The BNY Mellon Center, The Pitt - 2:32 PM

The first step of any Dragon fight was to clip their wings as quickly as possible. They weren't much slower on the ground than they were in the air, but it severely limited their options. While its teeth, claws, wings, tail, and basically its entire body were weapons, it was easier to win when they weren’t able to strafe you to death with magic and a breath weapon.

The second step was to remember that a flightless Dragon wasn’t just an overgrown lizard and to approach it with the care and respect needed to stay alive.

It only took a moment for the Pharaoh to recover after slamming into the ground. The fall had been quick and undoubtedly did a lot of damage, but it would take far more than that to take out a Dragon. He roared up at me, glowing eyes wide with shock and anger

Shards of ice the size of my arm and tapered to a lethal point started appearing in the sky around me as he cast another spell. I Split my focus and used Drop on both of my shoes. The first few icicle spears missed me by a wide margin, piercing halfway into the stone building next to me. After that, they started getting closer as their trajectories were changed on the fly.

Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out the Writhing Belt Whip for the Willpower boost but also retrieved the Shield of the Qer’iu. I mentally activated its Guardian Shield skill even as I started wobbling back and forth to make myself harder to hit. The bronze, eye-shaped shield started to float and follow, and intercepted an icicle spear that would have hit my head as others slashed through my paper armor.

Around fifty feet in the air, I slowed down my descent by using Lift on my whip. I jerked upwards, narrowly missing an ice blast to my legs, and floated down slowly. The shield was putting in real work, floating around me and taking most of the spears one at a time while I actively dodged the others.

One of the deactivation requirements for the Guardian Shield skill was to take damage equal to the bearer’s hit points, and it took only seven of the icicle spears to do that. Thinking of that kind of damage, it was easy to see why this dungeon was never completed before the fourth scenario before I came along.

Lifting the shield into my hand as soon as I hit the ground, I started running towards the Pharaoh while the icicle spears continued to rain down on me. I dodged and weaved around most of them, but several I had to block. They struck with such force that my arm was starting to go numb, not that I had the time to give it a break.

The icicles that circled me fell to the ground as the Dragon stopped providing them with magic. He started running towards me, every stride causing large claws to gouge out the stone underneath. I looked behind the Pharaoh and Split my focus, Pulling large chunks of the building towards me.

My Willpower was in the high 80s now and I could easily affect objects that were several hundred pounds. One of the huge pieces of debris collided with the Pharaoh’s back leg, causing him to stumble, but the other one was taken out by a quick tail lash before it could hit him.

The Dragon extended its long neck to bite me. I activated Cheetah Sprint, doubling my speed for one minute, and slid feet-first underneath the boss’ massive maw before immediately rolling to its left where it was missing a wing. The momentum carried me out to safety just as the Pharaoh lowered his body in an attempt to squash me flat. Dust flew everywhere, and I heard the stone crack under the force of it.

Pulling myself up to my feet, I swapped the Writhing Belt Whip for the Kedjen’s Khopesh. My Strength rose as I spun and brought it down across the Pharaoh’s back leg where I had struck him with the debris. I gave it some extra oomph with Drop.

The linen bandages, which had proved resilient to everything short of fire so far, were cut by the sword. My blade sparked against the black and gold scales, however, and didn’t deal anything more than a scratch. I jumped backwards and raised my shield, anticipating an attack.

Instead of rising up, the Pharaoh shifted to the side in an attempt to body slam me. It was the fastest move he had now that his wing was missing, and I managed to mitigate most of the damage with my preemptive move.

That being said, I still flew nearly twenty feet away. My body protested as I Pushed my shield forward in an attempt to slow myself down before skidding to a stop. Cheetah Sprint’s countdown was still going, so there was no time to waste; I threw myself forward again.

The Pharaoh’s eyes narrowed. “Pesky Human!” he yelled, his voice echoing through the cavern. His mouth opened wide as he turned to face me, though the glow of his breath weapon didn’t appear from it. Instead, his sharp teeth began to shine bright yellow.

I activated the Guardian Shield skill for the second and last time today, throwing it in front of me. A flash of lightning arched from each of the Pharaoh’s teeth before meeting up in the middle and flashing towards me. The energy curved close to the ground and it would have gone around the Shield of Qer’iu if it weren't for the properties of the skill.

