Floor 1,931—-
Atsushi, Nonoka, and Yuzuha walked down the steps, the torches flickering with every one. Yuzuha held out her hand, which began to glow green.
"What are you doing?" Nonoka asked.
"Putting a blessing on myself. Temples get really scary the farther you go down."
"What about us?"
"…Sorry. It only works on elves."
"Of course it does."
They finally arrived at a large stone door, which had an engraving of a snake on it.
〈Entrance of the Temple's Heart.〉
"Temple's Heart…" Atsushi remarked. "Sounds like we've reached the good parts."
〈All *Party Members* Are Required to Advance.〉
Three hand slots on the door lit up, with labels for *1,* *2,* and *3.*
"Which of us is which?" Yuzuha asked.
"Well, I walked in here last," Nonoka shrugged. "So I've gotta be third."
"Guess that means I'm number 2?" Yuzuha realized. "Because Atsushi went first."
Atsushi looked at his hand before placing it in the first slot. Yuzuha and Nonoka both followed his lead, and the door creaked and groaned.
〈Clearance Granted.〉
It peeled away to reveal an inner sanctum, where a large dark chest was floating over a throne.
"The Jugen-Ō no Hihō!" Yuzuha gasped. "There it is! Now all we need to do is grab it!"
"Wait," Atsushi warned. "Sacred loot is never this easy to acquire. Especially with no visible danger."
Oh. Right," Yuzuha said, embarrassed. "Leave it to me!"
"Hmm?"
Yuzuha stepped forward, green vines emerging from her wrists. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Yasei no Kariudo no Shugo-jika—Kakuta."
A large deer with green fur emerged from her hand, and she began to pet its head.
"Go ahead, Kakuta. Sniff the area for traps!"
The deer bowed its head before observing the surrounding area. After a few minutes of sniffing, it returned to Yuzuha's side, leaning close to her before bleating.
"Nothing? Really? That's a relief!"
"You can understand that thing?" Nonoka interrupted.
"Of course! He's my pet! I hear all his thoughts through the sounds he makes."
"Interesting skill," Atsushi remarked. "I wonder what else it does."
He turned back to the chest. "Well. If the area's been cleared, I guess anything further requires us to take this box."
He shifted his arm into that of stone before approaching the chest, reaching out to touch it.
〈Error. Requirements not met.〉
"What?"
The room suddenly began to shake, and a pair of glowing eyes emerged from the center wall.
〈Who goes there?〉
"I think you've made the temple upset, *sir,*" Nonoka stated.
"Not now," Atsushi ordered. "Who speaks?"
〈That is not important. Is it true you wish to claim this treasure?〉
"Correct," Atsushi affirmed. "We will not leave until we have it."
〈Well then. You must face the Guardian of this Temple.〉
"And who is that?"
〈Me.〉
The wall shattered to reveal a gigantic lion with a gray mane, green eyes, and ash skin. He looked down at them, a low growl erupting from his throat.
"No mortals have ever ventured inside and escaped alive. You truly believe you'll be the first?"
"Your statistics don't faze me," Atsushi assured. "I'm not one of them."
"So we shall see. Come then, foolish mortals. Come and earn your treasure."
〈Boss: Jugen Shinden no Shugosha — Shishimaru. Domain Effect: ???〉
"A fight?" Atsushi commented. "Well then, you'll get one."
"No, mortal. This is no fight."
Glowing energy enveloped them.
"It's a massacre."
〈Phase 1: Beginning.〉
In a flash of light, the room changed, and Yuzuha was all alone, standing on top of a collapsing bridge in the center of a dark cavern.
"Whoa. Where am I?"
A giant paw clawed at one end of the bridge, followed by another, and the head of a lion emerged from below, staring right at Yuzuha.
"Ah!"
〈Rule: Defeat *Shishimaru.* Level: 65,000.〉
"An elf," Shishimaru noticed. "It's been ages since I've been able to devour one of you. Let's see how you measure up."
Two totems appeared next to him, both with a UI over their heads that read *0%.*
〈Charge up *Totems* to deal ATK damage to Shishimaru.〉
"How do I charge up the totems?" Yuzuha asked. "Seriously, you dungeons need to come with an instruction manual or something!"
Shishimaru slashed at Yuzuha with his claws, making her stumble back and nearly fall over. "Gah! Watch out! My skin's delicate!"
