Chapter 48：First Floor (V): Bessie the Boss

There was a draft of air so cold Rezar couldn't help the shudder that spread through his body. All of a sudden the meadow became so still and calm, like there was nothing more than the dead on it, and in a way, that's actually true. Rezar looked around the now meadow in the middle of a swamp, the air was humid and he watched as the previously blood stained green grass began to turn brown and the ground beneath became a little bit loose and wet.

Everything began to shake, the undead monsters that didn't have as much balance as when they were alive were being thrown on the ground and knocked against each other. And then all of a sudden, right in the middle of the meadow an altar made of stone seemed to rise up out of the ground. On the altar was a massive blue crystal in the shape of an obelisk, if he didn't know better he would say that it looked pretty much like a town spire, but in this case it was just a dungeon core.

*thud! Thud! Thud! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

Standing at fifteen feet tall and twenty-five feet long, give or take a few feet, and about two and a half meters wide. Horns the length of two men and as thick as five-meter rug rolled into itself. Her hooves glinted as she pounded it on the ground and made her way out of the swampy tree line, mud clinging to her hooves and legs, but doing nothing to hide powerful muscles she had. The only thing Rezar was really thankful for was the fact that she was not bipedal, if not he had no idea how he would deal with such and obstacle.

[Bessie Ironhooves: level 30 Dungeon Boss (Named Monster)/ Dungeon Core Guardian]

It was safe to say that this was going to be one very tough fight, and the massive cow didn't give them even a second of preparation as her massive udders began to fire lances of milk that quite frankly would hit with the full force of a tank shell. Rezar grabbed Neema and Screet and dove to the left as the first strikes decimated the undead hanging around them, with how clustered they were it would pretty much make them a big target to the massive cow.

"All of you spread out! And then attack from every direction!"

The shortcomings of the dungeon monsters were their lack of ranged attacks, up till now the only monster he had seen with ranged attacks was the boss itself. So there was no need for any sort of elaborate moves, the zombie monsters just had to grab the monster's attention, while he and Neema and Screet would take advantage and strike the decisive blow.

Rezar let Screet and Neema go, knowing they would do their own thing as he charged straight for the boss along with the rest of the zombie. Spreading out and attacking from another direction was a basic enough order and they followed it well, except their speed still suffered, and Rezar had quickly overtaken them to become the sole focus of the boss.

The cow stomped hard on the ground, creating a concussive shockwave that smashed into Rezar's chest and flung him into the air like a ragdoll. It was an unexpected move, and one that came so fast he couldn't react to it in time.

He was blasted backwards smashing into his ranks of undead and even taking some of them out of the fight. Rezar could feel his bones aching as blood slid down the side of his head, but this fight was far from over. Low level undead were incapable of using skills except they were given orders by their necromancer, Rezar was in too much pain, but he could still think clear enough to know that a prolonged battle with this giant cow would end up with him losing his undead and not achieving anything, so he gave the best possible order he could at that moment.

"All of you! Use your most powerful skills! Don't hold back!"

That was an order that was as simple as it could be, and they all paid attention. Somehow Screet had gotten closest to the monster and his claws developed a grey hue as he maniacally slashed them on the calf's and hooves of the cow, ripping flesh, iron and bone with each swing, and using a speed fully uncharacteristic of his slow zombie body.

"MOOOOOOOOO!"

The cow was in pain and raised its hooves up to stomp down on Screet, but Neema's head developed a purple halo which in turn turned into a piercing beam of light that went straight into the head of the cow. If froze for a second before releasing a massive scream of pain, and just in time too as the rest of the undead reached it, the minotaur's included all slashing the bulk of their body into the cow's.

[Rot]

Rezar didn't care much for aim, he didn't notice it at first, but he couldn't move. Both his legs were broken and there was a wetness in his chest, not to mention there was a choking feeling within his lungs. But no matter what, he could still fight.

*bang! *

The cow fell back, which was a mistake as the zombies swarmed it. An ant can never stand up to the might of an elephant, but a hundred ants working together can definitely bring an elephant down, and there was proof right in front of Rezar. But he knew it wasn't going to be enough, it would take too much time for all of the damage to stack and fully bring down the cow, so Rezar had to help move it along.

[Apparate]

Rezar's shadowy form flew over the battlefield. He wasn't completely made of shadows as he was still physical enough that he could still feel 50% of any damage, but he immediately discovered that if he focused enough, he could control the area of his body he wanted the skill to affect.

[you have gained even deeper understanding and insight into the skill Apparate! Apparate skill has gone up 2 levels]

It was a welcome development, but he wouldn't let that stop him from the matter at hand. He made his broken legs fully shadowed, completely negating the effects of his broken legs and moving even faster than he normally would with the skill, of course it just went up two levels, but it was still to his advantage.

He ended up above the cow, staring into its black eyes as he raised the chipped sword in his hand and used two skills at the same time and completely emptying his magic stat. this was a strike he hoped would end everything, but even if it failed, it would still cause a lot of damage. He materialized on the cow's head and let gravity drag him down as he yelled out and held the sword two handed, this was the moment of truth.

[Power Strike!]

[Reap]

*Boooom! *

There was an explosion so loud and a surge of power and energy that threw Rezar backwards through the air until his back smashed against the pedestal that held the dungeon crystal. This was the most powerful strike he has ever delivered, but still.

*mooo*

The monster still lived.