"Cyve, are you ready?" I asked Cyve.
There was no particular reason that I had to ask her that.
I just wanted to make sure a little, that if she was really ready, that meant I was ready too.
"Who do you think I am?" Cyve asked back, who indeed already looked prepared.
I held my sword tightly, maybe I was a little scared, but my courage was stronger now.
That monster was not just standing still waiting for me to attack it, but it was already holding its scythe and pointing it at me.
The scythe was also like the condition of the floor around here, filled with purple aura whose function I still did not know.
"Huh… who cares!!" I shouted to make myself feel that the aura and fog here were merely decorations.
Srash.
I ran toward it and tried to stab it with my sword. I was quite sure it would not be able to dodge.
Trang!
The sword I thought would be able to injure its body even a little, but the monster managed to block it with the scythe.
I did not expect it would be able to use its scythe well enough to parry a sword strike like this.
Since I would never win in a clash of weapons against it, I chose to jump back a little to find another chance.
As if it held a grudge against me, now it was the monster's turn to try to attack me.
It moved quickly toward me with its flying ability, but at least this was not too bad.
Earlier, this monster could move so fast that I could not even see it.
But this one—
Swush!
There was no way I could block that scythe swing with this sword, so I dodged a little and made its scythe attack the floor instead.
If it's like this… it might end up like what happened on the 40th floor earlier, but it seems that won't be a problem.
This is the final floor in this dungeon, which means there is no more floor below this one. Most likely there is only soil or a thick dungeon structure.
If so… I am free to attack it and free to dodge any attack it throws at me.
—
Once again, I wanted to attack it. But not with just one strike.
Cring, cring!
I moved my sword repeatedly, striking at its scythe, not its body.
Slowly but surely, it began to step back a little because of my continuous strikes.
It could only move its scythe within close range while trying to block my attacks again.
I think this is the most effective way until its scythe breaks. If that happens, I'm sure it won't be able to attack anymore.
Suddenly, I felt the monster's gaze widen. Its eyes opened wider than before.
Then, the aura it emitted—its color changed into pitch black without any purple.
I immediately felt that this was dangerous, and I stepped back again to maintain distance.
This monster seemed to want to do something, to the point that the aura now covered its entire body.
Slowly, it floated slightly higher than before, but that would surely make it harder for me to attack it.
"Cyve, how much time do we still have?" I asked.
I still had to focus on the remaining time. If I was late, it might be my life that disappeared.
Before that happens, I must defeat the monster in front of me and make it feed my skill.
——
"There's still about 2 hours and 40 minutes left, we've only been fighting it for 20 minutes." Cyve replied.
I think 20 minutes is quite long… and I am not sure that within these 3 hours, the monster and I will keep attacking each other nonstop.
In just these twenty minutes, I already felt a bit exhausted.
Without strong stamina, I won't be able to fight for long.
The monster pointed the tip of its scythe to the floor beneath its body, it seemed like it wanted to cast some kind of magic.
"What is it trying to do?" I muttered.
"Yukito-sama, I think it's about to do something that will trouble you." Cyve replied.
—
Suddenly, I heard a heavy and unfamiliar voice in my ears.
"Arise, my dark skeleton knights!"
There was no one else here but me and Yuu-chan, so the answer could only be one.
"Cyve, do you know the meaning of what it said?" I asked.
"I think it can speak like a human, but I don't think that will change anything." she said.
The fog beneath its body formed into an orb that seemed like it was protecting something.
The monster said it wanted to summon skeleton soldiers? If so, then I'll be facing living skeletons now?
Not long after, the mass of fog forming that orb descended to the ground.
And after that, in the place where the orb had been, there were groups of black skeleton soldiers.
Usually skeletons are white, right? But these were black, so they must be stronger than normal skeletons.
They weren't unarmed either, they were given close-range weapons that seemed ready to attack anyone who approached them.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"I think they're not that strong." Cyve replied.
—
I moved slowly toward those skeletons, and they followed the rhythm I walked with.
After feeling the distance was close enough, I moved extremely fast using the Boost skill.
I purposely saved this skill for moments when I had to face many enemies like this.
Trang, Trang!
Without realizing it, in an instant I had shattered the skeletons' bodies into several pieces.
I think every skeleton, when defeated, will always turn into pieces of bone like that.
I pointed my sword at the monster again, feeling more fired up since it had spoken earlier.
"Next is your turn." I said.
"Yukito-sama, behind you!" Cyve suddenly shouted at me.
Of course, I quickly turned my body, and I saw the skeletons reconnecting their body parts back to how they were before.
As if nothing had happened to them, they were in perfect condition again.
"W-what is this…" I muttered.
It seems this is one of the differences between black skeletons and usual skeletons.
I must not freeze up because I'm shocked that they revived—I need to keep attacking.
——
"Hah, hah…"
This might be the third time, but I already felt quite exhausted from attacking the skeletons.
Their bodies kept returning to normal even after being slashed multiple times.
I think it summoned these "immortal" skeleton forces just to distract me.
It only wanted me to focus on these skeletons, and not directly attack the monster.
"Is that what you think? I suppose you've understood." Cyve said.
Oh, really? If so, then I won't be wrong this time.
"Cyve, please give me one more skill you have, I beg you!" I muttered.
I know, maybe I sounded like an idiot, because a man like me was begging a girl.
But well, this is out of my hands now, and I can't defeat that monster with just my strength alone.
"I've been waiting for that line~! Here, I'll give it to you." Cyve said.
I immediately opened my status screen and saw that one skill had been added to me, although only temporarily.
"What is this for?" I asked.
"Enchant skill, you can use it to add various kinds of magic elements to the weapon you're holding." Cyve answered.
"But… since my power is almost depleted, you can only add light element to your sword… and it's very weak…" she continued.
Even so, she still wanted to help me in a situation like this… I guess that's enough.
"It's fine, it helps me a lot." I said.
———
As I said before, I really could turn my sword into a light sword.
Once again, I attacked the skeletons extremely fast, because I wanted to take advantage of the delay before they could reconnect again.
I stood beneath the monster that floated slightly above the ground.
Then… how could I reach it…
Ah right, I can still use Boost once more… this time, I'll make sure this sword brings it down.
"Boost!" I said.
I was now right in front of its body, and without thinking, I used my sword to stab its chest.
Srats!