The end of the plateau opens up, forming an approximation of an arena. A metallic humanoid is sitting with its legs crossed on the ground. A blade is resting along its thighs, with its hands on top. The weapon is nothing more than a sharpened piece of steel, much like its wielder. The boss is glossy and unmoving, nearly static. The metal it is made out of curves into lithe muscles, making the figure appear almost emaciated. Its alien face is sunken, its eyes shining in a dull silvery light. The monster welcomes any challengers.

Harrn takes that challenge, leaving the illusory bubble.

Alert. Multiple anomalies detected. Sensor suite compromised. Recommended course of action: Kill Nilla.

Harrn turns and rears back for a strike. I conjure a metal spike around my hand, aiming a piercing attack at her neck. Nilla staggers in place, unaware of anything around her. Tiff flinches in panic.

Alert. Mental intrusion detected. Initiating countermeasures.

The metal spike turns into thick wire. The wire wraps around Nilla's waist and pulls her away from Harrn's fist. Reality around us is sheared into small pieces.

On one side of the arena, where there was previously nothing, now stands a dwarf, fallen to his knees, breathing heavily.

Harrn shakes off the last of the magic that affected him, intercepting the boss' blade with his forearm.

I rush for the recovering imperial mage.

Five giant figures teleport around the arena.

The dungeon's hunting party pounces.

As I am running, I conjure a few needles and send them for the mage. One of the golems closest to him raises its thick hands and produces a barrier. My metal spell crashes against the barrier, leaving small cracks on the surface.

Harrn unleashes a roar. His fist impacts the boss monster, sending it splattering in all directions. The metal globules slow their velocity, freezing in the air, and then converge to a single mass. Two of the golems strike at Harrn simultaneously. Their fists slam with enormous force but just crumple around the dwarf's body, failing to even scratch him.

From somewhere, obscured by heavy illusions, Nilla is pummeling a golem with her force magic. Its shields and her spells battling for supremacy. The golem appears to be carefully studying the magic, tracking her ever-changing location.

The final golem is set upon by the Greater Metal Elementals. The monsters have taken the form of quadrupedal felines and have already destroyed its barrier and torn into its body. One of the elementals is crushed by the golem's fist, splashing into a puddle of metal and failing to reform again, dead.

The boss regains its form. Harrn grabs one of the golems attacking him by the arm, his fingers sinking deep into the metal. He strains and swings the golem into the other, sending them tumbling to the side. The boss lunges at Harrn, its sword poised to pierce through his eye. Harrn cocks his head to the side, avoiding the strike entirely. He counters and blows a hole clean through the boss. The elemental swordsman's sword hand merges with its weapon, its free hand elongates into a second blade, and the two claws glide against each other, threatening to slice through Harrn's neck. He ducks and both get swept away by a glowing golem.

The other golems take example from their brethren and engage their enhancement spells. The enemy mage has regained his bearings behind the friendly shield, just for Tiff to dispel it. I continue my approach to the dwarf. Before the golem protecting him can attack me, Nilla sends it flying over the edge of the arena and into the water. Both the mage and I engage our spells. His fizzles into nothingness. My needles riddle his body with mortal wounds. The golem teleports back but is too slow. Nilla strikes at it again, but this time, her spell is concentrated. It blows through the golem, sending pieces of metal flying, revealing its reinforced core casing.

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The golem that was swarmed by the greater elementals collapses to its knees amidst a puddle of liquid metal. One elemental slithers out of the golem's body, licking at its chops.

The boss has transformed into a form similar to the other elementals but much larger. The monster is locked in an exchange with Harrn. The two fighters are dodging each other's attacks. The fighter on my side has a lot more success. The two golems are ineffectively trying to overwhelm Harrn by joining the boss' side in the flurry.

The failed protector teleports to their location and kicks at Harrn from a blind spot, only to be met by a transparent wall, the force of its own attack damages its foot. The golem staggers, and a thunderous thwack causes it to hit the ground, unmoving and with a small hole through its core casing.

As the enemy mage is dead—

Alert. Mental intrusion detected. Initiating countermeasures.

I crack the rocks under my feet from a swift dash. I strike at the air, hitting and shattering an invisible force. My fist continues and impacts something softer. The mage has always been there. He has always had his hand raised. He was never frozen in effort.

Alert. Mental intrusion detected. Initiating countermeasures.

I swing an empty hand. A sword materializes in my grip. The edge of the blade brushes against his neck. Warm blood squirts out. The dwarf brings a green glowing hand to the wound, putting pressure and staunching the flow. The earth under my feet comes alive and sends me flying.

Harrn yells again, short and sharp. The golem he hit collapses into itself, spilling out pieces of metal like guts out of its back. The enemy construct flops to its side. Disabled.

The constantly suppressed golem finally discovers something. It teleports up in the air and strikes down with both of its hands clasped together. The hammer blow sends something unseen to the ground. One would expect an explosion, dust and debris, and then a giant crater, but instead, nothing happens. The now falling golem teleports to the ground. A force hits its legs, tripping it. It tries to catch itself, but another spell impacts it from above, bending metal inward. Its shield fizzles out just before another spell impacts it. A barrage of strikes follows soon after. After ten, the golem is split into two.

Harrn pulls his hand out of one of the golems. The sole surviving Greater Metal Elemental is striking at his head, the strikes clanging off ineffectively. Harrn jumps to the ground and rolls away from a flurry of rending strikes from the boss. As he rolls, he crushes the elemental that was clinging to him and springs up, swiping away a claw into fine metal mist.

A force spell from Nilla impacts the boss, passing through its form. The boss flows around the subsequent spells and resumes its attacks on Harrn.

Wires wrap around the enemy mage, tearing him limb from limb.

Alert. Mental intrusion detected. Initiating countermeasures.

A rod of stone is piercing my stomach, the sharpened tip dripping blood on the brown rocks. I strike at the air with my right hand. A dagger clatters against the rocks. Spikes of stone emerge from the ground and dig into my sides. I strike at the mage with my left hand. A bloody stump sails past his face. The spikes stop. I feel something wet on my left fist.

The boss has clamped its jaws around Harrn's torso, the sharp teeth filling its mouth slowly puncturing into the fighter. Harrn strikes a few times at the boss' head, only for the metal to reflow back into place near instantly.

Two thunderous cracks.

What is left of the boss splashes around Harrn, its core shattered into tiny pieces by the powerful punch. Part of the plateau that was in proximity to the attack breaks up into large chunks and collapses into the water.

The enemy mage clutches at his chest. Before he can cast his healing spell, he drops, unconscious.

Nilla and Tiff teleport to me. Harrn blurs over next to us. I pull out the stone spikes riddling my torso and let Tiff close the wounds, stopping the bleeding.

When our healer is done, Harrn taps him on the shoulder and points to the prone dwarf. Tiff hesitates for a split second, but in the end, he runs over to the helpless enemy, kneels down and begins healing him too. A few seconds is all it takes for Tiff to stabilize the dying dwarf.

As soon as Tiff begins to rise. I shoot a needle in the air. The projectile arcs and plunges into the churning water around the plateau. The dungeon collapses.

We are back in the chamber where the dungeon's gate is located, but there is no gate here. Not anymore. We blink away. Stage four complete.

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