Biohuman

Solarium: Autumnal Fall scattered as the Disintegration Ray pushed forwards. The smirk on the Fox Spirit's face agitated the Orc Magician. He would dissolve that smile into a billion pieces.

"You're no match for me!" The Orc Magician shouted. The Disintegration Ray quickly overpowered Keng, who continued to smile.

'This attack wasn't for you.' Keng thought as the AI pinged.

[Disintegration Ray will connect in 2.2 seconds. Do you want me to cast a barrier rune?]

Before Keng could even answer, Evan ran at him, jumping in-between Keng and the Disintegration Ray. The energy pushed Evan into Keng, two falling backwards as Keng's tails shot into the ground, planting them there.

'Cast it over us.' Keng ordered the AI.

[Barrier has been cast.]

A silver rune of a shield appeared in front of Evan, quickly shattering as the silver energy surrounded Evan and Keng. Keng held Evan while Evan dealt with the Disintegration Ray. Evan grunted as his shield quickly gathered and changed colors.

Ritsuka and the others watched as the Autumnal Leaves fell onto the battlefield. Explosions of light and star-scapes appeared.

'Was this his plan?' Manny thought. Orcs and Hobgoblins flew in every direction. Manny and the others dodged while the Orc Magician's eyes widened.

"Y-you! His Majesty's army!" The Orc Magician stuttered. He pushed harder, strengthening the ray as Evan grunted.

"It's not going to hold much longer!" Evan shouted.

"Release it and take it in all at once!" Keng shouted.

"What? I-I haven't practiced that yet!"

"Just do it! If you fail, I'll take the brunt of the damage!"

"Tch, I'll deal with this myself." Manny sprinted straight into the chaos of the battlefield. The remaining Hobgoblins and Orcs that managed to survive were too rattled from the destruction to even spot Manny. Manny swung his fist, connecting with an Orc and watching the green lines off of his body transferring onto the Orc. He swatted Orcs and Hobgoblins out of his way as he set his eyes onto the Orc Magician.

"Shoot him down!" Manny shouted over the comms. "I'll swat him into two!" His right hand bunched into a fist. His new profound ability made him feel powerful.

"Roger!" Liz answered. She turned to address Olivia and Ritsuka. "Can you freeze him from here, Liv?"

"I-I can try!" Olivia raised her hands. She put her index and thumb fingers together and peered into it. A burst of energy flew out of Evan as Keng and him shook in place. The shield somewhat depleted, only to fill all the way, again.

"Continue to do it!" Keng told Evan.

"Anytime you're ready!" Manny shouted.

"Liv!" Liz nodded.

"Dismantle: Paralyzation Shock!" Olivia shouted into the opening of her fingers. A wave of sound amplified, flying straight for the Orc Magician. The Orc Magician cursed as he debated on whether or not he should deflect the blow. A bloodied Goblin Mage threw itself in front of the Magician, only to be instantly paralyzed.

"Ha, you didn't get—Argh!" The Orc Magician's Disintegration Ray faded as his body seized. "W-what's this…?"

"Now!" Olivia shouted.

"Ritsuka!" Keng shouted. "Use the bow!"

"Already on it!" Ritsuka's Obsidian Edge faded, replaced with the Elven Bow. Ritsuka pulled as commands appeared. "Let's try this one… Piercing Shot!"

"Psionic Beam!" Liz shouted. The arrow fired as a purple electrical beam flew straight for the falling Orc Magician. A cosmic rune appeared, pushing Keng and Evan to the floor as the beam knicked Keng. Keng grunted as Evan and him landed on the ground. A protective arm wrapped around Evan as they watched the arrow land on the Magician's arm.

The purple beam lit the Magician and Goblin Mage in an instant. It slammed against the door, burning it as lightning flickered and coursed into the room. The heavy doors pushed opened as the psionic beam came to an end. The Magician grunted as the Goblin's body turned to dust.

"you'll never—Argh!" The Orc Magician began to speak as a fist connected with his large gut. The remaining green lines flew into the Magician. "What's this—Argh!!!!" The Magician exploded into dust as green lines grew on Manny, again.

[30 Hobgoblins have been slain! 30 Orcs have been slain! 6 Goblins Mages have been slain! 1 King's Magician Orc has been slain! A group bonus due to Transcendent Tails has given you extra souls! Your souls have been cut! 3500 souls have been added! Total Souls Collected: 3,500/100,000.]

[Energy Leech and Vampirism have replenished you.]

