Ch.218[Chapter 218] Dungeon Floor 4/3

Sir Dominic and Mary arrived at a new location after passing through the door.

A corridor filled with splendid paintings and artwork.

Judging by the tiger skin hanging on the wall and the luxurious carpet on the floor, this seemed to be the third floor.

“That was quite a tiring boss.”

Mary said while adjusting her mask.

Since the world had changed, Mary had returned to her human form.

“That looks like the boss room over there.”

Mary pointed to a spot.

As Sir Dominic moved his gaze following her finger, there was a large, ornate door open as if welcoming him.

Beyond that door, someone in a clown costume was painting on a canvas, swinging their arms wildly to create something resembling modern art with a touch of madness.

“It does seem that way.”

Sir Dominic nodded in agreement with Mary.

Sir Dominic walked slowly down the corridor with his shield in front.

“…Visitors, I see.”

John Doe sensed Sir Dominic’s presence and stopped his brush.

He turned around to face Sir Dominic.

“I was well-treated on the fifth floor. Jane Doe was quite satisfied too. If the person who made that food were standing before her, she would have fallen in love immediately.”

“Though I suppose she would have fallen in love anyway,” John Doe muttered.

“The fact that you’ve made it here means one of two things. Either you alternated between the fourth and third floors and luckily chose my room last, or…”

John Doe’s gaze fell on the open door in the corridor behind Sir Dominic and Mary.

“You defeated my sister who is also me yet has no relation to me, and came through the back door.”

John Doe stood up.

The painting he was working on was a portrait, with the vague image of a woman visible.

“It’s the latter, isn’t it?”

John Doe’s lips ascended to his clown makeup.

But his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“As you know, she has a sick mind and her love is twisted…”

John Doe took a step toward Sir Dominic.

“But that’s no reason for her to fall.”

“Wait, let us explain—”

“What lovely weather we’re having. A perfectly round moon, a few clouds making the night sky mysterious…”

Mary tried to make excuses, but John Doe had already started talking as if he couldn’t hear anything else.

“On such a beautiful night, is my departed sister happy? Or does she still think herself unfortunate for having died?”

John Doe took another step forward.

Sir Dominic blocked Mary who was desperately trying to explain.

They needed to defeat John Doe, the boss of the third floor, to proceed to the second floor anyway.

They were destined to be adversaries from the start.

John Doe looked out through the large window.

The full moon was still shining brightly.

“The weather is still nice. Bright moon. Mysterious night…”

Sir Dominic raised his shield.

“On such a beautiful night, you two…”

John Doe closed his eyes.

Then he opened them with a flash and glared at Sir Dominic.

“Unfortunately, will be going to hell.”

Streams of fire rose from John Doe’s eyes.

Simultaneously, the world went dark.

“Ladies and gentlemen!”

A spotlight suddenly illuminated John Doe.

John Doe spread his arms toward the darkness and began to shout.

“Tonight, the world’s greatest circus will take place here!”

Click. Click. Click. Lights turned on sequentially, revealing various things.

A burning ring, a bear standing on its hands, a large ball and cannon, and even a trapeze.

Cheers and applause began to sound from the darkness.

“You are all truly fortunate today! Because we have managed to bring this person here with great difficulty! Sir Dominic!”

As John Doe stretched out his arms pointing to a spot, a light turned on there revealing Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic was frowning.

The sudden darkness followed by blinding lights made his already poor vision even worse to the point where he could barely see anything.

“Today! Here, a battle will take place between Sir Dominic and numerous circus masters! A cruel circus where blood will spray and flesh will be flayed! The elderly and pregnant women should cover their eyes! It will be too stimulating!”

John Doe howled toward the audience.

Sir Dominic remained vigilant, not knowing when the attack would begin.

But being vigilant doesn’t mean one can prepare for everything.

“The first circus master is—”

While John Doe dragged out his words, Sir Dominic staggered from a tremendous impact suddenly striking the back of his head.

It was a terrifying amount of damage and penetration power that clearly exceeded Sir Dominic’s stats.

