Chapter 22: Charlotte and the Enraged Boss

Sliding down through the opening, we landed in a wide, open space.

The fleshy walls remained the same as before, but the area itself was vast and completely empty.

"Ow… ow…"

"Is everyone here?"

Apparently, I was the only one who messed up the landing. Everyone else managed to touch down safely. Well… I had other things on my mind.

As I looked around, the pain from the fall grounded me back into reality, though the slimy sensation underfoot made my skin crawl.

"Where are we?"

"Looks like we fell to a lower floor. Everyone, get ready."

"Huh?"

Turns out I was the only one who hadn’t caught on yet.

A lower floor? That means this must be the fifth layer… Wait, the fifth layer—that’s where the area boss is!?

Hold on, we’re totally unprepared for this!

"They’re coming!"

"Uwaaah, no no no!"

I bolted forward in a panic. A moment later, right where I had been standing, a massive lump of flesh dropped from above with a wet, splattering thud.

The disgusting sound echoed as it smacked the floor, then a tentacle dangling from the ceiling reeled the flesh chunk back into the air.

On its surface, thin fibers pulsed in sickening waves.

What… the hell is that? From a distance, the whole thing looked like a giant carnivorous plant… yeah, a pitcher plant, but bulkier, with the top bent slightly at an L-shaped angle.

The center of the flesh bulged and writhed, splitting open to reveal an enormous, unblinking eye.

The lidless eyeball darted around, scanning the area in a jerky, unsettling motion.

――Gross! The monsters on the upper floors were already nasty enough, but this thing’s on another level!

Is this… the area boss of this dungeon!?

"This thing sprays digestive fluid everywhere! Watch out, not just for the splashes but also the liquid that shoots from its upper mouth!"

Reynard barked orders sharply, already taking a battle stance.

Riven followed suit without hesitation.

I scrambled back toward Trishel’s position to stay out of immediate danger.

"Alright, here we go~. 《Crimson Blaze》!"

Trishel kicked off the fight, conjuring a bow from thin air and nocking an arrow made of roaring flames.

With practiced grace, she loosed it straight toward the grotesque pitcher plant.

The burning arrow shot directly at the glaring eyeball, but one of the boss’s tentacles whipped out and blocked it effortlessly.

"Aww, blocked already."

"Doesn’t matter. Keep it up—I’m counting on you."

Reynard was the first to charge in, moving almost in sync with the boss itself.

With a clean swing, he sliced off the very tentacle that had intercepted the arrow.

The severed limb writhed violently on the ground before twitching one last time and going still.

"Well, looks like we’ve pissed it off."

Losing a tentacle made the boss turn its hatred on Reynard instantly.

From the ceiling above, a storm of fresh tentacles lashed out—

—but Riven quickly stepped in, intercepting the assault and cutting them aside with swift precision.

"Thanks, you saved me there."

"So the plan’s simple—slice through the tentacles and strip this thing bare, right?"

That was probably the right call.

From the looks of it, that gigantic eye is screaming “I’m the weak spot!”

The tentacles keep lashing out and retracting, clearly meant to shield it.

And tentacles weren’t the only problem. If Reynard was right, getting too close would mean getting doused with digestive acid.

Best strategy seemed obvious: keep cutting down the tentacles, create an opening, and let Trishel land the finishing blow.

"Everyone, be extra careful of the acid! I can heal injuries, but I cannot neutralize acid burns!"

That was the real danger—if the frontliners got hit by acid, my healing magic wouldn’t save them from further damage.

Even if I patched them up, the acid would keep dissolving their bodies… there’d be nothing I could do.

Luckily, everyone understood the warning immediately.

The vanguard focused on reducing the number of tentacles while keeping a safe distance from the main body.

Trishel, like me, avoided wasting magic and focused on dodging the writhing appendages.

She was clearly saving her strength for a decisive strike later.

Thankfully, there were fewer tentacles on our side compared to Reynard and Riven’s, which gave me some breathing room.

"Hmm, looks like the closer you get to the body, the denser the tentacles get."

Trishel, unlike me, still had enough composure to analyze the boss mid-dodge.

Meanwhile, I was struggling just to keep myself alive.

For a while, the fight turned into a relentless defense.

The vanguard kept slicing through as many tentacles as they could while dodging the constant attacks.

Meanwhile, the rearguard, myself included, focused on avoiding the lashes while desperately watching the boss’s movements, not wanting to miss the single moment that could decide the battle.

But… nothing was improving. If anything, the number of tentacles attacking us seemed to be increasing.

"Oi, are you sure these things even have a limit!?"

"They… they should! Last time they did!"

Riven was starting to lose patience with the endlessly sprouting tentacles.

Even Reynard looked a little uneasy.

This was no ordinary fight anymore—something irregular was happening. It wouldn’t be strange if the area boss had changed its behavior since last time.

After all, the Skeleton General had done exactly that.

"Irregular bosses can change their attack patterns! It happened before!"

"Then what’s the plan!?"

