Vivi looked up and met the gaping eyeholes of the boss monster.

The boss was a giant skeleton. Its bones were glued to the ceiling. Or rather, they were a part of the ceiling, embedded into the stone. The skeleton had a large skull and a thick rib cage. It had no legs or a pelvis. Rather, its spine was extended like a lizard's tail. Its arms were wing-like and made of sharp, sword-like bones.

The ceiling around the bones crumbled. Slowly, the boss was being freed from the ceiling.

Vivi clutched onto her sword. Catching her breath hurt. The escape from the gnolls had lasted barely a minute. But at the speed Vivi had sprinted—abusing ether to its absolute limits—a minute was enough to overload her lungs and lower body. Her calves were burning. The rest of her muscles begged for a break.

The gnolls' spikes were stuck to her back, gluing her raincoat to her skin. Her movements felt hindered, and her raincoat probably had holes. Vivi didn't have time to worry about that.

She observed the arena and the boss, searching for anything she could possibly use to her advantage. The arena was mostly empty space with flat ground. The columns and the stairway to the weird palace could offer cover, assuming the boss couldn't cut straight through stone columns.

The boss was a few more cracks short of free. Each one of its bones was filled with concentrated ether. Vivi was confident her sword could cut through, assuming she landed a clean hit, but landing any hit would be difficult, considering the skeleton had wings. She'd need to hit the head for a fatal blow.

The final bits of stone cracked off, and the boss was freed. It fell at a dangerous clip. Vivi prepared her sword. The skeleton fell faster and faster. Directly downward. Couldn't it fly?

The boss crashed against the ground with explosive force. Bits of stone shot off everywhere, grazing Vivi's arm and shoulder. A cloud of dust enveloped the landing. Vivi watched in concern.

A wing reached out from the dust cloud, slamming against the ground. The skeleton pulled, dragging its ribcage across the stone with surprising speed. Its back was enveloped in blue flames—so it looked like, at least, as thousands of wisps of ether escaped from its body. The cold gaping eyeholes stared at Vivi.

She felt a chill. Vivi ran to the right before the monster could bind her against a wall. What is that! she screamed in her thoughts. This isn't a flying skeleton at all!

"I don't know, run!" Lucius said. "It's a screwed-up wraith skeleton! It has at least fifteen thousand ether!"

Vivi's mind raced with a hundred different thoughts, none of which offered solutions. She had a sword, and she had Lucius and his powers. Really, she didn't have much to work with. She threw a desperate claw-swipe while panting for air, continuing the run.

The claws landed weakly on the monster's jaw. It didn't even flinch, pulling itself toward Vivi. Its ribs dragged across the bricks, leaving a deep trail.

Vivi gritted her teeth. Lucius's claws were useless against this monster. Using them was a waste of ether. Vivi gripped her sword with two hands and continued running near the wall, toward the palace.

The skeleton was two pulls away from swinging range now. She couldn't outrun the impending attack no matter where she ran. Vivi was like an ant running from a rat in a flat arena. She'd need to somehow dodge at least one attack.

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The monster pulled forward again, then raised its right wing. The sharp bones opened up, and the wings spread into an assortment of swords. It swung at Vivi.

Vivi froze, faced with the sight of a hundred sharp blades aimed at her all at once. Immediately, Vivi knew there was no dodging this attack. She raised her runesword to block.

Two of the bony blades connected with her blade. Vivi's runesword held; the crystal mithril was far stronger than the boss's bones.

But the strength of one's sword wasn't all that mattered in a sword fight. Vivi was blown off of her feet. The boss's swing hit with the weight of a giant's punch. She flew backward until she collided against the wall ten feet in the air.

She dropped to the ground. Her eyes spun, the wind knocked out of her lungs. She lay sprawled in a heap.

"Vivi!" a voice shouted in her head. "Get up!"

She lifted her head. She saw the faint shape of a palace ahead. She blinked, snapping out of delirium, and immediately pushed herself to her feet. She continued running.

The palace with its columns was the only place where she could take advantage of her small size. She had to get there.

Vivi didn't look behind. She didn't want to know how close the boss was. The ground rumbled as the skeleton dragged itself, followed by a loud thump as it threw its wings forward for another pull.

A wave of pain came from Vivi's chest. Something was broken inside.

Lucius's ether reserves were falling. Over half of his wisps were dimmed out just to keep Vivi alive and walking.

A crash sounded directly behind Vivi. She glanced over her head to see the skeleton's wing inches away from her. A panicked shiver shot through her body.

Where am I even running? Vivi thought. What would cover achieve? She'd reach the palace, then what?

In a split-second decision, Vivi turned toward the boss. She ran past the wing as the monster was pulling itself forward. The only weapon Vivi had was her sword. She had no legendary skills to make herself defeat any monster she wished, no special abilities to suddenly gain an advantage. Vivi was a runesmith. And for her sword to work, she had to get close.

The skeleton took a moment to react to her sudden change of strategy. This gave Vivi time to run past the blades of its wing. The gaping eyes of the skull stared at her.

Vivi expected the monster to attack with its other wing, or perhaps try to swat her with its gigantic humerus.

The skeleton opened its mouth. Ether concentrated within.

Vivi panicked. She continued running, uncertain how she should counter whatever the skeleton was doing. She sensed the insane amounts of power welling up ahead. The skeleton was about to launch an attack.

The discharge of ether released. A white light enveloped Vivi's vision, aggressive wisps of ether shooting at her like flames of hell. Her sword wouldn't block this attack. She was too late to dodge.

Lucius appeared from her core. He changed shape into a shield, exactly as Andre's spirit had.

Vivi had no time to be surprised. The attack landed, colliding with the red shield. Cracks appeared.

Lucius couldn't handle the weight of the discharge. The shield was blown back, colliding against Vivi. Her footing was blown off, and she found herself in the air, as if the discharge of ether was a current of water pushing her.

A wing-attack followed, hitting while Vivi was immobile and in the air. The wing-swords cracked right through Lucius's shield. Vivi gritted her teeth and took the impact with her runesword.

The wings collided with explosive force. Vivi shot backward at speeds her head couldn't register. Her vision went black.

Consciousness returned five seconds later when Vivi coughed blood. Her ears rang, eyes seeing nothing but blur. Her senses didn't work. Vivi couldn't feel pain. Even her pain registers didn't work.

She seemed to have landed on the palace, above the stairway and between the columns, hitting the central doorway. The stone behind her was cracked from the impact.

The blur in her eyes wasn't getting better. She watched from between columns as the skeleton approached, dragging itself toward her. She was on a raised platform, but the crawling skeleton was still large enough to stare at her from above.

Her left arm was snapped at an unnatural angle. She tried to move her legs. Nothing happened.

She chuffed through her nose at the absurdity of the situation. Her body was too exhausted to even panic. She could only watch as the skeleton monster dragged itself closer to finish Vivi off.

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