Throne tightened his grip on his daggers, preparing for the upcoming battle. “Alicia, I know we’ve discussed this already, but could you share the information about this boss again?"

  Alicia stepped forward with a serious expression. “Listen up, everyone,” she said, gesturing toward the ancient stone statues guarding the staircase on the opposite side of the room.

  “Those two are the second-level bosses of this dungeon, the Twin Gargoyles. Their size may be smaller than that of the Cyclops we encountered earlier, but mark my words, they are even more dangerous.” She gnced at the concerned faces around her and continued, “They possess a skill called ‘Life-link,’ which allows them to reincarnate if any one of them is still standing. This means both gargoyles need to be killed at the same time. If we fail to time it right, the one that dies first will resurrect, and the fight will devolve into a vicious cycle where they keep returning until the party eventually runs out of mana or stamina.” She paused.

  She surveyed the group around her. “They attack with their axes. Their standard strikes are slow but powerful. Occasionally, they create a shock wave by smming their axes into the ground. This wave travels forward in a cone-shaped area, starting from a point and expanding as it travels further. When they unleash that attack, everyone, including the defenders, needs to move out of the area. The attack inflicts significant damage. It's better to avoid the attack rather than try to withstand it. This fight hinges on precision and endurance. We must stay coordinated, or we won’t stand a chance.”

  Throne nodded and crossed his arms. “So, the pn is to divide our teams. Cynthia, you will take one Gargoyle, and Dale will take the other. Lisa, Raul, Olivia, and Alicia will form a group with two other members to focus on Cynthia’s target. Alex, Frederick, and I will assemble another group with the remaining members to handle Dale’s target. We need to be careful with our attacks to bring them down together. Remember to have your portions and elixirs ready.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement, resolute in their desire to win this battle. The air thickened with tension as they approached with cautious, measured steps. A faint hum of magic emanated from Lisa’s hands while Raul tightened his grip on the bowstring, his breath evening out. They were ready for any surprise attack.

  The stone statues sprang to life as they moved closer. Monsters let out a deep, low-pitched groan as they took their first steps forward. The ground shook beneath their heavy steps. Dust swirled from their ancient forms, filling the air with an acrid, earthy scent. Their stone-cold eyes fixed on the intruders, radiating otherworldly malice. Their fractured wings spread wide as if preparing to take flight. Both monstrosities drew a one-handed battle axe from their backs. They stood there patiently, holding their battle stance with the axes, waiting for the adventurers to make the first move.

  “Let’s go!” Dale shouted as he and Cynthia rushed forward.

  Cynthia braced herself as the first gargoyle swung a punch at her. Its enormous fist dropped like a falling boulder. She raised her shield just in time, but the force sent her skidding backward. "Ugh... man, that’s heavy!" she yelled. Cynthia dug her heels into the ground, anchoring her shield firmly.

  Dale mirrored her movements, standing firm as the second gargoyle’s heavy fist smmed against his defenses. “Hold your ground!” Dale barked, straining under the weight of the attack. The sheer force sent a ripple through the chamber, dislodging loose stone chips from the ceiling.

  Raul initiated the first attack. His arrows, imbued with the [Stormpiercer Arrow] skill, struck true, embedding themselves in the cracks along the gargoyle’s surface. Lisa unleashed her arsenal of fiery spells— “[Fireball], [Bst Wave], [Fme Strike]”— one after another in rapid succession. Her attacks hit the stone bodies of one of the monsters, heating them up and making them easier to crack.

  Alex’s sword cleaved into their limbs. Each strike scattered shards of rock from their bodies.

  One of the gargoyles swung his massive axe in an arc, targeting Dale. Dale parried the attack using his [Steel Bastion] skill. However, it still cleaved Throne and knocked him back. “It’s tough to fight these guys up close. That arc caught me off guard," Throne murmured as he bled from his wounds.

  “It’s okay. I’ll patch you up. Stay still. [Rejuvenate]” Frederick cast his healing spell, stopping the bleeding. Throne observed as the battle raged on; metal cshed with stone, and magical projectiles of various colors flew in all directions. The other team members were also trying to inflict as much damage as possible.

