Chapter 62: A Damned Kind (Queen Boss Fight, Part II)

Chapter 62: A Damned Kind (Queen Boss Fight, Part II)

Crucis saw with frustration that the Queen was back to 67% HP, after draining HP from Grisier. However, her tussle with Grisier had allowed him to quietly sneak up behind her.

He cracked her collarbone with a firm [Slash] from behind, then followed it up with a fast [Lunge] stabbing roughly through a chink in the back of her skull. This was enough to lower her back to 60% HP, but, without looking backwards, she reached around as Crucis was withdrawing his sword and grabbed him by the chest. He was surprised, as she hadn't seemed to notice his approach, and her movement lacked the typical sluggishness of the undead.

She cast a spell named [Blood Spiral], and Crucis felt his blood heating up around the chest, until it began to spill out in a scattering of rough, thin circles overlapping across his chest. Shaking in pain, he roughly used [Slash] to beat against her neck, and kicked off her midriff as he flew out of her grip. DicingDevil and Akshel ran up to her, and Crucis gingerly rose to his feet.

Akshel struck the boss with a strong [Mordhau], and the hilt of his sword made firm contact with the Queen's head, which jerked back violently. DicingDevil grabbed the Queen in a [Chokehold], and dragged her down using the momentum from Akshel's blow. Once she was grounded, the two Assassins started chipping away at her throat again, trying to do as much damage as possible before being repelled.

As the Queen slowly recovered, she grabbed at Akshel's chest. He shook himself free, but as she had reached below 50% HP she used a special skill, [Halfway Point]. As she pointed at Akshel, his HP was reduced by 50%, lowering it to 30%. Alarmed, he began to retreat, but found that the Queen, gaining new energy, had ran up to him and grabbed him by the chest again. She tossed him easily towards the pews, where he collapsed on 10% HP. Laughing as DicingDevil struck her shoulder with a [Slash] from behind, she held out her arm elegantly and cast [Knighthood], killing Akshel.

As she turned around to face DicingDevil, she was frozen momentarily by a [Breath of Ice], as Grisier had clammily made his way back after clambering onto the walkway from the water. His mana replenished, he cast another [Ice Heart] in her direction, then cast [Healing] on Crucis and DicingDevil, who were striking the immobilised boss.

Crucis used [Thrash] to tear at the cracks in the boss' neck bones, and saw DicingDevil teeing up for a [Mordhau]. Crucis stepped out of the way as the harsh, blunt hilt blow sent the Queen barreling to the ground. Crouching down lightly, Crucis began to carve and deepen the cracks in the Queen's neck bones with [Slice], and then another, more blunt [Thrash]. DicingDevil stabbed heavily at the Queen's face, and soon she was down to 26% HP.

As Crucis saw her preparing to cast [Intruders], he quickly withdrew the violet gem from the piano, and palmed it as he awaited the spell. As the Queen's spell predictably activated, and threw him backwards, his violet gem also activated, and threw the Queen backwards towards the pews. Crucis had been expecting the repulsion effect of the spell, so he twisted mid-fall and comfortably rolled to his feet.

[Optional Boss - Undead Queen slain. Congratulations!]

Crucis grabbed the skull, and saw DicingDevil walking back from the pews.

"Alas, poor whatsername. I was wondering where she had been," Crucis said.

"Probably many places," DicingDevil replied.

"Should we put this skull on a pike as some sort of warning, or just hold on to it and flourish it when we feel like contemplating mortality? Or just get rid of it?"

"Up to you. By the way, how did you get the gems to work?"

"I didn't, she did. The gems seem to use some form of magic that - basically - doesn't exist. None of us can use it, it doesn't seem to require MP, it isn't a recognisable form of mana. So we can't do anything with this gem, but since it's a repository for whatever kind of power she's using, if she triggers a spell then this gem will also use it."

"So the King was bizarrely resilient this time, for no good reason, and the Queen also uses some strange magic that we can't interact with except when she uses it?" Grisier said gravely.

"Basically," Crucis responded in a similar tone.