Chapter 56 Down with the Tyrant

I froze for a split second, my mind racing, hoping the blood was from Evelyn’s rapiers striking true. The Kobolisk wasted no time, seizing the opportunity to lunge at me, its massive jaws snapping shut with deadly intent.

As the beast’s gaping maw loomed closer, my eyes locked onto one of Evelyn’s rapiers, embedded deep in the creature’s flesh. But Evelyn herself was nowhere to be seen.

As the beast hurtled toward me, jaws gaping in a ravenous attempt to devour me whole, I activated Arcane Step. In an instant, I reappeared on the ceiling, crouched, and launched myself downward with every ounce of force I could muster.

I crashed down onto the creature’s head, Arcane blades extending from my shields, driving it forcefully into the rocky ground below. The impact sent a resounding crack through the cavern, but before I could press the attack, the beast thrashed violently. With a sudden jerk of its massive head, I was flung through the air, slamming hard against the cavern wall.

Pain lanced through me, letting me know Arcane Armor had lapsed, but I had no time to recover, the beast was already turning its maw toward me. Instinct took over, and I used Arcane Step in a desperate bid to escape, knowing all too well what had happened to Evelyn when it last struck. 

It was a fortunate decision, as the instant I reappeared, the creature smashed into the wall exactly where I had been. Seizing the opportunity, I unleashed Arcane Retaliation without hesitation.

I struggled to focus the skill as precisely as I had hoped. My goal had been to condense it into a narrow beam just wide enough to do serious damage without dissipating its impact. However, I had vastly underestimated its strength. When I activated it, I managed to shape it into a cone instead, expanding outward from me. In the mere ten feet between us, it had widened to nearly fifteen feet across. The force of the blast struck the creature with such intensity that it was hurled nearly fifty feet away, crashing into the cavern wall with a deafening impact.

Its head was nearly lodged in the wall from the sheer force of impact, and I could hear the sickening tear of muscles and tendons snapping under the strain. For a moment, I stood frozen, stunned by just how powerful the hit had been, an opening I failed to exploit as quickly as I should have. A second later, the Kobolisk began to lift its head, though its movements were sluggish and unsteady, as if it were dazed, its balance compromised.

Something vital in its neck had clearly torn, leaving it unable to hold its head steady. As it struggled to lift its head, its mouth gaped open, and a thick surge of blood poured out, evidence of the brutal damage it had sustained.

Using Arcane Step, I materialized beneath the creature and thrust upward with a spear forged through Arcane Manipulation. The spear pierced deep into the soft flesh of its underjaw, eliciting a deafening roar. The sheer force of its bellow shattered my weapon, sending me tumbling backward beneath its massive form.

I hit the ground hard, gasping as I looked up to find the creature looming over me, its eyes glowing with an ominous light. At least in this world, a basilisk gives you fair warning before trying to turn you to stone. That also explained how Evelyn had managed to shoot at its eyes without suffering the same fate.

I, on the other hand, was in trouble, the creature's glowing, pulsing golden eyes were locked directly onto me. The rhythmic glow almost seemed to sync with my own heartbeat. But that was all it did. When I didn’t start turning to stone, I seized the moment and used Arcane Step to escape.

As I materialized, Evelyn’s other rapier gleamed, piercing out from the Kobolisk’s neck. Seizing the moment, I used Arcane Step to teleport closer, my grip tightening around an Arcane knife. With precision and force, I plunged it into the same wound, determined to tear it open further.

With a well-placed strike, I managed to widen the wound further, and Evelyn tumbled free. I caught her hand and pulled her away as the creature thrashed violently above us. Ensuring she was at a safe distance, I turned back to the beast, determination burning within me, I was going to end this once and for all.

The gaping wound in its throat, along with whatever I had torn earlier, had severely weakened the creature. Wasting no time, I unleashed a relentless assault, using Arcane Step to reposition rapidly while forging Arcane mana spears in quick succession. Each time a spear shattered, I conjured another, driving them into its massive form with ruthless precision. The Kobolisk thrashed but could no longer fight back. Within moments, its colossal body shuddered, then collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Congratulations! Your party has beaten Scalebinder Depths. The Dungeon will remain locked for the next hour or until you take the exit portal.