The lion reached out, attempting to grab her, but she rolled out of the way. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Jizoku no Eichi no Erufu Fukurō!"
Three owls emerged, firing spiked thorns at Shishimaru with their wings.
〈Boss HP: 100% → 98%〉
"Nice!" Yuzuha cheered. "Keep hitting him!"
The lion knocked one of the thorns away, which hit a totem and caused it to glow green.
〈Totem *1* Gauge: 5%〉
Yuzuha looked at her owls. "I can charge those up with Mahōshi? Awesome!"
"Foolish girl."
〈*Unstable Onslaught* In Effect.〉
Stone spikes began to drop from above, destroying Yuzuha's owls and grazing her shoulder. "Ow! Not fair!"
With a swipe of his claw, Shishimaru split the bridge in two.
"Not good, not good!" she thought. "An elf can't withstand an attack from a LION! I need to work those totems, ASAP!"
She bundled her hands together. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Erufu Ōchō no Kago!"
She threw them up, and a glowing green leaf hovered over her head.
〈*Blessing* in Effect. While active, all incoming ATK damage will be reduced by 80%.〉
A trio of elven archers formed, firing arrows at the lion. Yuzuha pointed to the totems. "Hit those!"
Two of them turned toward the totems, spraying them with arrows.
〈Totem *1* Gauge: 5% → 20% → 40%〉
〈Totem *2* Gauge: 0% → 15% → 35%〉
Shishimaru reached to bite them, but the final archer struck him in the face with an arrow.
〈Boss HP: 98% → 92%〉
Yuzuha extended her hand. "Go, Kakuta, go!"
She got on her deer just as Shishimaru sent more spikes raining down. As one fell toward her, her archer sniped it out of the air.
"Thanks, my special skill!"
〈Totem *1* Gauge: Full〉
The totem erupted in a large burst of energy, striking the lion in the chest and causing him to stumble back.
〈Boss HP: 92% → 50%〉
"Great work, guys!"
Shishimaru shook it off. "That damned elven Magic! No worries, you'll be eaten here!"
"Kakuta! Charge up the second totem!"
Shishimaru's eyes flashed, and the bridge began to shake, throwing Yuzuha from her deer and causing it to fall over the edge.
"Kakuta—-!" she gasped, turning to Shishimaru. "You stupid lion, don't you ever hurt my animals!"
"You'll be next."
He tried to slash her with his claw, but an arrow stopped him in his tracks.
〈Boss HP: 50% → 47%〉
"Damned tree-dwellers!"
Yuzuha reached her hand to her archers. "Empower me! I've got this!"
The archers converged together and fused into a massive elven stag, before enveloping Yuzuha in their energy, who formed a bow in her hand and pointed it at the totem as Shishimaru lunged to bite her.
"Magic, please don't fail me now…if you do, I'll be super, super pissed!"
She loaded her arrow. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Erufu Ōchō no Kago—-Nature's Fury!"
A powerful green arrow was released from her bow, striking the totem.
〈Totem Gauge: Full.〉
The totem burst with energy, striking Shishimaru.
"Argh…beaten…by an elf…well…maybe the others will be…more accommodating…"
He fell over the edge, disappearing into the darkness. Atsushi landed next to Yuzuha.
"Elf!" Atsushi called out. "You okay?"
"Y—yeah! The lion disappeared!"
"I saw. That's some tough magic you have there. Why haven't you been using it all this time?"
"Well…it kinda takes a lot of energy, so I didn't want to expend it all too early! Also, I have a NAME! Yuzuha!"
Atsushi sized her up. "You may yet be worth keeping around…Yuzuha."
"Hmm? What's that mean?"
"Not now. We need to find Nonoka."
Meanwhile—-
"Hello? Atsushi? Yuzuha? Yep. Stupid shit as always."
Nonoka kicked a rock as she navigated the area she was in, which was a large cluster of islands floating over an ocean. A few of them were glowing.
"Claims me as his daughter, and can't even go two minutes without disappearing," she thought. "People are such a disgrace."
Just then, Shishimaru fell on an island platform next to Nonoka, slowly lifting his head.
"Hmm…? Ah. My next prey."
An eerie grin appeared on his face. "Come here, girl."
