The atmosphere inside the main boss's lair turned instantly to lead.
Where laughter had filled the vast stone hall just moments ago, there was now only the sickening sound of the female mage gasping for breath, crimson blood spraying from her lips onto the cold tile floor. The aura shockwave alone from Arrax's casual finger-flick—a mere byproduct of his movement—had been enough to shatter her barrier spells and rupture her internal organs.
The warrior's jaw dropped. The confidence that had filled his chest vanished, replaced by a cold, suffocating dread. His eyes darted from the crumbled stone wall—where their leader lay buried under shattered, high-grade armor—to the figure lounging on the obsidian throne.
'How… How is this possible with just a flick?!' the warrior screamed internally, his knees trembling violently beneath his heavy plate armor. 'That was captain's full-power rage slash! His armor had dragon-scale enchantments! How could a single finger destroy it like glass?!'
Beside him, the assassin rushed to support the collapsed mage. As she wrapped an arm around the gasping girl, a cold sweat drenched the assassin's back.
'I specialize in speed and perception,' the assassin thought, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. 'My eyes can track lightning-element speedsters... yet I couldn't even see his hand move. I didn't see the flick. I only saw the aftermath!'
She looked at the bored, indifferent creature sitting on the throne. This wasn't a boss they could raid. This wasn't a creature they could kite, bleed out, or defeat with teamwork. This was an absolute, unyielding abyss.
Grit wiping the blood from her teeth, eyes wide with raw instinct, the assassin yelled at the top of her lungs, "Retreat! We have to get out of here NOW! This is way beyond what we can handle!"
"R-Retreat?!" the warrior stammered, frantically reaching for a Teleportation Scroll from his pouch.
Before his fingers could even touch the parchment, a low, menacing voice echoed through the vast lair. It sounded like grinding tectonic plates, rich with cruel amusement.
"What? Want to run?"
Arrax leaned forward on his throne, resting his chin on his palm. A dark, terrifying sneer spread across his face as his vertical reptilian pupils locked onto the surviving three.
"Do you really think you can run?" Arrax said, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. "You entered the dragon's maw on your own feet, mocked the ruler of this dungeon, and now you expect the exit to just stay open for you?"
With a lazy flick of his wrist, a surge of oppressive, dark dragon aura flooded the entire hall.
CRACK!
The massive stone doors behind the party slammed shut with a deafening boom. Runes of absolute sealing flared to life along the doorframes, turning bright crimson before dying out into a void-like black. The path of escape was completely severed.
"Since you came all this way to show me your power," Arrax purred, his aura expanding until the very air in the room felt as dense as water, making it agonizingly difficult for them to even breathe, "it would be rude of me not to let you finish the performance."