Zogarth
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Chapter 1255 - Taking Turns
🕑 Added 2025-11-19 12:01:22 +0000 UTCThe Labyrinth Master regarded Casper for a moment as he shifted the gunlance in his hand before lifting it up and pointing it at the Risen. It instantly erupted, releasing a massive shockwave as it shot out a bullet that Casper barely managed to avoid with the help of Lyra.
He was still mid-dodge as the boss shimmered, displaying the same kind of movement skill as the Marksmen as he appeared right behind the Risen. Stabbing forward, Casper had no other choice but to simply take the hit, allowing the weapon to phase through his body. It still dealt noticeable damage due to the energy infused in the gunlance, but it remained manageable.
Trying to counterattack, Casper erupted with curse energy as dozens of chains appeared from empty space, trying to wrap around the B-grade; however, his body released a shockwave of disruptive energy that tore the chains apart before they could fully manifest. Even the half-summoned cursed stakes were blown into splinters as Casper was forced back with a groan.
Before he could stabilize, another bullet from the gunlance struck him, once more phasing through his body, but as it was halfway through, it exploded into a sea of flames that sent the Risen reeling.
Pure energy attacks were still very effective when he was in his ethereal form, and the flames were incredibly dangerous, forcing the Risen to retreat as he summoned traps in his wake.
The Labyrinth Master chased after, making all the traps activate at once. Curse magic erupted from all around the B-grade, some of it trying to attack him, while other parts only sought to delay. Seemingly unable to merely erupt with a shockwave again, the boss was forced to wrest himself free in a more manual fashion.
In the hand not holding his gunlance, the Labyrinth Master summoned a sword and proceeded to cut through the web of chains and cursed energies, quickly freeing himself, but fortunately for Casper, he still took enough time for the Risen to create some distance.
Making a few hand signs, magic circles appeared behind Casper as dark walls of curse energy began to surround the boss. With another yell, the boss released a second shockwave of mana that disrupted Casper’s magic, allowing the B-grade to easily cut apart the half-formed walls and charge toward the Risen again.
Casper was being completely and utterly overwhelmed as the boss unleashed a barrage of attacks that the Risen could do little more than endure. What few counterattacks he attempted were nullified or failed to do any damage, making it evident who the eventual winner would be.
Of course, that assumed Casper was fighting alone. He had purposefully engaged the boss solo in an attempt to make him overconfident and not even consider the presence of another opponent. When Jake was finally ready to unleash his arrow, he subtly let the Risen know, making Casper “desperately” try to unleash an attack.
Summoning a massive amount of curse energy, Casper flooded the B-grade with a torrent of small stakes that the boss easily blocked as he conjured a barrier of blue mana. A bit of the curse energy still made its way through, but all it could do was slightly weaken the defenses of the Labyrinth Master. Something that wouldn’t be a problem under usual circumstances, seeing as Casper could barely do any damage either way, but it would soon prove to be quite impactful.
The Labyrinth Master didn’t even know what hit him.
Too focused on fighting Casper and the stream of curse energy surrounding him, he failed to detect the Arcane Powershot launched from the hidden hunter far behind him. Only a fraction of a moment before it struck his body did he realize that he was facing two adventurers and not one.
Jake’s Arcane Powershot struck the Labyrinth Master in the back, aimed right below his right shoulder, as that was one of the places on his body with flesh and not metal. The Eternal Hunger arrowhead easily pierced into the B-grade’s body, and because of the design of the Protean Arrow, it purposefully lodged itself there, as the rest of the arrow collapsed into it.
All the energy and poison infused into the arrow slammed into the B-grade’s back, sending blood and metal flying out as the Labyrinth Master let out a loud yelp of pain. His entire back had been torn up in an instant, and seeing this happen, Casper didn’t sit idly by.
Without any hesitation, he leapt forward while summoning a special cursed stake from his inventory. He used all his power to slam it into the Labyrinth Master’s shoulder through the wound Jake’s arrow had already created, and right as it did, a torrent of curse energy was vacuumed through the stake and straight into the deeply lodged Eternal Hunger.
The mythical weapon gladly accepted this extra fuel and was energized as it began to rapidly drain the B-grade’s energies from within. Jake continued taking advantage of the moment and aimed to activate Rapid Fire while still taking advantage of the increased damage window of his Supreme Stealth Attack, intent on doing as much damage as possible.
However, despite the wonderfully pulled-off combo attack from the two C-grades, the B-grade dungeon boss was still a B-grade dungeon boss. Casper, who had just used his stake, wasn’t ready as the B-grade reached up and grasped him around the shoulder, now that he had made himself corporeal to attack.
