The ruined chamber was barely recognizable as the dungeon room it had once been.
Only moments ago, it had been an ancient hall constructed from enormous blocks of weathered stone, with towering pillars supporting a ceiling that disappeared into darkness. Whatever civilization had built the place had intended it to endure for centuries, perhaps even millennia.
Now, almost nothing remained intact.
Several of the enormous pillars had been split apart or reduced to piles of rubble. Deep scars stretched across the floor where enormous weapons had collided with the stone. Craters were scattered throughout the chamber, some still glowing faintly from the heat of the attacks that had created them. Broken pieces of masonry covered the ground, mixed with fragments of scorched armor and chunks of stone that had been thrown across the room during the battle.
Smoke drifted through the chamber in thick, sluggish clouds.
The temperature had become almost unbearable.
Every breath carried the smell of scorched stone and burning magic, while waves of heat rolled through the battlefield with every movement made by the enormous figure standing at its center. Small flames continued to burn inside cracks in the floor, and occasional sparks drifted upward before disappearing into the darkness above.
At the center of all that destruction stood Apollonius.
Apollonius, The First Ray.
The twenty-one-foot-tall flame warrior remained motionless amid the devastation.
Her towering body was covered in brilliant armor formed from condensed fire and ancient magic. The armor wasn't merely coated in flames. It appeared to be made from them, each plate constantly shifting and moving as though a living furnace existed beneath its surface.
The immense bow in her hands continued to burn.
Every movement she made caused the temperature of the chamber to rise.
Her burning eyes slowly surveyed the battlefield.
Across from her, Fayzan slowly pushed himself upright.
His breathing was heavy.
His clothes were scorched, and several portions of his body were covered in burns and scratches. Dust clung to his hair and shoulders as he steadied himself against the uneven ground.
His sword was gone.
There was nothing left of the weapon he had carried into the battle.
Only the damaged grip remained in his hand.
Even that was beginning to crack from the tremendous heat radiating throughout the chamber.
Fayzan lowered his gaze toward the broken handle.
For several seconds, he simply stared at it.
That sword had been the weapon he had relied on throughout the battle. It had allowed him to channel his flames properly, giving shape and direction to the power he possessed.
Now it was useless.
He squeezed the grip once.
A tiny crack spread across the remaining material.
Fayzan sighed.
"There really isn't anything left."
He loosened his fingers and tossed the broken weapon aside.
The grip bounced once against the stone before disappearing beneath a pile of rubble.
Fayzan rolled his shoulders and slowly raised his fists.
There was no weapon in his hands anymore.
There was nothing he could rely on except his own abilities.
He took a deep breath through his nose, forcing himself to ignore the heat burning his lungs.
"...Guess I'm fighting the old-fashioned way."
A short distance away, Ryota remained standing.
Unlike Fayzan, he still had his sword.
Unfortunately, that did not mean he was in a much better position.
His health bar hovered above him.
22%.
Only twenty-two percent remained.
One mistake could end everything.
One direct hit from Apollonius could kill him.
Ryota knew that better than anyone.
Yet despite the danger, he continued standing.
His sword remained tightly gripped in his hand, though his fingers were beginning to ache from the strain. Sweat ran down his face, evaporating almost immediately beneath the intense heat.
Above him floated a tiny blue dragon.
Indra.
The mysterious creature's small wings moved gently as it hovered in the heated air. Its blue scales reflected the orange light filling the chamber, creating a strange contrast between its cool appearance and the blazing battlefield below.
Indra had protected Ryota and Fayzan from the previous attack.
But even the little dragon's defensive barrier had limits.
Ryota knew that.
He couldn't simply expect Indra to save him every time Apollonius attacked.
If he continued relying on the dragon's protection, eventually there would come an attack that Indra couldn't stop.
Ryota tightened his grip on his sword.
I have to do this myself.
Then Apollonius moved.
The enormous flame warrior slowly raised her bow.
The motion was almost casual.
Yet the moment Ryota saw it, every instinct in his body screamed danger.
His eyes narrowed.
"Fayzan!"
"I see it!"
Fayzan immediately turned toward the boss.
Apollonius pulled the bowstring backward.
The flames surrounding her bow compressed toward the center.
A glowing arrow began forming.
The heat intensified.
Fayzan's expression hardened.
The arrow was aimed directly at him.
Then Apollonius released the string.
FWOOOOOOOOOSH!
The flaming projectile exploded forward.
