“Hurry up! We still have a few more rooms to go before we reach the entrance to the 5th floor!” said Dover trying to make Akira Move faster. Akira continued to gather items from the [Brown Hammer polar bear] that had been killed.
Akira''s guards watched the demigods closely blocking Akira from their view, acting as a shield from any danger or random monsters while he and Fluffball gathered the armor, weapons, gold, and magic stones.
The guards had been on edge ever since they entered the 4th floor which was far harder than the exploding poiyoings. The demigods had all become more agitated and snappy as they came closer to the end of the 4th floor. Those who had better noses than others even without transforming could smell the desperation and worry that emanated from the demigods.
“You guys need to relax. We won''t be able to fight the boss of the dungeon like this, if you''re so high strung,” said Akira as he packed the rest of the items away.
“You guys better watch where you send your skills,” said Vilkas quietly as he looked at the Demigods.
“It was just a misfire since I slipped on the ice,” said Ben.
“Why are you guys not using any skills now that we''re on a harder floor? If you helped out we could clear it faster,” complained Dover.
“We are training our bodies so that we can fight and not be reliant on skills,” said Akira, making a quick excuse for the werewolf soldiers'' lack of skills.
“So you really are just a bunch of meatheads after all,” said Ben.
“Us girls are not meatheads! Were dainty ladies,” said Mileena, unhappy with being lumped with Akira and the other meatheads.
“Fascinating at how many different ores are in this dungeon, even some dropped from dead monsters instead of magic stones,” said Klyn as he wrote down the new info into his notepad.
“Any idea why they drop it,” asked Akira.
“No idea but it seems to be a special type of magic ore,” said Klyn.
“It''s just a random loot drop. Why are you guys acting so weird?” asked Dover.
“Alright let''s head out,” said Akira as he stood up.
“Finally... the next rooms will be the hardest as they have mini-bosses guarding two passages down to the fifth floor. They are what killed us so many times...” said Ben.
Akira and the other heavy infantry walked ahead of the others cautiously checking for any enemy as they walked down the glistening ice hallways that glittered from the little light that was emitted from the ceiling.
They entered the next wide ice room and found it was empty so they continued moving forward and reached the last room that was again empty and had only two dark stairways leading down deeper into the dungeon.
“Where are the two mini-bosses?” asked Ivana.
“Damn It! If they are not here then we won''t be able to get the bonus rewards for killing them,” said Shaker.
“It can''t be helped. Which stairway should we use?” asked Dover.
Akira and Fluffball walked over to one of the tunnels and discreetly sniffed the air while another pair of soldiers did the same at the other tunnel.
“The one on the right looks to have a few traps but I couldn''t sense any monsters that way,” said Akira.
“Yap,” said Fluffball, agreeing with him.
“There are several monsters on the left but no traps that I could find,” said One of the werewolf soldiers.
“What? Do you guys have special scouting skills?” asked Boot, who was interested in those types of scouting skills. “I''m so jealous.”
“Well... you could call it a skill I guess,” said Akira.
“I think we should take the route with the traps, the other one gives me a bad feeling,” said Mileena as she returned from inspecting both.
“Wait! We need to check the monsters on the left. We cannot skip this side just because of a bad gut feeling. They might be the bosses that we are looking for,” said Dover.
“Fine with me. We will wait here while you check to see what is down there,” said Akira.
Ben and Dover led the way to the stairs in a confident manner and when they had descended two stairs there was a loud click.
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
“Whoaaa!” they both cried out as they slipped and started to slide down the icy ramp that had just replaced the stairs.
Crack!
Shaker snapped her whip and wrapped it around Ben''s waist stopping him from falling while Dover grabbed onto Ben''s legs.
“Bumpalot help me! These guys are too heavy and I might lose them and my whip!” said Shaker as she started to slide closer to the ramp due to the slippery ice.
Sir Bumpalot sheathed his sword, put his shield on his back before grabbing onto the whip, and started pulling it up towards him hand over fist little by little.
