Chapter 76: Boss Monster: The Pyre Wyrm (2)
The Pyre Wyrm slammed its tail against the platform and Fissures raced outward. Lava erupted in a ring around it, cutting off retreat. The lava surged, forming serpentine constructs of molten rock, dozens of them, extensions of the Wyrm’s will.
"Elise! Freeze the constructs before they fully form!"
[Glacial Lance] materialized at Elise’s staff tip. She released. The lance punched through the nearest lava construct. Ice erupted outward. The construct froze solid and shattered under its own weight.
But more were rising. Five. Ten. Fifteen. A tide of living lava.
Garrett and Red moved to the front.
"We’ll hold the constructs! You focus on the Wyrm!"
He planted his feet at the edge of the lava ring, Red beside him, wool hardened to its densest state. A construct lunged, a serpent of molten rock. [Impact Strike] came down. The construct shattered. Red’s horns caught a second construct, and Garrett’s mace crushed its skull.
They weren’t killing them all. There were too many. But they were buying time.
A construct slipped past Garrett’s guard toward Elise. He was already moving, his shoulder slammed into the creature, his mace following a heartbeat later.
"Don’t let them through! I’ve got this!"
The Frost Golem moved to his side. Where Garrett’s mace shattered constructs, the Golem froze them, crystalline fists slamming into molten bodies and flash-cooling them to volcanic glass. A construct lunged at Garrett’s blind spot but the Golem caught it mid-leap, ice meeting fire in an explosion of steam, and crushed its skull in a single, silent motion. Garrett nodded his thanks, already swinging at the next wave. Between his mace and the Golem’s frozen fists, the line held.
Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] painted the battlefield. Seventeen constructs active, three more forming. The Wyrm, wounded and grounded, but still lethal. Its core wasn’t exposed yet.
"Dillon! Mirko! Focus the Wyrm!"
Dillon activated [Flash Step], appearing on the Wyrm’s flank. [Thunder Edge] descended, lightning carving through volcanic scale. Mirko’s [Aegis Strike] followed, the shockwave detonating against the Wyrm’s other flank. The Wyrm thrashed, its tail sweeping toward Garrett. Red intercepted, and Garrett’s [Impact Strike] came down on the tail.
Kuro appeared on the Wyrm’s back. [Assassinate] drove into a gap between scales. The Wyrm screamed.
Nathan charged [Focus Shot] for thirty seconds. The Tyrant’s Eye swirled. He released. The arrow punched through the Wyrm’s chest plates.
The Wyrm reared back.
Its chest plates split along a seam of brilliant orange light. The core was exposing itself, not because it was wounded, but because it was preparing to unleash something catastrophic. The air ignited. The heat spiked to Critical. The Winterhart cloaks strained. The platform softened underfoot.
The Wyrm was charging a breath attack, big enough to vaporize the entire platform.
"Everyone! On me!" Nathan called. "Elise, layer shields! Garrett, position Red in front! Mirko, Fortress at maximum! We tank this together or we don’t tank it at all!"
They converged.
Mirko planted herself at the center, [Impenetrable Fortress] flaring to its absolute limit. Elise layered [Mana Shield] over it, five panels with her Frost Golem Frosting it with ice, each angled to deflect. Red planted itself in front of Garrett, wool hardened. Garrett stood beside his summon, mace ready.
The Wyrm exhaled.
A cone of fire engulfed the platform. The first Mana Shield shattered. The second. The third. The fourth held for three heartbeats and then dissolved. The fifth cracked, flickered, and fell. The fire hit [Impenetrable Fortress] and held.
Mirko’s knees buckled, but she stayed upright. The fire passed over them, and when it cut off, the platform was scorched black. Fissures glowed with residual heat.
The party was standing.
And the Wyrm’s core was fully exposed.
"Now!" Nathan roared. "All out!"
Kuro materialized directly in front of the core. [Assassinate] drove both daggers into the blazing light. The Wyrm convulsed. The core flickered.
