Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Experience, what else? Isn't that the whole reason you dickwaffles invaded our world, too?" Seth asked plainly. Was this lady that stupid, or just pretentious?

~Mom, my spells are ready. Tell me when to strike.~ Tatzel reported from the back.

~Wait a little longer. It's not often a boss strikes up a conversation. Let's see where this goes.~

"What a profane desire. I will allow you to leave now," She looked surprised at Seth's brash answer but quickly returned to a haughty attitude.

"I don't think this is the last floor. Why would I return?" Seth commented with a smile. He had no intention to leave.

"Turn around, you stand no chance. I have been created with all your powers in mind. You cannot win," she insisted.

<Mirror of Dawn lv.---(Boss)>

Seth didn't need her to tell him, he could already see that it was true. All her stats perfectly countered what Seth and Tatzel had shown in the dungeon so far. Her magic defense was so high, that she was almost immune to magic.

She was 90% resistant to earth, lightning, and fire elements. The only thing that lacked a little behind was her physical defense and the resistance against other elements. Yet, that wasn't even the biggest problem. Although he could see most of her stats, he couldn't see her level, so she was probably above lv.100.

If what he had shown so far was all the blacksmith was capable of, then he would have had to admit that he would have had no chance. However, she had not seen anything yet. Her potential level didn't scare him.

~Tatzel, put a shield around you and the band. Let me handle this.~

…

She just decided to quickly kill the intruders, when the black worm suddenly set up a barrier and a piece of weird music started filling the bridge. Two instruments had appeared that were emitting a gaudy tune with demonic power swinging in the notes. Only the little man stepped out from the barrier, spreading his arms like he was embracing the world.

"You are right. I wouldn't be able to beat you with simple tactics. But, let me tell you a secret..."

As he spoke, she could hear his voice distort as if several people said the same words at once. The next moment she saw that she had not heard wrong, as five identical men in armor stepped out of him, like superimposed illusions.

Each held a different weapon. The center one still held the spear, while one was a broad saber, and another had a kind of freezing rapier. There was also a hammer, a bow, and a crude axe.

"First you see us..." they all said in tune with the music, making a step to the left. "Now you don't..." making a step to the right, they all suddenly vanished.

"Now you hear us... Now you won't..." the chant vanished.

"It's our secret of survival is a very nasty world!" they sang in a demonic choir directly beside her.

They all suddenly surrounded her without her even being able to notice when they had gotten there. She immediately reacted, raising her weapon and wings to guard, but there was no way to block all of them. She felt the cuts and impacts on her body.

"Now you feel us... Now you can't."

Suddenly the pain in her body vanished, but the wounds and gashes slashed on her body were still obvious to the eye. A cold shiver ran down her back, how could this happen? She was a being of Dawn that had stepped on her path to becoming a deity. How could demonic music have such effects on her?

The fountains of glittery silver blood brought her back to her senses. She could not feel the pain, nor see the attacker, but the wounds kept appearing across her body! She focused and was able to see them again.

"Are we real? Perhaps we aren't," the clones said, suddenly disassembling and vanishing again before appearing again in quick succession as they kept chanting"It's our secret of survival in a very nasty world." while attacking her without pause.

"Urgh-" she had underestimated the little man. She had tried to send them off, to save herself trouble, but now she saw that this was her mistake. Trying to formulate a plan, her mouth suddenly gained its own will.

"I-is it really such a nasty world?" she asked inadvertently.

"Oh, yes! A very nasty world~" the little men answered.

"Nastier than you can ever dream of!" the others added in a choir.

"From up above!" one of them suddenly attacked her crown.

"And from beneath!" another broke through the tiles of the bridge and attacked from below.

"Ice and jaws!" the frosty rapier stabbed for her jugular.

"Claws and teeth!" the broad saber hacked for her kidney from behind.

"Ready to attack you!" " You're a little snack, you better run."

The first line came with a shower of bright arrows, the second was spoken by a clone, swinging a hammer at her kneecap.

"Don't start to revel in your victory, when you haven't got it done~"

As they sang and danced around her, she was covered in a swirl of attacks, having a hard time defending herself, much less finding a chance to retaliate. When the song finally waned after several repetitions, she was still alive but her situation was horrible as she suddenly felt dozens of wounds across her body. Her health had fallen to two-thirds of her max health.

Looking up, she saw the little man standing where he stood before the music started as if he had never moved at all. The only thing that had changed was the smug smile on his face.

"How did you like my performance?" he asked, seeing that he got her attention again.

"Unexpected, but far from enough!" she spat out.

Indignation and shame fueled her wrath. She had given the monkey a chance, but he had kicked it with his feet. She would show no more mercy.

Using the chance she stood straight up and used a recovery skill, but her wounds that should have rapidly healed showed almost no sign of recovery. When she focused she could feel a dark, murky mana in her wounds. Was it his demonic music or something else?

"Don't worry, I can give you a whole personal concert if you would like me to."

An anvil appeared in front of the man and the ominous hammer was in his hand. He was backed by two floating instruments as a flaming crown appeared on top of his helmet. She couldn't help but stare as her eyes were drawn to the crown and she felt his voice sinking into her mind.

She clutched her head, suddenly feeling dizzy and sick. She tried to collect her energy for a skill, but a sudden thump broke her concentration. The man had hit the anvil with his hammer, but it didn't produce a clear sound of metal clashing, but a deep, rumbling boom. She could feel it vibrate deep in her chest.

A booming voice started slowly talking in her head, matching the beat of the anvil.

"I like you 'cause you got that somethin' That I need in my life so give it to me."

A sudden torrent of blood traveled up her throat and filled her mouth. Nobody had moved, but she felt like a troll had boxed her in the stomach.

"'Cause you got that, Like you, 'cause you got that somethin' That I need in my life, that I need, so~"

Every thump of the beat suddenly felt like a heavy impact, while the demonic voice in her ears would not stop filling her mind with incoherent messages stopping her from catching a clear thought. Trapped in her own confused mind, she could only endure the pain, as invisible forces broke her body.