The boss room was surprisingly tidy. There wasn’t even a droplet of blood on the floor, nor was there a corpse to be seen. Yet, surprisingly enough, Black Flash rested in the center, simply staring ominously at the ceiling.
"Sigh... I thought that might be the case, but no wonder."
Light took a few steps forward and snapped his fingers. The atmosphere of the entire cave shifted, seemingly experiencing an earthquake. Yet the ground wasn’t shaking. It was the air that was violently trembling, and Arthur couldn’t help but feel as though his lungs had been set on fire.
[Ding!]
[You’ve been inflicted with the Status Effect: Pressure (Lv.52)]
[You’ve suffered some internal injuries!]
[Your HP has begun to decrease at a rate of 100 HP/3s]
[!]
[-100 HP | 1,900 / 2,000]
Oh hell no.
[-250 MP | 930 / 2,110 MP (x1 Healing Touch)]
[Healing Touch successful!]
[Target recovered 1,500 HP.]
[+1,500 HP | 2,000 / 2,000]
[Element Attunement has activated!]
[Will Affinity detected within the target.]
[Healing Touch has absorbed trace amounts of Will Elemental Energy.]
[Your Mental Resistance has increased.]
[Your Will Affinity has increased!]
[Current Will Affinity: 0.00% → 1%]
[Notice: Will Affinity will not be counted toward your Mana Core, but it will exist in general.]
Seeing the successful pop-ups and feeling the pressure lessen, Arthur quickly made his way back, grabbing some of the miners along the way and healing them.
In the meantime, he also paid close attention to what was happening in front of him. Namely, the interaction between Light and Black Flash.
"I was curious what could’ve caused the dungeon to close. It wouldn’t make sense for a Boss Monster to have gone inside, since I triple-checked the entire layout of the dungeon."
Light took a few steps forward. His demeanor was completely different from before. He wasn’t the class clown or goofball anymore. Instead, he resembled just about any veteran soldier who had been forced to make a difficult decision.
"Of course, there’s always a possibility that the closure happened because a certain someone fell for the provocation of the Dark Forces. But such exposure doesn’t happen overnight. So when did it begin?"
"Was it when your girlfriend left you for me, or was it when you did all the work but the dean gave me all the credit? I understand this being some big-ass inferiority complex, but come on. All of this could’ve been solved with a good old-fashioned bare-knuckle fight."
Uhh...?
Sure, Arthur was busy healing everyone, but he had overheard that. Was he seriously saying that the reason all of this started was because of stupid shit like that?
But yeah, a bare-knuckle fight probably wouldn’t have fixed it. I would’ve put a pipe bomb in his mailbox instead.
Nodding to himself, Arthur returned to healing. As for Light, he finally decided to take things seriously.
The scarf moved in tandem with his thoughts, moving so quickly that it sent thunderclaps through the air as it broke the sound barrier. Yet despite its impressive speed, Black Flash was ready.
He was also clearly not in the right state of mind, as his eyes were completely red.
Shadows covered his entire body as he raised one hand, effortlessly blocking the scarf. The entire dungeon shook as ores and stalactites fell from the ceiling. Arthur managed to avoid them just in time, but some of the miners weren’t as lucky and were crushed beneath the falling stone.
But Arthur didn’t panic. He already knew it was only a matter of time before he had to deal with something like this again. On the bright side, he decided to focus on what he could do at the moment: healing everyone who was still alive and making sure they left this dungeon alive.
Finally, the two powerhouses clashed.
The result decimated even more of the dungeon. Several miners were caught in the shockwaves, while others were crushed beneath falling stone. Arthur barely had enough time to keep healing them.
Yet despite all of that, Arthur managed to sneak in a few glances at the fight, and he quickly realized that despite the massive power-up Black Flash had probably received, Light was dominating him effortlessly.
It was to the point that he was probably treating the entire fight as a game. And just like a game, when he finally got bored of it, he decided to end it.
He blocked Black Flash’s punch with a single finger and then, with a simple gesture, his scarf wrapped around Black Flash’s neck, strangling him while draining his power.
"Well, I did give you a chance to fight me, so don’t be pissy now," Light said, his expression turning slightly more serious. "Even though you joined the Dark Forces, you were still once my friend. I’ll make sure your family has a body they can bury."
A loud crack resounded throughout the dungeon as Black Flash’s body fell limp. His eyes returned to their usual brown color, but not for long. The remainder of his life was snuffed out moments later.
Arthur, who had watched all of this unfold from the side, couldn’t help but feel a heaviness in his chest.
Yeah... I know I’ll be seeing a lot more of this, but I don’t like it.
"Phew..." Light exhaled and clapped his hands.
A black coffin suddenly manifested from thin air. He placed Black Flash inside, tapped it several times, and then made it vanish once more.
Afterward, he dusted himself off and walked over to Arthur. He wore a surprised look when he saw just how many miners were still alive.
"Woah... Hey, you’re like a legit healer, aren’t you? Most of these guys should’ve had their hearts burst from the amount of mana I was radiating. You know, how about I take you back to the academy and give you a full-on recommendation? You won’t have to go through any of the stupid examinations, and I could bring you straight into Z Class."
He paused for a moment, as if reminiscing.
"As it so happens, Class Z is now one person short. I’d say think about it, but now’s as good a time as any to make your decision. So what’ll it be?"