The instant Fayzan and Ryota stepped into the chamber, the battle changed completely.
There was no time to admire the enormous room.
No time to study the strange architecture.
No time to wonder why a creature made entirely of flame had been waiting behind an ancient sun-shaped door.
Apollonius had already chosen them as her targets.
The towering woman of fire stood motionless at the center of the chamber, her twenty-one-foot body radiating enough heat to make the air shimmer.
The gigantic bow in her hands slowly dissolved.
Flames crawled along her arms.
Then the weapon reshaped itself.
The bow elongated.
The burning limbs compressed.
The string disappeared.
And in the space of a heartbeat—
a massive sword of pure flame appeared in her hands.
Fayzan's eyes widened.
"...She changed weapons."
Ryota tightened his grip.
"Then don't let her get close."
Fayzan gave a short laugh.
"That's going to be difficult."
Apollonius moved.
The enormous flaming blade came down.
Fayzan jumped backward just as the weapon smashed into the stone floor.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The impact sent a shockwave through the chamber.
Fayzan barely managed to keep his balance.
Heat swept across his face.
He immediately understood something.
The bow wasn't her only weapon.
It wasn't even necessarily her strongest.
The giant flame sword was designed for close combat.
And judging by the force behind that first strike—
getting hit even once would be disastrous.
Apollonius lifted the blade again.
Fayzan moved.
The next strike came from the side.
He ducked.
The burning sword passed above his head so closely that his hair was singed by the heat.
He rolled away.
Another strike followed immediately.
Then another.
Apollonius's movements were surprisingly fast for something so enormous.
Every swing of her massive sword created a trail of fire.
Every missed attack scorched the stone.
The chamber gradually became hotter.
Fayzan gritted his teeth.
"She's fast!"
Ryota was already moving around the battlefield.
He wasn't simply watching Fayzan fight.
He was searching for an opening.
He couldn't rush blindly.
The boss was too strong.
Too large.
And the fact that she had already demonstrated two completely different fighting styles meant they had no idea what other abilities she possessed.
Ryota raised his sword.
"Fayzan!"
Fayzan glanced toward him.
"Got an idea?"
"Not yet!"
Fayzan laughed.
"Great!"
"Then we're improvising!"
Apollonius suddenly turned.
Her white eyes locked onto Ryota.
The enormous flaming sword vanished.
In its place—
the gigantic bow returned.
Ryota's expression changed.
"...Oh, come on."
Apollonius pulled the string.
A flaming arrow materialized.
Ryota immediately moved.
FWOOOOOSH!
The arrow tore through the air.
Ryota twisted his body.
The projectile missed him by inches.
BOOOOOOM!
It exploded against the wall behind him.
Stone fragments flew across the chamber.
Ryota didn't stop.
He sprinted sideways while Apollonius immediately drew another arrow.
Fayzan shouted.
"RYOTA!"
"I SEE IT!"
Another arrow fired.
Ryota jumped.
The projectile passed beneath him.
He landed, rolled, and immediately regained his footing.
His eyes narrowed.
"She's not even slowing down."
Fayzan's grip tightened.
"Then let's make her."
He rushed forward.
Apollonius fired again.
Fayzan swung his sword.
CLANG!
The arrowhead collided with his blade.
The explosion launched him backward.
He landed on one knee.
Smoke rose from his sword.
"...That was close."
Ryota suddenly appeared beside him.
"Still alive?"
"Unfortunately."
"Good."
Ryota raised his sword.
"Because we're not done."
Apollonius drew another arrow.
Ryota immediately stepped forward.
His sword began glowing.
"Let's try this again."
He planted his foot.
"[Sword Skill: Radiant Cascade]!"
The blade flashed.
A torrent of brilliant light erupted from its edge.
Dozens of radiant projectiles raced across the chamber.
The attacks came from multiple angles.
Straight ahead.
From above.
From the sides.
The entire battlefield was filled with streaks of white light.
For a normal enemy—
there would have been nowhere to escape.
But Apollonius wasn't normal.
Her enormous body suddenly moved.
The flame beneath her feet exploded outward.
She shifted sideways with impossible speed.
One radiant projectile passed beside her shoulder.
Another crossed behind her.
A third struck the floor.
Then another.
And another.
Every attack missed.
Ryota's eyes widened.
"...She dodged all of them?"
Apollonius turned her head toward him.
Her expression remained completely emotionless.
The bow dissolved.
The giant flame sword appeared again.
Fayzan's face immediately tightened.
"Ryota!"
"I know!"
Apollonius vanished forward.
Her massive sword swung toward Fayzan.
