The Trial of Kings

The Battle of Floor Bosses

In the main tavern the Vikings became restless. “They said Floor Bosses, like monsters that are bigger and stuff. But this?” said the Viking Leader with his voice squeaking towards the end of his statement. A Raider sitting in the corner watching a nearby screen thought the same thing, “Floor bosses are supposed to be more powerful versions of the Monsters in the Dungeon. These are Monsters of legend.” Screams and anger and confusion erupted in the streets as vendors and patrons all turned to see the next beast appear and yelled in frustration.

“This is ridiculous.” 

“What the hell is Anne thinking?” 

“She’s trying to kill the General!”

Guildswoman Tatum, the other members of the Guild and Adventurers who never left the Main Hall stood in disbelief watching the angry Chimera emerge and roar at the General of the Dungeon. Waving their fists and cursing, everyone who knew how things worked realized that this was not fair. Not only was the Chimera a beast of Legend, even if Sir Damon was able to defeat it, there were still four more Floor Bosses and 6 more Mini Bosses as well as the first Dragon that all still lay ahead. The discussions went back and forth in the taverns and anywhere a screen was present. Some of the adventurers had tears welling up at the base of their eyes as some of the screens showed a minimized overlaying screen displaying the Goddess lying on a concrete floor. She had not moved in a while and many feared that she was not doing well. The task was getting very real as one screen had zoomed in on her beautiful face and she looked ashen, tired, and weak.

It was then that Goddess Luna in the control room had an idea. “Anne, you control the projection in the dungeon correct?” she asked into the air around her. A voice soon filled the air, “Yes Goddess. I can project anything into the Dungeon. Is there something you wanted to show the General?” There was a pause and the Goddess smiled. “Show him the feed that is on the screens right now of the ‘me’ that is in the Dungeon and zoom in on her face,” she said as a devious smile crept up her face. The engineers turned to her in unison and the middle one broke the silence, “His adrenaline is already spiked, we don’t know how much more he can take.” The others nodded in agreement, clearly against the decision. “We don’t know if he’ll be able to take anymore. How do we know he won’t gas himself out and pass out because of the stress? We just don’t know,” said the middle engineer. She picked up and swirled a glass of deep red wine replying, “I do.”

It was too late as the screen began to flicker above the General’s head and within seconds, the face of the Goddess appeared before him. “Permission to taunt him Goddess?” asked Anne speaking only in the control room. “Taunt away,” said the Goddess, her voice melodic and sweet as she tilted her head at the screen focusing on the General’s expression. In the audience in the streets and taverns saw what was happening and revolted. 

“What is she thinking?” 

“How could she do that?”

Then came the voice as the Chimera stood motionless, “To save the Goddess, complete the task. She doesn’t look like she’s doing well.” The voice was that of the A.I. She was clearly mocking him. A true Super Villain goading the Hero of the story. It may have been cliché but it was extremely effective.

The General dropped his head and the screen floating in front of him evaporated. Fury ran through him like never before and he began to physically shake gripping both swords. Lifting his head slowly his gaze fell on the Chimera standing 3 meters tall, gigantic for a lion.

Its Serpent tail hissed and showed its fangs, eager to strike and the Goat head on its back cried out as if it was in agony. The Lion roared and the sound was deafening in that chamber as the General held his swords at his sides and let out a battle cry that shook the chamber. Hi eyes, stung with tears, had a look of determination and power that no one had seen before, not even the Goddess. Taking it upon himself, the engineer to the right loaded the next track.

Already Over by Red. The violin and piano of the intro set the mood and the melody bounced off the walls as Sir Damon stepped closer to his enemy. The Chimera padded towards its prey, its venomous tail swaying behind it, searching for an opening to strike. The crowd began to cheer him on, pumping their fists and slamming the tables. They stopped within striking distance and stood there for a moment. And as the beat dropped, he swung both swords at the body of the Chimera. Roaring at the sudden attack the beast stepped back and looked for its assailant, but the General was already underneath it belly going to work on its powerful legs and underbelly. Shifting around it looked to find him and sent it the serpent to investigate. Slashing at the beasts’ legs, Sir Damon saw something appear over his shoulder and dived out of the way without seeing what it was. Doing so exposed his location and the beast slashed at him as he got to his feet. Watching the digital blood spray made all of the audience cringe as half of his HP was swiped away like it was nothing. Rolling out of danger and behind the nearest boulder, the General sort shelter. He popped the blue potion that was gifted to him for finishing the previous task thus, his HP was fully restored. He couldn’t afford to take another shot before doing so. He needed a better strategy if he was to be victorious. Then it occurred to him that he had made it this far by the strength of his swords and will power alone. He still had not used a single drop of his Magical Power. As the General of the Dungeon, he had gained the ability to conjure magic but needed to recite the spells for it to work. Checking the number of potions that he had left, and the ones that he brought with him that morning, he had just enough to launch at least three massive Magical attacks, which meant that he needed to beat this Floor Boss without it. Punching the ground, he grinded his teeth in frustration. Realizing that he had no time to waist, Sir Damon got to his feet and circled the boulder. Seeing how the Chimera was stalking him, he saw a smaller rock that was alongside the one he was hiding behind and formulated an attack plan. The growl from the mythical beast ripped through the air and he took a deep breath.

Exposing himself to draw the Chimera to him, just as the beast charged he leapt onto the smaller rock and then onto the boulder so that the Chimera was below him. The beast tried to claw at him as he climbed to the top then he turned to face his enemy head on. Holding his left sword to the beasts’ snout he turned his body to the side, positioning the sword in his right hand like a javelin. Just as the Chimera tried to bite at him, Sir Damon launched the sword into its mouth and it landed deep in the ground beneath it. The Chimera, like all the Monsters in the Dungeon are designed to react to the attacks they suffered and the Chimera dropped off of the boulder and retreated as digital blood dripped from its mouth.

Not giving it time to recover, he jumped from the top of the boulder and drove his sword into the Goat head on the back of the Chimera. This dropped the beast and made it roar in agony. Seeing the HP gauge of the Chimera drop dramatically, Sir Damon swung violently at the beasts’ body and legs. The pixels began to sparkle and the roar faded away, signaling the defeat of the Chimera.