“Phew! That was close! If we had died there then that would have been the end of our mission for good,” said Dover as he stood up and dusted off his armor as if nothing happened.
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
The icy ramp returned to its previous state of harmless stairs after the two demigods were pulled back into the main room.
“Ahem...I think we should take the right stairway down. The left seems too dangerous,” said Ben as if he had a new and great idea.
“We''ll clear the path down so just wait here,” said Akira as he motioned for his guards, the soldiers, and companions to follow him.
“Turtle formation,” said Akira as they reached the stairs.
There were many thunks, cracks, and other noises as they walked down the stairs blocking all the activated traps with their shields.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs Akira could see the swirling magical light that would lead to the boss of the dungeon.
“You can come down,” shouted Akira as he and the other werewolves stood to the right of the swirling magical light.
“Yes! We have finally reached the entrance to the boss room after all the hardship we have gone through!” said Ben.
“Do you mind if we go first?” asked Dover as he walked towards the swirling light not waiting for Akira''s answer.
“Sure...” said Akira as the group of Demigods disappeared in a flash of light.
“Lord what was that?” asked several of the guards and warriors who had not seen such a thing before.
“Is this magical light safe?” asked Mileena.
“Don''t worry we''ve already used it before. It just transports you to a different place where a strong monster is,” said Klyn in an all-knowing manner.
Akira stepped forward and touched his sword to the light.
Ding!
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
A different party than yours has already entered the Boss instance.
There is a five-minute cooldown before your party can enter the Boss instance.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“Is it broken?” asked Mileena when nothing happened.
“Um, I think it needs to recharge its magic power. It shouldn''t take too long,” said Akira.
Both Maya and Klyn were writing in their notepads detailing the new information.
“What do you think of these demigods so far?” asked Dolph.
“They''re a bunch of talkative idiots. Klyn did you make sure to note down all their skills and other info that they talked about,” asked Akira.
“No need to worry. I made sure to write down everything, even the things that might not be that important,” said Klyn.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Alright everyone, looks like it has recovered. Well be using the turtle formation until we can see what the situation inside is,” said Akira as he initiated the party transfer.
Fwoosh! An endless falling sensation overwhelmed Akira''s senses as the light flashed over him and everyone around him.
When the light and the falling sensation disappeared they found themselves huddled in a small stone room that had been cut into the stone wall.
Akira looked around and saw that to each side of the room was a stone pathway that was carved into the wall. It was wide enough for two people and was curved around the whole boss room. There was no front wall and was wide open so they could attack the Boss from any part of the room.
As he looked at the boss room as a whole he could see that the room was shaped like a cone. The flat end at the bottom and the pointed top far above them. The stone room and side paths were lower than the raised center of the room.
The Upper ice walls of the cone room shined and glittered with many different shades of yellow and blue making it look like a beautiful gem.
“What took you guys so long? Were you trying to make us fight the boss alone?” asked an annoyed Dover quietly.
“There was a cooldown because we aren''t in the same party,” said Akira as he looked over to the demigods who were gathered near the edge of the room.
“Oh, forgot about that,” said Dover.
“For some reason, there is only one boss here when there should be two,” said Ben as he pointed to a large black mountain of fur that was sitting still at the raised center of the boss room.
[ Deadly Cute Poiyoing level 90].
“It looks to be quite strong, what''s the plan?” asked Akira.
“Just like before, you tank its attacks so that we can deal damage to it from the side and the rear,” said Dover.
“Are you guys even strong enough to damage it?” asked Akira.
“Don''t underestimate us! We have a lot of skills that we saved just for the boss,” said Shaker.
“Alright... shield formation forward. Let''s take care of this thing before it has a chance to do any real damage. Since this thing looks to be a giant Poiyoing you better be careful. There is no telling what it will do so you need to immediately follow my orders when I give them,” said Akira as he led the werewolves forward.
Both Dolph and Vilkas chose to stand behind Akira this time to better protect him from any ''misfires'' from the rear.