  “We are doing good. Keep at it!” Throne called, watching as the two behemoths took damage from their relentless attack.

  “You’re good to go,” Frederick said as he completed healing Throne.

  “Thank you.” Throne jumped back into the fight. He rushed towards his assigned gargoyle, his dagger crackling with thunder. His body became a blur as he moved fast, striking the monster rapidly multiple times. The gargoyle growled in pain.

  The entire party attacked the gargoyles while Dale and Cynthia continued to block their counterattacks. Their punches were powerful, and their axe swings were lethal. Yet they persevered. Both groups fought in perfect harmony, but gradually, Dale’s group began to inflict less damage. “Raul, hold your arrows for a moment. We need to synchronize their remaining hit points,” Lisa called out.

  “Yes…sorry, I was getting carried away.” Raul sheathed an arrow, which he was about to deliver.

  The gargoyle Dale was defending suddenly raised his axe above its head, gripping it with both hands. The axe came down in the blink of an eye, striking the ground. “Watch out! A shock wave is coming!" he shouted as he sidestepped from the point of impact. A shock wave surged through the ground from where the axe had struck. The affected area started small but expanded as it moved outward. Fortunately, the party members were aware of the attack. Everyone managed to sidestep as soon as they heard Dale.

  Alex and Throne swung their bdes in retaliation, targeting the arms that gripped the Great Axe. Together, they successfully severed one of the attacking gargoyle's hands. It was unclear whether the creature experienced pain from the amputation or not, but the gargoyle let out a roar and swung the Axe again. Dale dodged the downward swing and regrouped.

  Cynthia’s team had successfully brought down their gargoyle. One of Raul’s arrows shattered the gargoyle’s knee, leaving it with only one leg, which couldn’t support its body’s weight. It fell chin-first, sending a ripple across the ground.

  “It’s time. Let’s take them out together," Dale shouted, and Cynthia nodded in agreement. They charged in for the final attack as both gargoyles were on their st legs. Dale roared, “[Bullwork Smash],” his enormous shield shining bright yellow as he aimed to shatter the gargoyle’s head from the side where its hand was missing.

  Cynthia also charged her [Shield Bash] skill for a final attack. However, their timing was off. The gargoyle Dale was attacking suddenly spun clockwise to block the hit with its massive axe while it stood in a defensive stance. Meanwhile, Cynthia’s attack hit hard, shattering the head of the other gargoyle.

  “No!!” Cynthia cried out. The moment Dale’s attack was blocked, she tried to hold her attack back. But it was too te. The Gargoyle in front of her shattered into thousands of pieces. The surviving Gargoyle let out a guttural roar, and in an instant, the fallen gargoyle began to reform from the broken stone. The dungeon pulsed with dark magic, and the restored gargoyle loomed over them once more.

  "Damn it! Stay strong. Keep fighting," Throne urged, gasping. "First, take down the weakened Gargoyle. We must let it regenerate, and then we’ll incinerate both. We need to begin anew."

  Dale’s team eliminated the already weakened Gargoyle while Cynthia’s group fended off the attacks from the resurrected one, which was restored to full health as if it had never been harmed.

  “We are back to square one!!” Olivia shouted in horror.

  “Don’t lose hope. We can do it. [Divine Blessing]” Frederick cast a support skill which recovered the mana of the party members by a small amount.

  However, the ck of mana was not the main issue. More than mana, fatigue began to weigh heavily on them. Cynthia was exhausted from taking continuous blows and started to falter. The Gargoyle’s heavy attacks made her hand go numb. Her grip on the shield loosened, dipping it ever so slightly. The gargoyle sensed the opportunity and smmed the ground with its axe, sending out a shock wave. Cynthia could not avoid the cone of impact and was sent flying. Her body crashed into a nearby wall with a sickening crunch. The impact reverberated through the room. With terror in his eyes, Throne saw her body twitch once before it stopped moving.

  “Cynthia!” Olivia shouted, rushing toward her.

