Once Falco was exorcised completely, the bird did not go to his former appearance. It remained pretty much the same, but it had lost the phantasmal powers it possessed. It had become tame once more, and it was pretty much friendly. In fact, it felt guilty of having hurt Mark, and was constantly lowering his head while groaning timidly.
"Cooo… cooo…"
"It's fine, I already forgave you, Falco. You were being possessed after all, you didn't meant it, right?"
"Craaah!"
Falco gently rubbed his enormous face over Mark's entire body.
"Hahaha, okay, I get it! But just how strong you ended becoming? Are you sure you can't go back to normal now?"
"Craahh…"
Falco sighed, looking down.
Rose and Josuke analyzed the creature, while Elayne and the Great Spirit seemed to be checking if Falco was healthy.
"It seems it has permanently mutated into a monster." Said Rose. "It was already one before, wasn't it?"
"Yeah but much smaller." Sighed Mark.
"Well, isn't it better this way? Big and strong?" Josuke felt no flaws on this new form.
"I-I mean, I have no complains about that but it will be a bit difficult to go around the city with a giant bid…" He sighed.
"Right…" Rose and Josuke ended realizing why he was so worried.
"Hmmm…" The Great Spirit noticed. "This thing's healthy as it could ever be. The exorcizing also healed all his wounds. Seems like he's as strong as a C Rank monster though! It lost the Phantom Magic, but didn't it had wind magic before? This is a win-win to be honest!"
"I guess there's no helping it." Elayne giggled a bit. "For now he'll be fine. We may have to hide him in Blackie's Shadows, maybe. What do you think, Blackie?"
"Meereooow!" Blackie didn't liked Falco before nor now, it seemed. "Hiiisssss…!"
"Caaah…" Falco ignored Blackie while sighing.
"Agh, well, now that this big problem is out of the place… Ugh…" Rita sighed, sitting over the floor. "Man, I am so TIRED! And HUNGRY! And I want to get OUT of here! Aagggh… Do we really have to find the Boss?"
"Stop complaining so much!" Elayne reprimanded her. "Here, let's sit down, eat something, and continue. Let's also catch up about what we went through to get a better grasp on the situation."
POOF!
Elayne quickly began taking out several items out of her inventory, from a whole table to seats, and then plates of hot stew, rice, fruit juice, and even potable water, and wet tissues to clean each other's blood and sweat.
"Here, here, please relax for a bit. It is always good to take it easy before moving to our next destination." She said with a motherly smile.
Josuke and Rose couldn't help but accept her many gifts while sitting down and enjoying some more food. Rose had already stuffed herself with stew before but had room for some more.
However, Josuke wasn't surprised over the stew's taste, but over Elayne's insane Ability.
"T-This is insane… She has a pocket dimension where she can store things?! I-It's like a game!" He said in surprise.
"Yeah, pretty amazing, isn't she?" Asked Rose. "With that power alone she could do so many incredible things…"
"Is this a power you awakened by yourself, Elayne?" Asked Josuke.
"Err… something like that, yes. I awakened it." Elayne nodded.
It wasn't as if she could say: "Tehee! The Gods from another world which is actually the most popular VR Game right now gifted it to me!" or something.
"I see… It seems people may begin to awaken all sorts of strange powers. I wonder if we can awaken anything ourselves, it feels slightly unfair…" Josuke sighed.
"Unfair? We've had these powers for a while now while nobody had anything, at most, it is fair." Sighed Rose. "Well, not like I would ever have wanted to have my powers, I always wished to be a normal person, being a Dhampir sucks. I would rather live as a weak, frail girl with a meaningful life instead of having this horrendous curse, the hate of everybody and…"
"Okay, okay, I get it, calm down!" Josuke said. "Let's just eat for now while we catch up…"
Like that, everyone explained what each one went through, and at the end, once everyone had caught up with the events that happened… the big question was only one.
"Albert's lost, I guess." Rose said.
"Hmm, seeing how strong that guy is, I doubt he'll be in trouble anyways." Josuke said.
"Though, I can sense him." Rose said. "Down there, in the last floor of this dungeon, on its dark depths, he's there… Immobile, for some reason."
"Maybe he's sleeping?" Rita asked.
"There's no way he would be sleeping with that demon inside of him." Josuke sighed. "It's odd… I am worried."
"Well! Now that we're done eating, it would be nice to move on then." Said Elayne. "We can't delay this anymore."
She seemed filled with the intent on finishing what had begun and get out of here as soon as possible. The Great Spirit had already guessed that the way to escape this dungeon was by defeating the Boss, which was like the pillar of the entire Dungeon.
"Once the Boss is defeated, the entire Dungeon's structure will break apart and a portal leading outside will open." She explained. "More or less…"
"More or less?" Asked Rose. "Hey, are you even sure, little spirit?"
"Don't call me little spirit!" The Great Spirit angrily said. "And yeah, I am mostly sure… Mostly. Well, if things go to the worse possible outcome, with Elayne's abilities, an exit is still possible."
"What sort of abilities?" Wondered Josuke.
"That is not something I am allowed to say…" Said the Great Spirit with a giggle.
Elayne and the Great Spirit had considered using [Pathway] to call for the help of the God of Space, which might give them the opportunity to open a crack in space and escape. However, this was purely an idea, and they didn't knew if it would actually work.
FLAAAASH!
Nonetheless, they were already nearing the Boss, as the Gates to the Boss Room were drawing closer as the group flew across the dungeon while riding the big and incredibly fast Falco, who with brute force broke through the dungeon's floor.
"We're getting closer!" Elayne pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's obvious they don't want us to get there yet…" Rose said
In front of the party, hundreds of Undead Skeleton Warriors started popping up one after the other, led by Giant Skeleton Knights. It was as if an army of Undead were stopping them from advancing any single step from reaching their Boss.
"Hahahah… HAHAHAHA!" The laughter of Phantasmos echoed behind the Gates.
The entire party froze as they heard his voice.
"Yes, I'll give you credit! You've managed to get to me! However, do you truly believe I'll allow you to fight me so easily?!" Laughed Phantasmos. "First, you'll have to defeat my entire Legion of the Dead!"
Undead Skeletons kept emerging from the Nether pools over the floor, as if they were an endless supply of bones and souls.
"Crush them, my Legion of the Dead! Devour their flesh and shatter their souls!"
Rose and Josuke were cringing by hearing him speak.
"Wow he speaks like a damn video game villain, what's wrong with him?" Josuke sighed.
"Right?" Rose was in disbelief.