Fayzan reacted instantly.
He threw his body sideways just as the arrow passed through the space where he had been standing.
The projectile came so close to his shoulder that the heat scorched the fabric of his clothing.
He barely had time to register how close the attack had been before—
BOOOOOOM!
The arrow slammed into the stone wall behind him.
The resulting explosion shook the entire chamber.
Several massive stone blocks were shattered apart and launched outward. Fragments of rock flew across the battlefield, striking the floor and pillars with enough force to leave additional cracks.
Fayzan rolled several times before planting one hand against the ground and forcing himself back onto his feet.
His breathing became heavier.
He glanced toward the enormous crater created by the arrow.
Then his eyes moved downward.
Something was lying beside him.
A large piece of broken stone.
Fayzan stared at it for a moment.
Then he looked toward Apollonius.
A faint grin slowly appeared across his face.
"...If I don't have a sword..."
He crouched down and placed both hands against the enormous chunk of stone.
"...I can still throw something."
The rock was roughly the size of a large shield.
It was heavy enough that an ordinary player would have struggled to move it, but Fayzan managed to lift it from the ground with both hands.
His arms trembled slightly under the weight.
Then he focused his power.
The flames inside his body responded.
Orange fire began crawling across the surface of the stone.
At first, the flames were small.
Then they spread.
They wrapped around the rock from every direction, covering its rough surface in burning light. The orange flames gradually deepened into a hotter red as Fayzan poured more of his power into them.
His eyes sharpened.
He pulled the rock backward.
Then, using everything he had, he hurled it toward Apollonius.
"Take this!"
The burning stone tore through the air.
FWOOOOOSH!
Apollonius immediately turned.
Her enormous bow began rising.
But she was too slow.
The flaming projectile slammed directly into her shoulder.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A violent explosion erupted across the battlefield.
Fayzan raised both arms in front of his face as the shockwave struck him.
Dust and burning fragments flew past his body.
For several seconds, he could barely see through the smoke.
Then the dust began to settle.
Apollonius was still standing.
The sight made Fayzan's expression tighten.
He had expected that.
She was the boss of the dungeon, after all.
A single rock was never going to bring her down.
But then Fayzan noticed something.
A section of Apollonius's shoulder armor was missing.
Fragments of burning material were falling from the damaged area.
They struck the stone floor one after another.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Fayzan stared at the fragments.
His eyes slowly widened.
"...I actually damaged her armor."
Ryota noticed the damage as well.
But something else caught his attention.
The fragments weren't small pieces of ordinary armor.
Several were enormous.
Some of them were nearly two feet long.
Ryota immediately pointed toward them.
"Fayzan!"
Fayzan looked toward him.
"What?"
"Those fragments!"
Ryota pointed toward the pieces lying across the battlefield.
"Pick them up!"
Fayzan understood immediately.
He didn't waste time asking questions.
He sprinted toward the fallen fragments.
Apollonius's burning eyes shifted toward him.
The boss had noticed what he was doing.
Her attention began following Fayzan's movement.
Ryota saw it happen.
She's going after him.
He immediately stepped forward.
"HEY!"
Apollonius turned her head toward him.
Ryota raised his sword.
"Over here!"
White light began gathering around his weapon.
The energy grew brighter with every passing second until the surrounding flames seemed to dim beneath its brilliance.
Ryota swung his sword.
[Sword Skill: Radiance Cascade]
SHIIIIIIIIING!
Dozens of brilliant spheres of white energy erupted around him.
They hovered for the briefest moment before shooting toward Apollonius from different angles.
FWOOOSH!
One projectile struck her chest.
BOOM!
Another slammed into her shoulder.
BOOM!
A third collided against her bow.
BOOM!
More followed.
The chamber filled with explosions as the radiant projectiles continued crashing into Apollonius.
The boss raised one enormous arm to shield herself from the barrage.
That was exactly what Ryota wanted.
He needed her attention.
Behind the storm of explosions, Fayzan reached the broken armor fragments.
He immediately grabbed one.
The moment his fingers touched it, his expression changed.
"Hot!"
Even after being separated from Apollonius's body, the fragment retained an incredible amount of heat.
It felt as though he had grabbed a piece of a furnace.
Fayzan quickly wrapped his hands with the remaining cloth around his arms before picking up the other fragments.
He didn't have time to inspect them.
He simply collected them one after another and placed them into his inventory.
