The exit door leading to the castle was quite high up in the ceiling. But that was no matter for the trio since there was a ladder leading there.
As they claimed the iron ladders, a huge explosion shook the world as their visions blurred for a second. They had to clutch the ladder rails tightly lest they fall face first.
After a second, things stabilized as the trio looked at each other with grim looks on their faces, especially Charlotte who had fought with Bronze Rank Bosses and even Silver Rank Bosses a few times.
She looked at the ceiling and asked, "Why do I feel this Boss is even more dangerous than Silver Rank bosses?"
"Because he's the strongest boss of the first two floors or rather in the Bronze Rank category," Max explained as he resumed climbing up. He was at the top too.
"Strongest, huh."
"Yeah, he's a Warrior and also a Necromancer commanding such a huge army of undead. The only restriction he has is that he can't assist his army and vice versa," Max explained.
"What about its weakness?" Stelle asked.
"It's better if you don't bother about it. The boss was made to be defeated by a large group of hunters. That's his only weakness," Max smiled and stopped before the lid in the ceiling.
"That's why you didn't want to fight it," Charlotte muttered softly.
She received no answer as Max was busy in finding a way to open the lid. It had been a long time technically for the battle of Marcus, so opening the lid wasn't an easy task.
Still, he managed to slide it open as a cold wind greeted him first, before a terrible stench of blood assaulted his nostrils. Rubbing his nose, he ignored it all and climbed out of the exit.
The crimson sky and the dark battlefield awaited him outside. But there was a minor difference.
While the battlefield was on his right, the ruined castle itself was right before him. The tunnel was connected to the outer boundary of the castle, which was very helpful for Max.
In the distance, he could see the ground trembling and wild gusts of wind assaulting every piece of scenery. Clangs of metal reached his ears from afar.
Max carefully climbed out of the hole and helped his teammates. Then, the three of them quietly sneaked past the boundary wall, which was half broken already.
He led them through the barren garden into one of the side rooms of the castle. They passed by the debris of the old castle, wondering what must have happened in the past.
'I wonder if the reason is the same as in the novel,' Max thought, even though he already knew the answer.
[I didn't change anything at all.]
'Fuck!' Max cursed lightly and entered the castle through a crack, hiding his look of pity and sympathy from the two ladies.
Only when they were inside a hall did they calm their nerves and stop to take some air. They were really worried that the Black Knight would shift his attention to them.
"Don't worry, he's currently fighting some team or rather thrashing them completely," Max said with a mischievous smile. "They will retreat for sure after knowing they can't do shit to him."
"You really have a high opinion of him," Charlotte said in a casual tone.
"He was a brave and loyal knight, and also a man of honour. I do respect him," Max said before turning around. "Let's find the weakness of the final boss before everyone defeats the Black Knight and comes here to check for treasures."
"Who are we fighting again?" Stelle asked in curiosity.
"Baron Marcus himself or rather his wraith," Max said in a low voice. "I honestly would have stayed miles away if I didn't know his weakness. Heck, even now I feel fear just from approaching him."
He stared deep inside the castle before shaking his head, "Anyway, its weakness is basically an Earthen pot. Find it."
"That's not gonna work," Charlotte shook her head in dismissal and said. "I don't think we can find it in time."
Max stayed silent, trying to remember where he had put that Earthen pot. The problem was, he had scrapped the whole plot of Blood Castle before actually finishing it.
So, he didn't actually know where he had placed the weakness.
"There is no other way. We need to search for the Earthen pot and, don't worry, it will be intact so that's a clue. Also, don't go in the basement because that's where the Baron is," Max explained gently.
"The castle is not that big, so we should be able to find it. It's just ground floor, after all," Charlotte nodded after some thought. "Let's split up and search for it. We will return to this place after 10 minutes."
"5 minutes. After that, I'm pretty sure the Black Knight will come back to his initial position," Max said, pointing outside the castle. "There are no monsters here so you don't need to worry about that. One last point, do not open the Earthen pot if you find it."
The two ladies nodded and, with a silent agreement, they left to search different parts of the castle. They also kept a close eye on their surroundings in case they found anything.
Max jumped over a fallen stone pillar and entered a hall. He took out an illumination stone he had stolen in the tunnel to light up the surroundings.
His search was swift, but that didn't mean he overlooked anything. He knew exactly what he was looking for, something that made it impossible for him to miss the target.
Unfortunately, the dark hall only had ancient paintings covered in dust and dirt. Cracked glass, bent pieces of metallic objects, and rotting wood were all that remained.
The hall had everything except for what he was looking for, so he proceeded forward and searched other rooms. Sadly, the outcome was the same.
Except for the ruined remnants of the old castle, he found nothing else. In just over three minutes, he had searched his side and reached the other end of the castle.
He could see the boundary wall from the window, making his face grim. He just hoped others had found the pot, otherwise their journey would be in vain.