Fayzan raised his own weapon.
CLAAAAAANG!
The two blades collided.
For a brief moment—
everything stopped.
Fayzan's arms trembled.
The pressure was overwhelming.
The flame blade was enormous.
Its weight should have been impossible for a humanoid creature to control.
Yet Apollonius wielded it as though it were nothing more than a normal sword.
Fayzan pushed back.
Apollonius pushed harder.
The stone beneath Fayzan's feet began cracking.
CRACK.
His eyes widened.
"...No."
Another crack spread beneath him.
CRAAAAACK!
Then the floor collapsed.
Fayzan dropped several feet.
"WHOA—!"
He caught himself on the edge of the broken floor.
Apollonius's sword remained pressed against his weapon.
Fayzan gritted his teeth.
His arms were shaking violently.
"You're..."
He pushed upward.
"...really strong!"
The flame sword descended another inch.
Fayzan's knees buckled.
Then—
a blur crossed the battlefield.
Ryota.
He had already jumped.
His body rose above Apollonius's shoulder.
He pulled his fist backward.
"Get away from him!"
"[Unique Skill: Scalular Impact]!"
His fist slammed into Apollonius's upper body.
BAAAAAAAAAAM!
The force behind the punch exploded outward.
The enormous flame warrior was launched backward.
Her body flew across the chamber.
BOOOOOOM!
She crashed into the far wall.
Stone shattered around her.
For a moment—
everything was silent.
Fayzan pulled himself out of the collapsed floor.
He breathed heavily.
"...Nice one."
Ryota landed beside him.
"Thanks."
Then—
the wall moved.
Both players froze.
Apollonius slowly emerged from the rubble.
There was no visible damage.
No crack.
No sign that Ryota's punch had even mattered.
The flames surrounding her body were still burning exactly as before.
Ryota's smile disappeared.
"...You're kidding."
Fayzan stared.
"I hit her with everything."
"And it did nothing?"
Ryota shook his head slowly.
"Not nothing."
He watched Apollonius carefully.
"It moved."
"That's all."
The flaming woman raised her hand.
The bow returned.
This time, however—
the weapon looked different.
The flames around it became much brighter.
The entire chamber began glowing orange.
Apollonius slowly drew a single arrow.
The projectile was enormous.
Fire condensed around its shaft.
Then compressed.
And compressed again.
The flames became so dense that the arrow itself began shining white.
A system notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Boss Skill: Sun Arrow]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Ryota's eyes widened.
"...That doesn't sound good."
Fayzan immediately stepped forward.
"Ryota, move!"
But it was already too late.
Apollonius released the string.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The arrow disappeared.
Ryota barely had time to react.
His body twisted sideways.
But the projectile wasn't aimed at where he was.
It was aimed at where he would be.
The burning arrow struck him directly.
KRAAAAAAAAAAASH!
An explosion swallowed Ryota.
His body was launched across the chamber.
He slammed into the stone wall with enough force to create a massive crater.
BOOOOOOM!
His sword fell from his hand.
The chamber became silent.
Fayzan's expression went pale.
"Ryota!"
Dust slowly drifted through the air.
For several seconds—
nothing moved.
Then a system notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
HP: 91% → 13%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fayzan's eyes widened.
"...Thirteen percent?"
His voice was barely audible.
Ryota had lost almost eighty percent of his health from a single attack.
One attack.
One arrow.
And it had nearly killed him.
Fayzan clenched his sword.
"Ryota!"
The dust finally shifted.
A hand emerged from the crater.
Ryota pulled himself upright.
His clothes were torn.
Burn marks covered his arms.
His breathing was heavy.
His health bar flashed dangerously red.
Yet somehow—
he was still standing.
He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"...That..."
He took a shaky breath.
"...really hurt."
Fayzan stared at him.
"You're insane."
Ryota gave a weak smile.
"Probably."
Apollonius slowly raised her bow again.
The flames around her body intensified.
Ryota looked toward her.
Then at Fayzan.
Fayzan looked back.
Neither needed to speak.
They understood.
Running wasn't an option.
They had entered the chamber together.
They had survived the first exchange.
And now they had learned something important.
Apollonius wasn't simply powerful.
She was overwhelmingly powerful.
If they fought normally—
they would lose.
But that didn't mean they were finished.
Ryota bent down and picked up his sword.
His hands were still trembling from the impact.
He tightened his grip anyway.
Fayzan stepped beside him.
His blade ignited.
The two stared at the towering woman of flame.
Ryota took a breath.
"Ready?"
Fayzan smiled.
"Let's go."
