"...It suddenly seems a bit ridiculous."
Looking at those gray cats with eight eyes, Ron fell silent for a moment before giving his assessment.
"...I almost don't want to fight them."
As a cat lover, Hermione chose to close her eyes, feeling that this scene was a bit too much to handle.
"Then... should we turn off the spider mode or something?"
Harry suggested, "No way!!!" which was immediately vetoed by Ron with one vote. Ron took a deep breath, "This way, at least I can fight!" Saying this, he seemed eager to prove himself, and waving his magic wand, he charged at the group of cats, only to be instantly turned into a beam of light particles by the leading big cat, reappearing next to Harry after three seconds.
"..."
"Be more cautious? You only have two lives left."
"...Okay."
...
After sending the eight-eyed giant cats away with flames, the trio walked out of the canyon, looking at the vast expanse of cliff in front of them. Harry instinctively beckoned, then realized that he couldn't summon his Firebolt here—
"Watch out!"
Hermione suddenly screamed, and with a flick of her magic wand, Ron, who was about to rest against a stone, was flipped over by an invisible wall. The next moment, a pitch-black snake head slammed into the spot Ron had just been, with a corrosive green toxic mist beginning to spread.
"Snakes? Three of them... Wait, it's a Rune Snake!"
Seeing the three snake heads climbing up from below the cliff, appearing one after another in the dust, Harry immediately identified them after retreating. Just as he had said, the three python's had finally entangled together, forming a single snake tail. This exaggeratedly large, enhanced Rune Snake was like a wall of flesh blocking the trio's path.
"I'll take care of the middle head!"
Harry shouted, twirling his magic wand three times in his hand, "Tergeo!" A strong whirlwind swept up the spreading toxic mist, completely dispelling it. "Ron, watch the one on the left, it has the ability to disrupt the mind—I encountered this guy in a solo instance before, but it wasn't this big then."
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Ron instinctively pointed his magic wand at the snake head that Harry had mentioned had the ability to disrupt the mind. As the spell took effect, that snake head's movements noticeably slowed down, "Stupefy!" He followed up with another spell, trying to make it totally unconscious.
Hermione wanted to step forward and help finish off the enemy, but before she could take action, a giant shadow suddenly attacked from the side. She instinctively dodged backward, and the next moment, a huge iron rod smashed into the spot she had just stood, raising dust as a heavily armored troll charged forward like a bulldozer.
"?"
Hermione wanted to curse, but the troll had no intention of giving her the chance. This guy was surprisingly agile for a troll, precisely dodging Hermione's two counterattacks while landing a direct hit on Ron's head with its club.
Ron: "?"
Looking at the mark on his arm representing his last life, Ron was somewhat in disbelief as he glanced at the troll that had suddenly appeared to cause trouble.
The troll responded with a slight smirk.
"It's smart?"
"It has a brain!"
—A smart troll is just perfect as a boss guarding a multiplayer level. To give it a powerful mount, like a snake that can spew fire, poison, and also interfere with minds, would make it more balanced. At least, that's what William thought, and as for the challengers' feelings... What does that have to do with him as the designer?
...
"Damn, damn, damn—who designed this shitty monster?!!"
Looking at the troll, now riding atop the Rune Snake and showing off, Ron let out seven or eight interjections in his frustration, his arm trembling from exhaustion, almost unable to hold his magic wand. To ensure Ron didn't lose his last life, Harry and Hermione had also died twice, and now the three of them were on their last legs—
And at such a time, it was time to trigger the protagonists' passive abilities.
"...Two lives, and we've only taken down one head."
Harry grinned, shaking his head a bit helplessly, "Should we retreat?" He sighed, as if making a difficult decision.
"We're already here—"
Hermione looked somewhat resentful—dying here was not without punishment, at the very least, that nearly realistic feeling of pain was enough to drive anyone crazy—she stared at the troll and snake, which they had agitated but had yet to trigger into battle, and took a deep breath.
"Are you finally going to play your trump card?"
Seeing the girl's serious expression, Ron asked with some anticipation.
"I'm going to cheat."
"?"
Without giving the two dumbfounded companions any further explanation, Hermione began drawing on the sandy ground with her magic wand. As she moved, a huge magic circle was outlined, glowing with a dazzling deep blue light. After a dazzling display of effects, everything calmed down once more.
"Alright, let's go."
"...What did you just do?"
"Unlocked our Dark Arts permissions."
...
"Sectumsempra!"
"Crack—"
Accompanied by a pleasing, crisp sound, fine cracks appeared on the troll's armor. At the same time, Harry put away his magic wand after delivering the final blow (finishing move), and the troll that had been under attack by the trio for more than ten minutes finally collapsed to the ground, dissolving into a cluster of light particles that disappeared into nothingness.
"...There shouldn't be anything else after this, right?"
Crossing the cliff, Ron slumped against a dead tree, panting heavily. He looked at the tower not far away and asked.
"There shouldn't be any more, according to the guide, the save point is right—oh, here it is."
Hermione, holding the notebook, circled around, finally stopping at a clear area. With a few manipulations, a Meditation Basin rose from the ground. Anyone who had been to dueling class would recognize it; a standard save and exit point where you just had to dunk your head in...
"Wait."
Just as Hermione was about to log out, Harry, seeming to have discovered something, interrupted the other two. Seeing them gathering around, he shared the light screen that appeared in front of him with the others.
"...Hidden instance detected—'Unnamed', do you wish to enter? (Note, unable to save before entering instance.)"
Ron instinctively read all the words on the light screen out loud.
"..."
The three of them looked at each other for a moment.
"Shall we do it?"
"At worst, we'd just face another boss of the same intensity as the one just now, and besides..."
Ron paused for a moment, "We've already cheated, so there's a chance we can clear this hidden instance—in case we one-life-clear it, George and Fred would have to buy the strategy from us..." The more Ron spoke, the more excited he became, even starting to imagine himself bragging about clearing the hidden instance—
So, they entered the instance.
So, they entered the boss room of the instance.
So...
"Senior?"
The three of them stared blankly at the BOSS that was getting up from the ground.