The density and strength of enemies on the ninth and final floor was much greater than the floors before then, but they continued to push on, scouting the way and choosing the paths which would be the easiest, trying to conserve their strength as much as possible.
Archer, not having to worry too much about physical, mental or magical stamina management, started to be more and more forward at this stage, killing everything D-rank and below with projected swords, usually before any of the others even had a chance to register that they were there.
Archer's technique resembled the [Blessing of the Sword God] skill, the ability to make near perfect copies of any sword that the user ever touched, which was something of a legendary skill. Only Archer's ability seemed to extend beyond just swords, and could copy any weapon, so long as Archer had once been in its presence.
It was a [Principle of an Element] type Skill, which were some of the most powerful abilities in existence, granting a level of understanding and control over things within the domain that exceeded anything normal skills could match and at a much lower cost. Though it was said that humans who possess these skills tended to be rather fucked up in the head.
Not for the first time, Jean was glad that Fran, and by extension Archer, was on his side. It was unlikely that he would have managed to get this far on his own, even if he had another ten years to prepare. While Stephon's ability to deal with lesser undead was enough to make entire hordes irrelevant, the Ghost Eater was lacking in certain skills and in the face of other B-rank Undead, came up short, with Fran and Art taking up the slack. Just like Jean, Stephon had seemed to have evolved in order to be a powerful Necromancer, but as the Dungeon had been created specifically to deal with Necromancers, the undead child was running into the same problems as his Master.
"Uh…" Jean stopped mid step as he felt Fly start to panic. Their scout had been spotted and his soul was being dragged in by the Lich. Jean quickly cut the connection to the spirit, letting the magic inside him fizzle so that his body would dissolve, letting him pass on before the Lich had a chance to do damage to the little guy's soul. "You served me well Fly. I wish you the best."
"Something wrong?" Fran asked, noticing that Jean had stopped.
"Fly was spotted, but he managed to send me the complete Dungeon Map before he passed on. We are almost to the Ninth Floor Boss Room, and the Dungeon Master is in the room right beyond it." Jean said, making sure not to sound concerned or nervous. "Since we are almost at the end, it is time for you to go Stephon."
"Go? Where is Stephon going?" Art asked, puzzled.
"Fufufu. That is a secret." Jean said with a grin. "Let's just say that I have a special mission for Stephon. One that will put a real damper on the Lich's day."
[...Jean, that isn't going to fly. If this has an impact on how we are to fight our enemy, then we need to know.] Archer said.
"Come now, where would be the fun of me simply telling you." The Necromancer said with one of his usual grins.
[...Fran, Art, we're leaving.]
"Nn?" "What?" The girls seemed puzzled, though Jean couldn't even manage that much as his entire body froze.
[In battle, information is everything. I cannot condon my Master or Art entering into battle alongside anyone who would withhold combat related information from us. If you believe that you have this all so planned out that you don't need us, then fine, we will take our leave.]
"No! Please Archer, you have to stay with Master! I don't want to leave him alone here!" Stephon said, starting to beg the sword to reconsider.
[We won't follow him blindly without question. If he wants our help, then he will treat us like partners instead of tools.]
...He was bluffing. He had to be. The little that Jean knew of the old soul in the sword told him that Archer was not the type to abandon people. But Jean couldn't afford to have them walking out on him now.
He was too close to the Lich to use his undead anymore without risking their souls becoming tainted and he needed to at least make it to the Dungeon Core Room without having used up his final trump card, Aidoneus' Blessing.
But if he did tell them the truth, there was a chance they would leave anyways.
[What is it going to be Jean? Are we allies, or are you doing this on your own?]
"...Even if you say this, I can't tell you anything." Jean said, his voice trying to convey how senser he was about that fact.
[Then good luck on your own. Fran, Art, bring out the teleportation feathers...]
"Please don't!" Stephon shouted in panic.
"Wait, I have a good reason!" The Devilkin shouted, trying to stop the sword. Inside of his mind, the Necromancer shouted, hoping to get the sword's attention. {I can't tell you because none of you three can resist mind readers!}
[...Are you serious?] Archer said, getting the message.
