Sunlight pierced through cracks in the cave’s vaulted ceiling, casting eerie shafts of light into the thick, humid air. The cavern reeked of death, its crevices lined with cages housing terrified creatures, their pitiful eyes reflecting the grim scene.
Along the walls were heaps of bones and half-devoured carcasses, filling the space with the stench of decay. In one corner, a throne-like chair, roughly chiseled from stone, dominated the area, its presence amplified by the grim backdrop of polished skulls stacked high. Beside the throne stood a wooden pedestal, and atop it, within a small cage, the tiny primate lay unmoving.
There you are, Daisuke thought as he slipped into the cave. His movements were ghost-like under the concealment of the Shadow Veil skill, which muted his steps and cloaked both him and Zephyr in darkness. The skill didn’t specify if it masked scent, but I really hope it does—and that I’m just overthinking it.
As he cautiously approached the pedestal, Zephyr peeked out from beneath his shirt, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Midnight lounging on Daisuke’s shoulder, looking far too self-satisfied. Before he could even remotely consider making a fuss, the disturbing sounds of the Goblins gnawing on their meal caught his attention, the sickening crunch of bones and flesh filling the atmosphere.
The moment Daisuke opened the cage that imprisoned the curious primate, the potbellied fiends halted their feasting, their heads snapping up as they sniffed the air, alert to the sudden shift in the room.
“Keh?!”
Gahgehk?!”
“Nhahh?!”
Daisuke’s expression settled into a poker face. “Great,” he grunted, “so the skill doesn’t mask scent after all. Well, that’s good to know… assuming that I survive the shitshow that’s about to unfold.”
Unfortunately for him, his intuition was more on point than he knew. In an instant, the primate’s eyes snapped open and there was a powerful explosion that sent him and several approaching Goblins flying. As dust and debris swirled around them, Daisuke and Zephyr sprang to their feet, ready for battle. But they weren’t the only ones prepared to fight.
WHOOSH!
A massive arm, fingers splayed, cut through the dust like a colossal fan. Daisuke’s eyes widened as the haze parted, revealing a monstrous creature—a hybrid with the bulging head of a toad and the muscular, towering body of a gorilla, easily twice the size of any great ape. It sat casually on its glorious throne while Goblins scrambled to fit its oversized frame into the mismatched armor pieces scavenged from people they had slain.
DING!
[Gorgothor | Lvl 27 | Field Boss | HP: 1051753/1051753]
Daisuke’s heart sank as he glanced at the creature’s absurdly high health bar that was essentially twice the amount of the troll’s. “You ungrateful catfish!” he murmured. “I came here to send you to hell in the most painless way possible, and this is how you repay me?”
Zephyr leaped to the ground and growled, his gaze darting among the horde of Goblins slowly closing in on them. The creatures flexed their weapons threateningly, some standing before their burly god with blood-smeared faces twisted into dark grins.
“Why does this feel so familiar?” Daisuke muttered to himself as a sudden memory flashed—the Goblin Shaman and the bandits. The image of the worthless weapon the shaman had dropped only fueled his annoyance. But allowing even a sliver of his attention to drift was a mistake.
Heaving a fierce roar, a single Goblin charged forward, its jagged mace raised high. Daisuke’s body dipped low, his hair hovering as he braced for a counterstrike. But instead of driving the weapon down, the fiend dodged to the side.
Daisuke’s eyes narrowed. A feint?
Before he could catch a clear view of the Field Boss, the hulking beast tilted its massive head back, then whipped it forward like a mechanical slingshot. In a split second, a thick pink tongue shot out with the force of a ballista, striking his chest like a spear.
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“Guah!”
The impact knocked the wind from Daisuke’s lungs, his body curling as his feet lifted off the ground. But instead of puncturing his chest, the tongue latched onto him like glue, dragging him in like a fish on a line.
With a deafening roar, the hulking beast clasped its hands together and brought them down on Daisuke’s back with the force of a sledgehammer. Before his face could meet the hard ground, a savage uppercut sent him rocketing into the air.
“Kagh!”
Daisuke’s body twisted in agony as the tongue, still adhered to him, yanked him back mid-flight, snapping his momentum. The next moment, he was met with a relentless barrage of punches, each blow like a piston firing from a Gatling gun. The final crushing right hook launched him through the air, his vision blurring as his eyes rolled back from the brutal impact.
