4.28 – Prismatic Stalker

4.28 – Prismatic Stalker

Fortunately, she wasn't ambushed. She collected her payload of erotite—given a decent bonus for utilizing [Risky Excavation]—then dressed herself without problem. The expedition continued.

Natalie and her team worked through the polished marble and glass hallways of the underground labyrinth, slowly racking up kills and monster cores. Eventually, they reached a dead end and backtracked to the original room.

"Should we try the golden door, now?" Sofia asked.

"Could be a boss," Jordan said. "Or a mini-boss. We're ready for that?"

Natalie adjusted her grip on her hammer, appraising the shining metallic doors. "Honestly, I'd say we're in better shape for this one than the others." Geared up and with significant power spikes from progressing to level two, the boss might be comparatively weaker than the ones they'd fought earlier. Though she doubted it would be trivial. No boss fight was easy.

The party looked at each other, then nodded.

"Gold door, then," Natalie said.

They climbed the staircase onto the platform where the doors stood. Resting her hammer on her shoulder, she eased it open and peeked in.

"That's definitely a boss room," Natalie said.

Inside was a grand chamber made of the same polished materials as the rest of the labyrinth. Notably, though, thirteen mirrors splayed out in a circle, surrounding the room. There didn't seem to be another exit. Not a series of hallways and rooms like the wooden door—this golden door led to a single encounter.

"Maybe a mini-boss," Natalie said. "But if I had to guess, a full one."

"Everyone's ready?" Sofia asked.

The party agreed.

Natalie entered first, with the others slipping in after her. Having the encounter seal itself off with only a portion of the team inside would be disastrous, so they didn't dawdle.

"The mirrors mean something," Liz murmured. "Keep that in mind."

At least Liz was fine.

The wolf rushed forward, and the fight began in earnest. Natalie scrambled for her hammer, at the same time conjuring an [Illusion]—since, disarmed, magic was all she had. The rest of the team sprung into action too. Liz rushed for her wand, trying to re-arm herself just like Natalie.

Her illusion took hold, and it successfully distracted the [Prismatic Stalker]. It was one of Natalie's larger, but less elegant, creations, a mirage of her entire body scrambling toward her hammer, but placed several feet ahead of her. The wolf rushed for it, passing through the illusion, and Natalie skidded the last few feet, scooping up her two-handed hammer.

The wolf, realizing it had been fooled, kept its momentum—choosing to ignore Natalie rather than spin around. It went for easier prey. In this case, Jordan, who had been edging in from the side for a sneak attack.

Natalie cursed and scrambled forward, working up her hammer's momentum as she traveled, overriding her instinct to make a mad dash to save Jordan. That was the downside of delving with friends, much less—well, whatever she and Jordan were. Trusting that Jordan could take care of herself was difficult, regardless that she knew Jordan was more than competent.

Jordan weaved between rapid slashes of the beast's claws, then side-stepped a vicious lunge. Natalie arrived in the next moment, eager to take the monster's attention back through a vicious attack of her own. The gigantic stone block of her hammer crashed into crystal, and her arms reverberated with the impact, all of the momentum she had been gathering as she charged forward coming to an abrupt stop. The force behind the blow rattled both of them—Natalie, whose arms ached from the impact, and the wolf, who staggered away.

But this was a boss, so even a direct hit couldn't do that much damage. Shards of splintered prismatic glass flew away, leaving an indent in its rib cage, but the attack was far from a finisher. The beast snarled and turned on her, delivering a flurry of slashing claws. Lacking a shield, or an easy way to dodge, Natalie activated [Hunker Down]. The wolf's claws slammed into her, but instead of scoring gouges across her armor, came to an abrupt stop. She held [Hunker Down] for the full duration, the wolf growling in agitation as it failed to scratch her. With the opening her defensive ability brought, her teammate's own attacks finally crashed into the creature—daggers, a rapier, and ribbons of black energy.

Snarling, the wolf leaped backward, putting space between them. Then—to Natalie's surprise—turned and sprinted away, deeper into the arena.

Headed for one of the mirrors?

The monster had come out of one, Natalie realized. So why couldn't it go back in?

And what else?

The giant beast disappeared as it soared seamlessly into the glass, and Natalie understood at the same moment as Sofia. As the entirety of the team did.

"Behind us!" Sofia shouted, spinning to face their backline.

Exactly as the fight had begun, the wolf leaped through the mirror closest to Liz and Ana, having used the glass to teleport across the arena. Natalie finally understood the gimmick of the fight—the purpose of the mirrors. And it was devastating. Healers and mages oftentimes couldn't face off against even normal monsters. Jordan might be able to briefly hold her own, but Liz? Ana?

And this time, Natalie wasn't close enough to intervene—not even with a lucky hammer throw. Even with the team's quick reactions, nobody could save Liz as the giant beast crashed into her, gigantic crystal jaw latching around her torso.