"I'm afraid so." According to the Lich's diary, which Jean had gotten his hands on during the first expedition, the Lich had the ability to read minds, as well as over a dozen other high class skills and multiple Unique and Extra level skills, on top of whatever he had developed over the last ten years. If any of the others knew of his plans, the Lich would react immediately and counter them.
It was another reason why Archer's desire to rescue Stephon was hopeless. It would already be near impossible if they only had to keep an A-rank busy for even a few minutes, but when the Lich knows that you are trying to buy time, it simply couldn't be done.
[...Shit. So that's why you haven't told us a damn thing.]
"Mom, what are you talking about? What's going on?" Art asked, confused by Archer's sudden threat to abandon the mission followed by his sudden acceptance of not knowing what was going on.
[For get it. It's nothing important anyways. Just focus on your fighting.] Archer said with a sigh.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for staying." Stephon said, blowing gratefully.
"Nn. Want to fight the Lich anyways." Fran replied with a shrug.
Jean could still feel how much Archer hated it, but he no longer complained about being kept in the dark. Meanwhile, the children said their goodbyes.
"Good luck, and please, keep my Master safe." Stephon said, giving Fran and Art hugs goodbye. Then he gave Jean one as well. "I'm glad I was able to meet you again, Master. Please stay safe."
"None of that. This is not goodbye, only see you later." Jean said with a wide grin. "And whether you are saying see you later, or hello again, isn't it better to say it with a laugh and a smile? Fuhaha!"
[That is not the kind of laugh appropriate for this scene.] Archer said with a sigh.
"He's no fun at all." Jean complained, giving Stephon a wink.
"Hehehe! Right! See you later, Master!" Stephon said with the widest grin he would manage. With goodbyes said, Stephon turned and ran down a side passage, in the direction of the dungeon's secret miasma reactors, which were fueling the Lich with near unlimited power.
"Let's get moving. We want to get to the Lich before Stephon reaches his position."
[Lead the way then.] Archer grumbled, before using his telepathy to talk to Jean alone. [Jean, I'm not going to let you get out of trying to free Stephon from the Dungeon.]
So, he was still on that. For some reason, the old soul couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that for an undead, passing on is release, and that it wasn't something to be afraid of. Stephon knew and accepted this, but Archer refused. Jean would have liked to spend more time with Stephon, but even if they seperate now, they would meet once again in the afterlife.
The best thing that they could do for Stephon was not to weep for him, but to see him off with a smile and to remember him fondly.
{Archer, you do realize what an A-rank Demonic Beast is capable of, don't you? With the power we have at our disposal, killing one might just be possible, but containing one for an extended period of time isn't. Powerful magic skills, high level summonings, massive offensive and defensive power, instantaneous regeneration from any nonfatal injury, a near unlimited amount of miasma and the ability to drain our HP and MP just by being near him. Not to mention the power to read minds. This isn't an enemy we can take our time again.}
[...You're right. Stalling during a fight against an A-rank enemy is reckless. But I have a plan.]
{Hm?}
"So this is the Final Floor Challenge before we face off against the big guy himself. They don't seem that tough." Art said, puffing out her chest as they entered the ninth floor's final arena, though her scrunched up face betrayed her real feelings.
"Fufufu, it seems like they decided to give us a proper welcoming committee." Jean said, his mouth twitching as he looked over the three Legendary Undead with his [Soul Eyes]. Two warriors, one with an orichalcum long sword, the other a pair of cursed axes. The last undead was a mage, capable of using powerful support and netherworld magic.
Each of them having high level Magic and Purification resistances, as well as high [Control Undead], rendering Jean's skills almost completely useless as he had to dismiss his own lesser undead in order to prevent them from being taken over. Only high undead and above, who held their own wills, like Stephon and Fly, could resist that kind of control. But most of Jean's high undead had already been destroyed over the last few floors.
Fighting against one B-rank undead had been tough, but Fran and Art had managed it before through superior numbers. Only now they were faced with three.
"Perception skills? Resistances?" Fran asked as the undead began to ready themselves.