Casper tried to quickly wrest himself free, but the vice grip of the boss tore into his flesh, the fingers digging through his skin until they held straight onto bones. The Risen had no way to resist as he was dragged down in front of the boss, who proceeded to launch a laser beam out of his robotic eye.
The beam passed straight through Casper’s temple and out the other side, the boss not caring in the slightest, even as another arrow slammed into his back, getting nothing more than a grunt in response. He was fully focused on finishing off the annoying Risen and didn’t waste any time.
While still holding on to Casper, the Labyrinth Master skewered him on the gunlance and lifted it above his head as he pressed the trigger. Rather than a single bullet, the gunlance released a barrage of shrapnel that exploded through the Risen’s body, tearing it apart completely.
Jake watched as Casper was utterly blown to pieces, his limbs and flesh sent flying everywhere. Even as two more arrows struck the boss, pumping in more poison and dealing more damage, the Labyrinth Master took his time to even throw a grenade into the air, blowing up the pieces of the destroyed Risen.
As the smoke cleared, the boss was revealed as he stood there with his back completely torn up and with more than two dozen arrows sticking out of him. Jake’s rapid fire had been going all throughout, and gone quite a number on the guy.
Only now, with Casper seemingly gone, did the boss spin around to address the hunter. He summoned a barrier of energy to block Jake’s arrows, but they simply curved around it as two more struck the boss. He stumbled back in pain, groaning as he spoke once more.
“You are powerful, adventurers. Unsurprising, considering you managed to get all the way here,” the Labyrinth Master spoke, Jake not even questioning why the hell the boss didn’t even seem to address what had just happened, but clearly just had some scripted dialogue he had to get out.
“However, your efforts are still in vain. I had hoped to avoid doing this, but you have proven yourself worthy of witnessing the power of this Labyrinth Master!” the final boss yelled as he opened his eyes wide.
Jake politely responded by landing four more arrows on the cyborg’s body during his speech, finally also giving him some wounds on his front side, but Jake felt that these had done less damage than those prior. In fact, the boss seemed to currently be in a state with serious passive dungeon-fuckery damage reduction during this transition to phase two, as Jake even felt his poison doing less.
The release of power from the dungeon boss continued as the entire room seemed to resonate with his energy. The many tiles on the ground started glowing with power, and magical scripts filled the walls on all sides. Jake quickly checked that the path out of the boss room remained open, and confirmed it was... at least for now. Because of what the Labyrinth Master did next, that could quickly change.
Beneath them, the tiles began shifting, and with a deep rumble, the outer walls began closing in from all around, shrinking the area. At first, anyway, because as Jake looked up, he saw that the walls were also bending downwards, creating a dome.
Right then, as the transformation was still underway, Jake felt the damage reduction effect on the boss disappear, and the Labyrinth Master lifted his gunlance and pointed it toward Jake.
Before he had even fully lifted his arm, Jake had shot off an arrow in response, landing a pre-emptive counterattack right as the gunlance went off. A swift bullet shot toward Jake, forcing him to dodge out of the way as he returned a quick potshot.
They continued to exchange a few ranged blows, but it quickly became apparent to both of them that in a battle fought at this range, Jake would be the one coming out victorious. However, the Labyrinth Master evidently wasn’t planning on winning this exchange but was just buying time as the arena continued to close in and more and more of the tiles rose upwards, lifted by solid beams of metal.
Seemingly satisfied, the B-grade finally made his move. Lifting the hand not holding the gunlance, he pointed toward Jake as parts of the ceiling started warping and bending as a piece of wall moved to block one of Jake’s arrows.
When Jake hit the wall, he instantly knew that it was actually a piece of the Grand Labyrinth wall. In other words, Jake’s arrow didn’t even leave a mark on the damn thing. The material was likely far too tough for even B-grades to damage it, and seeing this boss being able to manipulate such a wall like this... yeah, final dungeon boss fuckery was at play.
Two more pieces of the wall moved down toward Jake, but luckily, they weren’t that fast, allowing Jake to quickly get out of the way. Right as Jake started moving, the Labyrinth Master also moved to intercept Jake, now wielding his usual gunlance, though now also with a sword in his left hand.
The movement skill of the B-grade proved itself pretty damn good as Jake barely had time to dodge under a crescent wave of sword energy, followed by half a dozen quick stabs from the gunlance, two of which also included shooting bullets.
He tried to counter, but the rising tiles made the floor close in as walls lowered all around Jake, creating a makeshift arena under the Labyrinth Master’s control, and damn did he use it to his advantage.