"Is it over?" Liz asked. Manny stared at his fist. Something felt different about him.

"This power… It feels way different from healing… I feel like I'm not giving anymore…" Manny whispered. Keng unraveled himself from Evan and sat up.

​ "Are you okay?" Keng asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you – Holy shit, you got hit!" Evan sat up and turned to look at Keng's shoulder. His face went right up to Keng's shoulder without much thought. "Are you okay? Did you get hit by Liz's attack?"

"Oh, that?" Keng looked at it. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Manny, come heal Keng." Evan turned his head and shouted at Manny.

"I hit you?" Liz wandered over. "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine." Keng smiled. "I was in the moment and didn't want Evan and I to take the brunt of the damage. It'll be fine after I heal—"

"Manny." Liz interrupted Keng. "Come here." She beckoned Manny over, who continued to stare at the weird lines on his hands and arms. "Manny, Manny, earth to Manny? Come here!"

"Huh?" Manny snapped out of it. Liz was waving him over, furiously as Olivia and Ritsuka wandered over. Olivia, Evan, Liz, and Keng were a little worse for wear, but Ritsuka felt fine. A bit drained from how much the bow used his energy, but it was something he would just have to get used to.

"Not a bad shot." Olivia complimented Ritsuka. "I thought you said you didn't know how to shoot."

"I don't. It was all in the gut feeling." Ritsuka answered. Manny wandered over and noticed the bruising and burn marks on Keng's shoulder. The openings had instantly been electrically burnt shut and Keng's face wasn't showing any signs of true discomfort. Manny lifted his hands and healed Keng. It was fairly quiet between Manny and Keng as Manny healed. The team chatted away, all glancing at the door behind Manny occasionally like something was going to come out.

"What do we do now?" Olivia asked after Manny healed everyone. He noticed the green marks had disappeared and felt normal, again. "Do we go inside and fight that giant Goblin King dude?"

"He isn't coming out?" Evan asked nervously. He looked between his friends while they all stared at the door. "W-why isn't he coming out?"

"Boss rules?" Manny guessed.

"They normally don't come out of the boss room to begin with…" Liz pointed out.

"Then why did he come out earlier? Is that some anomaly?" Ritsuka asked.

"Already strange enough but he obviously knows the battle is over and is just waiting." Olivia continued. "Do we go in or…?"

"What say you, Leader?" Ritsuka casually asked, forgetting about their heated interactions with each other. Manny stared at the door. He hovered in front of Keng and Evan as they sat. Evan stood up to join the rest on his feet while Keng casually stared at Manny.

"Not sure." Manny answered, turning around. "Do we even know that's the boss?"

"He mentioned there were humans in there." Liz caught Keng and Manny up. "He wanted to keep us alive so I'm assuming our target is in there, too."

"Mmm, he did mention humans." Olivia confirmed. The others nodded leaving Keng to fill in what really happened.

"So, why is it all Goblins, Orcs and hobgoblins and not ants?" Keng asked, standing. "Don't you find that odd?"

"Odd? Stuff like that can happen all the time. Just cause we reached the boss room doesn't mean it'll follow the patterns of a dungeon." Ritsuka answered.

"Yeah, but it's still odd… That crown and that door bleeds forever. Don't bloodied doors of a boss room signify a boss has been killed?" Keng turned to look at the rest of the group.

"If what you're saying is remotely anywhere close to being true, why does that guy exist then?" Evan motioned at the door.

"Bloodied doors do signify the boss has been killed… The dungeon should have crashed and closed in on itself after some time, but it didn't…" Manny turned to look at the door. The blood was falling from the top of the door to the bottom. The blood seemingly didn't spill all over the place either. "That's what's wrong with this place! Something odd happened and that guy's the boss now!"

"And where did you come up with that conclusion?" Liz asked.

"Remember in Dungeon Basics we had a whole unit on the abnormalities and alters that could happen within a dungeon?" Manny looked at Liz.

"Yeah?"

"Well, one of the abnormalities was that a plain monster could rise to be just as strong or stronger than the boss, itself. If it gathers enough energy, it can evolve and take on a form that could out rival the boss and kill it!"

"Okay, I'm understanding that part but how do we know it's actually the new boss?"

"It usually has a signifier that it won." Manny moved his hands to his head. "The crown in this case!"

"So, a goblin evolved to be a giant goblin king of sorts and that bloodied crown is proof of it?" Evan summarized.

"Exactly!" Manny snapped his finger.

"It killed the boss… What do we do with this information?" Olivia asked.