As soon as he turned, executing the maneuver with a kind of natural appeal and neat hair-flip that didn’t seem humanly possible, Kyung shot Vivian a look. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Vivian shook his head. “I was having a very important conversation.”

“Were you?” Kyung deadpanned. His eyes flicked upward, clearly conveying, more important than setting up the trap?

“Human communication is the most important thing in this world,” Vivian said earnestly.

Kyung’s brows lifted even higher, his expression exquisitely skeptical.

“Anyways, it’s ten seconds’ worth of effort, and it’s not like we’re in danger,” Vivian said, shrugging.

“What is ten seconds of effort? What are you talking about?” the King demanded.

“I dunno, probably taking you down?” Vivian said lightly.

The King narrowed his eyes at Vivian. Vivian stared back, a mild grin on his face and his eyebrows raised just a little.

After a beat, the King rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what everyone comes here for. So, come on! Get it over with already!”

“No,” Vivian said.

“Huh?” Noah asked.

The King blinked. “Why not?”

Shrugging, Vivian said, “I need to finish setting up the room. Calm down.”

The King scowled. “You think I’m going to sit here and let you set traps in front of my eyes?”

“I mean, yeah? You can’t stop me, can you? Not without wasting that precious Trust of yours,” Vivian said. He reached into his inventory and pulled out his makeshift gardening box. Raising his thumb, he marked out a certain distance from the throne, then dragged the box over there, leaving a fine trail of black mud after it.

The King clenched the arms of his chair. He bared his teeth, frustrated. Pressing his feet down, he half-rose from his chair, only to plop helplessly back down.

Kyung chuckled.

Isa glanced around, then knelt and felt the rug. Her eyes widened, and she pulled out her shears.

“Don’t you dare!” the King shouted.

Ignoring him, Isa chopped into the rug, cutting out a huge swathe of it.

The King twitched. He ground his teeth. “You stop that…”

“So, uhm, is there something I need to do?” Noah asked Vivian.

Vivian looked up from sprinkling dirt over the King’s marble floors. “Huh? Oh, yeah.” He gestured for Noah to come closer, giving the King a look over his shoulder.

The King’s eyes widened. He pointed. “He’s a Player! I can attack you!”

“Can you, if he doesn’t attack? There’s a whole dialogue you have to do at the start, right? I remember this fight, kind of,” Vivian said, waving his hand dismissively at the King.

The King’s teeth ground audibly. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the arms of his throne.

Noah glanced at the King once, just to be sure, then hurried over to Vivian’s side.

Vivian pointed above them, at the heavy metal chandeliers that hung low from the vaulted ceiling. They glittered in the low light, brilliantly lit with hundreds of candles. “Cast Static on those. You have Static, right?”

Noah nodded. “It’s the level 0 lightning spell.”

“Good man. Keep Staticing those chandeliers until Thomas Edison’s ghost is smiling down on you. When the fight starts, prepare your most powerful Lightning spell, and unleash it on my signal, then go back to using static.” Vivian reached into his inventory and handed Noah three SP potions. “This is all I have left. Do your best.”

Isa looked up. “Can I have one?”

“Oh, sure.” Vivian reached into his inventory and absently tossed her another.

Noah blinked, looking down at the three potions in his hands. “Wait… didn’t you say this was all you had left…?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Vivian clapped him on the shoulder and tossed him a wink. At a whisper, he added, “Never show all your cards, kiddo.”

“Compulsive liar,” Kyung muttered.

“I am not,” Vivian said, scowling at their Hairdresser. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not lying because I’m compulsive, I’m lying because it benefits me.”

“Is that… better…?” Noah asked, glancing at Kyung.

Kyung scoffed and raised his eyebrows. He turned away.

“Static, kiddo. Get going!” Vivian said, turning back to his soil-spreading.

Noah glanced up at the sky, glanced at the King, then began casting his spells.

The King sat up. “Ah! He’s casting magic! That counts!”

“No, it doesn’t. Has he attacked you? Don’t be so eager,” Vivian said, shaking his head at the King.

“It totally counts,” the King argued, pushing at his throne.

“Ah? What does the System say, though?” Vivian mocked him.

The King’s lip twisted. Frustrated, he scowled at Vivian. “Fuck this. I’m going to spend some Trust.”

“Must cost a lot,” Vivian commented. “I mean, I’ve been obviously mocking you for what, five minutes now? Most people can’t even put up with ten seconds.”

Kyung snorted.

“Wait, wait! Give me another ten minutes! I’m almost done with the Carpet Armor,” Isa said, raising a hand.

The King turned. His eyes fell upon his carpet… or rather, what remained of it. Isa had cut up nearly the entire carpet, and only the last few feet to his throne remained, while all the rest of it laid in various shapes, cut into pants, shirts, chest pieces, and pieces Vivian couldn’t recognize.

The King’s face burned red. He jumped up out of his throne. “You fuckers! Challenge me, sure, but shatter my window, chop up my carpet—!”