Time slowed to a crawl. Daisuke could faintly hear the muffled warning bells ringing in his mind as his HP plummeted well below ten percent. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t move; he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
Zephyr watched in horror as his comrade, battered and bruised, was flung through the air like a rag doll, crashing motionlessly to the ground. Slowly—oceanic eyes wide, hackles raised—the canine pivoted his head around, a fierce heartbeat jerking its tiny frame as adrenaline, mana, and a plethora of emotions coursed through his veins.
A crimson aura enveloped his body as the Berserk skill ignited, infusing the raging deity with raw power. A menacing snarl escaped his throat, followed by the cacophony of snapping bones, tearing flesh, anguished screams, and the crackling of roaring flames.
While Zephyr unleashed mayhem, Midnight stealthily emerged from Daisuke’s shadow, clutching several vials of Medium HP Recovery Potion. With urgency, the Djinn began feeding the brew to its contractee. Within moments, Daisuke’s eyes snapped open, and he jolted upright, his chest heaving, his face pale.
…If I hadn’t arranged for Midnight to administer these potions in case of emergencies, I’d likely be a corpse right now. That was definitely too close for comfort.
Without uttering a word, Daisuke pushed to his feet, golden eyes blazing with disdain as he locked onto the Field Boss’s sinister gaze. “So, this is how you want to play it, huh?” he challenged, brandishing the Salamander’s Claw.
“Keh-kehkehkeh~”
The Goblin whose feint had allowed Gorgothor’s attack to land let out a smug chuckle. It must have been contagious, because the other pot-bellied gremlins began cackling as well. Their laughter died abruptly, however, when a gleaming golden chain whipped through the air and wrapped around the feint-Goblin’s head, binding it tightly like a trussed piece of meat.
The Goblin squealed and thrashed as the chains constricted, but its fate was sealed. Blood splattered across the faces of its kin as its head burst like an overripe melon. The surrounding Goblins, seething with rage, barely had time to raise their weapons. In a blur, Daisuke blew past them like a gust of wind, rendering them to chunks of flesh.
[Name: Haxks
Species: Human
Level: 34 | EXP: 120,084/180,625 (66.48%)
Daisuke held his post-attack posture, blood dripping from the claw and fang still thirsting for more carnage. His golden eyes flickered open with cold indifference as they bore into Gorgothor’s.
I may have seven levels on this thing, but just like Zephyr, boss monsters’ stats are on steroids. If it had followed through with that assault, I’d be nothing more than a glitch in the System’s recycle bin right about now.
Stirred by the slaughter of their kin, the Goblins erupted with enraged battle cries, surging forward like a raging tide to overwhelm the loathsome human. But a single glance from Daisuke set Zephyr into action. Tilting his head back, the canine let loose a howl imbued with the Antagonize skill.
Instantly, the Goblins’ heads whipped toward him, their bloodlust now redirected. Those foolish enough to recklessly charge forth were met by a searing wave of flames, their bodies melting away like wax under Zephyr’s scorching wrath.
Like with every other monster I’ve faced, I’ll stay true to my build and conquer them with speed and dexterity. It might be a drawn-out fight, but a battle of attrition is the best way to secure victory while ensuring my own safety.
Daisuke crouched low, his muscles bulging as Stat Reset blessed him with the power he needed to succeed. In the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of the beast, his eyes stern, his daggers poised to taint and devour.
With a deep grunt, the creature swung its massive arm in a vicious arc. Daisuke ducked effortlessly, time seeming to slow as the backhand connected instead with an unfortunate Goblin, sending teeth, blood, and an eyeball flying in a grotesque display of raw power.
Ignoring the grisly scene, Daisuke retaliated by returning the creature’s assault a hundred-fold, his hands moving like the blurred blades of a windmill as the Salamander’s Claw and Lipanthyer’s Fang tore into the fiend’s side.
The beast let out a bloodcurdling roar, swinging wildly in a desperate attempt to crush the infuriating fly. But each swing only found his own Goblins, reducing them to mangled corpses as Daisuke danced around the chaos with cold efficiency.
STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB!
SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE!
Daisuke was reckless, relentless, and ruthless. His strikes were shallow, barely grazing the surface, but it was the sheer speed and volume of his attacks that made them devastating. Each cut stacked debuffs upon debuffs, weakening Gorgothor’s defenses and stamina with alarming efficiency.