Himeko swung her great sword into the boss to see the kind of defence it had and if it was even safe to touch. The boss did not move at all, taking the full force of Himeko's attack. Turns out however, that it didn't need to move at all as it came out completely unharmed.
Instead, Himeko's flames caused a reaction with the demonic magma. As it came in contact with Himeko's flames, the boss's chest started bubbling like it was about to explode at any second. Not taking any chances she pulled away her great sword while creating a magma shield in front of her.
And not a moment too soon. Just as she expected the boss exploded like a volcano, releasing purple magma rapidly from its chest. The heat was so great that the floor around the boss turned into a magma pool, making it impossible to approach without protection.
Luna quickly cast her support shield on Himeko. This was demonic essence they were dealing with, so she wanted to make sure Himeko was fully protected.
Magma flew left and right inside the empty volcano, lighting it up with an orange glow. While it did help reveal the darker parts of the volcano's interior, the group would have rather made do with less lethal lighting.
Once the magma stopped coming out of the boss Himeko let go of her crumbling magma shield and jumped into the air. Phoenix wings came out from her back which was something she didn't want to show, but hiding it would only make it harder for her. The boss on the other hand dimmed down as if it was out of batteries.
It stood still, slowly getting brighter as it recharged its power, giving Himeko a chance to come up with some sort of plan.
"Phoenix wings? It can't be…. Himeko… The phoenix admiral of the human territory that KILLED THE PHOENIX!!!" Luna finally realised who Himeko was. The only reason she didn't recognise her earlier was the fact that this Himeko was tier 8, not tier 10. Himeko was also presumed dead, so Luna thought it would be impossible for someone dead to appear in the Demon Lands.
Everyone else became worried, not knowing if Luna would turn against them. They didn't know how much she knew of Himeko's situation, but now they needed to see what Luna will do.
"Ahhhh whatever, now isn't the time. The fact she is weaker means something must have happened." Luna became very distrustful of the group, but right now if she didn't help there was a high chance of all of them dying. She also wasn't a good fighter, so despite the group being of a lower tier they would still pose a challenge for her.
Everyone was relieved to hear Luna wouldn't stop helping, although they would still have to explain themselves later.
Himeko had no idea this was going on and was still trying to create an opportunity for them to attack. That proved difficult as magma still surrounded the boss, making it rather tricky to get close unless you had some form of flight.
Technically someone like Elanor or Shaman could levitate, but they would run out of mana quicker than they could kill the boss.
'Let's see if I can use the magma against the boss.' Himeko didn't know how demonic essence interacted with mana, but she hoped by inserting her own magma into the mix she could take control or influence it.
The boss was slowly beginning to move again as its dimmed body was almost back to its lit state.
Himeko lowered herself just above the magma and then stabbed her greatsword into the ground. Once it was firmly stuck in place, she channelled her mana into her sword. Magma flowed out of her sword and mixed with the magma around it as Himeko tested her ability to wrestle its control from the boss.
An electric shock shot back through the sword burning the palm of her hand. Instantly stopping the takeover, she pulled out her greatsword and flew back into the air. Luna healed the burn mark straight away as she realised what Himeko tried to do.
"Don't bother! Demonic essence is so much more potent that it will only backfire unless you can use demonic essence yourself!" Hearing the explanation as to why it didn't work, Himeko scratched her head wondering what to do.
'Looks like we are going the Elysia route.' Himeko didn't want to go too much on the offensive, but in order to allow the group to make a move she needed to cause some havoc.
Before the boss finished regenerating Himeko charged up her sword causing flames to burst out.
"Take cover!" Not knowing exactly where the magma would land, all she could do was warn them.
Elanor took the initiative to create a wooden wall protecting everyone. Luna joined in, coating with water type protective magic so it wouldn't burn as soon as it touched the magma.
Everyone hugged the wall just as Himeko swung her great-sword, creating a slash in the shape of a phoenix. The phoenix crashed into the boss in a blinding explosion. The magma that surrounded it was blasted away creating space for the others.
