Liam rushed at the momentarily exhausted priestess. On the way a bottle holding a mysterious ruby-red liquid appeared in his hands. He downed the intermediate health potion without slowing down. Simultaneously three golden swords formed behind his back and shot at the enemy, triggering the gathered Holy Marks, ushering in an explosion of sacred light.
[+5000!]
[-3060!]
[-247!]
A second later Liam reached Ivreya who stared at him with raging but also tired eyes. He showed no mercy as his swords stabbed into her chest. The boss still didn't move. Liam repeated his attack, dealing about 7000 points of damage in total before Ivreya finally regained her bearings.
"This is not the end!"
The priestess raised her hand, retaliating with her own attacks. Liam dodged to the side. A brief exchange of basic attacks followed. Once more Ivreya lost about 10.500HP, exchanging them for merely 50 points of Liam's stance.
"I… don't believe it!"
Suddenly black patterns appeared all over Ivreya's skin. Liam felt an ominous premonition. He hastened his movements, striking again. A sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard as Liam's swords couldn't hurt Ivreya's body.
[-0!]
[-0!]
Ivreya's face twisted as she let out a strange cackle. She had entered berserk mode.
Liam cursed inwardly as he built some distance, vigilantly observing his surroundings. The boss had only about 4000HP left. He could kill her within a single second. But due to her body impervious to blades and magic, the fight was forcefully prolonged. There were two options now. Either Ivreya's invincibility had a time limit or Liam needed to do something to break through it.
"Haha, do you see nephilim? This is the power of light and darkness. Although you will never be able to wield it, at least you can die content now!"
With those words Ivreya swung her left hand. Two spheres of dark magic shot at Liam in quick succession. The veteran's chest tightened. The flying speed of these attacks had improved considerably. However, it was not yet to the point where it was impossible to dodge. With a nimble jump the two attacks crashed into the ground in front of him.
As Liam watched the two spheres his instincts suddenly sounded a blearing alarm. His eyes narrowed as he noticed a point of swirling light and darkness appearing below the magical sphere. Instead of shattering on the floor the sphere bounced like a rubber ball, continuing to chase after Liam. The veteran instinctively threw his body to the side, barely escaping the two attacks, the sinister magic chilling his face. He abruptly glanced over his shoulder, observing the spheres as they crashed into the wall. Fortunately, there were no surprises this time as the two spheres splintered apart and dissipated.
"Hmpf. Let's see how long you can dodge!"
Ivreya instantly swung her right hand. This time two spheres brimming with holy magic shot at Liam. However, they were approaching on a criss-crossing path, making their trajectory difficult to predict. Liam vigilantly observed them until the last moment when he took a single step to the right. The two sphere of holy magic crashed into the ground but rebound as well until they hit another wall and got destroyed.
Observing the boss, Liam frowned faintly. As soon as her attacks ended, she started the next one. There was no delay and seemingly no opportunity to break Ivreya's invincibility. As he got used to their rhythm, the spheres were not overly difficult to dodge but his stance was quickly depleting.
Liam's thoughts moved wildly. He surveyed his surroundings, recalling various game mechanics he had seen before. An idea flashed through his mind.
"Let's try that…"
As another two dark spheres rushed towards him, Liam watched them closely. Suddenly he swung his sword. He hit the first sphere like a baseball. And his gamble was rewarded. A strange force appeared on the surface of his blade, which reflected the dark sphere, sending it towards Ivreya.
However, the joy was short lived. As soon as the first sphere changed directions, the second did so as well, crashing into the first, causing both to disappear in a low explosion.
Liam smiled wryly but he wasn't discouraged. He dodged the next two holy spheres before repeating his actions. However, this time he avoided the first dark sphere and struck the second one with his sword.
The attack was reflected, shooting at Ivreya. The other dark sphere changed directions as well, trying to catch up, but unable to do so. Thus, both projectiles reached the boss, crashing squarely into her chest.
"What?!"
The priestess was surprised. Looking down she could see a dark magic lingering on her chest. She let out a snort, producing some holy light to erode the dark magic. Realizing that the process would take a few seconds she grew impatient and threw another two holy spheres at Liam.
A victorious grin formed on the player's face. He watched the criss-crossing projectiles closely. An abrupt step to the left. The first sphere was dodged. A sword flashed through the air, without the elegance of a sword fighter, resembling a baseball bat. It hit! The second sphere was reflected, shooting back towards Ivreya, swiftly followed by its companion.
Suddenly Ivreya's eyes opened wide. An extreme sense of danger overcame her. She looked at the two spheres as they crashed into her chest.
"NOO!"
A voice brimming with despair. A chaotic explosion followed. Light and dark intertwined, causing the temple to quake under their might. All kinds of forms could be seen. Flames, spears, arms. Liam's heart leaped to his throat. Although his rationality told him that this wouldn't happen, he was afraid that the uncontrolled magic would kill the two girls in their cages. Luckily this didn't happen as the magic soon subsided.
Ivreya was revealed. She was standing rooted on the ground, her skin showing dense, black patterns. Her eyes were peacefully closed. There was no movement coming from her, like an eerie statue. Liam didn't put his swords away, afraid that she might move again, until a notification finally popped up before him.
[Congratulations on defeating the boss monster 'Dark Priestess Ivreya'!]
[Received 17.600EXP]
[EXP: 127.620/154.034]
Liam's tense body relaxed. The fight was over. He put away his swords and curiously approached Ivreya. She stood in place, looking as if she was in peaceful slumber. But no breath could be felt from her. Liam assumed that her magic had backfired.
Whether the priestess was still alive or not didn't matter much to Liam. He reached for her belt, taking a key, which he used to open the cages of the trapped girls. As soon as the girls escaped to freedom they knelt on the ground, pouring out their grievances with bitter tears.
"Thank you! Thank you, adventurer, for saving us!"
"Yes, you saved our lives! We can't thank you enough!"
"This damned witch! I hope she suffers in Hell! Pretending to be a saintess when her heart hides a demon!"
"Yes, yes!"
"And not only her. That other bastard deserves to die as well!"
"Right, adventurer, that demoness was not alone! Please, you have to seek justice for all the poor girls she pushed towards death. We… we alone are probably not enough."
Liam already had a guess what they were talking about, but he asked anyways. Eager to vent, one of the girls shared her story:
"Adventurer, I am but a poor farmer's daughter trying to make a living by selling fruits in Svebrial. One day I heard of a priestess willing to aid the poor. Many others praised her so I thought I would try my luck. At first the priestess really treated me well, offering not only financial but also emotional aid. I was amazed that such a good person existed."
"But it was all a facade! After a while she wanted to see me alone. I trusted her and agreed. But as soon as I entered a room I was hit with a curse, losing consciousness. When I woke up, I was in this temple, trapped in a cage, together with five others. From time to time the priestess would appear and take one of us away. The girls… never came back again. And one time there was someone else, some young noble. From their conversation we learned that it was that young noble who bought the girls as playthings. This bastard!"
At this point the girl choked up. The other patted her back while adding something:
"We are lucky to still be alive. We have been here for about half a year. We often heard the priestess curse that this young noble was too arrogant, not wanting us girls anymore…"
Liam sighed after the two girls finished their story. He consoled them briefly before letting them wait. There was something else he still had to take a look at.
Approaching the back of the temple Liam's eyes fell on the various books and documents gathered by Ivreya, now all scattered chaotically. Liam let his gaze roam over them. He found books on curses and some letters which came from beings of the chaos faction. Everything was proof that Ivreya had lost her way.