Thankfully, the system controlled the Guardian Shield skill and I didn’t have to angle it myself. Even with my enhanced speed, I barely saw the lightning flash towards me and I certainly couldn’t have reacted to it. The bronze shield took the blow for me as I ran forward.

The Pharaoh raised his head but didn’t stop his spell. It didn’t take long for the shield's skill to end due to losing enough hit points, but I was Lifting it at that point so that it could continue to intercept the attack. It was becoming deformed from the constant stream of energy, but that could be fixed later.

I spun, using Orbit on my blade and slashed at the Pharaoh’s front leg. The linen bandages were cut, but the scales simply sparked like before. During my spin I focused on another large piece of debris and Pulled it before dancing to the other side of the Dragon.

A huge claw lifted off of the ground and swung at me, but I was too fast. I spun again, Orbiting the khopesh as I sliced through the bandages on the Pharaoh’s other front leg. His wing swung as he lowered his shoulder, and I threw myself at the ground. The line of effect between the electricity and shield was broken, and I Pulled it into my inventory now that it had served its purpose.

Lifting myself off of the ground, I jumped onto the Dragon’s back. I slashed at the linen bandages right between the wings, cutting through them to create a cross pattern before turning to toss the khopesh into my inventory.

As soon as my hands were free, I grabbed the piece of debris that I had been Pulling towards me as it shifted trajectories to my new location. Jumping into the air, I used Drop on both it and myself to get the maximum amount of damage I could out of the heavy rock.

Predictably, the limestone slab shattered on impact, tearing up my arms and chest. The Pharaoh, however, roared. Not from pain, as an undead he was incapable of feeling it, but from indignation and anger. I stood up straight, nearly slipping on a loose scale, and jumped down.

Electricity arched onto the spot I had just been, harmlessly scorching the linen bandages and drying them out further. That was just the spark the Endless Smoker needed to reignite the Pharaoh’s protective cloth, and a small fire started back up on his back. It wouldn’t burn the scales, but as the Dragon shifted many of them fell to the ground where I had struck him, and the desiccated meat underneath would burn nicely.

I didn’t get too far back before I Pulled the now sputtering Endless Smoker back into my hand. Placing it into my inventory, I retrieved the Vague Stick and willed it into the shape of a spear. Bounding forward, I dodged over the Pharaoh’s thick tail, grabbing onto the linen. Once he stopped to swing back, I ran forward along the Dragon before jumping towards the wound I had left him.

The Pharaoh shifted his shoulder again and his wing struck me hard in the side. I had managed to put up Shield in time, but the powerful blow shattered it and I was sent tumbling away. Despite my best efforts, I rolled towards the building and it took entirely too long to stumble to my feet. By the time I did, Cheetah Sprint had wore off. I prepared the Vague Spear, but the Dragon hadn’t moved.

“You damn peasant!” he yelled, stomping his feet as he turned to face me. “How dare you strike the Pharaoh!”

“How dare I? Easily, you big bitch!” I yelled back, Pulling some of the cut linens towards me to toss into my inventory. “What are you going to do about it, eh? Throw a tantrum? Lose a few more scales? Dunno if you noticed, but-“

“Enough! I will end this now, and you will die here forgotten by all who matter!”

“You’ve been doing a bang up job of that so far, haven’t you?” I countered. “Come on, hit me with your best shot!”

The Pharaoh didn’t answer, choosing to scream in rage. I started ejecting the Cable Conglomerate from my Vambrace of Wires as I tossed my Vague Stick back into my inventory. In its place, I retrieved the Writhing Belt Whip. Both of these items were going to make this part much easier, and I was glad to have them.

Instead of charging after me, the Dragon straightened his neck and kept his mouth wide open. A pinprick of black light appeared inside his neck, and I prepared myself. The energy began to gather and grow larger, an aura of purple enveloping it. I took a few steps forward, gauging the distance between us, and prepared myself for the right moment.

Unlike a regular Dragon, the undead Pharaoh didn't have the usual breath weapon their kind was known for. His was more powerful, but came with a serious, exploitable drawback: he wasn't immune to his own energy.

While I watched for my cue, I shifted the Cable Conglomerate into a very specific pattern. The light grew brighter, bathing the inside of the mummified Dragon’s mouth with darkness, but I didn’t move yet.

