Ever asked yourself where the treasure boxes in games come from?
I'm a Treasure Box in the Final Boss Floor
Chapter 5: The Stampede
Ggggguraaaaaaaaaaargh!'
The ruler of Terminia screamed.
The master of the dungeon went outside that day and I finally saw his true form. The master of the dungeon often waited in its room.
On the rare occasions, he got put, the aura he exuded and the dungeon walls prevented me from looking at anything but the shadow.
He emerged from his room, half-relaxed. Claws sheathed. Wings folded. A tranquil anger as he moved closer.
The master of the dungeon spread his wings and the dungeon echoed with cracks and screams. The skeletons that roamed the area in front of me scattered in fear as some of their bones crushed. The broken wall around me was reduced to rubble in an instant.
It only took a moment for the entire scenery to change. I remained in the back center of the room, as the only thing unaffected by the master's Air Burst.
The ruler of Terminia flew away. He ascended the floors higher and higher out of the dungeon's bounds.
'Why now?' I was left to wonder...
For the longest time, the master never left his room at the deepest end of the dungeon. Adventurers challenged him in turns, and I would occasionally see his shadow as they were being slaughtered. He never needed to leave his room.
The master's presence, the only constant I had left in this dungeon, vanished from here.
Did he get bored of this dungeon? Did he go out to find prey? Will he come back? If so, when?
The dungeon darkened with a heavy atmosphere.
A huge skeleton monster picked his pieces up after a while. Painfully dragged itself. Gradually pacing into the master's room. It ascended the empty throne, then rolled its sword in triumph.
That huge skeleton would die before the next day.
Battles after battles.
Over several days, the dungeon would shake with terror as bodies hit the floor. New master candidates and their minions fought over the dungeon's ownership. The mimics, the ogres, the beholders, the elements, and the arch-demons. I haven't seen most of them before. Did they come from the higher floors? I wouldn't know if they came from the outside.
I stood at the back center of the room outside the throne room, far enough from the bloodshed but close enough to witness it. An empty treasure box that no monster dares to approach and no adventurer strong enough to reach.
After a while, the dungeon got silent.
A giant dragon slept around the throne.
The titans and arch-demons were the last to stand, but they were both defeated by a newcomer. A dragon.
I wondered if the Dragon would’ve died too if it didn’t come late to the battle. Or maybe he was smartly waiting for a chance to catch the throne to himself.
It didn’t matter if you defeated the most challengers, the winner is but the last one standing.
The wounded dragon who emerged as a winner ate the remains of all the defeated monsters. His first royal action as Terminia's new master was to rest.
'So, this is the new master...'
Soon, the walls of Terminia started to shift. It was as if the dungeon itself announced its reform. New monsters flocked here. The dwellers of the dungeon settled into a new routine.
I remained at the back center of the room, waiting for a new purpose under the new ruler.
Gradually, the noise returned to the upper floors. The bones of the fallen morphed into new skeleton monsters of different shapes.
All the while, the Dragon continued to sleep.
Gradually, bloody adventurers will reach here only to be killed. The skeletons used to be frail monsters, made of the remains of lost adventurers. The current skeletons were of another level. The remains of ogres, beholders, titans and especially the arch-demons were sturdier than the human bones.
One day, he came back…
The dungeon shook as he descended.
The skeletons didn’t dare to fight him, but those who did were destroyed instantly.
He looked at the dragon sleeping on his property…
The true master of the dungeon, in his tranquil anger, smiled.
'Ggguuuuurrrrgh!'
A dripping red covered the throne once again.
Chapter 5 - End.
Chapters List:
Author Notes
This chapter was extremely hard to write. Took two weeks since I started, and the cover image alone took two days of that. I changed the ideas over and over. I'm half-satisfied with the result, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing the monsters clashing.
I decided on the title "Stampede" because of the bloody war on the throne in this chapter. All monsters want the throne for themselves similar to real life's animals' stampedes. I thought it was clever, haha.
One of the ideas I dropped for this chapter was having a new item spawn inside the Treasure Box. I had some of the world mechanics in mind, but I decided to stick to the aftermath of the Master leaving in this chapter, and the story will continue in the next. (إن شاء الله)
What do you think?
I have only two ideas planned after this, I wonder if I can combine them into one final chapter?
Most likely, there'll be two chapters or more of this series. Which of these options do you prefer? Hope to read your comment.
Salam (Peace)
 | "I'm a Treasure Box in the Final Boss Floor" by  is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
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* This story is also on Read.cash.
* The cover of this series is created by me using iBisPaint & Canva.
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