〈Phase 2: *Defeat* Shishimaru.〉
Nonoka jumped back. "The hell? Where'd you come from—-?"
Shishimaru opened his mouth, and a powerful blast of energy shot out, destroying the platform Nonoka was on. Quickly, she grabbed a vine to another platform and pulled herself up.
"Didn't answer my question!"
〈Domain Effect: *Lion's Charge.* Shishimaru is capable of unleashing powerful energy blasts from his mouth that deal sustained *ATK* damage based on his current HP.〉
"So I've got the hellish challenge, huh," Nonoka mused. "Guess whoever beat you first had it easier than me."
Shishimaru charged up his beam again, firing at Nonoka. It missed, hitting an island behind her and bouncing the beam back at Shishimaru.
〈Boss HP: 100% → 66%〉
Shishimaru briefly fell over, wobbling.
〈Direct Shishimaru's *Charge* toward the highlighted islands to counter his attack.〉
The two other glowing islands glowed brighter.
"That's a mission I can do," Nonoka said, relieved. "Let's even the odds!"
She touched her neck. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Noroi no Sukiru Kyōka!"
〈Buff Applied. 200% Buff to Current Party Member.〉
Shishimaru got up, leaping into the air and slamming down on Nonoka's platform, but she darted over to the nearest highlighted platform, sliding to keep herself from falling.
"Over here, lion!"
He pivoted toward her. "Do not talk down to me, girl!"
He charged up another blast, firing it at her platform. Nonoka jumped over to the next one as the beam destroyed it and reflected, hitting Shishimaru in the shoulder.
〈Boss HP: 66% → 33%〉
Shishimaru cracked his shoulder. "You've got more fight in you than that last girl. Let's see how well you do."
〈*Lion's Charge* increasing in effect.〉
He shot a beam up into the air, which split off into a barrage of beams and fired all over the place. Nonoka managed to avoid them, but one struck her in the chest, sending her flying toward the edge.
"Crap!"
She gripped the edge with both her hands, holding on for dear life. "Arms, do your thing…!"
With a fierce growl, she pulled herself onto the platform, where Shishimaru was waiting for her.
"Seems you've run out of tricks."
He charged up another beam as Nonoka cracked a smile.
"Not just yet," she replied. "Look where we're standing."
Shishimaru looked down, noticing too late that the island was highlighted.
"Oh no—-!"
BOOM.
The blast fired and destroyed the island as Nonoka fled, repelling and knocking Shishimaru into the abyss.
〈Boss HP: 33% → 0%〉
Nonoka sat down, breathing hard. "Nonoka, 1. Large evil lion, 0."
She looked down into the abyss. "I wonder where Atsushi and Yuzuha are. Eh. Probably not dead. I hope."
Down below—-
Atsushi suddenly felt himself falling through the air, before landing on the roof of the temple. Shishimaru was waiting for him, now with a humanoid appearance.
"What games are you playing?" Atsushi demanded. "I thought the elf beat you!"
"A trivial victory," he replied. "I just had to test your companions. But now, you are worthy of the real test, Kaidanchō Atsushi Sunahara. Level 83,000. Impressive indeed. On par with some of the Elite."
"The who?"
"Nevermind. Come, Kaidanchō. Face me."
〈Phase 3: Defeat *Shishimaru—-Awakened Form.* Level: 84,000〉
Shishimaru's body suddenly began to grow, shift, and change, until he became a large, translucent beast of pure white energy, prowling around Atsushi on all fours as he sized him up.
"I haven't released this form since I served the Jugen-King," he explained. "Enjoy your last moments, while you still can."
〈Domain Effect: Lion's Bane. Description: When not attacked, Shishimaru will perform a ferocious high-speed *Dash* every 15s.〉
"If you want that loot," Shishimaru taunted. "Show me."
Shishimaru slammed his claw into the ground, causing the temple to rise into the air as the sky grew dim.
The rest of Naraku-Kaidan watched as the temple rose.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know."
"Is the Kaidanchō and Nonoka okay?"
In the air, Atsushi looked down once before facing the lion, slamming his fists together.
"I love a good challenge. Preps me for the one after you. A test, you say? Then test."
Shishimaru got close, but a wave of wind blew him back.
"Jugen-Henshōsha: Kokuyōseki Gōremu!"
BOOM.
——