Dillon activated [Flash Step], appearing above the core. [Thunder Edge] descended—the discharge erupted through the core. The Wyrm’s chest plates cracked wider. The core began to fissure.
The Frost Golem charged. It was smaller now—the extreme heat of the breath attack had melted some of its mass—but it still stood seven feet tall. It leaped, crystalline fists clasped together, and brought them down on the Wyrm’s cracked core. The impact cracked the core wider. Steam exploded where ice met fire, a geyser of white vapor, and the Golem held its position, driving the cold deeper into the wound.
Elise’s [Glacial Lance] punched into the gap. Ice and fire met in a cataclysm of steam and light. The Wyrm screamed.
Mirko’s tenth [Unstoppable Force] strike crashed down. Her blade struck the core with devastating force. The core fissured. Cracks spread across its surface.
Nathan had been charging [Focus Shot] for sixty seconds.
His mana was nearly gone. The Leyline Ring hummed desperately. Moonlight’s Tyrant’s Eye blazed silver-white. The arrowhead was a point of condensed light.
’Master.’ Mirko’s voice was weary but fierce. ’Now.’
Nathan released.
The arrow became a streak of silver, crossing the arena in the blink of an eye. It pierced the Wyrm’s fractured core, tore through its massive body, and continued into the cavern wall beyond.
A single beam of silver light carved through the burning darkness.
The core detonated.
The Wyrm’s chest erupted in a fountain of golden light. Its death roar faded slowly, and then died.
The Pyre Wyrm crashed onto the platform. Its body went still. The lava below calmed, its surface smoothing to a placid, golden stillness. The constructs dissolved. The heat began, slowly, to fade.
[Ding! Boss Monster: Pyre Wyrm Defeated!]
[Ding! Floor 10 Cleared!]
[Ding! Tower of Ash: Full Clear!]
[Overall Clear Rank: S]
[Level Up! Level 39]
[Level Up! Mirko: Level 36]
[Level Up! Kuro: Level 24]
[Reward: Pyre Wyrm’s Heart Core (Legendary Material)]
[Title Earned: Ash Reclaimer — Awarded for full-clearing the Tower of Ash. Slightly increases heat resistance in all environments.]
Nathan lowered Moonlight. His arms were still trembling, from the sixty-second charge, from the mana drain, from the sheer relief of victory. The Leyline Ring hummed on his finger, replenishing him.
Nathan let his gaze drift over the team.
Garrett was the first to break the silence. A tired, breathless laugh escaped him as he leaned against his mace, Red’s wool gradually relaxing around him.
"We... actually did it." He shook his head, still struggling to believe it. "We cleared the whole thing."
Dillon slid his katana back into its sheath with a sigh.
"I’m taking a vacation after this," he muttered. "Somewhere cold. Somewhere that doesn’t have lava trying to kill me."
Elise lowered her staff, the tension finally leaving her shoulders. Her expression remained as composed as ever, but the quiet pride in her eyes was impossible to miss.
"S-Rank," she said softly. "Full clear. No shattered summons."
Nathan smiled.
"And no extraction."
Mirko shifted back to bunny form and hopped onto Nathan’s shoulder. ’Master. We cleared it. We washed away the failure.’
’As we said we would,’ Kuro added, a black shape on his other shoulder. ’Victory. As calculated.’
Nathan looked at the dissolving Wyrm. Its massive body was fading into motes of golden light. The platform was scorched and cracked. The lava lake below was calm.
In the distance, the exit portal shimmered, a doorway of silver light.
"Let’s go home," Nathan said.
Garrett straightened. "Marta’s going to be thrilled."
"We’ll give her the Heart Core," Dillon said. "She can charge admission."
"Dillon."
"Kidding... Mostly."
They walked toward the exit portal together, Garrett and Red, Dillon and his Cloud Serpent, Elise with her staff and Frost Golem, Nathan with his two summons on his shoulders. A party that had been shattered on Floor 9 and had come back stronger.
The portal swallowed them, and the Tower of Ash, for the first time in three years, was silent.