Akira and the front line shield wall exited the carved stone room and walked up the short incline to where the Boss was sitting. The large black-furred mountain started to tremble.
Boom! Boom! With two hops the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] turned to face the intruders.
“POIIIIIII,” roared the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] before sticking out its huge red tongue that was almost as large as Akira, “BLEH.”
Both the hops and its loud voice shook the ground and vibrated their bodies.
“So cute! I want to kill it and use its fur for a rug and a blanket and maybe some new gloves and armor and...” said Mileena as she looked at the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing].
The [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] stared at the numerous werewolves who held up their shields and slowly walked towards the large monster. Ben, Dover, and Shaker followed them on the rear left side ready to attack when they were in range.
“Poi! Poi! Poi!” shouted the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] as it started to hop from side to side.
Ding!
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Warning!
The [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] is using a special skill:
The Poi Poi dance!
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“Crossbows, Javelins! Fire!” shouted Akira.
The metal bolts disappeared into the large black fur while the Javelins pierced into its body.
They braced themselves behind their shields not sure if it would explode like the small [Poiyoings], but it continued to shout ''Poi!'' as it hopped side to side.
“Again!” shouted Akira, not wanting to get too close to the monster since he didn''t know anything about the boss'' skills.
There were only a few small drops of blood dripping on the stone floor to show how little their attacks were doing as several more javelins found their target again.
“POIIII!!!” With its roar, a loud ''pop'' was heard and two Poiyoings double the size of the small ones on the previous floors shot out from the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing''s] lower body.
[Deadly Cute PoiPois: Lvl 60].
The large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] continued to do the Poi Poi dance not stopping.
Ding!
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
More and more [Deadly Cute Poipois] will spawn unless you stop the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing].
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“BEN, Dover! Your party needs to focus on taking down the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] and stop it before it can spawn enough poipois to overwhelm us. We''ll take care of all the spawns, and support you,” said Akira.
“Got it,” said Dover he gave a signal to the three members who were hiding in the stone passage behind the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] ordering them to begin their skill attacks.
“Rose thorn whip of love!” shouted Shaker as she cracked her whip that had started to glow pink and sent out a pink light that resembled her whip. The pink light slammed into the large black fur body tearing up its fur.
“It''s tougher than I expected,” said Shaker.
Akira stopped watching the Demigods and turned his attention to the [Deadly Cute PoiPois] that were hopping towards them.
“Poi! Bleh!”
“These guys look like they might have a far bigger explosion, so we need to pop them before they come near!” ordered Akira.
Boom, boom!
After several ranged attacks the two [Deadly Cute Poipois] exploded creating a wide circle of freezing ice where they had been.
“POIIIII,” shouted the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing]. Pop! Four more [Deadly Cute PoiPois] appeared and started to hop towards them.
The large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] started to hop side to side even faster as it was getting hit.
“Raining arrows!” “Ice piercer!” shouted Boot and Ivana from behind the large fur mountain.
Around 20 to thirty green magical arrows fell from the sky and landed on top of the [Deadly Cute Poiyoings] head. While several Ice spears shot out of the ground right under the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing].
“POOOOOIIIIII!” Roared the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] in pain as it hopped onto the ice spears and had several arrows pierce its head.
Pop! 7 [Deadly Cute PoiPois] appeared and 1 of them started to hop towards the demigods at the rear while the other 6 hopped towards Akira and the shield wall as they were taking care of the last two poipois from the previous wave.
“Hurry! It''s getting angry and making more of them!” said Akira.
“Don''t worry! Sir Bumpsalot can protect the two others from that one that went behind,” said Ben as he continued to use a skill that sent out glowing light daggers that exploded when it hit its target.
“Slice!” shouted Dover as he sent a large Red slash towards the boss.
“Halfway there!” shouted Ben.
The demigods contained to rain their skills down on the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] who was spitting out [Deadly Cute Poipois] even faster.
Now each time the boss hopped it would let out a wave of icy air that would rush out freezing the ground and knocked the cross bolts and javelins off course.
