He looked like a man with long black hair and gleaming red eyes, but he wasn’t human. He didn’t have a helmet, but he was wearing black armor. The gold ornamentation made it look rather flashy. His lance was just as black as his armor. He cut a striking image astride his crimson steed.
“He can appear down here too?!”
I shouldn’t have been surprised; he could show up anywhere. He was no doubt the other intruder the masked men were talking about.
Should I go after them? No one seemed to have noticed me, so I could have just left, but my body moved on its own. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my time in this dungeon cowering in fear of the Black Lancer. And besides, I had a real chance of beating him.
I ran after them, and before long, I heard men shouting. Seven or eight of the tribesmen were fighting the Black Lancer on an open stretch of beach. There were already several corpses scattered about, but just as the tribesmen looked like they were sure to lose, the lancer’s horse fell into a hole.
“Ah, they prepared traps in advance.”
The tribesmen threw all their spears at once. “Kill intruder!”
But they didn’t so much as scratch the lancer’s armor.
“I have no interest in weaklings.”
He swung his lance like it was nothing. The pile of corpses grew.
“Leave to me!” cried a masked man with a whip.
He skillfully wrapped the weapon around the lancer’s arm.
“Fool.”
An electric shock shot out of the whip.
Paralyzing Whip
Grade C
Skills: Electric Tail
It seemed it was enchanted to only affect the target, not the user. Unfortunately, it didn’t work on the lancer either.
“Not work… Then this…”
The tribesman threw the whip away and drew a wooden wand from his grass skirt. He pointed it at the lancer, and three balls of fire flew out in quick succession.
Triple-Fire Wand
Grade B
Triple Fireball
It was much more powerful than his previous weapon. Surely this one would give the lancer a hard time? But he just waved his lance about, destroying all three fireballs with ease. I knew this guy was a monster, but boy, oh, boy, was he ever a monster. These were the lancer’s abilities:
Name: Black Lancer
Level: 666
Skills: Devastation Thrust; Elusive Thrust;
Javelin Throw (Grade S); Total Magical
Resistance (Grade B)
“I seek a worthy opponent.”
He thrust his lance through the masked man’s torso, killing him instantly. That had to be the Devastation Thrust ability. The last time I’d encountered him, he had destroyed a sword with S-Grade Enduring Edge in one hit. I was confident the same thing would happen to my shield.
The lancer picked off the remaining survivors, and his crimson steed finally escaped the hole. He quickly got back up on his horse and turned to me.
“So there is a worthy opponent here after all.”
“Aw, shucks, I’m honored that you remember me,” I said. I really wouldn’t mind if you’d forgotten.
“You will not escape this time.”
“Oh, I don’t intend to.”
At least, not until things got a little too dangerous for my tastes.
“Have at you.”
His horse neighed and charged, but it didn’t come straight at me. Instead, the lancer rode in circles around where I was standing. He made several laps, then changed course and barreled forward. The lancer lunged at me using a powerful mounted attack. If it had landed, his lance would have gone straight through me, but I leapt to the side and somehow managed to avoid it. The horse went back to running laps.
“Going for a battle of attrition, huh?” I asked. “Or are you just trying to make me dizzy?”
As long as he was on horseback, the lancer’s mobility would remain exceedingly high. Time to crush that advantage. I made the skill “Misstep” and Bestowed it on his horse. It cost 2,000 LP, but I went ahead with it anyway. Now all I had to do was wait. The horse turned toward me, and…
It whinnied, stumbled, and fell to the ground. Quickly sensing that something was wrong, the lancer hastily dismounted. I seized my chance, slitting the horse’s throat before it could get up.
That should make things a bit easier, I thought.
“You slay my beloved steed?”
“Why do you wanna kill a worthy enemy anyway?”
“My instincts command me to do so. It is my purpose.”
I supposed he had been created by the dungeon. But it was odd that he didn’t just attack intruders.
“If you want really strong opponents,” I said. “You’d have more luck deeper in the dungeon.”
“The farthest I can travel is the nineteenth floor.”
And he had never appeared to Olivia either. I’d first encountered him on Dory’s floor.
“So have you been fighting constantly for thousands of years?” I asked.
“I was awakened quite recently.”
Which meant that my arrival here had probably had something to do with it. Perhaps exploring a certain floor triggered his awakening. But why was he fighting other dungeon denizens indiscriminately, rather than just targeting outsiders? It was a mystery. Maybe he was meant to keep the dungeon balanced, in case any unduly strong monsters developed. Were the dungeon’s creators worried that overly powerful monsters could annihilate everything on their level and break the dungeon’s mechanics? Either way, there was no time to think about it right now.