Jake constantly had to contend with moving walls getting in his way, and as the floor was made up of tiles that rose individually, the ground was unpredictable, often helping the boss by giving him platforms to leap from, making his attacking pattern and momentum difficult, if not downright impossible to read.
Unfortunately for the boss, Jake was very hard to fake out, and even if his mind couldn’t keep up at all times, his instincts could. Jake focused only on dodging, not even bothering to counterattack, as he knew he wouldn’t accomplish anything even if he did.
Fighting in melee also wasn’t an option, as Jake currently only had one katar. Eternal Hunger was still lodged in the large wound in the B-grade’s back that also had a cursed wooden stake sticking out of him. The curse kept doing continual damage, and combined with the poison ravaging the Labyrinth Master’s system, even if Jake wasn’t attacking, he was still chipping away at his opponent’s resources. The poison would start to lose potency if Jake couldn’t inflict more, but he knew his current passive state was only a temporary measure.
Jake continued to retreat while being fully defensive as he circled around the still-shrinking battlefield. At first, the circular boss arena had been more than twenty kilometers wide, but now, it was down to only around ten, and it was only getting smaller by the second. Jake had purposefully dodged toward the perimeter, wanting to keep the middle of the arena as undisturbed as possible.
With his bow and one katar, Jake had to block a few blows, and while Fangs of Man allowed him to handle it with his katar, his wrists and hand holding the bow were taking a beating. Fortunately for Jake, the bow was far too durable for a B-grade to destroy it, but using it as a melee weapon really wasn’t going to cut it.
To keep up, Jake began to also sprinkle in plenty of magic as he unleashed Pride and summoned constant bolts and exploding arcane orbs. He knew they wouldn’t do any damage, but they did obscure vision and sometimes made the B-grade overreact, buying Jake a second here and there.
However, despite all Jake’s efforts, he couldn’t avoid everything anymore due to the conditions of the arena. Random walls and rising platforms moved to block him at very inopportune times – on purpose, clearly – making him take minor wounds intermittently.
Gritting his teeth, Jake took a small gamble as he barely dodged the swing of a sword and moved in with his Voidblade Katar. He aimed for one of the fleshy bits as he unleashed a Piercing Fang. The skill was less effective when not used with Eternal Hunger, but it was still good enough for Jake to draw blood. He didn’t care much about that, though, as more importantly, it allowed Jake to instantly make all the energy infused into the blow explode, propelling him backwards and away from his opponent.
He had sent himself flying toward the center of the arena, where one could still vaguely feel remnants of the energy released when Casper was blown up earlier. Expectedly, the boss instantly chased to continue pressing his advantage.
Jake used One Step as he teleported back, with the boss hot on his tail, using his movement skill that turned his body blurry and made him insanely fast. He was only focused on Jake as he passed through right where the Risen had his body destroyed before... all according to plan.
In the first phase, Jake had landed his powerful stealth attack while Casper took a beating.
Now, those roles had been reversed, and it was time for Casper to finally show Jake just how good his much-promised ability to curse single-target foes truly was. The fading presence of the destroyed Risen suddenly rose once more, an aura of cursed blight awakening as the Labyrinth Master entered the trigger area of the trap.
Comments
Chloe
Come on Casper. Tyftc
vio
I love these terms lmao
Chase Burleson
Tftc Zog!
Corey bess
Tyftc Ahhhhh Dungeon fuckery The nuanced and every flavorful subcategory of system fuckery.
Chris
“Fuck if I know” is my cats name
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Meir Banon
Tftc
JW Saxby
Nice 👍🏼 Tyftc 🍻
GeneticSloth
tftc!
wulfie le bard
Jape.
Xerecs
I wish the audiobooks weren't so far behind the current kindle releases.
Carl Never
A slug is a single bullet from a shotgun as oposed to like buck shot or bird shot, think you could just say shrapnel
Bjarne Hansen
already bought book 13 and 14 on kindle. Waiting for the audio books, so am full on support.
Bookreader97
Shouldn’t he be able to use pride to stop the walls in his vicinity from moving
Peter Smith
Honestly I'm kind of imagining the Mother of the Church blessing Lyra for her willingness to support Casper even after death. Which is kind of the entire point of Lyra's existence. Don't get me wrong I don't think she'll make her a chosen but i could see Lyra finally being unbound to casper at A rank and using this as a way to promote the church while keeping her endless war with Bightfather going. Which is good because it means thst there is a potential way for limited peace but not total peace, which makes the endless war worthy in and of itself.