"Just—hold on, I’m thinking!"

We shouted over the chaos, sharing ideas as fast as we could.

We had to find a way out of this. If this turned into a battle of attrition, we’d be the ones to lose.

I had to find something. Some opening. Some weakness.

…Nothing. Damn it, nothing’s coming to mind! I can barely think when all I can do is dodge nonstop.

Maybe if we pulled back, widened the distance, and reduced the number of incoming tentacles first—

"…Ah."

It was just a small sense of wrongness at first.

Trishel’s earlier remark about the density of the tentacles… something about it didn’t sit right.

If they were growing randomly from the ceiling, shouldn’t the pattern be uniform?

No… there’s some kind of rule to where they spawn, isn’t there?

Maybe I’ve been looking at the wrong thing entirely.

I tilt my head up, staring at the ceiling.

The fleshy surface rippled unnaturally, birthing new tentacles that rained down endlessly.

At first glance, it seemed chaotic—their positions, their timing, all seemingly random.

"Riven! Reynard! Get closer to the main body!"

"What!?"

"Got it!"

Reynard reacted instantly, rushing forward without hesitation, even though I had just told him to charge into the danger zone.

The closer he moved, the more violently the tentacles lashed at him, but he didn’t flinch, slicing them down one after another.

This wasn’t about there being fewer tentacles farther away.

The boss was deliberately focusing its defenses near its body.

Which meant one thing—the closer we got, the more vulnerable it felt.

"There’s going to be digestive fluid once you’re close! Dodge it no matter what!"

As Reynard closed the distance, the boss’s massive body convulsed violently.

Its upper mouth tilted toward him—then unleashed a torrent of sizzling liquid.

Just as I predicted. If the rest also went according to plan, we might have a chance.

"Trishel!"

"On it!"

Reynard barely managed to evade the acid in time.

Normally, the tentacles would have struck to punish him in that moment of distraction… but none came.

Of course—this was it.

The boss couldn’t move its tentacles where the acid splashed.

Digestive fluid harmed its own tentacles too.

Meaning, the instant it spewed acid, there was a brief but perfect opening.

"Goodbye."

Trishel unleashed her magic.

A blazing arrow shot through the air like a comet.

The tentacles scrambled to intercept it, but they were far too late.

Her aim was flawless—the exact moment the boss’s tilted body straightened and its enormous eye faced forward again…

The arrow struck dead center.

"Did… did we get it!?"

The area boss thrashed violently, its movements no longer aiming to strike us but instead twisting and writhing in agony.

…Did we win?

"Hmm… doesn’t look like it yet."

The boss steadied itself, regaining balance. Its massive eye was now bloodshot, making it look even more grotesque than before.

Rivulets of blood-like tears streamed down, proof that our attack had landed.

But judging from the sheer fury radiating off of it, we’d only enraged it further.

Its unblinking gaze shifted past the vanguard and locked onto us in the rear.

The countless tentacles pointed in our direction, tensing as if preparing to strike all at once.

"Crap—"

"No. This is the end."

Before I could even move, Riven suddenly appeared right in front of the boss.

At some point, while everyone’s focus had been on its rampage, he had already closed the distance.

In that single moment when the boss had turned its gaze elsewhere, he had slipped in and raised his blade.

And just as he declared, his blade carved through the monster in one decisive strike.

A deafening shockwave erupted, echoing across the cavernous chamber. The sheer pressure of his swing was terrifying.

The boss didn’t scream. It couldn’t. Its entire body expressed what words couldn’t—

This was the end.

"…Is it… over?"

"Yeah. Looks like it."

The revolting pitcher-plant-like creature finally gave way.

Its supporting tentacles detached from the ceiling and collapsed to the ground like lifeless vines.

From its gaping mouth, digestive fluid oozed out, sizzling and burning its own outer flesh.

The boss twisted weakly, writhing one last time in pain, but the tentacles no longer responded.

The link was severed. It could no longer control them.

Its massive body slowly shriveled, like a flower withering under the sun, until all that remained was dried, shrunk flesh littering the ground.

"…We won!"

I couldn’t help but jump in celebration, pure relief bursting out of me.

Facing an unprepared boss fight like this, it wouldn’t have been strange if even this team hadn’t made it out unscathed.

But we did. Somehow, we made it.

Overcome with joy, I grabbed Trishel’s hand and hopped up and down with her.

"…Charlotte-chan. That’s exactly what I mean, you know."

"Eh? Ah! R-right!"

Oh… that’s right. Things were still awkward between me and Trishel right now.

A little further away, Reynard and Riven raised their hands and exchanged a quiet high-five, sharing their victory without a single word.

Behind us, a wet, sticky sound echoed through the room.

Startled, I turned around—

It was the sound of the massive boss chamber doors unlocking and creaking open.

The path back was clear.

No ambush. No tricks.

We really won. The boss fight was truly over.

Unable to contain my overflowing relief, I ran toward the two vanguard fighters, eager to share the moment with them.