I barely registered the notification before using Arcane Step to appear beside Evelyn. She was drenched in blood and saliva, her breaths still coming in ragged gasps, but she was alive. "How in the world did you survive being swallowed whole? Also, you seriously need a shower, I can smell you through my fully sealed armor."

In hindsight, I could have phrased that more delicately, but I was just trying to lighten the mood. Evelyn slowly turned her head toward me, the movement almost ominous. "The next big boss monster we fight," she said, voice deadly calm, "I am going to use my talent to make sure it swallows you whole."

I chuckled and opened my Void Nexus, giving Evelyn the chance to wash off the blood and grime. As she disappeared inside, I took the opportunity to explore the cave. The first thing I did was store the Kobolisk’s massive body, thankfully, an effortless task. With that taken care of, I resumed my search, scanning the cavern for anything valuable or unusual.

The cave stretched nearly 300 yards in both width and length, with a ceiling soaring about sixty feet high. Stagnant pools of water dotted the cavern floor, their surfaces eerily still, reflecting the dim light in fractured, shifting patterns.

I wished I had a waterproof flashlight or some way to pierce the murky depths, unfortunately, water blocked my Panoptic Sense entirely, leaving the pools an unknown mystery. I debated jumping in anyway, just to satisfy my curiosity, when Evelyn emerged from the Void Nexus, freshly showered and clad in clean clothes, looking far more composed than before.

I walked over and sat down beside her, offering a slice of chocolate cake, hoping it might help ease some of the stress. As she took a bite, Evelyn began recounting her side of the encounter.

"The second I saw that thing’s mouth coming for me, I knew you wouldn’t reach me in time. So, I swapped to my rapiers and went for it. Problem is, even though they’re top-tier weapons, I’m still not very practiced with them. One strike glanced off a tooth, and the other got wedged in its mouth. Lucky break, though, when I started sliding down its throat, I managed to hook my rapier into the flesh, stopping my fall. From there, I just started stabbing away, trying to find a weak spot to get out. I thought about sending you a message through party chat, but I figured throwing you off mid-fight wasn’t exactly a great idea."

I wasn’t entirely sure how she managed to stop herself with the rapier, but if I had to guess, the Kobolisk’s throat worked like a snake’s, slowly guiding food down rather than forcing it through. By stabbing into its throat lining, she likely slowed her descent even further, which also explained the flood of blood it had vomited up.

We chatted a bit more, mostly me trying to keep Evelyn’s mind off the fact that she’d just been swallowed whole. Once she seemed a little more at ease, we started making our way toward the entrance. After what happened with the exit portal at The Dungeon of the Wilds, I wasn’t taking any chances. A little extra walking was worth making sure we left through the right exit, getting dumped in the middle of nowhere was the last thing we needed in our current circumstances.

Before we even made it halfway, I could see exhaustion overtaking Evelyn. Her steps faltered, and her eyes drooped with fatigue. Without hesitation, I opened my Void Nexus and urged her to rest, knowing she wouldn’t last much longer. We had already tested it with animals during our travels, confirming that anything inside remained unharmed even when the Nexus was closed. With her safely inside, I took the opportunity to clear the area, hunting down the last few kobolds that had managed to slip away earlier.

With about fifteen minutes left before leaving the Dungeon, I decided to take a quick shower. It seemed smarter to clean up now while we were guaranteed to be alone rather than risk an ambush the moment we stepped into the wild after leaving the Void Nexus.

With nothing left to do, I cast Arcane Armor and stepped out of the Dungeon, only to be met by a crowd of armed warriors. Spears gleamed in the light, poised to strike, while archers stood with arrows nocked, ready to let loose at a moment’s notice. My mind barely had time to register the situation, let alone process what Panoptic Sense was telling me, before two figures broke from the crowd, rushing toward me from either side.

Rather than engage them head-on, I used Arcane Step to retreat deeper into the mountains. I moved as far as I could, teleporting multiple times in rapid succession. After the first jump, I avoided a straight path, weaving unpredictably to throw off pursuit. Realizing that Arcane Armor made me too conspicuous against the rugged terrain, I dismissed it, blending more naturally into the rocky landscape.