  With Cynthia out of commission, the gargoyle shifted its focus to the other group members who were attacking it. Its stone-cold eyes zeroed in on the easiest targets. In an instant, it swung its axe in a brutal horizontal arc. Raul and Lisa barely managed to avoid the attack by ducking down. However, other members of their group were not so lucky.

  The monster cut down two of the guild members on the same swing. Thick bckish-red blood spttered across the room. Another member lost his arm while trying to parry the swinging axe. Lisa could not help but let out a scream of anguish. In front of her eyes, her fellow guild members were being cut down in half. In gut-wrenching panic, her body stopped moving momentarily.

  Just when it seemed like nearly everyone at the party was ready to give up and flee from the fight, Dale stepped up. Clenching his teeth, he shouted, “Get it together! We can still win this!”

  With raw strength, he charged at both gargoyles simultaneously. He let out a war cry, drawing the attention of both creatures. He was determined to withstand their attacks with every fiber of his being, which he did as the gargoyles swung their heavy fists at him. Dale’s feet dug into the ground as he absorbed the impact with his shield. His muscles screamed in protest, and his armor cracked under the sheer pressure, but he refused to back down.

  Alicia cast [Titan’s Aegis] on Dale, reducing the damage he received from both monsters. Meanwhile, Frederick rushed to Cynthia and cast his most powerful healing spell, [Healing Cocoon], on her. A golden glow enveloped Cynthia’s body, and within a few seconds, she began to recover. However, she still remained unconscious.

  The damage dealers leaped into action with renewed vigor. Throne activated his skill and sliced through the hardened bodies of the monsters with inhuman speed. Lisa and Raul coordinated their efforts to inflict more damage with their projectiles. Alex concentrated his attack on one of the gargoyles, attempting to sever its legs.

  Dale kept blocking blow after blow from the gargoyles. Intermittently, he also avoided their vertical and horizontal sshes. After a few minutes of successfully blocking and dodging the major hits, even the stone creatures showed signs of fatigue. Their attacks began to grow sluggish. Dale shouted, “Is that all you’ve got, fuckers?!” He tried to maintain a brave facade, but deep down, he knew he also wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer. Absorbing those relentless heavy blows from both gargoyles was taking its toll. His hands were starting to go numb from the pain.

  “We are close. Both gargoyles have taken a lot of damage. We finish them off and do it right this time," Throne shouted, sshing through one of the gargoyle's arms.

  “Dale, hold them off for ten more seconds. I will finish them," Lisa shouted.

  “Ten seconds? Easy for you to say. But I will do my best," Dale assured.

  “Everyone, on the count of ten, move away from the monsters," Throne called out, warning the others.

  Lisa began to cast a channeling spell. Her fiery orange cloak shone brighter than ever. She closed her eyes, trusting Dale completely to defend her. She extended her hands and interlocked her palms, pointing at the monstrosities while the others continued to fight them. An intricate cyclic pattern appeared in front of her hands, with one magic circle on top of another.

  “Eight… seven… six,” Dale counted as he sidestepped another vertical swing.

  “Four… three… two…” Alex counted while slicing through the gargoyle’s arm with his sword. Sparks flew as steel met stone.

  “One… zero… everyone, move out!” Throne shouted as the entire party scrambled to get away from the monsters.

  Dale leaped back, clearing a path for Lisa.

  Lisa cast her most potent spell, "[Annihition Ray]," she chanted as a beam of white light shot from her palm, incinerating everything in its path and simultaneously striking both Gargoyles. The ground beneath them glowed with arcane energy as they burned in bright white fmes. The sheer intensity of the spell sent heat waves radiating through the room, illuminating the dust-filled air in a whitish glow.

  The gargoyles' stone bodies succumbed to the incinerating heat and crumbled into dust as they let out a final wailing roar. The dungeon shuddered as their essence faded.

  Lisa fell to the ground, gasping for breath. She exerted all her mana and more. But she was content. They had managed to defeat the second boss of the Dungeon. A familiar sound echoed in the dungeon room, the sound of a notification informing everyone they had won.