John Doe mocked the staggering Sir Dominic as he finished his introduction.

“The circus mascot! Teddy the Fire Bear!”

Sir Dominic shook his head vigorously to clear his blurry vision.

When he turned around, there was a giant fire bear with formidable front paws.

…

At the same time Sir Dominic encountered the third floor boss, in a corner of the lavish banquet hall, a bug space covered with boards.

Evil black energy began flowing from that space, infiltrating the banquet hall.

The black energy that filled the masquerade hall soon dyed the whole world black, and the world turned so dark that only outlines were barely visible.

Nothing could retain its original color in this black space, but there was one thing that had color—it crawled out from behind the broken boards into what used to be the masquerade hall.

“Is it this way?”

Ah, that evil red thing spoke.

The words were ordinary words anyone could say, but when it uttered them, they became blasphemous, seditious, and terrible sounds.

“Yes. The traces lead that way.”

Another mouth of the evil red thing said.

“Isn’t this too much work for something that only received blood and flesh as offerings?”

Another face uttered evil sentences.

“But a contract is a contract. Promises made in the past must be kept. That’s how we survive.”

Yet another face appeared and spouted sophistry.

“I’m hungry! We need to eat it quickly!”

“No! Eating the wrong thing will make us sick! We can’t eat something like that!”

Two faces appeared and began fighting with each other.

Those faces seemed familiar somehow, but even upon closer inspection, they were unrecognizable.

While the faces were chattering away, the red thing moved forward.

The evil red thing was composed of the screams of countless beings, and it was advancing forward, dyeing the black space red.

That red color tore through the door and moved into the next room.

As it disappeared, the masquerade hall regained its original colors.

However, in the places it had passed, there were areas where the red color had either disappeared or was painted too thickly.

What on earth was that thing?

…

“Heh.”

Sir Dominic wiped the blood flowing from his forehead and smiled lightly.

Teddy the Fire Bear’s strike easily surpassed Sir Dominic’s defense, causing his vision to turn red for the first time in a while.

At the same time, Sir Dominic’s survival instinct triggered a feeling of happiness, and he began to giggle like a madman.

“Wow… that feels awful…”

As Sir Dominic giggled while dripping blood, Mary looked at him fearfully and took three steps back.

She wanted to retreat further, but her back hit the wall, preventing her from backing up any more.

In front of Sir Dominic stood Teddy the Fire Bear on two legs, facing him.

The bear was in a stance that suggested it might attack Sir Dominic again at any moment.

But Teddy the Fire Bear would not attack Sir Dominic again.

It had already fallen to Sir Dominic’s attack.

Due to the stunning effect from Sir Dominic’s shield bash, it had collapsed while standing, and as soon as the stunning effect wore off, Teddy the Fire Bear fell backward.

“…Amazing! Incredible! The circus mascot, Teddy the Fire Bear, has fallen while standing! What a remarkable strike!”

John Doe was somehow on the trapeze now, kicking his feet and tapping a megaphone.

“But this isn’t all! The show hasn’t even begun! The next performance features the flying human cannonball brothers, Jack and Joe! And simultaneously, the masters of knife throwing, Perry and Jerry!”

As John Doe shouted, spotlights illuminated three areas.

In one spot, two muscular men were raising their hands to the surroundings alongside a large, colorful cannon, while in the other two spots, two dwarves juggling daggers appeared.

“Will our Sir Dominic survive these telepathic brothers? Everyone, please watch closely!”

Applause began to sound from all directions again.

“Be careful. Two gimmicks have appeared simultaneously. That makes them that much trickier to deal with.”

Mary advised Sir Dominic.

But Sir Dominic couldn’t hear Mary’s words.

The happiness filling his head and heart was already driving him.

“So it’s going to get even more fun.”

Sir Dominic responded to Mary in his own way.

With his words, one of the Jack and Joe brothers who had entered the cannon was fired with a bang!

Sir Dominic swung his shield toward the muscular man who instantly appeared before him.

The boss battle showed no signs of ending yet.