Crunch
what were these things I was stepping on? They looked like dark red vines but I don't remember vines having this natural color.
But that's to be expected when you're inside a dusty, murky castle. Our footsteps echoed in the dark corridors and there was an air of malice about.
The only light was that from Yuna's fire and the moonlight that slithered in from the large arched windows. I smelled nothing but dust and rust.
We walked down the whispering halls in standard formation. Yes I say whispering because I swear I could hear curses muttering into the wind, that's just how eerie it was here.
I, Jin, was at the front of the party with Kenji, behind us was Yuna, our fire mage and at the rear was Naomi, the second mage and smack dab in the center was our healer, Ayumi senpai.
Yuna looked around bitterly and sighed.
"Darkness like this isn't good for skin you know, I would've appreciated a quick tour of this place and left it at that."
She ran a hand through her wavy hair, her chest bounced with her gait.
" This shouldn't take too much longer, the boss is jus' ahead right?" Kenji replied with a care free smile.
We already went through the entirety of this castle without a hitch, the only thing left was the origin of the curse- the stupid knight that died who-knows-when for who-cares-what cause.
"What was the knights whole deal again?" Kenji asked.
"Some over dramatic revenge plot or something" I didn't bother to hide my irritation, this is exactly the third time I've done this since joining here a month ago.
" It makes me sad seeing such great heroes become such horrid curses." Ayumi, the soft hearted healer, spoke sadly in her soft voice.
" the corpses are so ugly too, ugh, like how can I tell if they were cute or not when they were alive?" Yuna asked to no one in particular
"All of you settle down please, we're here"
Naomi chimed in for the first time. She was right, we were here. At the end of the corridor was a large sealed gate, at least twice my size.
From underneath the door a blood red mist spread out. My boots felt a bit chilled.
We turned our heads towards with each other with mutual understanding. Together, Kenji and I pushed it open.
The temperature dropped even lower. I found myself in a perfectly circular room whose ground I couldn't see due to the mistake. The ceiling was completely obscured by the dark.
In the center of the room, was a pitch black coffin, completely square with some intricate design on the top.
As I walked to it, I had a weird feeling about this room.
The intricate design I saw from before turned out to be writing engraved on the coffin.
"Yuna"
"On it!"
She brought her hand, which had a ball of fire in it towards the writing. I read it aloud.
" here lies the epitome of heroism
With peace may he rest while he meets his late brethren and the others watch over his soul"
" It's the same of the last two, heroism bla bla and soul whatever"
Kenji spoke while looking curious.
"There's no way That's a coincidence"
I shook my head lightly as I thought of our predicament. Just what happened here?
Regardless, it's time to get this over with.
"Standard procedure, everyone ready?"
They nodded in unison. I gave the coffin a last glance of distrust and pushed off the cover with Keformation, it came off with the air filled with dust.
In an instant, red vapor exuded from the interior. We all took steps back and entered our battle formartion.
Then, as expected, a loud shriek came from the inside. A cursed shriek so shrill it could never be a humans voice.
An battered armored arm came out. Using the side of the coffin as support, it elevated its body. Now it's whole upper half was visible.
The dark Armour, red eyes and knights mask, hiding it's cursed face, it all came into view.
"That's armor is my style." Kenji commented with enthusiasm. Yuna wasn't as impressed however.
"Eh, it's a 6 outta 10, I've seen better"
This knight finally escaped the coffin and stood by it with its eyes on us.
RAAAAAAAWR
With a deep roar this time, he released a Shockwave that blew my hair up. I stood my ground just fine though. Rows of cursed pixies appeared along with a blood hound on each side.
"Wooohoooo"
Kenji was on the verge of dashing in
~ Battle begin~
Yuna threw fire balls at each hound. They both ran to the sides and rushed towards her, their mouths fuming.
The fire scattered and burnt nearby pixies. Just the hounds came for Yuna, I sliced through the crowd and put myself between them, hitting the first hound in the teeth and cutting through the eye of the second.
"Receive my aid!"
Ayumi cast a mana buff on us. I felt the mana pour into my body and amplify my powers.
Yuna and Naema breezed through the pixies with their beams. And where was Kenji? Of course taking on the big bad knight in a sword fight at the altar.
Sparks flew in the air, as he went head on and met the knights attacks. The knights movements were rigid yet strong, the complete opposite of Kenji's fast and light swings.
I swipes through the pixies with ease but the hounds attacking at random was a bit of an issue. They always came from opposite directions so I couldn't hit them both at the same time, leaving my no choice but to backflip out of there range.
"This old geezer ain't half bad!" The knights red hue became thicker and thicker and with it Kenji's excitement increased. He was now being pushed back.
Just then, the hounds tried another double pounce but this time, one was blasted away by a fire blast and the other with an energy beam. No way I'm missing this chance. In two swift strokes I eliminated the dogs.
With the three of us and Ayumi's buffs, the pixies were easy work no matter how many appeared. That just leaves the boss.
Kenji already did a number on it. Parts of it's armor was cracked and little cuts appeared on the gaps between the armor plates, each releasing the same red vapor.
Kenji swing his sword to the right and the knight countered, but that was just bait. Using the swings momentum, he rotated mid hair to deliver a flip kick to boss' head.
It fell on its back and dropped it's sword.
But just as Kenji went for the final blow, it released a desperate roar and a Shockwave that blew him back.
The 2nd phase of the boss and the knights last stand has raised.
Yuna appeared beside me and put a hand on her curved hip.
" should we help him out?"
"No way!"
It seems like Kenji heard us. The four of us just watched him deal with the knights power surge. Were we bad teammates? Maybe but Kenji wasn't even going all out so we hardly worried. Bodies of the slain surrounded us, only wisps of the red mist lingered now.
"Whatever I guess"
Yuna shrugged her shoulders and went off. Ayumi looked back at her slightly concerned. She was obviously hesitant to leave a party member especially when she was in charge of healing.
The sounds of grinding metal reached us from the altar.
As for me, I would've helped but I dealt with the exact same boss twice before and was bored. Besides, Kenji can handle his own.