[Arc 4] Chapter 48: Defeat This Pitiful Throne!

Garami's PoV:

It took a while, but I found the deepest part of the Chaos Dungeon without being noticed by the patrolling Mirror attribute demons that are part of this place's forces. 

If this Dungeon is based on a castle or any other royal buildings, then this place would be the throne room. Except that it's as big as an official soccer field. And unlike the rest of the Dungeon, this place looks dilapidated and dirty. While there is still a luxurious feel to the room, it seems more forgotten and abandoned.

Well, the room alone gives that impression. But the rest? Not at all!

There are loads of mechanical contraptions in the room that looks like sleeping capsules. Not that I've ever seen one with my own eyes. At most I've seen them in sci-fi anime and movies.

Then there's the fact that several monsters are wandering about in the throne room. It's not that many, but enough to make things troublesome. They are rank-D or C monsters, demons, or aquatic humanoids. Luckily, no B-ranks or above, but there are around three dozens down there. Among them, I can see that octo-jerk I killed a few days ago.

Are those pods some sorta "monster-resurrection" item? Or maybe a Facility limited to Chaos Dungeons? Sure wish I could have them for Damavand.

And at the end of the room is the big boss. The Mirror Throne. It looks like a flashy throne made outta glass, but I'm not gonna be fooled. I know about your secrets, throne-jerk. Ever since I had GM recommend my evolution options!

Why? Because behind the Throne is a huge door. And behind that door is the evolution Key Item I require for the monstrous Kur Kigal-evolution!

The item in question is "The Vile Queen's Heart". Apparently, there used to be some mad demon-type queens in the past, several of them even! And after they died, they were buried in mausoleums and hidden in areas in the Demonic Sea, with the Mirror Throne to act as a guardian.

I bet that the guy who created this whole "Yamatai Grand Nightmare" Quest must have used one of the mausoleums as its springboard. May even have created a backstory for it, but I don't know that far.

The point is, that heart is a damn rare, not to mention limited, Key Item for female demons with bad Karma. And I want it! 

Not that it's gonna be that easy. It never is...

The Throne is making sure the grand door to the queen's chamber stays locked. And the Throne itself is locked behind a stupid barrier! Said barrier is being supplied with the MP from some of the monsters in the room. Four of them. Wait, is this the Elite Four? In the same room? That's cheating!!

Since these guys are not following the old traditions from long ago, I won't either. Rather, I haven't been doing it from the start! 

After all, I didn't enter this room just now~.

*Ka-BOOOOOM!!"*

Several explosions went off in the throne room, mostly centered around the presumed recovery devices. That's right, that's my handiwork~. 

After I snuck into this room, I released the refitted Skull Spiders I had used during the first Festival Event against the protagonist (lol) dude. I have been working on them ever since hearing about the existence of Azi Dahaka. "Even if Curse Creatures aren't affected by poison, that guy should be so" was my thoughts, so I remade the Skull Spiders to act as walking poison bombs. I can't reuse them now though...

But the result is nasty. The explosions themselves did a lot of damage, but the specialized poison is the worst! Thanks to Filyn's advice, I used some of the "safer" materials that could be found in the Demonic Sea to up the lethality of the poison in the Skull Spider, which resulted in the black- and purple smoke that's covering the lower half of the throne room right now.

Me? I'm hanging around, or rather, on the walls, close to the roof. If I can remote-control my bombs, then I would obviously detonate them from a safe area~.

And the casualties are...zero. 

Tch. Rotten they may be, those guys are still D-to-C rank monsters. The bombs did a number on those pods, but the monsters are still kicking. Even those who were wounded the most still have around 50% HP left, and the poison's not doing as much damage that I hoped for.

Time for plan B.

I equipped a certain item I had taken with me from the church.

A mask that was created in the Demonic Sea specifically to counter the Sea's horrible effects on the user. However, in the end, it turned into an item that is better to be used against poison fumes than in the Demonic Seas.

Easily explained, it's a gas mask. One that covers only my mouth and nose, but its effect should keep me safe from the poison...I think.