Apollonius drew another flaming arrow.
At the exact same moment—
Ryota and Fayzan dashed forward.
The chamber erupted into fire and steel once again.
And this time—
neither of them intended to give Apollonius even a second to breathe.
The moment Ryota and Fayzan charged forward, Apollonius released the bowstring.
The flaming arrow screamed across the chamber.
Ryota immediately twisted his body sideways.
The projectile passed so close to his shoulder that the heat burned through the fabric of his armor.
FWOOOOOOOOOSH!
The arrow struck the stone floor behind him.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A wave of fire erupted outward.
Ryota didn't even look back.
He kept moving.
Fayzan was already approaching from the opposite side.
Apollonius turned toward him.
Her enormous bow disappeared.
Flames gathered around both of her hands.
Then—
the massive sword returned.
Fayzan's eyes narrowed.
"Again?"
The flaming blade swung toward him.
Fayzan immediately lowered his stance.
The sword passed above his head.
He stepped forward.
His own blade flashed toward Apollonius's torso.
CLANG!
The attack connected with the burning warrior's weapon instead.
The impact sent sparks flying.
Fayzan pushed harder.
Apollonius didn't move.
Her expression remained emotionless.
Then Ryota arrived from behind.
His sword came down toward her back.
Apollonius suddenly vanished.
Ryota's sword struck empty air.
"...What?"
A burst of flame appeared behind him.
Apollonius had already moved.
She was standing several meters away.
Her bow had returned.
An arrow was already drawn.
Ryota's eyes widened.
"She's switching between them instantly!"
Fayzan stepped backward.
"Then we need to stop giving her room!"
The two players separated.
Ryota moved left.
Fayzan moved right.
They began circling the boss.
Apollonius tracked both of them.
Her head moved slowly between the two targets.
Then—
she fired.
One arrow.
Then another.
Then another.
FWOOOSH!
FWOOOSH!
FWOOOSH!
The projectiles crossed the chamber at terrifying speed.
Fayzan ducked beneath one.
Ryota jumped over another.
A third arrow struck the wall.
A fourth exploded against the floor.
Neither player stopped moving.
The battlefield had become a deadly maze of fire.
Every few seconds—
another explosion shook the chamber.
Fayzan suddenly noticed something.
"Ryota!"
"What?"
"When she fires, she can't move immediately!"
Ryota's eyes widened.
He understood.
"Then that's our opening!"
Fayzan sprinted forward.
Apollonius drew another arrow.
Ryota accelerated from the opposite side.
The moment she released the projectile—
both players attacked.
Fayzan swung his sword.
Ryota followed.
CLANG!
CLANG!
BOOOOOOM!
Their combined attacks struck Apollonius almost simultaneously.
The flaming warrior staggered backward.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Fayzan smiled.
"She's not invincible!"
Ryota grinned.
"Then let's keep hitting her!"
The two rushed forward again.
Fayzan struck from the left.
Ryota attacked from the right.
Apollonius blocked both.
She swung her sword toward Fayzan.
He ducked.
Ryota attacked.
She blocked.
Fayzan countered.
Another clash.
The battle became a constant exchange of attacks.
Fire.
Steel.
Light.
Stone.
The chamber shook continuously.
For the first time—
Apollonius was being pushed backward.
Not much.
But she was moving.
Fayzan's confidence grew.
"We can do this!"
Ryota nodded.
"Keep the pressure!"
Then—
Apollonius stopped.
Completely.
Her sword disappeared.
The massive bow returned.
But this time—
she didn't immediately fire.
Instead, she slowly raised the weapon toward the ceiling.
Fayzan's smile disappeared.
"...What is she doing?"
Ryota looked upward.
"I don't know."
Apollonius drew a single arrow.
Fire began gathering around it.
The flames grew brighter.
Then brighter.
Then brighter.
The entire chamber became illuminated by orange light.
The temperature rose sharply.
Ramos, hiding near the edge of the battlefield, felt sweat forming across his forehead.
"What is that?"
Ryota looked toward him.
"Stay down!"
Apollonius released the arrow.
But instead of firing toward them—
the projectile flew straight upward.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The arrow disappeared into the darkness above.
For one second—
nothing happened.
Then—
the arrow exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The single projectile split apart.
Ten arrows became twenty.
Twenty became fifty.
Fifty became hundreds.
The entire ceiling seemed to fill with burning projectiles.
Ryota's eyes widened.
"...Oh no."
Fayzan looked upward.
His face became serious.
"Everyone move!"
The first arrows began falling.
FWOOOOOSH!
FWOOOOOSH!
