Swoosh!
The giant knight sent a large crossbow bolt at me.
It kept pulling the weapon's trigger and sent more and more bolts, like a thundering hail storm.
[Shield]
I constructed five-layered barrier in front of me to block all the projectiles.
Crash! Crack! Crash!
Even with the enhanced protection, the knight's barrage managed to penetrate all the way to the third layer of my shield.
The giant knight had started its advance toward me now that I was pinned by its assault.
It would be risky to face this opponent alone.
I would need some help.
And so I opened a large portal to the right.
Just as the giant knight was about to swing its large weapons toward my shield, which would certainly shatter upon impact and killing me, a hunched golem the size of an ogre rushed forth from my portal and tackled the knight.
Crash!
We had been preparing this golem for the fourth Quintal Trial.
It had been enchanted so that I could immediately deploy the golem without waiting for Master's permission. Though that enchantment process itself still required Master's authority.
By increasing the golem's size and firepower, the magic construct should be able to aid us in facing large enemies.
This would be a good chance to test it in real combat.
Crash! Boom!
The golem struck the knight with great strength and swiftness.
It rapidly sent punches like an endless barrage.
However, the four-armed knight was twice as fast as the golem, enabling it to anticipate the relentless assaults.
While using three hands to parry and attack my golem, the knight continued assaulting me with its large crossbow.
Swoosh!
Clang!
The odds only improved slightly.
My golem managed to distract the knight just enough to prevent it from advancing to me.
However, I was still pressured by the crossbow bolts the statue kept sending rapidly.
I would not be able to find an opportunity to attack even if I teleported somewhere else in the room.
Simply waiting for an opportunity would be careless.
The knight seemed like it could fight for an entire day.
My golem could only last for half an hour, at most.
And it did not seem like the knight was the type to easily slip up and leave a brief opening every now and then.
I had to create an opportunity myself.
[Maha Varuna Shilajalam]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Water Magic has levelled up to level 6!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Ice Magic has levelled up to level 6!]
Fountains of water sprouted like geysers all over the room, dozens of them.
The magic springs rose and rose till they reached the chamber's dome ceiling.
['Unified Grand Magic 'Frozen Colonnade (★★★★)' has been activated!]
[Caster - 'Serafina (★★★★)']
The towering fountains suddenly froze solid and transformed into large ice pillars.
They were all scattered all over the room, altering the battle field with the added obstacles.
I then casted thick screen of white mist throughout the chamber to limit the knight's vision further. Which I hoped could be restricted.
Swoosh!
Crash!
The knight's crossbow bolts began to miss me. More often they were blocked by the thick ice pillars.
My plan worked.
This should provide me with the opening I needed for an effective assault.
In order to disorient the knight even more, I teleported myself to another part of the chamber.
I could still sense with my mana the knight fighting my golem somewhere at the center.
The knight had not figured out where I had moved, for it kept firing its crossbow toward my former position.
I used the brief chance to empty the mana potion Alam gave me.
There was no wound on me and stamina-wise I was sufficient. So there was no need to spend the other potions.
Crash! Boom!
The knight began attacking erratically.
It fought off my golem as well as destroying the ice pillars all over the room.
Eventually the knight would discover me if I did nothing.
Time to kill this thing.
[Maha Shilajalam Topan]
['Unified Grand Magic 'Roaring Tempest (★★★★)' has been activated!]
[Caster - 'Serafina (★★★★)']
Powerful wind currents filled with large sharp hails rushed from all over the room.
They all converged at the center of the chamber where the knight was.
Crash! Slash! Crash! Slash!
The wind currents pressured the knight till its entire movement slowed.
The ice blocks heavily pummeled the statue and disrupted its attacking flow.
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Wind Magic has levelled up to level 8!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Ice Magic has levelled up to level 7!]
But, unfortunately, no significant damage was caused on the knight.
Its magic defense was simply that strong.
As such, I pulled my golem back and casted another spell.
[Maha Bhumi Agni Varuna]
['Unified Grand Magic 'Incinerating Flood (★★★★)' has been activated!]
[Caster - 'Serafina (★★★★)']
Thick steaming mudflow emerged from a large magic circle in front of me.
