The Matron kept doing what it could to evade the werewolf time and again, but Percival noticed that each time he edged closer to the egg core structure the Matron was initially on top of, she would draw back in.
She was definitely trying to protect that egg, which at this point had started glowing faintly as it pulsed with light.
So Percival leaped up and stayed right on the egg core. The Matron roared out aggressively and hurtled towards it, making another giant leap towards the werewolf.
Percival's lips widened into a grin as he cocked his fist backward in anticipation, and the moment the Matron got into proximity, he lunged his punch upwards into an uppercut right to the monster's jaw, which sent it tumbling backwards.
That punch should have been enough to settle the deal with any other hound, but the Matron had a body made of crystal that gave it additional protection.
It wiggled its head back up and roared out again toward Percival.
The werewolf dropped from the height to face it squarely, and right then Lucy tossed the bomb towards him, calling out, "Try this on it!"
Percival caught hold of it at once, and almost immediately the Matron rushed at him again. It got into proximity and leaped at the werewolf with its dangerously looking maws wide open.
The werewolf simply hurled the bomb straight into its mouth and took one large leap backwards as Lucy yelled, "Everyone step back!"
The others obliged, and right after they did, the explosive went off.
BOOM.
The detonation was massive. The Matron's crystalline body shattered violently, splitting into several different parts that scattered throughout the walls of the cavern.
There was silence for a moment. Ethan looked astonished at the powerful explosive effect caused by Lucy's bomb.
But right after that moment, the egg the Matron had been trying to protect started pulsing even louder.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"That's the boss! Kill it now!" Bettie called out, and right then Percival leaped back up towards the egg, ready to swing his claws at the structure.
But just as he got close, the egg split up violently, causing a shockwave that sent Percival flying backwards.
The werewolf somersaulted mid-air and landed back on his feet with a grim look on his face as he watched what emerged out of the eggshell.
It was like a Bone Hound, but only this time, it was standing on its two feet, with harder, thicker, and stronger bones.
Its skeletal structure was more refined, more dangerous. Its claws were longer, sharper, and its entire frame radiated power.
Then it roared out loud, releasing a mana wave as if trying to establish its dominance.
The faces of the final years staring back at it did not look excited, particularly Bettie, who seemed to have wanted to avoid this scenario the whole time.
"The Apex Hound," she said, calling its name as she knew it was an uncommon boss for breach zones with Bone Hounds.
Usually it was the Matron that served as the boss, but there were a few cases where the Matron would conceive an evolved version of the Bone Hound, which was what stood before them right now.
It's not like the monster's mana was overwhelmingly difficult to deal with or anything. After all, it was a threat that was slightly above the C-grade threat level as it currently stood.
It's just that this was not meant to be a zone expedition to have this level of difficulty in the first place, and a wrong move could put them in danger, even if they were final years.
Ethan turned his gaze to the beast. He knew his Fireball would not hit as hard as it did against the regular Bone Hounds, given the boss monster's strength. Still, he did not feel intimidated by its presence.
In the last few minutes of fighting against monsters and avoiding Wilson, the strength of his mind had built up. He needed this experience after all.
The Apex Hound dropped to the ground and roared out again towards the final years.
It was directly making a challenge to what it perceived as threats, but at the same time it was a newborn and so wasn't quick to act.
Percival was going to step forward to battle it, but right then Wilson walked past him.
"Hey, vamp! Stand aside. I have this handled," Percival called out to Wilson.
Wilson turned towards him and replied in a cold tone, "I'm done wasting my time in this place and with you people. So sit down, dog. I'll deal with this quickly."
"How dar—" was all Percival managed to say back in fury, when suddenly the effect of Wilson's gaze staring right into his eyes had made him static.
"I said, sit down," Wilson commanded.
And right then, Percival sat.
This made the others uncomfortable, but none said anything back. Ethan quickly walked over to Percival's side.
Wilson continued on his way towards the beast, stopped two steps forward to break off a bone part from one of the dead hounds right in front of him.
This was going to act as a makeshift sword since he had none on him. Orange-colored aura started oozing from Wilson's body, extending all the way to coat the bone blade.
Then his form blurred away.
And in the next instant, he blitzed past the monster, leaving several cuts on its body in one go.
Wilson had been so precise with his cuts that even in that brief movement, he had carefully struck at the parts of the Apex Hound's body not protected by its bone armor.
Blood sprayed out of different cut parts, and just like that, the boss monster was done for.
The Apex Hound staggered, then collapsed.
"Whoa," Lucy said with widened eyes. The others couldn't deny being impressed.
Even the invisible Albedo said in her thoughts to Ethan, "Why again is that vampire an enemy of yours?"
Ethan said nothing as he turned his sight away from the scene of the vampire's display and back towards Percival. He slapped his face lightly twice. "Snap out of it…"
Clarity returned back to Percival's eyes as he shook his head, but not because Ethan's slap jolted his senses back, but because the Compulsion effect on Percival had reached the limits of how much it could control the werewolf.
His vision shot back at Wilson with rage and fury, and before Ethan could complete the words, "Hey, let it go—"
Percival had roared out in anger and lunged towards Wilson with bluish mana coursing through his forearm.
Wilson turned with widened eyes and instantly blitzed away from the spot he stood at as Percival slammed his fist into the ground. "RAGING FIST!"
The sound of the impact was defeaning. Percical missed his mark, but left a crater right at that spot.
He quickly straightened back up, turned towards the corner where the vampire with a taunting grin now stood.
The werewolf roared out again whilst charging towards Wilson, and the vampire moved towards him as well to meet his charge.
But right before there was any sort of collision, the others stepped in.
Bettie had her hand stretched out with a magic circle in front. "Air Bomb!" she called, and right then an invisible blast of air shot in between them both, forcing them both to raise their hands above their faces and separate suddenly.
Hoffman and the Bee King quickly arrived before Wilson, and Ethan arrived before Percival, saying, "Let it go, man. Let it go."
"Out of my way, Ethan," Percival said in the furious tone of a growling wolf while staring at Wilson on the opposite side.
Lucy then called to their attention, "Guys, the boss has been defeated. There's only so much time we have left before the dimensional cracks seal up. We have to go."
That reminder seemed to have appealed to their common sense. After that, Percival just turned and walked off angrily.
Ethan turned towards Wilson for a second, then continued behind Percival as the others slowly fell into place.
Wilson adjusted his clothing too and moved with them.