“I grow tired of idle chatter,” said the lancer. “You must try to best me.”
“You really don’t have to ask.”
I edited his S-Grade Javelin Throw skill to add the following line:
“When thrown, the lance will return to the user’s heart with added force.”
It cost me a hefty sum: 5,000 LP.
Next, I backed off and used magic: combining Stone Bullet with Holy Flame, then Water Drop with Lightning Strike. After that, I fired a stream of icicles at him. The lancer thwarted them all with swift flourishes. He even sliced through the electrified water. It did shock him when he made contact, but it did hardly any damage. It was either his B-Grade Total Magical Resistance—or just because he was so strong.
“Your crafty tricks will not work on me,” said the lancer. “Is that sword mere decoration?”
“Aw, you caught me. But I don’t fight with swords.”
“I…have misjudged you!”
The lancer let his anger get the better of him and hurled his lance at me. It worked! I’d successfully provoked him into using it! His S-Grade Javelin Throw was impressively strong and fast, but I knew it was coming. The moment the lance left his hand, I dove to the ground. The lance sailed past and flew out across the beach.
No matter how much I’d Edited the skill, the spear wouldn’t come back if it landed in a tree. Or if it did, its speed and force would be severely reduced. But the open space allowed the lance to trace a wide arc through the air as it turned back toward the lancer. At the same moment, I stowed my sword away, retrieved my Piercing Spear, and charged.
“Raaaaaaaaah!”
The lance flew back toward his heart at incredible speed, but he just grabbed it with one hand. This guy really was a monster!
“Guh…”
However, he left his stomach entirely unguarded, and my spear had a piercing skill. It struck smoothly through his armor and into his flesh.
“How’s it feel to be bested by another lance?” I asked.
“Bested…? Don’t make me laugh.”
A shiver ran down my spine. The battle wasn’t over yet. The lancer turned his lance around, and I yanked the Piercing Spear out and retreated. Blood poured from his mouth. This had to be working. I just needed to get one more hit in! But just as I was getting excited, a sharp pain ran through my left arm.
“Oww?!”
I looked down to find my arm was…gone? Blood gushed out, splashing onto my face.
“My, my arm…”
I fell to the ground.
What? Who did that? There was no one else here…only the lancer. But he’d just lifted his lance slightly. He hadn’t thrown it or anything.
“No way.”
“It ends here.”
“Ngh?!”
Crap! I stepped back like my life depended on it. A gust of wind blew through my hair, followed by a sharp pain from my forehead. Thankfully, the wound didn’t feel very deep.
“Elusive Thrust, huh…”
So, he’d finally decided to use it. I never imagined he’d be able to conceal almost everything about the skill. He ran my severed arm through with his lance and hoisted it high overhead.
“Stop tha—aaaah…”
He mangled it ruthlessly, scattering fingers and bits of flesh on the sand.
Dammit…my arm…
“I believe we are both equally spent,” said the lancer. “This ends on the next strike.”
He was pushing it too. I couldn’t use a spear well with one hand, so I put it away and retrieved my two-edged sword. I could always use my Dungeon Elevator skill. I could run away. But I wanted to settle things.
“Raaaaaagh!”
I roared and ran forward, but my face turned anguished, and I fell to one knee.
“My lance shall be your undoing!” said the lancer.
He took the opportunity, thrusting his spear forward angrily. At the same moment, I executed the sequence of actions I’d been forced to practice hundreds of times. I stood up, turned to avoid his lance, and used my momentum to slash him with my sword. My blade sent his head flying. Ultimately, which one of us lived came down to the last moment. And perfect timing.
“Haah…haah… Ms. Elena’s lessons sure came in handy.”
I had never earned a more painful victory. Almost nothing remained of my left arm. I was too weak to search for the stairs, but I did endure the pain long enough to collect the lancer’s weapon.
“I’ll turn your weapon into my strength.”
It earned me 500 LP. That was more than a regular weapon, but ultimately average. I was amazed at how much destruction he’d wrought with it. I went on to collect the Paralysis Whip and Triple Fireball Wand.
“I’ll take these too.”
Converting those earned me 5,500 LP. After that, I used my Dungeon Elevator. I’d defeated the strongest enemy of my life, and with that, I’d broken Level 200.