As soon as I saw the Pharaoh’s eyes widen, I ducked, spun around, and activated Crash Test. I flew backwards towards the Dragon as the beam of light flashed out in full force. My shoulder was caught by it, but I was low enough that it only hurt me down to the bone.

My back collided with the boss’ chest, but he didn’t budge. Thanks to the nature of Crash Test, that dealt damage to both of us because I couldn’t burst through him. Damage wasn’t my goal, however.

I had ejected all 50 feet of the Cable Conglomerate and it had been weaving through the air like a snake. Now, it fit across the Pharaoh’s long face like a muzzle. Some of it had been melted off by the power of the energy beam, but not enough to stop it from doing its job.

Ignoring the pain in my shoulder, I wrapped my arms around the Pharaoh’s neck. Tried to, anyway; I barely made it around half way due to the creature’s large size.

Still, it was enough with the Writhing Belt Whip. I slapped it across the neck, grabbing it with both hands even as the Eldritch Chomp passive activated. I could hear the teeth scraping against the boss’ scales.

The Pharaoh struggled, backing up and pulling his neck in like a cat, but I used everything at my disposal to keep him still. I Dropped the Writhing Belt Whip to keep him from pulling me up, thankful that my Anchored passive made it so much harder to move me. At the same time, I Lifted the Cable Conglomerate so that I could aim the Dragon’s breath where I wanted it to go.

Layers of rope wire kept the Pharaoh from closing his mouth to end his breath weapon skill, but I still struggled. The building was being pelted by the beam of black and purple light, easily boring a hole to the other side. I could hear his claws breaking the stone behind me, but I knew he couldn’t move easily. Because the beam started inside of his long neck, one wrong twitch and he could end up blowing his teeth or jaw out.

My body and mind were strained to the limit. His jaws threatened to clamp shut at any moment, canceling the skill once they were closed enough, but the Cable Conglomerate was holding firm so far. A headache started coming over me from my extended mental efforts, and my arms were tiring fast.

It wasn’t easy, but I persisted.

It was an excruciatingly slow process, but I managed to move the Pharaoh’s big mouth slowly towards the taller half of the building. He made small shifts with his body in order to keep his head intact. The smaller side of the dungeon had already caved in, and I was looking to do the same to the taller.

The Pharaoh took a step forward, nearly lifting me off of the ground. I began to yell, giving more than I thought I could to move him into position. As much as it would have helped, I knew I didn’t have the Mental Points to Break Free, and I also knew that I didn’t need it. I had been here before and won; it just sucked.

With one last roar of exertion, I forced the Dragon to finally point at my target. The energy beam powered through the bottom of the skyscraper, slowly pushing through it. The Pharaoh attempts to fight back renewed, pulling away from me as best he could. His lower jaw and teeth began to melt as they touched the light, but he moved despite the risks. I saw a hole open up in his neck as he jerked too far in one direction.

Satisfied that the skyscraper was going to fall, I let go of everything at once aside from keeping one hand on my Writhing Belt Whip. The Pharaoh reeled backwards, his head moving upwards now that there was no force to counteract his own. He closed his mouth just in time to stop the skill before it could break through his jaw and neck.

“I fucking love skills that can’t be interrupted,” I told him cheekily before retrieving the Khopesh from my inventory.

Sticking it into his neck where the energy beam managed to tear a hole, I started wheeling forward on my Heelies, Pushing the sword forward. It tore through his scales, knocking them onto the ground. A massive claw lashed out against me, slashing through my armor and getting my skin. I hissed in pain as I was tossed away, though I managed to land on my feet.

But I wouldn't stay there. The Pharaoh knocked me over as he pounced, and pushed me face first against the ground. My attention went to the scales I had torn off and started Pushing them away even when the Dragon's head was inches from mine.

“You arrogant pig bastard!” he rumbled as his head turned to look at me. Despite the melted teeth and partially missing jaw, his voice didn't change. One of the perks of being undead. “I will enjoy what you have coming to you.”

I struggled, but now that the full weight of the Dragon was on me it was futile. It was one thing to do so when the deck was completely stacked in my favor, but this situation was completely in his. He flipped me over but was incredibly careful not to let me go. I used the opportunity to throw the Khopesh into my inventory, but kept a hand on the Writhing Belt Whip.

