Azaroth stared at her as she struggled to hold the monsters back with nothing but her sword alone. He could have used his sword, fire, or even chaos core to help her.

But Azaroth had no reason to. Nothing at all, not a single one. And with the way she had not been using her skills, she had been dragging him back.

At least Azaroth felt a bit of respect for her as she didn’t cry out while facing her death. Then Catena smashed his way through with nothing but raw strength. On his right hand, his chain was wrapped around his arm, and a metal ball was in his palm.

In Catena’s left hand was a rock, crumbling and glowing with green light. Azaroth understood then how Catena got his strength in a place where he could not draw from the earth’s power.

He had kept a small rock behind, probably from his storage space, and he was now drawing from the same rock, but it could not help him for long. As Azaroth watched him, Catena stumbled as the rock finished crumbling.

But he had saved Stallus. Azaroth frowned at that and concentrated on hacking the monsters that still stood in his way. Even though his fire wasn’t working as he wanted unless he was close.

At least his sword wasn’t losing either. What Kael Hound said about feeding their weapons essence continuously was working in his favor.

His sword was sharper, and with his essence-forged body, he struck harder too.

With the others, they managed to finish off all the remaining monsters, leaving the space clear.

"That was very odd," Alex said from his place. What he used in his own fighting was his skill. The monsters had little resistance to his heavy offensive attacks.

"What’s odd?" Stallus was breathing hard, still shaken by her near-death experience.

"I’ve never seen a crypt like this before. The Crypt Master must really want to give us as much strangeness as we can handle," Alex replied.

Azaroth turned to them and pointed with his sword up the stairs. The question was simple. "Do you want to continue?"

They began walking up the stairs. It was a wooden staircase that groaned as they made their way up. Azaroth was in the lead as usual, his sword out, his skill ready for use in his mind.

They almost reached the top of the stairs safely with no attacks, but then, one of the posters in the way shuddered and lurched at him. Azaroth dodged down and let those behind him handle it.

He heard as they cursed and struggled to get the poster. Azaroth stood at the top of the stairs and looked at the long hallway; it was smooth wood. No other doors were in the hallway except for the one that stood at the end of it.

"That must be the boss room," Stallus said behind him.

They would have to fight to get to that room. Azaroth knew it. Because lining the wall to the door at the far end were plants in small pots.

They looked like ordinary plants, but Azaroth knew them for what they were. Monsters. Hiding as ordinary decorative plants. The first thing he did was send his skill, Fire Spray, down the room, but just as with the furniture downstairs, they didn’t burn.

Azaroth frowned. What he needed was an offensive skill like Fire Force, one he could shoot from a distance. Fire Spray was proving to be less useful for anything with fire resistance.

He needed someone with a smashing force.

"Let me," Alex came forward and pointed with his left hand. Light gathered and lightning flashed out in an arrowhead shape, smacking into the first potted plant and eating through half of it. The plants came alive then and started attacking. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

If Azaroth’s skill didn’t make a difference, his sword certainly did, and he used it well. But all the plants walked with their roots and gathered close.

The monsters lashed out with vines meant to choke and strangle. Still, they hacked and hacked until they reduced the monsters into small plants that put up feeble resistance.

As they proceeded down the hallway, Azaroth noticed that his right hand was bleeding. The plant monsters had used their thorn-covered vines to wrap around him and even eat through his layers of essence.

At last, they reached the door where they hoped to find the boss. Azaroth kicked it open while he stayed back and slowly slipped into the room.

The room was big. With a big bed in the middle and a wardrobe in one corner. There was even a window covered in curtains. A table and a chair beside the bed.

"Now a guessing game," Alex began. "Which is the monster and which one isn’t? Or are they all monsters?"

"I bet the bed is," Catena said.

It wasn’t the bed. Or, at least it wasn’t the bed that first lurched at them. It was the chair and table. And they were quickly dispatched.

Still, they didn’t proceed further into the room, wary of the boss monster that hadn’t shown itself. The curtains removed themselves, grew fangs in the middle, and came flying at them. Azaroth used his skill, and since they weren’t fire-resistant, they burned.

"Well? We can’t just stand here," Stallus said.

Azaroth turned to Alex. "Use your skill on all the furniture in the room."

Alex was happy to comply. His lightning arrow hit the bed and tore it to shreds. But no blood and no shrieks. It wasn’t the monster.

They all turned their attention to the wardrobe. Alex didn’t have to use his skill before the wardrobe lurched at them, the cabinet opening and long knives and monster clothes coming out.

And so the fighting began. They cut and struck, skills flew through the air, from Alex and Azaroth. Before long, they had destroyed all the monsters sent at them.

Azaroth pointed his sword at the wardrobe. "Only you remain."