FWOOOOOSH!
Fire rained from the ceiling.
The dungeon transformed into a storm of destruction.
Ramos screamed and dove behind a stone pillar.
Fayzan raised his sword.
"There's too many!"
He planted his feet.
His sword began glowing.
Flames gathered around the blade.
The fire intensified.
Then exploded outward.
[Sword Skill: Hellfire Strike]
Fayzan swung.
A gigantic wave of flames erupted from his sword.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The fire surged upward.
A massive wall of flame intercepted the falling arrows.
For a moment—
it worked.
Hundreds of flaming arrows collided with Fayzan's attack.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The explosions filled the chamber.
Fayzan gritted his teeth.
"Come on!"
His flames continued rising.
The incoming arrows began burning away.
But there were simply too many.
Several arrows pushed through the wall of fire.
Fayzan's eyes widened.
"...No."
One struck his shoulder.
Another struck his leg.
A third slammed into his side.
CRACK!
BOOM!
His body was thrown backward.
His health bar dropped sharply.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
HP: 79% → 64%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fayzan crashed onto the stone floor.
"AGH!"
He rolled several times before stopping.
The arrows continued falling.
There was no pause.
No mercy.
Ryota looked toward Ramos.
The NPC was completely exposed.
Several flaming arrows were falling directly toward him.
"RAMOS!"
Ramos looked upward.
His face went pale.
"OH NO!"
Ryota sprinted toward him.
He reached him just before the first arrow landed.
Ryota grabbed Ramos around the waist.
"Hold on!"
"W-Wait!"
Ryota jumped.
A flaming arrow struck the ground beneath them.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion launched both of them sideways.
Ryota twisted his body in midair.
He landed on his shoulder.
Rolled.
Then immediately pushed himself up.
Ramos was still in his arms.
The NPC stared at him.
"...You saved me."
Ryota looked toward the falling arrows.
"Don't thank me yet."
Another arrow came down.
Ryota jumped again.
BOOM!
Another.
He ducked.
Another.
He rolled.
Another.
He jumped.
The chamber had become a death zone.
Ryota kept Ramos close while navigating between the falling projectiles.
Ramos clung tightly to him.
"I'M GOING TO DIE!"
"Not today!"
"THAT'S NOT VERY REASSURING!"
Ryota couldn't help laughing.
"Then stop looking at the arrows!"
"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"
Meanwhile—
Fayzan was still struggling.
He pushed himself upright.
His armor was scorched.
His breathing was heavy.
The flames around his sword had weakened.
He looked upward.
The storm continued.
Then—
the arrows suddenly stopped.
Silence.
Fayzan froze.
"...What?"
The final burning projectile struck the ground.
BOOM.
The chamber went quiet.
Smoke drifted through the air.
Fayzan looked around.
Then—
he heard something.
A deep metallic sound.
SHIIIIING.
He turned.
Apollonius stood directly in front of him.
Her bow was gone.
The enormous flame sword had returned.
Fayzan's eyes widened.
"...No."
The sword came down.
Fayzan raised his weapon.
CLAAAAANG!
The impact forced him backward.
His boots scraped across the floor.
He barely held.
Apollonius struck again.
CLANG!
Fayzan blocked.
Again.
CLANG!
Again.
CLANG!
Again.
Each strike was faster than the last.
Fayzan's arms began trembling.
"You're..."
He gritted his teeth.
"...not giving me a break!"
Apollonius continued.
Strike.
Block.
Strike.
Block.
Strike.
Block.
The force behind every attack increased.
Fayzan's feet slid backward.
The stone beneath his boots cracked.
He tried countering.
Apollonius immediately blocked.
Then struck again.
CLANG!
Fayzan blocked.
His sword vibrated violently.
Another strike.
CLANG!
The vibration traveled through his arms.
His fingers began going numb.
Another strike.
CLANG!
A small crack appeared along his sword.
Fayzan's eyes widened.
"...What?"
Apollonius raised her sword.
The flames around it intensified.
Then—
she struck again.
CRAAAAAACK!
Fayzan's sword shattered.
The weapon exploded into fragments of glowing metal.
Silence filled the battlefield.
Fayzan stared at the broken hilt remaining in his hand.
His expression was completely blank.
"...My sword..."
For the first time since the battle began—
Fayzan looked genuinely shocked.
Apollonius stood before him.
Her massive flame blade remained raised.
And she was already preparing her next strike.
Fayzan slowly looked upward.
The broken pieces of his weapon fell around him.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
His eyes widened.
He had just lost his weapon.
And Apollonius—
wasn't finished.