Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Two - Shivers

  I kicked down the 'door' to the bossroom, then shivered my way through the opening looking for trouble.

  I was cold, and I was pretty sure that if I didn't get this done in the next few minutes, I'd have to call it quits and try over. I didn't want to do that, not when I was so close to finishing this damned portal.

  With the girls accompanying me, this one would be so much easier. Probably. I'd have to see what Becky's reckless use of lightning magic could do to an ice elemental. It was possible that it wouldn't do much, which would be a shame.

  I shook my head and forced myself to refocus. This wasn't the time for day-dreaming, not when entering a boss room.

  A wave of cold air washed over me, as if I was standing in front of the business end of an industrial air conditioning unit. It pushed at my clothes and forced me to close my eyes. Damn, I had icicles on my eyelashes already and my eyes stung from the cold.

  The room itself wasn't all that big. Twice the size of my apartment, maybe? It was just an oval space, the walls covered in what looked like foot-thick plates of ice and the entire space illuminated by a tiny hole in the ceiling far above, one that I could have plugged with a closed fist. Water was slowly leaking down from that hole, dripping down with a steady tap-tap pace onto the head of the lone creature sitting in the middle of the room.

  The ice elemental looked a little like the ones I'd encountered so far. Kinda.

  Those in the rest of this dungeon were all singular pillars with tiny legs at their bottoms. This one was more like three pillars, unevenly joined together at their top. One was slightly shorter than the rest, so the boss looked very much lopsided. The pillars had a sort of joint at their middle, and I figured that they could act as sort of legs.

  The boss seemed to know that I was there, because its legs slowly unfolded and it rose up to its full height.

  It wasn't much taller than the other ice elementals I'd encountered, but the fact that it was so much wider made up a lot of the difference.

  The boss made a deep groaning noise, then slowly started to turn so that all three of its legs were visible. Ah... crap.

  I decided that being meek and observant was nice and all, but there was a time for action, and it was probably now. So, I whipped out my revolver, gripped it in both hands while trying to fight against the way my hands were frozen, and lined up with the boss. I had the axe stuffed under one arm, holding it there in place awkwardly by keeping that elbow in tight to my side.

  Being being and slow to move made it pretty easy. I squeezed the trigger, grit my teeth at the way the recoil felt off with my hands so cold, then I fired again, and then again. Six shots, all more or less punching into and around the space where the three 'limbs' met.

  The boss groaned.

  All three pillars glowed.

  "Fuck m-me s-sideways," I cursed through shattering teeth before I started running. I flipped over then cylinder and let the empty casings clink to the ground, but before I could get a single round back in, the boss attacked.

  I jumped forwards, crashing onto the ground atop a drift of snow that I had hoped would be nice and comfy, but turned out to be just as hard as the ice around it. The breath was kicked out of me, but I was distracted from my own coughing as a wash of cold shot past me.

  Instantly, I lost all feeling in my feet.

  Gasping, I pulled my legs back and squinted to try and see through a thick fog of icy particles that had filled part of the room. The boss had blasted the entire area I'd been in. It was... beautiful, actually. A pure-white wall filled with thousands of glittering specs that caught the faint light above.

  My feet were covered in a thin layer of ice that had crawled up to mid-shin. I couldn't feel my toes, or my feet, really, but I could feel the skin around my ankles and lower shin and it burned.

  "F-fuck," I gasped.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The boss groaned again and started to turn.

  I stumbled up to my feet and almost fell right back down. My revolver slipped out of cold, unfeeling hands, but I managed to grab the axe off the ground. Nothing for it. If I didn't kill the boss now, I was dead. Or I'd be forced to Reload, which was the preferable option, really.

  I rushed it, moving as quickly as I could. Everything stung, but I gripped the axe as hard as I could and then swung it up and over, then straight down, chopping-end first.

  The blade caught the edge of one of the legs a little strangely, but that just sent the edge skittering into the middle of the three-pronged joint at the top. There were holes punched in there already, exit and entrance wounds from the revolver. The ae bit in, and I was satisfied to see a few small slivers of ice fall away.

  The boss shifted back, then raised one pillar-like leg and started to sweep it towards me. It had to weigh half a ton, at least, but it was slow. I pulled the axe back and slammed it into place again, then stepped back, to avoid the swing.

  A step to the side, another grunt as I raised the axe again, and I was able to ram it into the next part of the joint. There was a loud snap as two long cracks joined, and more flakes of ice fell away.

  The boss glowed, and I knew what that meant.

  I didn't exactly have time to find cover, though, so instead I put my all into the next blow. It hit so hard my feet rose off the ground, and just for good measure, I hammered a Shadow Bolt into the back of the axe, digging it in just a tiny bit more.

  The boss' glow slowed, then a loud snap reverberated through the room.

  I stumbled back as the joint broke apart and the boss crumbled to the ground. Then it unleashed that attack it was holding, and I cursed, covering my face with an arm even as I was thrown back.

  I knew that something was wrong when I felt an overwhelming warmth envelope me. I landed on my ass and flopped onto my back. I think it was only the adrenaline coursing through me that let me sit up and look around for a moment.

  The courtyard. I was in that big courtyard behind those old factories. The portal was collapsing already, sparking and twisting violently and spilling out magical energy that reacted strangely with the air.

  Had that final explosion been enough to push me through? Well... shit. But that was also fine.

  I sat up, feeling a million years older for a moment before I reached down and shakily undid the laces on my boots. It was a chore, getting them off. My socks were hard, frozen against the skin of my feet, and when I peeled them off at least, I discovered my toes were a sickly pale blue. I took a few gasping breaths as I tried to wiggle my toes and they didn't want to.

  Still, the air outside was warm enough, the frost was going to recede. I think that my toes hadn't frozen long enough for it to actually matter... probably?

  Well, I'd be reloading anyway.

  Actually, it was probably best that I get to that. The portal was cleared.

  I just... needed a minute. Actually, what did I need? That was a good thing to focus on at the moment.

  For the whole of it, this portal and the other... I'd need a few hours of sleep, for one. I could rent a hotel. Then a car of some sort to get me and the girls closer to the kobold portal as early as possible. We could probably make it before it breached. That would be nice.

  After that, a rush to this one.

  For the kobold portal, we probably didn't need any special equipment beyond guns and some armour. Oh, and I had to buy pepper spray and masks.

  Damn, I wished there was a way to write notes to myself. I was dangerously close to forgetting things. One portal's worth of foreknowledge was already a lot to keep in mind. Two was pushing it.

  For this one? The ice elementals would require winter gear. Coats, gloves, axes. Probably ski-masks.

  I clapped my hands. Right! That was it. I needed to form some sort of exit plan, still, but from here on out, any repeats would be with the girls. I had the basics down.

  ***

  Okay, after this, straight into the interludes~ And then the arc is almost done, hehe! The next one has a banger opening, imo!