What do you know, I was right, there was an additional floor. The problem is what we found there. As we moved down the staircase to the 101st floor, the mana that I sensed grew exponentially with every step we took. When we finally saw what the floor held, we were surprised, because there was a single entity on the whole floor.
"It's a 'Dragon'" Alex exclaimed in wonder and dread.
Red scales glistened in the faint light of the dungeon contrasting sharply with jet black horns, It had four legs, a pair of wings. While it wasn't as big as the 'Leviathan', the mana this 'Dragon' exuded was on a whole different level. The creature seemed to be sleeping, curled into a ball, like an oversized cat.
"Hey Alex, correct me if I am wrong, but aren't 'Dragons' 'S' or 'SS' class? Why does this one seem to be so powerful?"
My words seemed to snap Alex out of the daze and he started explaining "Normally yes, a 'Lesser dragon' is a being at 'S' class, a 'Greater dragon' is 'Disaster' class - 'SS'. The problem now is that what we are seeing is probably…" Alex swallowed hard. "A-a 'True dragon' - 'God' class or 'SSS'.
"'True dragon'? As in one of the eight god fragments of this world?"
"Exactly, as you know, the goddess of this world, after creating the world, split itself into eight parts corresponding to the eight emotions and magic types. The fragments then became the 'True dragons' - pride - the 'Storm dragon' - the essence of rebellion, greed - the 'Earth dragon' - the essence of possession, wrath - the 'Flame dragon' - the essence of destruction, envy - the 'Dragon of darkness' - the essence of spite, lust - the 'Mind dragon' - the essence of desire, gluttony - the 'Dragon of the depths' - the essence of consumption and sloth - the 'Ice dragon' - the essence of stagnation. While Alex spoke, I slowly counted on my fingers.
"My math might be wrong, but that was only seven. Did the great 'sage' actually forget something?" I teased.
"I didn't forget, it's just that the final fragment is said to be the main body of the goddess, that all other fragments separated from, so I don't think that I should call it a fragment, but yes, after purifying herself of those emotions, the goddess was left with only love - the essence of creation. Or at least that is what I found written in one of the historical books about the creation of this world."
"Consequently, it seems that the 'True dragons' hold an all encompassing grasp over the use of their element, meaning that they can not only interrupt or cancel the enemy spells in that element, but also take full control over them. No, that isn't right, it's more like they are that element, so if we kill it…" Alex stopped to ponder.
"It won't be possible to use that element anymore, right?" I asked.
"You are probably right, not only that, but it might break the balance of this world's magic. As you know magic types are bound to each other in strengthening and weakening bonds. From the looks of it, this dragon is the 'Flame dragon', meaning that if we kill it, we might inadvertently strengthen the 'Ice', 'Water' and 'Light' elements and weaken 'Wind' and 'Earth', the backlash on the world might be disastrous. But at this point it's just a guess."
I thought for a minute "So in summary - our enemy is on the level of a god meaning that we would be dead meat facing it and if we actually defeat it, we might run the risk of destroying the world, right?"
"pretty much"
"Then what are we waiting for, let's pack up and get out."
"Yeah, that would be wise."
"As if I would allow that" A powerful voice resonated thru the entire room. Alex and I were startled and turned to the source. It was the 'Dragon' now standing up. We woke it up?!
"Your explanation was quite sound, human, and you seem to be smart. Not smart enough to stay away from that what will kill you though it seems." The 'dragon's' oura was immense, it reminded me of the first time I encountered the 'Devil snake' on the 50th floor. The fear, the despair and dread, I felt all that again but this time the experience was far more intense. This time we are dead for sure!
Alex looked mortified, but then he swallowed hard and spoke with an uncertain voice "Oh, great 'Flame dragon', please excuse these two lowly travelers for entering your domain and waking your grace from your slumber. We never imagined that we would find someone like you here and wishing not to disturb you any further, we shall take our leave." Good job, we might actually survive this.
"Take your leave? And why do you think I would allow you that?" The 'Dragon' smirked "It has been ages since I had some company, some prey, let's enjoy our meeting to the fullest and play a bit" We are done for.
"Run!!!" Alex screamed as he started going up the massive staircase. I followed right behind.
"Where do you think you're going? It's rude to leave the master of the house without permission." In that instant the beast shot out a fire ball the size of a car at the ceiling above the stairs, shattering the scaling and blocking our escape.
