True Boss Arrives

{Danger}

{Immense Presence Detected}

The system's notification hit my mind like a redundant bell as I peered at the staggering flow that emanated from the gemstone. Its purple hue turned a faint red and sent rumbles across the dungeon.

That damn witch, she probably sent some kind of signal for this to happen!

The monsters still standing all buckled under the rumbling, and nothing stood in my way of destroying it. I took a glance over my shoulder at Freya, who still writhed under the Frenzy status condition. I needed to end things, and soon. I felt bad for having her stuck in that state, but there was nothing else I could do for her than bring down that stone.

Bulldoze! Bits of stone broke off from behind me as I shot forward in a charge. I summoned the Greater Earth Manipulation skill and launched myself off from a rising pillar. Once I gained enough speed in my arc, I came up to the gem's massive body and reeled back for a punch.

There’s no telling how strong this thing is, but I’ve got nothing but confidence in my strength stats. So, let’s end this!

I intended to break through it with one solid punch, but once close enough, I noticed the odd colour of the gem's surface. The murky, magical air inside of it cleared, and I noticed something–no, it was a person– inside the gem's casing.

A woman was held inside, her arms spread out in a 'T' position. Her eyes fluttered, and with a sudden jolt, they widened into a piercing, crimson gaze. Before I could deliver the punch, a magic circle appeared between us and dampened the damage.

I still managed to leave a crack with my punch, but the overwhelming weight of magical energy that concentrated at the end of my fist was too much to handle, and I was blown back. Cracks riddled my arm where I was hit and continued to decay over time.

Who was that? She’s alive in there… she must be the boss of this dungeon. As I thought that, the rumbling continued with even more intensity. A ring of magic spread across the ground with blinding light, and from it, a collection of rocks from the surrounding rubble were drawn to its centre.

I flinched. It’s going on the attack already?!

The stone and loose boulders slapped together and solidified into one large, bipedal shape. A golem.

{Magia Golem Lv24}

{Condition: Summon}

It summoned a golem?! That’s just playing dirty… I’m actually getting a little mad at this hunk of purple rock! I took a step back and gingerly watched the towering creature take shape before me.

A large humanoid stone body stood at twice my size, with hulking limbs and no discernible face or head. It had a gorilla frame, with glowing blue lines across its surface that flared magical energy. Based on its name, I suspected it was some kind of magic-based monster, but I still didn’t know anything about it other than that.

The Magia Golem stood at its full height and whipped to my direction, the large circle of glowing magic at its chest flared. It looked angry.

Don’t tell me…

{Magia Golem Lv24}

{Condition: Frenzy (Major)}

It’s got the same status effect as the other monsters. Yeah, there’s no doubt that gem lady is pulling out every dirty trick she can to beat me. I can’t let that thing go on the attack. It’ll wipe the floor with me!

Stone pillars rose around the Magia Golem's body at my command to restrain it.

Each pillar dug into its joints and bound it in place. I planned to throw my Piercing Stones from a distance to take it out, but before I could–

“GROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

A bellow erupted from the Magia Golem's body and erupted a blue magic erupted from its grooves. The pillars shattered under the weight of its wild thrashes and crumbled around it. Once free, the blue markings along its body seeped out blue goo, which it took in hand and shaped like clay.

W-what… I thought that was magic energy? Since when is that stuff malleable or... even touchable? I observed.

The Magia Golem held out a large ball of concentrated magic that flared and pulsed under its grip. With an arch of its shoulders, it held it over its head like a basketball and prepared to launch it.

That attack’s bad news…! I gingerly stepped away. I prepared to shield myself with every skill I could, but realised its aim was way too high to hit me. Why's it going so high up? No, is it even aiming for me? I glanced over my shoulder, and fear ran rampant in my mind.

It’s going for Freya!

Before I had a moment to respond, the ball was thrown. The Magia Golem was clunky like me, so it didn’t move very fast, but even I could throw a projectile at wicked fast speeds. I ran over in a panic as blue ooze streaked across the room's air.

I have to do something… not again, please, don’t let someone die again because of me!!

I charged on all fours, but fell flat on my face as the Bulldoze skill failed to take effect. I had already used the skill recently, and it was still on cooldown, something not even I could negate. I tried clawing forward on the ground, but my decaying arm crumbled from the slightest movement.

The frenzied eyes of my partner returned to normal just in time to reflect the hurling ball of blue ooze headed her way. The creases around her lip from her snarl faded to a look of awe, then shifted to me in a sullen stare.

“A-Atlas…?”