NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 245: Facing Your Fear
When the party - unnamed, now that Raylin thinks of it, for some reason - rushes into the boss arena, several things happen immediately. Taylim begins by quickly activating his magical shield, wrapping the party in a glowing, bluish half-sphere. Raylin scans his attention across the room, noting down the location of every piece of decoration he can find, knowing that at least some of them will turn out to be monsters. Barlond and Sweet both advance to the front of the group, although they don't leave Taylim's protection until their opponent fully reveals itself.
Not that it's exactly hard to find. The reflective sphere sits on its pedestal in the center of the arena, just as the reports from other Challengers had claimed, yet those reports also told them that it'd be foolish to try and attack it in this state. While Raylin doubts that the sphere is actually invulnerable, it is apparently highly resistant to most forms of damage in this form, and so the party has little choice but to wait for it to change and assume the implement of their dooms. At least they don't have to wait long. As they watch it begins to take a humanoid form, liquefying and extending limbs, and Barlond sighs in relief.
"Ah, good - it's doing something humanoid. I heard once the damn thing transformed into a giant ball of spiders."
While keeping her focus on the enemy ahead, Sweet has to ask the question. "...How does a ball of spiders fight, exactly, I wonder?"
"I do not know and do not want to find out. ...Hold on now, is that...?" At first, it was apparent that the mimic was taking on the form of an armored warrior, holding a shield and a sword. Eventually though color begins to be applied to its form, the metal-like liquid taking on the texture of skin and cloth, and the exact appearance of the floor guardian becomes clear. The monster standing before them is a perfect copy of Gilda Highbranch.
As the group watches on in silence, the mimic smiles while admiring its new form. "Well, this is a new one. Not the first time I've been a mortal, certainly, but a member of your own party? Though the interesting part is which one of you triggered this particular transformation..."
Gilda doesn't quite push to the front of the group, but she does step forward enough to get a good look at their foe. "What in the hells is this? Are you mocking me, monster?"
"Mocking you? If anything, perhaps you should be a little flattered. After all, you're about to find out how you'd be able to take on a full party of Challengers and win! ...If you survive the experience yourself, of course."
Mimic Gilda - or Mimda, as Raylin mentally classifies them - assumes a combat position which immediately sets Sweet off, ignoring whatever deeper meaning there might be behind the monster's form. "Enough talk - Barlond, with me!" The gnoll dashes off, although not in a frontal assault, leaving that instead to Barlond to handle. Instead she rushes to the right, practically hopping in long strides, gaining a significant amount of distance in the process. Mimda starts to turn to track her, but they soon have to return their focus to Barlond and his flail, which rings out as it impacts the monster's shield.
Quickly ducking back to avoid a sword swing, Barlond has a smile on his face as he poses the monster a question. "I wonder, guardian - is your shield not a part of you? Do you not feel pain when I strike it? Would a blow on your body anywhere be just as good as another?"
"Feel free to keep wailing on it and find out. Or better yet - let it wail on you." A blast of explosive force suddenly emits from the shield, pushing Barlond back just in time for the mimic to swivel and parry a blow from Sweet. Back behind Taylim's defenses, Gilda watches on with an annoyed expression.
"They - they're even using my magic? How?"
Raylin fires off a shot as an opening shows itself, although the mimic easily dodges it. "Doesn't much matter at the moment, does it? I'd say the more important matter is - how effective is your magic on them?"
"Yes, hold on, hold on - if the creature has a half-elf's senses, then there's a few ways to take advantage of that. Such as..." Quickly sheathing her sword, Gilda pulls out one of her favored enchanted artifacts - a family heirloom in the shape of a bell which causes disorientation in enemies that hear its ring. Since the last time she had cause to use it however, the Lady of Runes had made a few modifications of her own. "Sweet, Barlond - make room!"
The pair quickly dodge to either side, and with a swing of her arm Gilda rings the bell, leaving it pointed in the mimic's direction. Rather than create an omnidirectional sound however, runes flare up around its edge, and a blast of directed soundwaves hit the mimic full-on. The monster raises its shield, of course, but that's no defense against magically enhanced sound, which ought to leave the guardian stumbling to its knees any moment now.