The system immediately responded.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Item Obtained
Apollonius Armor Fragment
Unknown Material
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fayzan stared at the notification.
"...Unknown?"
His curiosity lasted less than a second.
A tremendous pressure suddenly descended upon him.
Fayzan's expression changed.
He looked up.
Apollonius was no longer being distracted by Ryota.
Her enormous bow dissolved into flames.
The fire compressed around her hands.
Then the flames reshaped themselves into an enormous sword.
Fayzan's face twisted.
"...Oh, come on."
Apollonius swung.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The massive blade tore through the space where Fayzan had been standing.
He barely escaped.
Fayzan threw himself backward as the enormous sword passed in front of him.
The blade struck the floor.
The impact sent a violent shockwave across the chamber.
Stone cracked beneath it.
Fayzan rolled several times before regaining his footing.
He barely had enough time to stand before Apollonius swung again.
The massive blade swept horizontally.
Fayzan immediately ducked.
The sword passed directly above his head.
The heat alone was enough to scorch several strands of his hair.
"Too close!"
Fayzan jumped backward.
Apollonius turned toward him.
Her burning eyes locked onto him.
She raised her sword again.
But before she could strike—
Ryota appeared.
He had already recovered from his previous attack.
His sword remained in his hand.
He looked toward Apollonius, then toward the surrounding battlefield.
His eyes quickly searched for anything that could be useful.
Then he noticed something.
A massive boulder.
It was significantly larger than the piece of stone Fayzan had thrown earlier.
Ryota's expression changed.
A grin appeared on his face.
"Let's see if this works."
He walked toward the boulder and placed one hand against it.
The stone barely moved.
It was far too heavy for an ordinary player.
Ryota, however, wasn't relying on ordinary strength.
He activated his unique skill.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Unique Skill: Scalular Impact]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The force surrounding his body shifted.
The relationship between his strength and the force acting upon the object changed.
Ryota tightened his grip.
Then he pulled.
The enormous boulder began moving.
His muscles strained as he lifted it from the ground.
Dust fell from its surface.
Ryota gritted his teeth and brought the boulder upward.
Then he turned his body.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Fayzan immediately understood.
He jumped aside.
Ryota swung his entire body and hurled the massive stone.
FWOOOOOOOOOSH!
The boulder crossed the battlefield like a cannonball.
Apollonius turned.
The enormous stone slammed directly into her body.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The boulder shattered against her armor.
A cloud of dust and stone fragments exploded outward.
Ryota raised one arm to shield his face.
Then he lowered it.
"Got her!"
For a brief moment, he smiled.
Then the atmosphere changed.
The flames surrounding Apollonius began to brighten.
Ryota's smile disappeared.
"...What?"
The boss hadn't fallen.
Instead, the fire around her body began intensifying.
Her armor glowed brighter.
The flames beneath the damaged section began moving.
The broken armor wasn't merely repairing itself.
Something else was happening.
The flames were becoming denser.
More concentrated.
More violent.
The pressure radiating from Apollonius increased with every passing second.
Fayzan slowly turned toward her.
His expression hardened.
"Ryota..."
"Yeah."
"I think we made a mistake."
The flames surrounding Apollonius surged.
The damaged portion of her armor began reconstructing itself.
But the regenerated armor looked different.
It was denser.
Brighter.
Stronger.
Ryota's eyes widened.
Apollonius slowly raised her weapon.
The massive flame sword dissolved into a storm of fire.
The flames gathered around her hand.
Then reshaped themselves.
A bow appeared once more.
But this time, something about it was different.
The bow was far brighter than before.
Its flames were almost golden.
The temperature in the chamber rose sharply.
Ryota instinctively took a step backward.
Fayzan stared at the boss.
"Her flames..."
"They're stronger," Ryota finished.
Apollonius pulled the string.
A single arrow began forming.
Unlike the enormous flaming projectiles she had used before, this arrow was thinner.
Smaller.
More concentrated.
That made it far more frightening.
The energy compressed into the projectile was so dense that the surrounding air seemed to distort around it.
Ryota's instincts screamed at him.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
"This wasn't happening before."
Fayzan shook his head slowly.
"No."
Apollonius finished drawing the string.
The arrow was aimed directly at Ryota.
Ryota's body stiffened.
"She's targeting me."
Fayzan immediately stepped forward.
"Move!"
Ryota tried.
But Apollonius released the string.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The arrow exploded forward.
Ryota's eyes widened.