"Each of them has a high [Life Energy Perception] and [Magic Perception] Skill. You won't be able to hide from them with illusions." Jean informed. "They also have high level [Magic Resistance] and [Purification Resistance], as well as [Drain Resistance], [Darkness Resistance] and [Physical Barrier]. It seems like these Undead were made more recently, in order to combat the two of you."
"Tch, figures." Art grumbled as she fingered her short sword. "So, how are we going to do this?"
"Let me handle it." Jean was the most surprised of the three when a silver haired copy of Fran appeared in front of them. "You three should conserve your strength."
"...Archer? Is that you?" Jean said, confused. Archer had said that he was planning on using a [Body Split] skill, but Jean hadn't expected this. Rather than responding, Archer just kept walking towards the undead, pulling out a pair of black and white swords as he did so. "Wait, you aren't planning on fighting them on your own, are you?"
Given what he knew of the [Body Split] skill, Archer should have lower stats than Fran did, with all skills also taking a level penalty. With the sword spirit not bothering to disguise his stat page, Jean was able to confirm this. While the catkin girl was tough and skilled, even Amanda would struggle to take on more than one or two B-rank opponents by herself.
Only, Jean was the only one concerned.
"Geez, Mom sure has been aggressive today." Art said, seeming to relax as she folded her arms behind her head. "He normally leaves most of the fighting to us, unless we get in over our heads."
"Archer: super angry." Fran nodded in agreement, lowering her sword.
"I almost feel sorry for those zombies." Art chuckled weakly.
Jean could hardly believe them, but once the battle began, he started to understand.
The two warriors rushed forward, all their stats raised up into the thousands under the influence of the mage's buffs, and each of them had Divine-level Weapon Arts. They displayed a level of skill that could only be matched by a B-rank Adventurer, with physical strength that was far beyond normal humans. Even with Archer's Level 3 [Divine Sword Arts] he should have been annihilated in an instant… only he wasn't.
Jean watched in awe as Archer fought against both at once.
The undead were much stronger and faster than Archer, and they had Divine-level Weapon Arts, but Archer counted with an absolute understanding of the momentum of the attacks. His parries were different than anything that Jean had ever seen before, as Archer threw his entire body into his counter strikes, his blade flowing in a sort of dance which prevented energy from being lost without having his body controlled by the flow. His guards and attacks were one and the same.
Archer's style could rival that of a [Sword Lord].
As Jean watched the battle with wide eyes, something occurred to him. He had never seen a Divine-level [Dual Sword Art] before. While some did end up using dual swords as an extension of the standard [Divine Sword Art] skill. Few choose to specialize in dual broad sword and those who did didn't live long enough to advance to the [Divine Dual Sword Art] stage. Some even believed that there was no such thing as a [Divine Dual Sword Art], as no one had ever refined a dual sword style to the point of earning recognition from the Gods.
In fact, dual swords had a reputation of being a showy and impractical style of fighting. It lacked the control of the one-handed style, the power of the two-headed style, the defense of the sword and shield style. Wielding two full swords was impractical, as any action you made would be locked in by momentum, leaving your wide open. It was stupid to use a two broad sword style.
And yet Archer was doing it. Not only doing it, but doing it well.
Jean gasped as he thought he saw Archer swing too wide, his attack dragging him forward into the range of the sword wielding Legendary Undead, creating an opening.
The necromancer was sure that his luck had ran out, but as the zombie swung, Archer pivoted his entire body, speeding up his second hand in order to catch the blade. The force from the blow caused Archer to spin like a top, further adding to his momentum as he took three high speed steps that barely made contact with the ground, causing him to appear to float across its surface, landing him right beside the undead's left leg, with the zombie placed between Archer and his other enemies.
The zombie toppled as Archer's sword slashed straight through the back of its right leg, slipping into a crack of its Orichalcum armor. The zombie placed one hand on the ground to steady itself as he swung out with its massive sword, hoping to cut Archer in half, but the doppelganger jumped over the swing, spinning into a heavy thrust straight into the undead's mouth, cutting off the top pair of its head.
