Chapter 75: Boss Monster: The Pyre Wyrm (1)
The Floor 10 portal dissolved behind them, and Nathan stepped into the heart of an inferno.
The chamber opened into an immense volcanic arena, its fiery dome soaring high overhead. Rivers of molten gold snaked through the black stone, bathing the cavern in a hellish amber glow. Beneath the party lay a lone platform of polished volcanic glass, suspended above a vast lake of lava that disappeared into the darkness beyond. There were no walls to retreat behind, no pillars for cover—only a single battlefield surrounded on every side by an endless sea of fire.
The air rippled beneath the crushing heat. Even through their Winterhart cloaks, the temperature pressed relentlessly against their bodies, the enchanted fabric shimmering as its protective runes struggled to keep the inferno at bay.
At the heart of the platform rested the Pyre Wyrm.
It lay coiled like a slumbering volcano, its massive body stretching nearly fifty feet from snout to tail. Each scale looked forged rather than grown—layers of obsidian-black armor streaked with glowing crimson and threaded by molten veins that pulsed like rivers beneath the earth’s crust. Four immense wings lay folded across its back, their edges radiating waves of heat that distorted the air around them.
Then its eyes opened.
Two blazing white points fixed themselves upon the party, ancient, intelligent, and utterly merciless.
Its Roar vibrated through the volcanic glass, through the lava, through Nathan’s bones. The sound was a deep, grinding roar that seemed to come from the earth itself. The air shimmered with the force of it.
Nathan felt Mirko’s presence steady in his mind. ’This is what we came for.’ Awe. Anticipation. The fierce joy of a Knight facing a worthy foe.
’Then let us earn it,’ Kuro replied. Calm, calculated, but with an edge beneath, the hunger of an Assassin waiting for a worthy target.
Nathan drew Moonlight, the familiar weight of the bow settling comfortably into his hands. The Tyrant’s Eye embedded in the riser slowly swiveled, its crimson iris locking onto the Pyre Wyrm as though recognizing a worthy opponent.
His gaze swept across the party.
"Everyone knows the plan. We bring it down first, deal with the lair attacks once it’s grounded, then crack its core." He nocked an arrow and looked each of them in the eye. "Trust your training. Trust each other."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"We clear this floor."
Dillon rolled his shoulders, already drawing his katana. Lightning crackled softly along the blade as the Cloud Serpent lifted its head.
"Let’s turn this oversized lizard into a wall trophy."
"Stay focused," Elise said, never taking her eyes off the monster. Her voice was quiet, but firm. "It’s been watching us this whole time."
As if responding to her words, the Pyre Wyrm slowly rose to its full height and its massive wings unfurled.
The sound of those wings opening was a deep, leathery groan stretched over bones that had known flight for centuries. The Wyrm rose from its coil with slow, terrible majesty, and fire trailed from its wingtips like the wake of a comet.
It was taking flight.
"Dillon, keep it busy in the air! Elise, the platforms!"
The moment Nathan gave the order, Dillon’s Cloud Serpent shot skyward in a streak of crackling lightning. It spiraled around the Pyre Wyrm, hurling bursts of electricity that danced across the beast’s crimson scales.
The Wyrm reacted instantly.
For something so enormous, it moved with terrifying speed. Its body twisted through the air with effortless grace, and its massive tail snapped toward the serpent like a whip.
"Dillon!"
He didn’t hesitate. With a sharp pull of his blade, he redirected the Cloud Serpent into a steep dive. The tail tore through the space it had occupied a heartbeat earlier, the force of its passage sending a blast of scorching wind across the arena.
Elise thrust her staff forward, and layers of [Mana Shield] bloomed into existence above the battlefield. Instead of forming a barrier, the translucent blue constructs spread through the air as a staggered path of floating platforms. They drifted and adjusted on their own, constantly shifting to keep pace with the Wyrm’s movements.
"Mirko," Nathan called. "Go."
She was already moving.