It flowed through the ice pillars, melting them instantly for the immense heat the enchanted flood contained.
The great stream of boiling mud rushed to the center of the room and overwhelmed the knight that was about to pursue my golem.
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Earth Magic has levelled up to level 6!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Water Magic has levelled up to level 7!]
Drrrshhh!!!
I concentrated the thick hot substance on the knight, trapping it under intense pressure and heat.
The knight struggled inside the liquid earth prison.
It thrashed around trying to break free.
One would had thought my victory was close at hand.
But nothing was for certain. Especially for matters born out of the forged land's laws.
Shingg!!!
An immense amount of energy suddenly flared from within the knight. The air in the room began to vibrate.
[The Guardian of the Wings has gone berserk!]
Slash!
A piercing light streaked through the mud prison, evaporating the entire magic substance in an instance.
I sent my golem shielding me on top of my ten-layered protective barrier.
Boom!
The knight's great sword cleaved away not just the boiling mud, but the rest of the ice pillars as well.
It had sent a powerful shockwave which devastated the entire chamber.
My anticipation was well-made.
The knight's extraordinary assault tore my giant golem in half as well as penetrating nine out of ten layers of my shield. Even the final barrier was on the brink of breaking down.
So this was the strength of a level 46 enemy.
It certainly was the strongest opponent I had ever faced in the forged land.
Party 6 did well surviving a monster of similar level.
My death was no longer a vague probability in the face of this mighty adversary.
I was certain the knight in this enhanced state would be able to unleash such powerful move again, if not stronger.
But I would not allow it to deal another assault.
It was my turn now.
[Davah Jwala Haljantarr Jalagnih Shashanam]
A blinding crimson orb of lava manifested above me.
Intense heat emanated from the molten sphere, lightning bolts flickered about its burning globe surface.
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Fire Magic has levelled up to level 10!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Lightning Magic has levelled up twice to level 7!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Intermediate Lava Magic has levelled up twice to level 7!]
My assault with the boiling mudflow from earlier was just a way to buy me some time.
I had actually been preparing a bigger spell to finish the knight off.
A Fifth Circle spell, to be exact.
[Come forth!]
I chanted.
['Unified Grand Magic 'Hellstorm Dragon (★★★★★)' has been activated!]
[Caster - 'Serafina (★★★★)']
The crimson orb transformed into a burning winged-serpent.
With lightning-flickering flames serving as its wings, the crimson construct sped fast toward the giant knight at the center.
The knight only had a fraction of a second to react. It tried to dodge the charging conjuration anyway.
But the burning flickering serpent caught the knight.
The giant statue's entire surface immediately radiated with blinding white light, turning it into a shining figure.
That was when the heatwave erupted from the knight and turned the whole room into a grand furnace.
Boom!
Series of great thunder exploded. Dozens of lightning bolt struck all corners of the room, creating large cracks which crept all over.
The entire chamber trembled heavy and heavier as the light at the center of the room grew brighter and hotter.
It reached to the point that I had to create another barrier just to protect myself from my own spell.
Crash! Boom! Drrr!
The powerful blast grew stronger and stronger.
It kept on going until the light at the center suddenly vanished.
The heatwave immediately ceased as well as the lightning bolts.
All of the temple was wrecked from the floor to the ceiling. The room's structure was barely recognizable anymore.
What remained of the center of the chamber was a pitch-black crater.
Instead of the knight, I could only find dark ashes hovering in the pattern of a large figure suspended there.
I had defeated the knight.
But from my experience so far in this Advent Dungeon, it would be wise to not let my guard down just yet.
There were no visible remains of the knight aside from the ashes.
Would these ashes reform into another, stronger, knight?
I had used most of my mana to cast that last spell.
But if the dungeon still required me to fight more battles, then so be it.
Master had ordered me to obtain a seal.
I would not leave this dungeon without one!
Dun!
A large thumping sound suddenly echoed from somewhere. It reverberated all the way into my heart.
I could not discern the origin.
As if the sound came from nowhere and everywhere at once.
Even for the forged land's peculiarity, it was quite an otherworldly occurrence.
[Warning!]
[The difficulty of the Advent Dungeon has been changed to 'Superior'.]