Jumping down from the wall, I entered the poison-clouded battlefield and started to cut down as many monsters that I could find. Tracking them was easy. The new [Soul Sight] skill gives me the soul-detecting ability of the undead, which fittingly comes from my high level in the Necromancer class.

The other guys aren't so lucky. They don't have a single skill related to smokescreens, let alone those that can counteract them. I stabbed my dagger into the neck of one of the mirror-armor demons and decapitated him with the Guillotine Stab assassination art before stabbing the heart of a Siren-looking girl with Heart Pierce. 

Following that was a huge Fiend with glass-colored skin...is the right way to call it? Anyway, he went down after a Treasure Crusher art on his crotch. Yes, those kinds of "treasures". I'm using the art as it's supposed to.

Three more Siren-looking girls seemed to catch on to what was happening, so I used Accel Ripper to cut their throats as I rushed past them. The poison that I'm using to coat Carnwennan did the rest.

And then I saw...something that's not feeling the poison at all. And after all the hard work I put into remaking those Skull Spiders...

What is this anyway? A "mirror golem" or something? He's damn bigger than Karnel though. And more berserk. Was one of the monsters I just killed its commander or something? Its status page does give me the sense that it's an artificial monster...

"[Steal]." - Garami

With a hushed voice, I used my skill with the hope of...bingo! A power-source-like item appeared in my hand and the golem fell to the floor with a loud noise.

Mwa-hahaha! Like I thought, the body of an artificial golem is considered a "thing"! This means that [Steal] can be used on it! Even if it's just one part of it! The bad news is that the stolen part is too damn heavy, so I used [Shooting] to send it off flying. Damn, that was heavy!

"Hey, there is someone-*cough, COUGH*!"

Tch, they noticed. No, shouldn't they have noticed that several of their own guys getting killed, poison smoke or not? It's a good thing for me, but seriously, you guys.

My level now is...64. And here I aimed at the weak guys first..., no, did I perhaps hit some people with that golem-part from before? Glad I noticed it before I reached Lv.65.

I used [Auto-Mapping] to position myself in the middle of the area of the room that's not blocked by the barrier. Kukuku...

Now is the time! Release the dragons of pure darkness! Active and wreak havoc! [Dark Malevolence]! [Chaotic Concurrence]! And finally, [Zahhak - Dragon of Darkness]!!

Several two-headed dragons emerged around me with bodies that are several times bigger than normal. They circled me as if creating a whirlpool of darkness with me in its eye. The few surviving monsters were swallowed up by the gigantic dragons and snuffed out. The barrier finally said its goodbyes as its last protector bit the dust before the dragons reached it, allowing them to reach even the Mirror Throne...

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Your level has increased by 5. You have reached Lv.65.

You have obtained a total of 5.6 Skill Points.

Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 5.6 Skill Points are obtained.

The maximum level is reached. Evolution is now possible.

Title: [Monster Slaughterer] has advanced into the title: [Monster Genocider].

Through [Monster Genocider], acquired the skill: [Monstrous Strength Lv.1].

Skill: [Brute Force Lv.19] has been integrated into skill: [Monstrous Strength Lv.1].

"MWA-HAHAHAHA! This! This is it! Festivals filled with people and events? Having to live a survival life in a literal hellhole? Defeating cursed creatures with the risk of losing my hard-earned skills? NO! Definitely no! My call in life is this! Sneaking, planning, laying traps, and harvesting the sweet fruit of victory! A-HAHAHAHA!!" - Garami

"That is one sorry life you're living there." - GM

GUH-!? M-my heart took some unexpected heavy damage from GM's comment there. Here you finally reappear after I told you to keep your head down and the first thing you do is to inflict fatal damage to my mentality? 

After the darkness, rather, the Super Zahhaks cleared, all that was left was a room covered in black dust, plus a broken throne of glass at the other side of the room. Blood and bodily fluids are escaping from the cracks in the throne, and a pair of eyes are visible on its back.