Mirko burst into a sprint, her first step landing squarely on the nearest platform. It held firm beneath her feet. As the next panel shifted out of line, [Quick Reflex] kicked in, letting her adjust without breaking stride. She bounded from shield to shield, each step carrying her higher, her green cloak flashing against the fiery glow below.
By the time she reached the highest platform, she was already airborne.
With a powerful leap, Mirko launched herself toward the Pyre Wyrm, sword raised high as she descended like a falling star.
The Wyrm breathed.
A cone of white-hot fire erupted from its jaws—wide enough to swallow the platform below. The heat was so intense that the volcanic glass at the edges began to soften and glow.
Mirko activated [Impenetrable Fortress] mid-air. The barrier caught the flame and split it around her—a bubble of green light in a river of gold. She passed through the fire untouched, and her blade carved across the Wyrm’s wing joint. Volcanic scale shattered. The Wyrm shrieked and banked hard. Mirko landed on its back, driving her sword into the gap between its scales for purchase.
’I’m on it!’ Mirko’s voice rang through their bond, bright with determination. ’Just bring it down!’
The Frost Golem slammed its fists into the platform. Ice spread outward from the impact point, freezing a section of the volcanic glass solid. The Golem wrenched a pillar of ice from the ground and hurled it skyward. Elise caught it with a flick of her staff. [Mana Shield] wrapped around the frozen mass, shaping it into a platform that hovered near the Wyrm’s wounded wing.
The Golem launched itself onto the ice, stable on the suspended surface despite its heavy frame, and drove both fists into the Wyrm’s flank. The creature shrieked. Ice spread across its scales—not enough to freeze it solid, but enough to slow its thrashing, enough to open an opportunity for Mirko.
Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] followed every beat of the Pyre Wyrm’s wings, every subtle adjustment in its flight. The left wing was compensating for the right. The wound they’d opened and the ice were affecting its balance. It was still flying, but not as cleanly as before.
It was slowing.
Just a little more.
"Dillon!" Nathan called. "Hit the other wing! Thunder Edge!"
Before the last word had left his mouth, Elise was already moving. With a sweep of her staff, fresh [Mana Shield] platforms sprang into existence, climbing through the air in a staggered line toward the Wyrm’s opposite flank.
Dillon grinned.
"Perfect."
He activated [Flash Step].
His body blurred from sight, reappearing an instant later on the first platform, then the next, then another, each step carrying him higher with impossible speed. In the blink of an eye, he was above the Pyre Wyrm’s right wing, lightning racing along the length of his katana as he brought it crashing down.
[Thunder Edge] ignited.
Lightning wreathed the blade, and the discharge carved through the wing membrane. The Wyrm convulsed. Its flight stuttered. One wing crippled, the other torn—it couldn’t stay airborne.
But it wasn’t falling fast enough.
Kuro vanished into the chaos and one heartbeat later, she reappeared between the Pyre Wyrm’s horns, both daggers already in motion. [Assassinate] struck with ruthless precision, the twin blades driving deep into the base of its right horn where Nathan had identified a vulnerable nerve cluster.
The Wyrm let out a deafening roar.
Its head jerked violently upward, the sudden shock throwing its balance off. The damaged wings beat once—twice—then gave out completely.
"It’s coming down!" Nathan shouted. "Brace yourselves!"
The Pyre Wyrm slammed into the volcanic platform with enough force to shake the entire arena. The impact thundered through the obsidian, sending cracks racing in every direction as towering geysers of lava burst from the widening fissures. The party scattered without hesitation, narrowly avoiding the molten eruptions while the battlefield trembled beneath their feet.
For a tense moment, it seemed as though the platform itself might collapse.
But It held.
The Wyrm pushed itself upright with a furious roar. Its forelegs dug into the volcanic glass while its shredded wings dragged uselessly behind it, trailing embers across the stone.
It definitely wasn’t getting back into the air.
Phase one was over.