His body twisted. He swelled with muscle, his limbs lengthening. Spiky black armor wrapped around him. He lifted his hand, and an enormous double-handed sword materialized in his fist. The crown vanished from his head, replaced by a black helm with gold tracing around the temples. He swirled the sword and pointed it at the party.

“You’ve come this far, but no further.”

Vivian laughed in his face. “That would’ve been impressive, if you hadn’t just thrown a hissy fit about your carpet!”

Growling under his breath, the King charged Vivian. As he did, he raised the sword high.

The chandeliers buzzed.

Vivian danced back. “Noah, now! Your strongest lightning attack!”

Noah raised his tome. The book opened on its own, pages flapping on a wind only they could feel. They rustled to a stop. Lightning buzzed around his fist, surging through the pages of the book, then leapt forth.

The King laughed. He slammed his foot down and went to dodge.

Before he could move, the chandeliers released their voltage. The static built up in them zapped into his raised sword, and he jolted to a halt, frozen.

[Paralyzed]

“Hell yeah! Still works,” Vivian cheered.

Noah’s lightning bolt struck him directly in the chest. The King jolted, his body twitching. He staggered back a step, forced away by the weight of the blow.

Kyung leaped up from behind him. A straight razor darted for the King’s neck.

In the same instant, Vivian ran in. He called his shears to hand and gripped them with both hands, angling them for the King’s armpit.

Caught by paralysis, the King had no recourse. The straight razor drew a sharp line at his neck. The shears plunged deep into his armpit, digging into the gap in his armor. Blood spewed out.

Vivian and Kyung made eye contact. Without a word, both of them darted away.

The King fell to his knees, then the floor. Blood stained his armor red and pooled on the ground.

Noah stared. “He’s dead?”

Vivian grabbed Noah by the shoulder and dragged him back. “Not yet, kiddo. What kind of final boss doesn’t have a Phase Two?”

The King’s body melted into a black puddle. It twisted, slowly reforming. Startled, Noah yelped.

“What are you doing? ABC. Always Be Staticing,” Vivian said, pointing Noah at the chandeliers.

“Static isn’t spelled with an C,” Isa said, joining them near the boss. She wore layers of red carpet as armor, protecting her chest and hips.

“Thought you needed ten minutes,” Vivian said.

“Huh? Oh, for the armor? Well, I haven’t made a helm, or sleeves, or pants yet, and we can’t forget gauntlets or boots,” Isa said, glancing down at herself. She shrugged. “This will do for now.”

“It’s good to have goals,” Vivian said.

Kyung drew up alongside Vivian and Isa. “What’s our strategy for Phase Two?”

“Same as for Phase One. You focus on what you’re best at. I’ve got a few fresh tricks to try out, and aside from that, it’s time to Static-gimmick our way to the end,” Vivian said, nodding.

“And me?” Isa asked, pointing at herself.

“If you have a technique that can bind him, one way or another, go for it. Our objective is to put him in a state where he can’t act, whether that’s Bound, Blind, Stunned, or Paralyzed,” Vivian said decisively. “Otherwise, we can’t risk getting close, mere NPCs as we are.”

Isa nodded. “I might have a thing or two.” She shook her hands, and spools of thread jumped to her fingertips.

“Good. Remember that. Disable him through any means necessary, that’s our goal in this stage. Once he’s disabled, we’ll lay on the hurt,” Vivian said, nodding at himself and Kyung.

Isa nodded. She swirled her hands around, and a net appeared between her fingers.

Stepping back, Vivian put his hand on his chin. Between the four of us, we’ve actually got a decent party comp. A Mage, a status-effect-heavy support unit, and two DPS dodge tanks. We could seriously use an actual tank, or any kind of heavy, but in terms of being a squishy party, we’re doing alright.

The black goo on the ground twisted abruptly upright, forming a black cocoon. All the light in the room sucked toward the cocoon, so that it appeared to give off darkness. Waves of force emanated from the black cocoon. A dark aura condensed around the cocoon, forming into a spiky, scintillating crown of darkness at its apex.

The cocoon dried in an instant. In the next moment, it cracked. Pieces flaked off it. It shivered, on the verge of breaking apart.

“Noah, get back. Isa, at the ready. Kyung—”

“I know.”

Vivian raised his own spray bottle in response. “Remember, we aren’t trying to outmaneuver him! Our only objective is to stunlock him. Even once he’s immobilized, keep at it!”

“Yes, sir!” Isa said, saluting.

“Does that mean I should keep casting Static?” Noah asked.

“Yes,” Vivian replied.

A gash opened in the cocoon. A pale, bony hand reached out, bits of black goo stringing from the bare bones. Although the cocoon was about the size of the man it had formed from, the hand that emerged was easily twice as large as any human hand.

“Fuck you all. I’m burning Trust on this. Fuck the Patterns,” the King growled from within the cocoon.

“Come at me, bro. You won’t. No balls,” Vivian replied.

Roaring in rage, the King burst from the cocoon.