"I guess... you were right, Lancet," Kasto said as they stepped into the Boss’s lair.

"Told you," Lancet smiled. "Reserving energy is very important. A normal team of Awakeners usually has various Class Groups performing different roles. So without a Healer Mage, most of the Class Groups were going to eventually get tired. Without attacking force, Enchanters weren’t going to get as many points."

"So everything depended on us covering for the roles and trying not to overextend," Dane said.

"Yes," Lancet replied. "Now, because of their lack of attacking and even defensive force, Enchanters are out. And because they’re tired and low on Grace, Specialists and Elementalists are busy recovering."

Kasto smiled. "We on the other hand. We have the Boss’s lair."

Vera looked up and around her. "I don’t know if that’s something to celebrate, Kasto," she muttered. "This place is pretty scary."

It truly was.

First of all, the place was hot. Deathly hot.

Heat rolled out of the cavern like a living breath, with a suffocating strength to it, rising from the rocky floor in waves that made the air shimmer.

The chamber itself was enormous, far larger than the route that had led them here, a vast hollow carved deep into the jungle’s heart and lit by molten cracks running through the rocks like veins of fire.

It looked less like the underworld had been torn open and then reinforced with stone. There were ledges protruding from every corner, craggy stones and jagged ridges.

Massive black boulders hung from the ceiling in broken formations. Red-orange light pulsed from deep fissures in the walls and floor. The whole place felt as if it had been built to cook anything foolish enough to enter it.

Kasto wiped sweat from his brow and looked around with a wide-eyed grimace. "It’s so hot in here. I feel like I’m being cooked alive."

"Maybe you are." Min Tu’s eyes narrowed unamusingly as she looked around the chamber. "Maybe whatever is in here is getting us ready for lunch."

Kasto glared at her. "Min Tu. Not funny."

She shrugged.

Dane stared into the distance with the sort of focused caution that meant his mind was already mapping threats. "So this is the Boss room."

Lancet stepped closer, leading the way. He followed the obvious part and found where the cavern opened out into.

There was a colossal arena made of shattered stone with a smoldering ground. There were huge pillars of rock rising at odd angles like the remains of some ancient collapsed temple. Faint embers drifted through the air.

The farther reaches of the chamber disappeared into shadow and heat haze, making everything on the edge of visibility look larger and more menacing than it had any right to be.

"Holy shit!" Kasto whisper-cried in shock. Vera covered her mouth with both hands.

"What is it?" Dane asked.

Vera pointed.

Lancet had already seen the problem, but Dane and Min Tu followed Vera’s finger and realized what had them so shaken.

Giant Gorillas.

Forget about everything they had faced before. No. These were truly giant Gorillas. Like freaking titans.

They stood in the distance like living siege towers. Clearly, they were not simple primates anymore.

Whatever kind of Gloom infestation had made these animal monsters, it did a work on those two. They were around the size of a mansion, both with four-arms and heavy muscles, broad torsos, shoulders rising like armored cliffs.

Their fur was darker, thick with soot and old scars, and their faces carried a frightening intelligence that made them look less like animals and more like ancient guardians built to kill intruders.

They paced from side to side, slowly, deliberately, each step sending a dull tremor through the stone floor.

"So there are two bosses?" Min Tu asked.

"No, look," Vera’s eyes widened horribly. "Behind them."

Everyone peered through the heat fog and the shadows to see the third gorilla monster.

And somehow, this one was bigger!

It towered over the others like a ruler over soldiers. Even from this distance, it was easy to tell that it was larger, heavier, and more frightening than the rest.

It also has four arms, hanging from its body in brutal symmetry, each one thick enough to crush a tree trunk. Its fur was dark and matted in places, and on its head was a crown made of bones.

Its eyes glowed with a blazing, beaming energy, brighter than the molten cracks in the floor. They were intelligent eyes; Lancet could see it. He could see the sentience behind them.

Dane swallowed once. "Those are Kongs," he whispered. "They’re Level 55 at least. They’re built for pure brutal synergy. They use their lower arms to guard their vitals and clap them together to create a kinetic shockwave, which they use to amplify the downward smash of their upper arms."

"What about the big one?" Kasto asked, his voice squeaking slightly. "Is that also a Kong?"

"Yes," Dane replied, not taking his eyes off the beasts. "But not just any ordinary Kong. It’s the King Kong."

Vera shuddered. "Scary name."

"It has every power the Kongs have," Dane continued. "The strength, the shockwave thing. But you see those eyes? The King Kong can absorb the cavern’s heat and ambient magic, and—"

"—and channel it into concentrated crimson energy beams from its eyes that can melt through solid steel and magical barriers in seconds," Lancet finished Dane’s words, though his eyes were still on the beasts.

Dane blinked, turning to stare at him. "You know about King Kongs too?"

Lancet shot a fleeting smile. "I’ve watched a few movies." ’And I’ve read this story before,’ he added in the safety of his own mind.

His gaze shifted from the beasts to the center of the cavern.

There, he found the artifact sitting beyond the beasts on a raised stone dais near the back of the chamber. It was partially suspended by old rune chains and glowing faintly under the heat haze.

It was a tall, angular relic shaped like a black-gold flame wrapped around a crystal core. Red light pulsed through it in slow waves, as though something inside was still beating.

The Crown Ember.

That was the name Lancet gave it in his head immediately, because it looked like something a king would die for and a dungeon would guard with blood.

Its surface shimmered with a dark metallic sheen, and the core inside it glowed like compressed fire. Even from here, it felt valuable enough to make the chest tighten. Not just because it would earn Tributes, but because the board had already made clear that the artifact mattered most.

Winning by artifact claim would be worth a lot.

But not enough to ignore the Boss.

Lancet’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked from the artifact to the Kongs and back again.

"Guys, listen to me," Lancet said, his tone shifting into tactical command. "We need a plan of attack."

"What are you thinking?" Kasto asked, folding his arms to listen.

"They’ll expect us to split attention," Lancet said. "I mean, it’s pretty tempting to just run for the artifact and leave the monsters to the other teams."

Kasto frowned. "That sounds like the obvious move."

"That’s why it’s dangerous," Lancet said.

"Mhm?"

Lancet pointed subtly toward the Kongs.

"They’re too smart for that. These things aren’t just standing there to get distracted. They know exactly what they’re guarding, and they can read intent pretty well."

Vera nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on the beast formation. "So if we rush the artifact too early, they’ll punish us."

"Right," Lancet said. "It might look like the smartest play is to avert the Bosses and snatch it while they’re distracted. But that is exactly what the Kongs want."

"HEY!"

The sharp, exhausted shout echoed from the cavern entrance behind them.

Lancet and the others turned.

Standing in the archway was Kallan and the rest of the Elementalist-D team.