Akira and the other werewolf soldiers were having a hard time killing all of the [Deadly Cute Poipois] before the next wave arrived. They were exploding closer and closer to the shield wall as more and more were spawned.
“25%!”
As they struggled to kill all of the spawning [Deadly Cute Poipois] the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] grew more ragged and enraged.
“10%!”
The [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] stopped hopping from side to side and started to hop up and down. Sending out cold blasts of icy air that froze the ground and grew stronger and wider with each hop.
“Slice!” “Rose thorn whip of love!” “Fire dagger!” the Demigods sent their skills shooting out and they...
...slammed into Dolph and Vilkas'' shields as they intercepted the attacks that had been aimed at Akira.
The two were pushed a few steps backward with large gashes appearing on their shields.
“Lord!” shouted Vilkas.
Akira blew into his dog whistle issuing an order. As one, the shield wall started to retreat quickly towards the small carved room in the side of the cone room.
With the demigods showing their true colors and the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] going berserk they had to regroup farther back to take on the enemy away from the growing ice waves to get away from the icy wind that was quickly expanding freezing the entire area.
“Boot! Ivana! Stop them!” shouted Dover as he let another slash fly towards the retreating Akira and werewolf warriors.
It slammed into the shield wall and only caused a small gash across the two shields next to Akira and only a small scratch on his own which had been enchanted.
“Ice spear!” “Raining Arrows!” The two attacks missed their target as Akira and the werewolf soldiers entered the small stone room. They were also sheltered from the growing ice attack of the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] as well.
“Ivana, keep it enraged, and don''t let it regenerate! Boot and Sir bumpalot, attack them from the side!” Ben shouted as he and the other demigods ran after the retreating werewolves.
Cross bolts and javelins flew towards the approaching demigods who dogged them or were blocked with a crack of Shaker''s whip.
When they were only a few yards away the Demigods stopped for a second and jumped to the side, revealing several [Deadly Cute PoiPois] who had been following them and were now flying through the air in mid hop.
Boom! Boom!Boom!
Several large explosions went off as they exploded when they landed next to the shield wall sending covering everything around them with a light layer of ice.
The demigods used the disruption to launch their own attacks towards Akira.
“The boss is glowing! I think he''s going to blow!” shouted Ivana!
“Brace for impact!” shouted Akira as he activated his [Harden] skill.
KABOOOM!
A shock wave of freezing cold air slammed into the shield wall followed by a wave of ice that spread out freezing everything in its path and slammed into the shield wall.
Akira could see from the side of his vision two flashes of shattering light rise up into the air as the two demigods that had been running towards them were killed by the attack as well as a disappearing light where Ivana had been behind the Boss.
When the freezing wave stopped Akira and the others were covered in layers of ice.
“Urrgggh!” Akira tried to break the ice but was stuck.
“Ha! Luckily Ivana was able to cast an ice wall to protect us,” said Ben as he exited from behind an ice wall.
“Damn...only the two of us survived. Let''s hurry up and take care of them and take the special dungeon item so we can complete the mission they gave us,” said Dover as he positioned himself to use a deadly skill to kill Akira.
“Body splitter!” the long two-handed sword started to glow as he swung up in a large arc from behind...
Thud!
… only to be embedded into the stone ceiling as it hit the low ceiling.
“Damn it!” shouted Dover as he tried to pull out his sword.
“Burning daggers!” shouted Ben sending multiple daggers flying towards Akira.
“ROAR!” a large ice blue blur jumped out from behind Akira and in less than a second Dovers outstretched arms were severed from his body while his head disappeared as it was bit off.
The furry blur jumped towards the surprised Ben who sent out several burning daggers towards the new attacker but he was sliced in half after two swipes from a sharp claw.
Standing on top of the severed body was a large Snow wolf at least two times larger than a normal adult snow wolf.
The large snow wolf let out another roar of triumph while standing on the severed body and kept glancing towards Akira to make sure that he had seen his fight.