
Now, I just need to find this guy's Magic Stone, right?
Speaking of which, wasn't that a bit too easy? Is it because this BOSS hasn't grown to its strongest yet...
Just as Isagi was thinking this, as the clouds dispersed and he returned to his original form.
The anomaly happened again!
Lying on the ground, with its head completely on backward, the Hybrid Pallum opened its mouth wide and shot out a pink, long tongue of either a Dungeon Lizard or a large frog.
Not good!!
The moment he saw the opponent's action, Isagi seemed to have thought of something and wanted to swing his sword to cut its tongue.
But it was still faster.
Holy crap, so its head wasn't on backward?!
The long tongue stuck to something deep in the cavern like a grappling hook, quickly pulling the Hybrid Pallum's tattered body backward. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared from his sight.
It ran away?!
This… is this a Souls-like BOSS that "changes zones"?!
Dungeon, you're not authentic at all!!
From the moment he didn't see a fog gate, Isagi felt something was wrong, which was why he prioritized severing the BOSS's legs. But he never expected this guy could also run away with its tongue!!
I give up!
At this moment, Tiona and the others, who had just caught up—the Meat Cup Princess's combo had sent the Hybrid Pallum flying quite far—also saw the scene of the Hybrid Pallum escaping from a distance.
"Isagi, should we chase it?!"
"Yeah."
They definitely had to chase it.
The BOSS's characteristics were already very obvious: it would continuously learn and evolve through battle, becoming stronger.
So if they didn't kill it quickly and let it develop for a while, it would definitely become harder and harder to fight. It's just that the cavern's terrain was complex; who knew where it ran off to?
No.
A faint stench lingered in the air.
Isagi looked at Akshi, recalling how the Hybrid Pallum had been licking and biting the little Goblin's body earlier. As a result, all the dung pellets stuck to him had been…
So, this smell was left by the BOSS!
To think the dung pellets the Dungeon gave me had such a wonderful use, it must be true love—not! A BOSS that changes zones shouldn't even exist, okay! Always learning the bad stuff and never the good!!
...
Following the trail of the dung pellet's stench.
Along the way, Isagi and the girls saw quite a few monsters with large chunks of their bodies eaten.
They were very fresh, some with blood that hadn't even coagulated yet, clearly having just been eaten, which further confirmed the correctness of their tracking route. That Hybrid Pallum was running and eating at the same time, both to recover its injuries and to increase its strength.
"Didn't you say there was no [King] here? What was that guy just now?"
Tiona tapped Akshi's head with the greatsword in her hand. Lefiya at her side also nodded in agreement, chiming in with "Yeah, yeah."
"I… I don't know either…"
Clearly, he was genuinely scared.
At this moment, Akshi, even without being tied by the Amazon girl's rope, followed Isagi and the girls closely, not straying a single step.
"Maybe…"
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe it's a [Miracle]."
"Huh?"
Lefiya tilted her head. She had obviously never heard of any "Miracle" in the Dungeon. Asfi and Tiona were also hearing this term for the first time. They all looked at the little Goblin, and Akshi just continued to speak.
"In the [Darkness] of the Dungeon, [Miracles] are occasionally born."
"Monsters all have clans, but a [Miracle] does not. It is a unique existence, and innately powerful, just like the strongest knight who accompanied the King."
"And."
"The King once slew a great dragon at the end of his expedition. Although it was just an infant dragon, it was also a [Miracle] that shouldn't have existed."
Oh, so that's what a "rare monster" in the Dungeon is.
Isagi got it.
The so-called end of the king's expedition, wasn't that the 12th Floor? The rare monster [Infant Dragon] does indeed spawn there.
Because it's much stronger than a normal Lv. 2 monster (dragon-type monsters are much stronger than ordinary monsters), it's also called the "Upper Floor Boss."
These were all written in the Guild's "Adventurer's Guide."
Then what was the [Hybrid Pallum] just now?
The special monsters he had encountered in the Dungeon so far all had a prototype.
But the BOSS just now looked too abstract. Could it really be a "fusion monster" made by kneading together all the monsters that could possibly appear in the Hybrid Zone?
Or maybe...
...
Following the stench that filled the air.
After a long time.
Isagi and the girls arrived in an area they had never seen before.
Before them was a huge cavern chamber.
Inside, whether it was the ground, the walls, or the ceiling, it was covered in a thick layer of fine, moss-like purple powder, sparkling in the darkness.
Under the light of the Magic Stone lamp.
It showed an even more magnificent and colorful luster, and amidst it, Isagi saw one huge, pure white cocoon after another.
Without needing Akshi's explanation, Isagi and the girls could tell at a glance that these were the monsters originally in the Dungeon, called "Purple Moths."
Because these guys were too famous.
As mentioned before, most adventurers who level up to Lv. 2 will be offered the [Abnormal Resistance] development ability.