As Archer pulled the blade back, the head went flying through the air, landing on the ground in front of Fran, Art and Jean, its rotten eyes rolling out of their sockets to reveal a large Magic Stone buried inside.
In the amount of time it took Jean to look down at the head and look back up, Archer had tossed one of his swords at the spellcaster, and used a two hand slash to cut off one of the axe wielders hands. Archer then paired the zombie's second axe before creating a dagger in his free hand to thrust into the zombie's stomach, through another small gap in the armor.
The Legendary Undead seized up as electric sparks came from the dagger, giving Archer enough time to hack off the second warriors head.
He then grabbed the fallen cursed axe with his telekinesis and had it fly straight towards the final undead, getting it to dodge to the right, just in time for his first thrown weapon to come boomeranging back, cutting through the undead's robes and cutting off its head.
Only two minutes had passed, and yet three B-rank Legendary Undead lay defeated upon the ground. "He's.. incredible." Jean said as Archer caught his thrown weapon with ease.
"Yeah, that's mom for you." Art chuckled weakly. "He's so skilled that Fran and I working together have never even managed to land a solid hit on him. Even after trying for hours."
"Will be that strong: someday." Fran said with determination.
As they spoke, the door on the far side of the room started to open up, inviting them forward. "Alright, looks like it is time for the final boss." Art cheered, rolling her arms. "I'm ready to say goodbye to this dungeon."
"Nn! Excited!" Fran nodded in agreement, her eyes twinkling.
[You three stay behind for now. I'll be going in alone.] Archer said to them through telepathy.
(Nn! Why?) Fran said.
[Because I am the one using a temporary body. I'm going to go and scout the situation and get as much info as I can so we can plain out our attack.] Archer reasoned to them.
(...Yeah. I guess that makes sense.) Art admitted. (Just make sure you don't accidentally kill them. We want a part of the action too.)
[I'll try to control myself.] Archer said with a bit of a smirk appearing on the doppelganger's face. Then he sent a message to Jean and Jean alone. [Ten minutes. Just give me ten minutes before following me in.]
Jean let out a gasp of surprise as Archer walked forward into the dark room behind, alone, the doors slamming behind him.
[I am not ready to abandon Stephon yet.]
Archer walked slowly up the final set of stairs, into the dark chamber above, the torches on the wall flicking to life with pale blue flames which provided barely any light at all until he made it to the top of the stairs.
Archer stood in the darkness, staring across the massive stadium sized room which would soon become a battle field as the lights continued to flicker to life one by one along the walls, the frequency increasing until they they met at the far side of the room. A giant bonfire bursting into life revealing the silhouette of a skeleton figure sitting upon a throne.
"Fufufufu, so they've chosen to send a disposable familiar to test me first. I'm almost disappointed." The Lich chuckled as his boney fingers tapped against the side of his staff, the small sound echoing in the massive empty space. "Though I suppose you are an intriguing specimen. So strong as mere body double. Meaning that the original must be even stronger."
As the Lich spoke, the miasma in the room continued to build, pressing down on Archer as if to strangle him. The despair contained within it trying to worm its fingers into him and crush his spirit.
"I will have to do my best to make sure that her body remains in the best condition possible. She will make for the perfect general for my army."
"Hmph." Archer scoffed and the Lich stopped tapping his fingers as Archer released the kind of blood thirst that only someone who had experienced as much battle and death as he had could produce. The miasma was driven back by the wave of killing intent that radiated from the doppelganger body. "You know something. I've been really irritated today." Archer said as he started to lift his swords. "I think I'm going to take out some of this irritation on you. So try not to die too quickly."
"...FufuHAHAAHAAA!" The Lich broke out into roaring laughter at Archer's declaration. "You think that a mere fake can defeat me? Well, if you can manage to reach me, I will invite you to try! [Greater Summon Undead]!"
The Lich struck down his staff and ten magic circles appeared throughout the arena, each one spawning a Legendary Undead, a Demonic Beast at the B-rank, with a variety of weapons, army and skills.
"Tch, how tedious." Archer grumbled before starting to walk forward. "I won't let you get in my way."
The undead gave piercing screams as they started their charge, and the first battle against the Lich finally began.