“Even if you bind me, I can still—” the undead king began.
“Vines, could you shut him up, please?” I asked, pointing to his mouth. The vines obediently wound around his face, gagging him.
“Well, we’ve got him restrained, but how do we get rid of him?” Letia asked, tapping the side of his neck with the flat part of her katana as he squirmed and growled at us.
We couldn’t advance to the next floor without defeating the boss. Now what? We all glanced around at each other.
Mark gave the undead king a little kick and Letia whapped his head with her blade. He was no danger to us at the moment, so we decided to have a strategy meeting right then and there.
First, we agreed it was important to purify the victims. “The adventurers deserve to rest in peace, so let’s take care of them first,” I said.
“Agreed,” Ariel said, nodding along with everyone. “I’m not a priest, so I don’t know if this will save their souls, but… May you rest in peace. Gods have mercy… Kyrie Eleison.”
A soft glowing light spread outward from Ariel that felt warm and melancholy at the same time. Slowly, it filled up the whole floor. The pitiful remains of the adventurers dissolved into the glow, their figures slowly melting away.
I hope your next life is happier, I prayed silently, hoping they could finally find rest.
Their bodies turned to ash and scattered across the floor. The faint lights I thought must be their souls drifted through the windows to the ground below, then vanished one by one, perhaps passing to the underworld. All they left behind was their armor, robes, weapons, and other belongings, which clattered to the floor in a pile.
“I’ll take these back to the adventurers’ guild,” Mark said. “Their families deserve to have something to remember them by.” He gathered up all the equipment and packed it carefully into his magic bag.
“Nooo! My collection!” The undead king had managed to wrench his mouth free enough to make his complaints known.
Letia ground her heel into his neck. “You got a problem, scumbag?” She glared down at him coldly.
“Hmph! Pretty cocky for someone who can’t kill me! Do you plan to keep me here forever?” He smirked at us, gloating. Letia rewarded him with another stomp.
There had to be a trick to this, though; there was no way a vampire could simply be immune to holy magic. I backed up and studied him from every angle—with Appraisal, of course.
Undead King
Classification: Monster
Quality: Rotting Flesh
Rarity: A
Status: King of the vampires. Weak against holy and light as well as fire.
Feeling: Let me go already!
I knew he had weaknesses! He must be wearing some kind of special equipment that nullified attacks. I stared intently at his neck and wrists, looking for a necklace or bracelet. When I looked at his hands, I spotted it.
“There! It’s that ring!” I said. The undead king wore a ring with a shimmering, rainbow-colored stone on his ring finger.
“Wh-what? N-no, this isn’t anything at all!” he stammered, but his protests only confirmed it.
“Gag him again, vines. He’s getting annoying,” I said. The vines immediately coiled around his mouth again.
Ring of Divine Protection
Classification: Equipment
Quality: Supreme
Rarity: SSS
Status: Nullifies physical attacks and elemental magic including holy, darkness, light, Evil, fire, water, earth, and wind.
Feeling: Could you please take me off this guy? The gem itself is the source of my power!
“The ring has that much protection? How’d he get his hands on something like that?” Letia muttered. She was still grinding her heel into the undead king’s face, clearly disgusted by how he’d treated the fallen adventurers.
Yuck. I really didn’t want to touch him to pull the ring off. His claws were long and scary, and who knew what he’d do if I got too close.
“I’ll try melting part of the band,” I said.
The undead king’s eyes widened in horror.
“Vines, twist his hand so it’s palm up.”
“Stop! Don’t!” he shouted. But no matter how much he protested, the vines forced his wrist to turn.
“Here goes.” I focused my mana on the narrowest point on the band and began heating the metal. Of course, the ring didn’t protect from Alchemy magic. The band sizzled and he shrieked, writhing around in pain as the molten gold burned his skin.
I’m sure it was hot, but I didn’t feel sorry for him at all.
Part of the ring softened and broke away, clattering onto the floor. I bent down to pick it up and Appraise it. Luckily, the enchantment itself was still effective.
“That should do it! Banish!” Ariel intoned, and the disgusting tyrant who’d ruled this floor disappeared in a burst of holy light.
I cooled the ring with water magic and handed it to Lynn. Since I’d melted part of the band, it would need her skills to repair.
And with that settled, we climbed up the stairs.
FLOORS THIRTY-SIX TO THIRTY-NINE
OF THE SAGE’S TOWER
These levels were full of giant lizards called basilisks that had fangs dripping with petrifying venom. Any party without countermeasures would’ve been overwhelmed.
“Ariel, you don’t have any resistance, so keep your distance!” Mark shouted.
Ariel nodded, shooting arrows at the creatures from afar.
Thanks to our rings, the rest of us had complete immunity to status effects, so we could get as close as we pleased.
FORTIETH FLOOR OF THE SAGE’S TOWER
The boss on this floor was a giant chicken called a cockatrice, which also attacked with petrifying venom.
We finished it off instantly, just like all the others.
FLOORS FORTY-ONE TO FORTY-FOUR
OF THE SAGE’S TOWER
Wyverns flew overhead. They were a subspecies of dragons, great winged lizard-type creatures, but they didn’t pose much threat to our party.
“You know, if we’re fighting wyverns on these floors, that must mean the next boss is…” Mark muttered as he took one down with ease, a frown on his face.