Yup. A mimic-type demon. Just as the Kigal-Note said.

The Mirror Throne, mortally wounded from the worst attack I can muster as of this date, was still going strong. It started to produce various magic circles in a desperate attempt to...

"Hey, ain't that quite the lot of magic?" - Garami

"Mirror Thrones are demons that have great proficiency with magic. That one may even have trained its abilities over the many years." - GM

Huh, you don't say...sorry, but I'll be cheating a little. Necromancy, go~. Dejidem's secret weapon, come out~~.

A huge, skeletal arm appeared from the magic circle I produced. It's draconic in appearance, black in color, covered in a blood-red aura. Then the rest of its huge, skeletal body emerged. Like its arm, the skeleton that makes up its body is jet-black, from its trident-like tail to its six, bat-looking wing. It has a set of six horns on its skull and in its four empty eye sockets were a dark flame in the shape of a snake's pupil.

The Evil Dracolich had arrived in all its undead glory and aura. That's all I can say.

No, seriously, the aura it produces, be it from a skill or something else, is more freakish than anything I can do! What literal monster did you pack on me, Dejidem!? This thing's really on my side, right!?

The Evil Dracolich didn't even look at me as I was frozen due to the sudden shock and simply walked over to the Mirror Throne. The Throne did manage to fire a few new magic blasts, but they were all canceled out the moment they touched the Evil Dracolich's dreadful aura.

With sluggish movements, almost as if bored, the Dracolich raised its front paw and...simply crushed the Mirror Throne. Magic, seven years of bad luck, or even the fact it was the culprit for a 1.400-year-old plan be damned. A single attack...

"Hey...rotten or not, wasn't that throne supposed to be the last boss?" - Garami

"It did have its average 1.000 stats reduced to average 500." - GM

A 50% discount sale!? Scary! Super-Zahhak's scary! 

No, maybe it's just that a B-rank Dracolich's power is that incredible? Anyway. I don't wanna meet an A-rank of that species. And here I stupidly expected that I could prepare something similar on my own with my necromancy...ain't B-rank undead impossible? No, this is not the time to fall into despair! It's just that anything related to dragons is crazy in more ways than you can count. 

Ah, there's a System Message floating around. This big guy's taking too much of my attention...huh!?

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Time left before evolution: [09 minutes, 52 seconds].

This...is new...and perhaps...bad...

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Skill List:

Title List:

Achievement Titles:

Hunting Titles:

Status Titles:

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Kigal-Note/Undead: Evil Dracolich

Description:

The Evil Dracolich is an evolved Dracolich that antagonizes any living creature. While they are not actively hunting for those of the living, they will use all their strength to annihilate anyone foolish enough to get too close to the Evil Dracolich's lair. This undead abomination is so violent that one needs to be at least a high-ranking Necromancer and a Lich to command them, or maybe even a god of the dead. 

Appearance:

Evil Dracoliches have the appearance of a draconic skeleton with six demonic-looking wings, a tail with a trident-like end, and a skull with four empty eye sockets where flames shaped like a snake's pupils are acting as replacements for its eyes. Its whole body is covered in a blood-red aura produced by one of its racial skills, giving it an intimidating, if not completely nightmarish, appearance.

Abilities:

An Evil Dracolich is one of the worst undead you can have the bad luck of encountering. They wear an aura of dread that is a constant-active Monster Skill that erodes the flesh of the living, they have the dragon's inherited ability to dilute magic spells, and their breath is enough to melt even solid rocks. 

The worst part about the Evil Dracolich is not its offensive abilities though, but its toughness. Including its mentioned anti-magic abilities, as an undead, there is close to no status ailments that can affect it, its SP consumption is close to non-existent, and its high resistance skills and defensive skills have earned it the nickname of "the shield of death" that the species gained when a certain Lich attacked a country on the Ira continent. The Evil Dracolich's defense protected the Lich completely from the whole allied army created to defeat the Lich. 

Chaos' comment: Damn, Alvatria's always turning every dragon she can find into "evil"...