"Now!" hearing its safe to come out, Elanor dispelled her barrier. As the group rushed towards the boss, Silver took the chance to head towards the shadows. This made him a lot faster than everyone else, giving him the first attack.
However, instead of attacking he created shadow restraints to keep the boss still. Going all out, he covered its body with so many shackles that even the magma could barely get out.
Elanor joined to help restrain the boss. With the magma pushed back, she could finally call on roots from under the ground to trap the boss's feet. Elanor then backed off and used her wind to boost the others' speed. Luna followed up with a buff to the trios' magic hoping that it would be enough to kill the boss.
The three of them all attacked at once aiming for the core of the boss hoping their conjoined attack would destroy it.
They used Elysia to harness Shaman and Clara's elements on her spear. It was something they hadn't tried before, but on paper, it sounded like a great idea.
Shaman used her ice and stardust together to create a new sub-element of the two. It wasn't an official element the system recognised, but the combination caused Rea to create a new category in Shaman's element list.
[Elements]
Ice - Tier 6
Stardust - Tier 6
[Sub elements]
Galaxy Ice (Ice + Stardust) - Tier 6
Shaman didn't know it yet, but she combined her elements to the point where they became one. Before, she would just use them together, but never actually managed to combine them. The closest she got was when she coated her sword in ice and then Stardust, but they were still separated in layers.
With this new element, the dust turned into tiny shards of ice which were harder to melt. This worked greatly in their favour as the ice served to conduct and even enhance Clara's lighting.
Shaman's Galaxy ice swirled around Elysia's spear with Clara's lighting flashing through it.
Clara and Shaman then backed off to a safe distance after fusing their elements with Elysia's spear.
Elysia then stabbed right into the core of the boss causing a small shockwave from the elemental reaction. The ice caused the core to sizzle while Clara's lighting made the core erupt.
Elysia thought things were going well until suddenly she was pushed away by an invisible force. She looked at the boss confused, but she realised that the boss was pulsating with a purple light. She assumed it was the demonic essence that actually pushed her back.
"Get back!" Luna didn't like the look of the boss as now its entire body was fueled with demonic essence.
Everyone listened with Himeko standing before the group, ready to block any sort of attack. The boss shined with the purple light turning brighter with each pulse. Eventually, it released all the demonic energy up into the air all at once, creating beams of light. The streaks of light took on a familiar shape as they converged into a demonic face. Luna stared in disbelief as she shook and fell to her knees.
"No way… It has a demonic god inside it." The face of lights was the mark of a demonic god. It was usually seen on weapons as a sign of warning, but the boss had actually become a god in and of itself.
Shaman and the group were used to this as many of the dungeon bosses they faced held a weapon relating to these demon gods.
"Looks like the demon history I know is lost." Clara thought Luna would know about these weapons being hidden in various dungeons, but from her reaction, it was clear she had no idea. This made Clara want to know what the Demon queen knew as surely she would have some knowledge of it.
"Doesn't matter, all I know is that we need to seal it back from whence it came." Shaman didn't know how they were going to do it, but it was what needed to be done.
"First let's see what it's doing." Elysia saw the beams of light changing meaning its transformation was nearing its end.
The beams of light retracted back into the boss and caused it to grow in size as well as form a weapon. A purple spear formed in its hand, which it wielded with confidence. The boss's body language changed drastically, as if it was a normal human now, no longer acting like some mindless zombie.
Luna could only assume it was the god taking over and she was terrified by it. She wanted to run from this being said to be beyond any mortal comprehension. What she didn't know was that it was limited to the power of the wielder, so right now the boss was only as strong as a tier 8 leader.
"Get it together Luna! We either fight it or lay down and die, take your pick!" Himeko was ready to go head-to-head with the boss, but she would need Luna to keep her alive. Luna woke up from her somewhat irrational fear, so she got up from the ground and clenched her staff.
"F-fine, but at this point none of my tips are of any help." Luna's hand shook, but Himeko was right, now wasn't the time to succumb under pressure.