Asher Mack
I think Casper is a sleeper in this series. Up until now I had written him off but the fact that he is somewhat able to keep up and assist in fights with Jake means he's a generational talent in his own right. I would dare say his talent and skill is greater than Caleb's and Maria's, who are both unlikely to make it to godhood without the bleeding records from Jake. Casper will find a place for himself in the multiverse I reckon - and with the unique addition of Lyra he'll be a special player in the events of the world as he gets more specialized and skilled in the later grades.
brjenness
he forgot to mention a handful of companies transferring billions back and forth to inflate revenues.
Childish Jordino
Thought Casper bit the dust again for a second there
Colin
Your burns on AI in the recap of the new book had me laughing.
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter!
Stephen
Nah, its time to learn to summon weapons with his arcane energy
Josie
Hmm. Seems like Jake could use an additional katar for times when his hungry one is preoccupied with its nom noms
Eric Shivak
TFTC
Grey Grick
Still think the boss will "RELEASE THE JONES"
Xien
Whewww for a minute there I was like no way we can lose Casper not now!!!!
Phil Ritter
Yeah he could but similar to his bow he never settles for mediocrity. He has two perfect Katars so why ask for more. I doubt Arnold would give him a spare for cheap
Phil Ritter
Right we didn’t get any updates on that for quite a while now. Question is will he get the highest grade right away or get a lower one and evolve it the last step using some juice
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
Josie
It would be fun to read a book by Jake.. like his grimoire that lies utterly forgotten lol
SetherAedekae
I love that the author notes still feel like Jake lol
Alexander C Hyde
Casper tried to quickly wrest himself free, but the (vise)vice grip of the boss tore into his flesh, the fingers digging through his skin until they held straight onto bones.
Alexander C Hyde
Casper, who had just used his stake, wasn’t (ready)easy as the B-grade reached up and grasped him around the shoulder, now that he had made himself corporeal to attack.
Matthias
Tftc
ABTelford
Great chapter! One area needs fixing: “Casper, who had just used his stake, wasn’t easy as the B-grade reached up and grasped him…”. It doesn’t make sense.
SpectreHarlequin
Can't read this without the music running in my head :)
Devillelouch
A great fight is good to see, hopefully next chapter closes the fight out blightfully.
joel southard
Thank you for the chapter
Fyrtue
Random thought but I think it'd be good timing for Jake's soul flame urn to be ready at the end of this dungeon.
David Storey
TYFC
A Flashy BR
Tyftc!!
blucube 14
Thanks for the chapter!
Endern
Yesterday's penultimate was changed to ultimate.
Steven Tuttle
TFTC
DocSmitty
“Fighting in melee also wasn’t an option, as Jake currently only had one katar.“ Seems realllllly unlikely that he couldn’t get a couple decent (as in, better than anyone else’s gear but not made out of the body of a primordial) katars as backups by now.
IntenseSushi
Tftc
Cory S.
ON TODAY’S EPISODE OF, THE PRIMAL HUNTER! Behold! The Labyrinth Master, towering cyborg overlord of this merciless dungeon, unleashes hellfire upon the lone Risen known as Casper! Explosive gunlance blasts! Phasing strikes that burn through ethereal flesh! Chains of cursed agony shredded like paper before the B-grade’s disruptive shockwaves! Casper fights valiantly, but he is being overwhelmed. Will this be the end of our fight?! NO! From the shadows, Jake the UNSEEN HUNTER strikes! A devastating Arcane Powershot tears into the boss’s back! Poison floods his veins! The mythical Eternal Hunger arrowhead feasts from within! Casper, in his final act, drives a cursed stake deep into the wound, fueling the devouring hunger even further! The Labyrinth Master roars in agony, yet the proud B-grade endures! He grabs the Risen Casper and unleashes his fury upon him. Battered, scorched, and finally GRUESOMELY OBLITERATED in a storm of shrapnel and laser fury! Limbs torn asunder! Body scattered to the winds! Has the Risen fallen for good!? With scripted arrogance he declares his ultimate power, transforming the very arena into a shrinking dome of death, walls of indestructible labyrinth stone closing in, tiles rising like the jaws of doom! Now it is Jake that is alone against the beast! Arrows curve through barriers! Instincts pushed to their limit! The hunter dances on the edge of annihilation as the boss manipulates the battlefield itself, walls slamming, platforms erupting, sword and gunlance singing a symphony of destruction! Blow after blow rains down! Jake holds, he endures, he chips away with poison and pride but the noose tightens! Yet despair not, warriors of Earth! This was the plan all along! As the Labyrinth Master charges triumphantly through the blood-soaked grounds where Casper once fell… a sinister blight awakens! The lingering curse awakens! From the ashes of apparent death, the Risen’s ultimate trap is sprung! WILL THIS BE THE MOMENT THE TIDES OF BATTLE FINALLY TURN!? CAN TWO MERE C-GRADES TOPPLE A TRUE B-GRADE DUNGEON BOSS!? THE FATE OF OUR ADVENTURERS HANGS BY A THREAD! FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON DRAGON BALL Z, er, I MEAN, THE PRIMAL HUNTER!
