Upon seeing the adventurers, the Fairy on the throne rose abruptly. The movement made her large blue wings vibrate, and she let out a shrill scream that was anything but delicate—it was pure power. The sound echoed through the cavern, making moss fall from the ceiling.
Immediately, the ground beside the Fairy cracked open. Two massive Poison Plants burst from the earth—bulbous masses of putrid life with tentacle-like arms that twisted and whipped through the air, dripping a foul, green liquid.
The plants attacked.
"Fall back, everyone!"
The man with the shield—the Tank—instinctively stepped forward. He was the wall of the group. With a grunt, he locked his heavy shield in place, blocking the first strikes of the writhing tentacles that slammed against the metal with a wet, heavy sound.
The battle unfolded in perfect coordination. While the Warrior held the creatures' attention, the robed Mage was already conjuring a spell. The air around her frozen staff turned frigid, and a powerful orb of ice began to form.
At the same time, the archer unleashed flaming arrows, aiming at the plants' most vulnerable spots to burn their venom away, while the agile thief blended into the shadows of the ruins, ready to find an opening and strike the Fairy directly.
The group was a small but remarkably efficient war machine.
Meanwhile, Lilith—still disgusted and impatient from that swamp—was now in the rocky cavern. The smell of ozone and mud still clung to her cloak.She was hiding behind a pile of fallen basalt stones, concealed from the glow of the fireflies.
Lilith was entertained, watching the quartet fight. Her crimson eyes followed every move, every flaw."They fight well," she thought, her inner voice dry. "Not much power, but they make perfect use of what they have."
The plants were defeated easily—the combination of fire and ice, with the tank holding the line, dismantled the creatures swiftly.
With the first threat gone, the group moved as one. Their focus was no longer the plants, but the real target. They rushed straight toward the Fairy on her improvised throne.
The Fairy, however, was far too quick. She wasn't a melee fighter. With an intense flash from her blue wings, she teleported to the group's rear, appearing in a burst of crackling mana.
She fired orbs of energy that whizzed past, one grazing the Mage.
"MARI!" shouted the tall man, Ryan—the Shield Warrior.
The Mage stumbled but quickly recovered, clutching her staff. "I'm fine, guys! That fairy's fast!"
The group reorganized in an instant—Warrior in front, Archer covering the rear, Mage in the center.The boy with glasses, the Archer, narrowed his eyes at the floating, laughing creature.
"She's gotta have a weak spot. After all, she's just a blue-rank boss."
From behind the rubble, Lilith frowned."Blue rank?" she thought, her brow furrowing in concentration. "Could that be related to the portal's color too? Interesting."
Meanwhile, the Fairy floated, laughing, clearly baiting them to attack.
"Everyone, I've got a plan," the assassin Rand murmured from the shadows of the rubble, his voice a practiced whisper. "Draw her attention. I'll slip up behind her and take her head off with my daggers."
"Alright," the group replied.
They moved in formation, every step coordinated. Ryan, the tank, advanced with shield raised, followed by Mari (the Mage) and Lucio (the Archer), all closing in to fix the Fairy's attention.
The Fairy accepted the challenge. She gathered energy again, but this time, instead of orbs, she unleashed a rapid barrage of long, razor-sharp ice spikes.
The spikes were easily intercepted by Ryan. He used his shield to deflect most of them, and his heavy armor absorbed the rest with a metallic, scraping clang.
The Fairy's attention was fully fixed on the mass of metal before her.
It was Rand's chance.
The assassin slipped from the darkness, so silent he didn't even disturb the nearest fireflies. He appeared directly behind the Fairy, advancing with his twin curved daggers poised for a lethal strike to the nape.
Lilith, still hidden in the rubble, barely turned her head, watching the precision of the stealth attack.
"A solid ambush—classic, but effective," she thought, waiting to see if it would work.