“Look at what you have done to my beautiful tomb,” he said, voice low but enraged. The skyscraper was already starting to tilt and collapse in on itself, and would soon start to fall our way. “It will take ages to clean this up, but you will not live to see it.”

“What a shame,” I wheezed. “I really thought this was it.”

“And that is what you get when you are of a species with such empty heads.”

“You’ll die here, too, you know.”

That caused the Pharaoh to laugh, low and malicious. “No, I think not,” he said as he covered his broken scales with his lone wing. “I will survive this, powered by the spite I feel, while you are crushed by the tomb you sought to destroy. May the Gods damn you to the underworld.”

The building loudly protested before it finally started to fall. I grinned up at the Dragon. “Nah, I’ll damn myself thank you very much. Say hi to Anubis for me.”

Looking at the scales I pushed, I activated my mimicked skill, Fae Step.

My body disappeared, only to reappear in the air over 50 feet away and out of immediate danger. I quickly swept the scales into my inventory as I turned around. Knowing that being on the ground was a terrible decision, I started to Lift myself into the air by my sword.

Watching the Pharaoh, I activated Dungeon Sight. The dust cloud was already forming due to the collapsing building, and thanks to the skill I could see right through it. The Dragon was surprised, but was quick to find my location. He looked up at me and bellowed another rage-filled roar.

But it was too late. I started Dropping chunks of skyscraper onto him, altering their trajectory and hitting him repeatedly in the neck. I only had a few seconds to do so, but I was nothing if not tenacious.

Slab after slab struck the scrambling Pharaoh one after another, denying him his chance to get away. Each one shattered on contact, but they came faster than he could handle. I kept this up until the last few seconds, and I stopped to let him get into a better position.

The Pharaoh scrambled then, heading in my direction in order to flee from the falling building. He had this massive pool of hit points and I had no doubt that he would have been able to dig himself free if I had done nothing. Now, though, I could see the fear in his candle-like eyes. Just before he would clear the danger zone, I Dropped one last rock on him, knocking him off balance.

The building collapsed onto the Pharaoh’s back half, crushing him instantly. I watched with no small amount of satisfaction as the lights in his eyes were snuffed out. As the dust cloud fully enveloped the cavern, the text boxes I were waiting for appeared.

[[Victory!]]

You have defeated x1,480 Desiccated Kobolds; +2,960 points.

You have defeated x200 Desiccated Kobold Commanders; +800 points.

You have defeated x34 Mummified Drakes; +170 points.

You have defeated x135 Scarab Swarms; +405 points.

You have defeated x20 Griffins; +140 points.

You have defeated x3 Sphinx; +150 points.

You have defeated the Floor Boss [Bronze Crocodile]; +300 points.

You have defeated the Floor Boss [Guardian Serpopard] x2; +800 points.

You have defeated the Floor Boss [Baboon Conjurer]; +700 points.

You have defeated the Floor Boss [Tomb Guardian]; +1,000 points.

You have defeated the Dormant Dungeon Boss [The Pharaoh]; +2,000 points.

[[Second Scenario Quest Complete!]]

Against all odds, the guild [Sol Ligatus] has managed to complete the dungeon all on its own. The Pharaoh was a fearsome foe, but years of confinement and the breaking of his Canopic Objects had weakened him to the point that he could be taken out by a single player.

A shame, but it is what it is.

The BNY Mellon Center Building will undergo a transformation on the way to the surface. Not only because it is now a pile of rubble, but because of a special guest who will call it their home.

Rexxel, an up and coming Kobold banker, has made it known that he is looking for a new place to do business. The players of Pittsburgh will be able to open accounts, gain interest, and take out loans in order to get ahead. As the one who liberated it, you will receive VIP treatment for the rest of your days.

Reward: +20,000 points, +100 Guild Points to Sol Ligatus, Rexxel’s Bank will be liberated, access to the bank’s vault after liberation is complete.

Optional Reward: +6,000 points.

I snapped away the screens and ignored the guild ones for now. Sol Ligatus would be a rank 3 guild with all the perks that it afforded, but now wasn’t the time to dally. Checking to make sure I received the points for destroying the building was one thing, but not that.

Retrieving my Vague Stick from my inventory, I willed it into the shape of a saw and headed down to the Pharaoh’s body. It would disappear during the liberation, which meant I had precious little time to carve him up and harvest parts for Ashley.

The reward here was always worth the risk.