Except...it remains standing firm. When the blast of sound ends and the mimic lowers its shield, Gilda realizes with some shock that her clone no longer has ears. "Come on, Lady Highbranch. How many times have you used that trick in this dungeon? I'll admit, it was more intense than I expected - actually tickled a little, as it happens - but you'll have to display something a little more original to win in this battle."
"Gah! Give me another moment!" Gilda quickly stashes her bell and reaches for her rune-painting brush instead, but Raylin sees that they have new worries to deal with.
"The gargoyles around the rim of the ceiling are coming to life - watch your heads!" Raylin quickly fires off a few arrows at the nearest monster, just beginning to stretch its wings, and is relieved to see that they do actually sink into its flesh. He'd heard stories of monsters made of stone, but mimics take on the appearance of things more than their actual attributes...save for the floor guardian itself, somehow, whose blade and shield seem to be more than up to the task of keeping two of the party's Masters at bay.
"I shall manage the defense - you may remain focused on bringing the monsters down!" Taylim shouts out as he impales one swooping gargoyle with his blade, while his mystical shield-dome blocks another who begins clawing at it like an upset cat. Unfortunately the Sentinel finds himself taken by surprise when the creature on his blade drops its disguise, and its chest splits open into a massive maw filled with mismatched teeth. The shift allows it to free itself from the man's blade, and Taylim pulls back just in time to avoid the fist that begins banging on his shield. "Gah! Will perhaps take me another few moments sir, my lady, but I'll have this one sorted out quickly enough!"
"I have faith in your abilities, Taylim." Raylin keeps his voice calm as he focuses on bringing down those monsters still at range, while keeping half an eye on Gilda, who seems to be busy painting symbols onto her sword. "Have something in mind, Gilda?"
"I do - the mimic likes shifting their form, do they? Then let's see if I can't make them a little more solid, hrmm?" With a wild grin on her face, the half-elf steps forward and points her weapon in the guardian's direction once again. "Taking a shot - Frostbite!" Her sword lights up with a white-blue intensity, and a moment later the magical blast it emits hits Mimda, who once again blocks it with their shield. This time it's rather less effective a defense, however - not only does the shield itself soon become encased with ice, but the blast continues to envelope their body, freezing the entire boss solid. It's not exactly a single solid block of ice, and the mimic's limbs can still move at a reduced speed, but it's clearly a serious blow to their capabilities. Seeing their vulnerable state, Gilda grows smug.
"I believe now would be an excellent time to finish - oh, now what?" As the party watches on, glowing symbols begin to light up on the guardian's shield, and as Gilda recognizes them she begins to curse. "Are - are you kidding me? They don't even need to paint the runes!? The cheating - strike quickly, it's writing an immolation enchantment!"
Sweet and Barlond don't need to be told twice, and the pair quickly get to work. Their weapons open up wound after wound on the mimic, despite the armor the boss wears, but in this case their specialization at drawn-out damage over time works against them. Unable to strike a quickly lethal blow to interrupt the spell, the pair have to pull back when the shield erupts in a flash of flames which soon engulfs the guardian entirely. The party watches cautiously for a moment, hoping that it might be a form of suicidal desperation, but regretfully the flames only seem to harm the ice coating the monster and not the monster themselves.
"Gah, that's an odd feeling. And I actually turned into a fire elemental once! But this is drawing down my reserves, so forgive me if I attempt to cut this battle a little short!" Mimda moves with renewed vigor, swiping their blade across Barlond's chest before turning back to Sweet. The magical flames don't last long, but the swordsmanship displayed is well beyond Gilda's own - not that she'd be likely to admit it - and while the speed of the Highbranch retainers keeps them from receiving more than glancing hits they find themselves unable to strike back in return.
That stalemate comes to a surprising end when the guardian launches themselves forward, displaying a strength that Gilda herself certainly does not possess. The monster's shield strikes Sweet with enough force to send even the towering gnoll tumbling to the ground, and the mimic's blade is already beginning its downward swing before the Bloodletter has time to recover. Even Gilda has no time to do more than shout out as she sees the lethal blow fall forward. "Sweet - get out of there! I - Sweet!"