It was faster.
Far faster than anything Apollonius had fired before.
The projectile crossed the chamber almost instantly.
Ryota barely had enough time to react.
He twisted his body and raised his sword.
At the same time, he activated Scalular Impact.
The arrow struck.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed Ryota completely.
"RYOTA!"
Fayzan's scream echoed through the chamber.
The blast launched Ryota backward.
His body slammed into the stone wall with tremendous force.
CRAAAAASH!
A crater formed around him.
Stone fragments rained down from above.
Ryota's body fell limp for several seconds.
Fayzan stared at the crater.
"Ryota!"
There was no response.
Then the health bar above Ryota flickered.
2%.
Fayzan's face went pale.
"Only two percent?!"
Ryota was still alive.
Barely.
His fingers twitched.
Then his arm moved.
Slowly, painfully, Ryota lifted his head.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His breathing was ragged.
His arms trembled as he pushed against the broken stone beneath him.
"...That..."
He coughed.
His voice was barely audible.
"...was close."
Fayzan stared at him in disbelief.
"You're insane."
Ryota managed a weak laugh.
"You're one to talk."
Neither of them continued laughing.
Because Apollonius was still standing.
And she was glowing.
Her entire body radiated an intense golden-orange light.
The flames surrounding her armor had become thicker and more concentrated than before.
The pressure she released was completely different from earlier.
Even Indra reacted.
The tiny blue dragon's expression became unusually serious.
Its wings spread wide.
A faint blue barrier formed instinctively around Ryota.
Indra had sensed the danger.
Fayzan looked toward Apollonius.
"...She got stronger."
Ryota slowly pushed himself out of the crater.
His health remained at 2%.
Every heartbeat felt painfully loud inside his chest.
He could feel his entire body trembling from the attack.
Yet he forced himself to stand.
His eyes remained fixed on Apollonius.
Then his gaze shifted toward his inventory.
He remembered the armor fragments Fayzan had collected.
A thought began forming.
Fayzan seemed to arrive at the same conclusion.
"...Wait."
Ryota looked toward him.
"What?"
Fayzan didn't look away from Apollonius.
"Your rock."
"What about it?"
"It damaged her armor."
"Yeah."
"Then she got stronger."
Ryota's expression slowly changed.
He remembered.
The first time they had managed to damage Apollonius.
The moment they had finally broken through her defenses.
She had staggered.
But afterward, her flames had intensified.
Then Fayzan had damaged her armor again.
And once more, her strength had increased.
Ryota slowly lowered his sword.
His expression became serious.
"...So every time we damage her..."
Fayzan finished the thought.
"...she evolves."
Silence filled the chamber.
The two players stared at the towering boss.
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
They didn't need to.
They understood what it meant.
Their attacks weren't simply hurting Apollonius.
They were triggering something.
Every successful attack appeared to push her further beyond her previous limits.
Every piece of armor they destroyed gave her more power.
Every time they forced her into a disadvantage, she returned stronger than before.
Ryota's grip tightened around his sword.
"So we're making her stronger by fighting her."
Fayzan's jaw tightened.
"Looks like it."
Ryota glanced toward the ruined chamber.
Broken pillars.
Cracked floors.
Scattered armor fragments.
Everything they had done to her had only made the situation worse.
Across the battlefield, Apollonius slowly raised her bow again.
The flames around her body roared.
The entire chamber trembled beneath the pressure.
Indra's blue barrier brightened around Ryota.
Fayzan clenched his fists.
Neither player had much health remaining.
Fayzan had lost his weapon.
Ryota was standing at only two percent health.
Their opponent, meanwhile, had just become even more powerful.
Apollonius drew another arrow.
The flames gathered around the projectile.
The golden light illuminated her burning eyes.
She aimed directly at them.
Fayzan took a slow breath.
"...We're in trouble."
Ryota looked toward him.
For a moment, he remained silent.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Yeah."
He raised his sword.
"But we're still alive."
Above him, Indra's blue aura grew brighter.
Across the battlefield, Apollonius's flames roared with enough force to shake the remaining pillars.
The next exchange was about to begin.
And this time, Ryota and Fayzan knew exactly what they were facing.
They weren't simply fighting an overwhelmingly powerful dungeon boss.
They were fighting an enemy that learned from their attacks.
An enemy whose power increased whenever they managed to break through her defenses.
The more damage they dealt to the First Ray—
the stronger the First Ray became.