The reason is that from the 7th Floor onwards, Purple Moths will appear, and their powder can inflict a poison status.
But now.
In the cavern chamber before them, the sky and ground were covered everywhere with poisonous powder.
What now?
Rely on Miss Asfi to fly in?
But the stench coming from deep within the chamber indicated that the Hybrid Pallum was hiding inside. If everyone was on the woman's back, how would they fight later?
"I'll go try!"
Tiona said. Among everyone present, only she had the [Abnormal Resistance] development ability, and it wasn't a low rank!
So, the girl thought of trying to see how strong the poison was.
As it turned out…
Just after walking into the cave full of deep purple powder, before she got far, Tiona felt dizzy. She quickly retreated, gulping down several bottles of antidote in a row, and almost didn't recover.
Such strong poison!
Since even the Amazon girl couldn't handle it, it was even more impossible for Isagi and Lefiya to go in.
What to do?
This place is completely impassable?
Isagi felt that wasn't the case.
There couldn't possibly be such a shitty place. The answer should be hidden in this area—the boy remembered what Akshi had said before.
The monsters in the [Hybrid Zone] all devour each other, treating each other as food.
So there must be a way to deal with the poisonous powder of these Purple Moths, otherwise, wouldn't they be invincible on this floor?!!
At the very least.
That Hybrid Pallum guy, it can't fly, so how did it get in?!
In his thoughts, Isagi thought of the long tongue the BOSS had spat out from its mouth when it escaped—it looked like a Dungeon Lizard's, and also like a large frog's—at the moment it spat it out, a lot of transparent slime had flowed out, splattering all over the ground!
That's it!
Isagi turned his head and noticed that along the way, there were actually very tiny specks of slime left on the ground.
This was probably the clue the Dungeon had originally intended to use to "guide" him to find the runaway boss. It was just that he had the more convenient guide of the dung pellet smell, so he hadn't noticed.
In that case.
Isagi once again beckoned for the flying Asfi to come over, then whispered something in the woman's ear.
"…"
Although she felt the boy's guess was a bit ridiculous, thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make some sense.
Therefore.
Asfi quickly flew back into the sky, then opened the large pot in her hand.
At this moment, the situation in the large pot was already a bit "unsettling."
Mainly because those severed frog tongues were still constantly dripping slime, causing the dung pellets and those fat, white moth larvae to be completely soaked in it, turning into an indescribable "thick soup."
Asfi didn't dare to look at all.
She could only slowly pour out the slime from the large pot.
The silver, thread-like liquid quickly fell into the deep purple powder, and then, it actually "dissolved" that thick layer of powder and spread out, quickly leaving a large area on the spot for them to stand.
It really is like this!
The monsters on this floor are mutually restrictive.
Because they see each other as food, they all have ways to counter one another.
For example, a frog's skin is resistant to blunt attacks, so the muscular giants born from the Killer Ants' mutual devouring can't harm it. But a single, ordinary Killer Ant's sharp mandibles can easily pierce a frog's skin.
And the slime secreted from a frog's mouth can dissolve the deadly poisonous powder of a Purple Moth, allowing it to be easily swallowed as food.
In that case, the rest is simple.
Asfi held the large pot, flying a little ahead, constantly pouring out the slime secreted by the frog tongues, dissolving a walkable path in front.
And Isagi and the girls followed this path, continuously walking forward, towards the depths of the cavern.
Until...
They reached its end.
In the darkness, a pure white cocoon, taller than a person, was suspended in mid-air.
Asfi understood. She flew around it, dissolving all the deep purple poisonous powder beneath the cocoon, artificially creating a rather spacious circular field.
But.
Where did that Hybrid Pallum go?
Isagi and the girls were puzzled. They looked around, but found there was nowhere to hide deep in the chamber.
Because the ceiling and the surrounding walls were still completely covered in layers of poisonous powder.
Could it be...
Isagi turned his gaze back to the cocoon before him. What's that throbbing?
Like a heart.
Thump... thump... thump... thump...
The pure white cocoon throbbed silently. Finally, the Hybrid Pallum's ugly, still-backward head broke free from within.
Huh?!
You ran into someone else's cocoon?!
What is this?
Cuckolding a moth or…
Isagi and the girls watched as the Hybrid Pallum struggled to climb out of the cocoon. Then, it suddenly plunged the long blade in its hand, which had completely turned to bone with only remnants of flesh on the hilt, back into the cocoon.
"!!!"
With a piercing shriek, the cocoon trembled violently. Then, a large amount of extremely brightly colored, deep green liquid seeped out and dripped down.
And when the Hybrid Pallum pulled out its long blade again.
At this moment, the blade, originally a mixture of flesh and white bone, was now covered in a thick layer of beautiful, deep purple powder.
It was still slowly drifting down, like cherry blossoms fluttering in the night…
…
___
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