There's a flash of light, and when the party blinks the spots out of their eyes, they find the mimic's sword dug into the stone floor - and no sign of the gnoll who was there a moment before. Even Mimda seems to pause for a moment of surprise. "...Well, didn't think I hit her that hard. Suppose that makes it easier to clean - "
Whatever mockery the guardian was preparing is cut short as an arrow suddenly juts from their left eye, having found its way through the gaps in the imitation helmet the mimic wears. Even that doesn't manage to actually kill the monster, but a second icy blast from Gilda, draining the remaining energy from her sword's temporary runes, strikes them only a fraction of a second later. This time there's no shield in the way to intercept the attack, and despite the lesser energy of the second strike, after this blow the mimic seems to be more slowed down than ever. That leaves yet more openings for Raylin to strike from afar, and Barlond has soon joined in as well, intensifying the surely already-severe pain the mimic must be feeling from their brand new head wounds.
When the monster actually collapses to the arena floor though, it takes a few breaths for Raylin to realize what just happened. "Did - did we kill it? Have we actually cleared the floor?"
Despite her lesser physical exertion, given that she had only needed to swing her sword at the attacking gargoyles a handful of times, Gilda is breathing even harder than the Marksman is. "Yes, but - Sweet! I don't understand! What sort of attack could have - have just wiped her from existence like that?"
After taking a bit longer to ensure that there's no more mimics about to reveal themselves and attack, Taylim finally relaxes his guard enough to answer. "I do not know, my lady - but I know that she was a brave gnoll. Dedicated to your cause, a truly worthy companion."
"Stuff your eulogy, I just - aggh!" Gilda lets loose with a howl of frustration before beginning to stomp around, halting only when she sees the arena's treasure chest make its appearance. "...Someone else inspect that, I...I do not care for baubles at just this moment."
"...Of course, allow me." With a slight bow of his head, Raylin steps forward and opens the chest. As he searches though it, his thoughts are largely on what this may mean for Gilda and the party. He barely knew Sweet personally, but he certainly respected her skill, and the Master-rank Challenger had been the estate's head of security. Should he offer Taylim to take up that position? Or...no, it would be far too sensitive a matter to bring up, and he certainly wouldn't want to look like he was taking advantage of the tragedy. It actually takes him a while to refocus and truly examine the objects he finds - the usual currency, two small potions, a dagger...some odd cage-like object that looks like it'd barely hold a mouse, which seems a bit strange...and finally, a plain silver ring with a purple gem inserted into it. It'll need to be identified later, but something tells Raylin to mark it as part of his own portion of the rewards when the party settles up.
That will have to wait a little longer, though. "A few decent items, some oddities that may need identifying, but no apparent great treasures, I'm afraid. Still, the dungeon may yet give us some credit for being the first to clear the floor."
"Let us hope so." Although her words are slightly calmer, her tone is very much not as Gilda begins making her way to the previously-hidden door now apparent at the rear of the arena. "Let us see what all of this has gained us after all."
The party makes their way through the door, finding themselves once again in the now-familiar core chamber. Core Guardian Sincere is waiting to greet them once again, and he gives the group a nod with a smile on his face. "Congratulations! As I'm sure you're aware, your party is the first to have gotten this far. I'll admit, a Floor Nine is nearly prepared, but as we weren't actually expecting you to get this far, the core chamber has yet to be moved to down to it."
Gilda frowns, unable to take any pleasure in their victory. "Wonderful. My - my greatest retainer slain, and now you tell me that our record of 'clearing' the dungeon is soon to be undone. One wonders if there was even a point to it after all..."
In response to her morose statement, Sincere raises a confused eyebrow. "Slain? I was about to say, the fact that you defeated Parker with no casualties makes your victory even more impressive. Did - oh, I see." The demon smiles, as if struck by a sudden understanding. "Was Sweet beholden to an oath of chastity, my lady?"
The question only manages to confuse Gilda. "What? No, she was not particularly devout, nor inclined in that manner. Why do you ask?"
"Well, then - ah, I suppose perhaps it should be up to her to explain, then. The point is, your retainer is alive and well, waiting for you just outside the dungeon as we speak."
"What!? You - you're not jesting?"
"I don't mind the occasional prank, but I would not jest about something of this sort, Lady Highbranch."
Gilda takes the longest, deepest breath Raylin can ever remember seeing someone take, but he's struck even more by the intense look of relief on her face when she's done. That expression is soon replaced by a smile though, and her voice when she next speaks has no trace of the scorn it held just seconds before. "In that case - let us go and see what Worthy Inn has to offer the first victors of Floor Eight, shall we? Perhaps this is a victory worth celebrating."