We were truly done for. We were up against a god with no way to reason or to run away. The only thing we could do was fight. It's pointless, we are done for anyway. I might as well just lower my hands and accept my fate, except death. While I was thinking, a massive 'fireball' was flying straight at me. Well, we had a good run…
"Isaac!" Alex shouted while tackling me to the side, nearly avoiding the imminent death. "C'mon, Isaac, we can do this! No, we will do this. We will survive and fully conquer the 'Great labyrinth', just don't lose hope and fight!"
Well now, his words certainly shook me. I always knew that Alex was a positive guy, he never gave up, even when facing the hardest of challenges, so I tended to follow him, but this…
"Alex, you know that it's hopeless, we have no plan, no tools, no time to prepare, it's over."
'Slap' I got slapped, hard by the bastard. "I have a plan, I have the tools, all I need is my trusty partner for it to work, are you with me or not?"
This stunned me. How did he come up with a plan so soon, wait, did he know what to expect? Was that the reason he didn't want to come to this floor? Well, it doesn't matter, as long as there is a chance to survive, we might as well try it. I smiled. "You mean, you need your trusty bait, am I right?
Alex smiled back. "Why else would I need someone like you?"
Another 'fireball' came at us, we dodged to the left. "Right, what do you want me to do?" I asked.
"It's simple, I want you to distract the 'Flame dragon' for 15 minutes. I want all of its attention on you, so that it will leave me alone."
"Not funny."
"Fine, 10 minutes."
"This isn't the time to joke around, Alex, Do you really want me to piss off a god and then hold out for 10 minutes?"
"We don't really have a choice in the matter, do as I say or we both die!"
I sighed. "Fine, but if I die, I will not forgive you."
"Deal."
We dodged another 'fireball', but this time I dodged to the right while Alex dodged to the left and immediately hid behind some rubble.
"Hey you, you oversized lizard, learn to aim, I could dodge your fire with my eyes closed" I challenged the 'dragon'.
"What!?" The 'dragon' looked pissed. "A mere human dares to insult me?! I'll Burn you till there is nothing left!" The speed and power of the attacks increased, I was struggling to keep up, but I had to keep taunting because if I stopped, that would spell disaster for Alex.
"My grandma has more power than you, are you sure that you are a god of fire? more like the god of sparks!" This infuriated him. He started a continuous fire attack that followed me wherever I went. This meant bad news. I knew that the only way for me to escape was by getting to his blind spot, but that meant getting right below him And for that I had to get through the fire.
I gritted my teeth, took the shield off of my back and put it in front of me, activated 'Stone skin' and charged. Even though I had 'resistance to magic' and 'fire resistance', which were passive skills, and all that prep, I still was burned quite severely by the time I escaped the flames to the other side. This just goes to show how powerful the 'dragons' breath was. But it didn't matter, I was on the other side, the beast could no longer use fire attacks with the same efficiency against me and my 'rapid regeneration' had already kicked in.
Now while I was trying not to get trampled, I saw Alex At the roof of the floor doing something to the ceiling and attaching something to it. I sure hope that it works.
The dragon was fuming, it tried furiously to crush me underneath its massive feet, while I just kept dodging and taunting, dodging and taunting for as long as I had the energy. The battle was incredibly tough, having to dodge the legs armed with powerful claws, the jaws filled with razor sharp teeth, the whip-like tail that, if given the chance, could split me in two and the occasional fire attack was incredibly taxing. But I had no choice, it's either this or certain death.
After a while, when the 'dragon' realized that it couldn't catch me, it jumped to the side, turned around, smiled and said "Now, it's over for you human." Then it released a wide area of attack spell at me. I Had nowhere to run, and even if I had, there was no more stamina left in me to do so, so I activated 'Stone skin', braced my shield, activated 'Air barrier' all around me and tried to hold out as long as possible.
This flame wasn't like the one before, this flame was pitch black with a purple hue - 'Hell fire' - a fire that can burn anything. In mere seconds the 'Air barriers' surrounding me broke, the shield lasted even less and finally the flames reached me. It was incredibly painful, my body melted almost instantaneously, the only thing I heard was Alex screaming my name, after that a huge torrent of water hit me. Was this one of his skills? The amount of water was unreal, it filled the whole chamber, after that I lost consciousness. This must be the end for me…