“No way…” Gaeru was dumbfounded when he opened the gates to the throne hall. The first thing that caught his eye was the Salamander King hung from the ceiling, swinging motionlessly by the updraft from the opening of the throne doors.
Whatever that was left of his intestinal bowels were hanging loosely from his gutted torso and the Valgs right under him were chewing it as if it was mere gum. Upon closer inspection, Gaeru discerned that what was left of the Salamander King was only his skin and scales.
His bones, muscles and other organs were already missing.
After all that struggle to reach the throne hall, the frog swordsman’s purpose for revenge vanished into thin air upon absorbing the sight of the unfortunate king’s death. The view of it nearly made some of the cultivators puke, but a few of them who were well versed in group support had emitted auras of chi to calm the nerves of the whole crowd.
“Ahhh… So, my new playthings have arrived. A bit slow, in my opinion, but it gives me the luxury to prepare a magnificent playing field for you.” A tiny little purple light twinkled from the throne seat and swerved around the room before shapeshifting into a human a few metres away from Gaeru and the rest of the cultivators.
“It had been a long time since I saw humans, and better yet, humans with magical powers,” Maeve said as she walked around in a dress that was similar to the Victorian lineage. Her purplish black bustle dress packed with fluffy frills matched her slightly curled long hair. The top hat she was wearing had a veil that somehow managed to blur her face despite their masks’ superior vision technology.
“But you guys smell different,” Maeve responded as she casually walked towards the group while twirling the Salamander king’s crown around her index finger. The entire group somehow sensed a cold, piercing chill going down their back whenever she slowly took a step closer. Even the calming chi aura could not neglect the feeling of dread at all.
“It smells like a freshly washed sheet of bedding that had been stained with a pungent smell of cheap perfume, but yet it still tingles me with anticipation!” Maeve’s smile behind the veil clearly crept every single cultivator, and even Gaeru felt disgusted.
“So, I am guessing the monsters who populated this particular castle was because of this lady rather than the dead Salamander up there?” Xiong Da questioned as he held his weapon tightly. Something was telling him that this final boss would not be as manageable as the ones he had fought before in Jin’s dungeons.
“Since you have killed the Salamander King, I have no qualms with you, fairy,” Gaeru said as he kept Boo back into the scabbard and turned around, indicating that he had no intentions to fight.
“Really? You think that spineless lizard ordered the massacre of your tribe?” Maeve spat at him the moment he lowered his guard. “I was the one who aroused his cannibalistic nature. I was the one who convinced him to kill not just your Papi and Mummy. Oh, I do know you rather well, Gaeru, Son of Magu.” Maeve taunted the frog as she had tapped into his well of memories.
“They were the most fun to play with, always urging, begging us not to kill your twin brother who injured himself because-‘ Maeve was instantly interrupted by Gaeru’s first strike. Yet, she did not move an inch further and took the hit through her stomach. Initially, she was surprised that the blade was able to cut her, but her wounds closed the moment his blade slid away.
“Well, well, well! Looks like this swordsman not only have a blade that can cut me, but have the will to do so too! Everyone! Let’s give him a round of applause!”Maeve said as she sauntered back to the throne seat while Valgs began to block their path to her. Despite her orders, no one dared to move a single muscle after Gaeru’s attack.
“No clapping? That’s boring.” Maeve laid back on the throne chair and suddenly, purple icicle flowers surrounded the throne chair and glittered beautifully under the dull candles around the hall. “But you know? You should have aimed for the head for more satisfaction.”
“Any ideas on how to defeat this boss? Seems like her regeneration will be a pain in the ass.” Bu Dong was finally able to relax when Maeve walked a certain distance away from them. He then took his sword and pointed at the Valgs who were gathering right in front of the cultivators.
“You should ask how do we even get close to her when her presence was enough to paralyse us.” Zi Dan added as he charged up his chain ball mace.
“She’s a faerie. Find her source of power. It could be anything, from a small trinket to a large block of stone.” One of the hooded black mask cultivators finally spoke out. The rest of the cultivators were amazed that they have such information on them. Perhaps, they might have scoured the castle and found clues regarding this final boss.
“Hahaha, is that a joke? This is too big of a place!” Bu Dong asked since they had no clue what they were searching for and the castle itself would need more than the number of people they have to find the item of power. He was suspecting that Jin had made this place gigantic in nature so that it would be hard to find clues on the final boss.
What they did not know was that those Black Masked Cultivators were the Dark Elves from Jin. They had encountered a faerie before, and thus they knew what they were up against.
In fact, they had a similar relic, an Item of Power from the faerie they fought against with but the Dark Elves did not know how effective it would be against Maeve; thus it would be better to search and use her personal Item of Power against herself.
“Find something related to what she is wearing or the colours black and purple. It is usually connected, but I have no guarantees that you have results. It could possibly be a wild goose chase.” Another Black Masked cultivator replied.
“We will distract her while you take on the Valgs. Send people to search the rooms connecting the throne hall for the source. If unsure, destroy anything on sight.” The former black mask cultivator said, but before they could continue their conversation, Gaeru had already fixated his sights on the boss.
The moment he took his first step, the Valgs reacted the same way as well, and the two groups immediately clashed with each other.
“Kong Xian! Zi Dan! Split your groups into two and search the east and west exits! You! That Hawk Cultivator! Send a message to Jing Yu, who is still fighting against the Valgs behind us to look for that Item of Power too! The rest, commence your attack! Bring these bloodthirsty monsters down to their knees and show them we… Cultivators are not to be underestimated!” Xiong Da shouted his orders, and a resounding yes was heard from everyone.
“Damn it, Boss Jin! You should have given everyone a standard title instead of just us Pandawans.” Xiong Da whispered to himself as he rushed against the Valgs while the Black Masked Cultivators were already gaining their pace to assist the reckless frog.