Bobo
Ty
Corbin
El hakain or whoever the other chosen was
Xander
TFTC :) edit: Apparently this was fixed so ignore :) Small aside. You used the word "penultimate" meaning second to last to describe this boss yesterday but the word "final" to describe it today sooooo...which one is it? Suggested edits: "It instantly exploded" ok is it just me or does a gun exploding sound more like a catastrophic failure than the gun firing powerfully? Maybe "erupted" instead? or "pulsed" since you use erupted a little later. "It *still* dealt noticeable damage due to the energy infused in the gunlance, but it was *still* manageable." double "still" ditch either. "wonderfully *pulled-off* combo attack" the word youre looking for would be "executed" "Casper, who had just used his stake, wasn’t easy as the B-grade" dont know what you mean here so cant make a suggestion but this doesnt make sense as is. "of shrapnel that exploded *onto* the Risen’s body" this seems odd phrasing, maybe "through" instead? "even throw a grenade into the air, even blowing up the pieces" double "even". ditch the second "As the smoke cleared, the boss was revealed *as he stood there* with his back completely torn up and with more than two dozen arrows sticking out of him as Jake’s rapid fire had been going all throughout." This run on sentence uses "as" three times and "with" twice. Maybe reword the middle section to "...was revealed, standing calmly, his back completely torn up. More than two dozen arrows stuck..." To remove the repeated words and break the sentence up while keeping the meaning and information the same. "Unsurprisingly" i think "Unsurprising" fits better since its a new sentence. "resonate with his energy. The many tiles on the ground started glowing *with energy*," double "energy" ditch the highlighted bit. "one coming out *victories*. " should be "victorious" "Fighting in melee...his opponent’s resources." in this paragraph you use the word "still" 5 times. You can honestly remove any or all of them and the meaning remains the same without the repetition. "his wrists and hands were still taking a beating from the hand holding the bow." this is oddly worded. If its a result of using a bow and akatar instead of 2 katars, move "With his bow and one katar" from the beginning to the middle making this part "Jake had to block a few blows and, while Fangs of Man allowed him to handle it with his katars, with one katar and his bow, his wrists and hands were taking a considerable beating" "making him take minor wounds *here and there*." you used this just before so ditch this instance. "He flew *backwards* toward the center" repetition. You just said he was propelled backwards so ditch this. "passed *through right* where the Risen had his body destroyed before... *just* according to plan." Fells like this one should be "right through" and "just" should be *all*
Ra
Dope cover, but who's the person with the Trident? If El Bugger had a Trident, why does he look amazing?
Loststar7
TFTC and congratulations on the latest book release.
Loststar7
I agree. Uncle Jake does look like he’s having fun.
Rewdan
Loving the interplay between Casper and Jake, can’t wait to see how Caspers skill works.
brjenness
Geez. Just came back and already being rude to the other patreons.
Shadowind
Tftc
brjenness
Zog was hit with a copyright claim and had to change the name.
Sylphie
Ree!
John Durrett
Tyftc
Karl
Victories (victorious)
Fdrugc
All dungeons are created.
Fdrugc
Tftc
Noah Mclelland
im glad we got to meet jape, Jake's twin that got lost at birth
Misa
Tftc
Strato Junon
Finding it hard to get invested in this little arc. Something about it being a created dungeon just makes it feel like there's no stakes. Enjoying the interactions between Jake and Casper though. Tyfc.
Rewdan
Congratulations on the book release
Bartlomiej Głowacki
When Jape was finally ready to unleash his attack -> Jake
Daniel Bonin
I think at one point you put jape instead of Jake. But as always loved the chapter
Daniel Bonin
Dang so good
Zogarth
Fix
Arrogant Savant
The trapper/trapmaster path seems to be ok, like Casper needs a dedicated guardian to supplement his lack of upfront combat skills but some preperation should show us how strong he is.
Karl
Hahahaha Jape 🤣🤣🤣
lockx
When Jape(Jake) was finally ready to unleash his attack Thanks for the chapter!
Austin Gagnon
"When Jape was finally ready"
Den
"I'M BAAAAACK! UP YOURS!"
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Kirin
TFTC!
Eric
Thanks!
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
Beemoss
Tftc
James Lucas
Tftc!
Lizy Flore
First ? Tftc!
