In any case, carrying the bodies was too much of a hassle, so Billy something like a duct to connect both floors, and the duct also would connect to those tubes. Gravity couldn't do all the work, but wind magic could. While Billy was making those, the others were killing tyrants and then making the monsters bleed out to the ducts. He was pretty sure that he had never heard so many sighs in his life…
"They must have a pretty nice life until now if something like this is bothering them," Billy thought.
When Billy and his friends started as adventurers, he did those odd jobs all the time. To the point that skinning a monster was like breathing to him. Come to think of it, he had worked a lot to make his party work, and he was pretty sure that he knew that back then, but he had forgotten about it for one reason or the other.
"It seems it is working," Lucyna said. "However, something is off…"
Lucyna went to check the door, and she saw the blood passing through the door, but at the same time, she saw that the tubs weren't just on that side of the door. They were on the other side as well. Billy also couldn't understand why it was like that, but he kept going anyway. Come to think of it, they never had the chance to ask if the manipulator tried to defeat the guardian. Usually, one would have the chance to escape, but… it would explain why he was fighting the tyrants for so long and nonstop.
"Do you feel anything odd, Billy?" Meryl asked.
"The door works like a massive barrier that blocks my senses… I can't feel anything beyond it," Billy replied.
That seemed like another bad sign… the group stopped working for a while, but again, they didn't have any other choice. They couldn't stop now. Even if it felt like they were doing something that would cause trouble for them later, they had to keep going.
After draining the blood of around one hundred tyrants, the group finally heard the sound of the door opening, and they went to check things there. Only to find a thick mist leaving the place. They waited for a little for the mist to stop coming, but it never happened, and it seemed that it was taking over the entire dungeon.
"Aww, come on… I can see myself tripping all the time in this place," Icarus said.
Billy tried to move the mist away with wind magic, but it didn't work. He could sense that the mist was also made of mana, so it could spread around with fire, and it was also blocking his senses. He couldn't tell what it was inside the last room.
"I suppose we will have to go like this. We only decided what our formation will be…" Meryl said.
Their formation was simple, Billy and Icarus would be the front line and keep the enemy's attention on them. Billy could do a lot, so he would keep a distance from the guardian at times to offer his support. Meanwhile, Icarus was fast, and practically, the only area of effect attacks would hit him.
The primary damage dealer would be Meryl, who had some crazy firepower with her enhanced bow and could attack nonstop from a distance. Meanwhile, Lucyna would alternate between giving her support and weakening the guardian with whatever she deemed necessary during the fight. With that in mind, the group began to walk and then entered the last room of the dungeon.
Although it was useless and Billy couldn't see anything more than five meters ahead of him, he kept using Magic Eyes and Mana Dominion. If his mana weren't full, he probably would use Magic Absorption to get rid of the mist. It would help him in two ways, after all.
Regardless, that place was really dark… Annoyingly dark, in all sense, since Billy couldn't use his magic to help. Still, everyone could tell that something fearsome was there waiting for them and ready to attack the very moment they showed any sign of weakness.
"This place not only gives me the creeps, but it is so weird… it is like the ground is appearing as we go, and we are in another dimension," Lucyna said.
Most likely, that was some sort of illusory effect caused by the mist. It was messing with their senses by hiding away from them. For that reason, they had to stay close to each other, or they would get separated pretty easily since their sense of direction was a mess. While Billy was thinking about that, he felt a shiver, and the mana of the environment changed as if it was reacting to something. The first thing he did was pull Icarus behind him and then increase the range of his Mana Shield. He barely had the chance to do that when a massive Mana Cannon hit him.
The beam of energy began to make Billy lose his mana at a fearsome speed, and while that wasn't supposed to be possible because all the damage was being nullified, he still was being pushed back as well.
Lucyna, Icarus, and Meryl began to move backward to match his pace because they knew that they would be obliterated if that attack hit them. Even the mist disappeared completely in front of the sheer might of that attack. Thanks to that, Billy's theory was confirmed, the mist was messing with their senses, and they finally could see the guardian. It was a dragon very similar to the tyrants with the color of its body and the silver-like scales. However, that one was two times bigger and larger than the poison dragon… So it was at least one hundred meters long. The beast also had a pair of wings, but its four paws looked far stronger, so Billy assumed that the dragon could fly, but not that fast or for long…
