Thousands of Hunters scramble aside at the same time, desperate to avoid the crashing fury of Demon Lord Belziarde.

Holy crap! We’re getting annihilated!

On my left, just a mere few meters away, dozens of Hunters are blasted off the top of Tiendas Tower. They fall down into the abyss, never to be seen again. Without the glass dome, the howling wind surges and adds to the chaos. People are completely panicking, trampling each other. If I had to estimate from my past memories, a boss like this would never appear until Lvl. 30 or even later, when people had ranged skills.

Considering the current pathetic weapons loadout of all the Hunters here, we’re screwed! Even with my prior experience, there’s no way to reach Demon Lord Belziarde. He just floats ups there and tosses lightning down without a care. Yin’s face is filled with despair as she turns to me.

“W-What do we do?” She asks. I narrow my eyes for a split second as the Demon Lord focuses his lightning on the other side of the platform. Ignoring the screams of dying Hunters, I search for a way out of this. “Hei we have to do something!”

“I know!” My mouth is dry. I notice that every once in a while, the Demon Lord dips down from the sky, his purple coat fluttering. It’s like he’s taunted us, almost coming into reach. A few Hunters with clubs jump up in vain trying to reach him. However, they’re too low level and the Demon Lord gleefully smiles. With a flash of white teeth, lightning pours out and blasts them off the tower.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Please no!”

“HEEELP MEE!”

Their screams echo as they’re sent off into the storm. No one dares go close to the edge to see them off, too afraid that they will be next. I have no idea how many people have died already.

It’s a slaughter!

“Yin…if he comes over here, and gets low enough, your agility stat has most of your points. You could probably jump high enough to reach him.” I come up with something resembling a plan. However, it’s risky. “The thing is…it’d be hard to hit him more than once considering you’d have so little time in midair. Which means the combo power of your Ghostblade Asura would be limited. And your strength stat is lacking. I don’t know if its worth it. Damnit, where are the other System Reward holders?”

“You think I can hit THAT?” Yin bites her lips. However, a new wave of lightning comes and we’re forced to scatter as it sweeps across the platform. Fortunately, since I told Tatsuya’s group to spread out and drop their trash can lids, we haven’t had any casualties yet. Everyone is just focused on evading. The stink of burnt flesh and clothes is filling the air quickly, however. It seems many, many Hunters have died already.

By the time the Demon Lord’s storm passes and we’re capable of speaking again, Yin has changed her mind. Tightening her hands on her sword, she bends her knees.

“He’s not coming this way!”

“Then we’ll have to go to him.” I like the look in her eyes. Yin gets the message. We creep across the platform, leaving the rest of our party behind.

“Wait we’ll back you up!” The priest-like man tries to come with us, but I wave him away while pointing at the sky.

“Stay here! Once that bastard is on the ground, I’ll be counting on you!” I refrain from mentioning how useless they are right now. If they came, they’d just end up dead. A chill passes through me as we begin to move towards the Demon Lord’s side of the platform.

“Hehehe…I see, a challenger finally appears?” Belziarde laughs, pointing at a finger, but it’s not at us.

Someone else has caught his attention. Thick killing intent spreads from the demonic mage. He raises a six-fingered hand and snaps his fingers as lightning dances between his knuckles. “Come on then! Let’s see it! I’m getting bored of slaughtering you!”

“I’ll take you down, Demon Lord! Do you dare take this shot of mine?” The long black hair of Harem Leader swirls in the stormy winds as he draws back a gleaming black longbow. His honor guard of four pretty girls takes defensive positions around him with various bladed weapons. A thick strand of Qi gathers in his hands, so dense that it’s visible as he nocks a System generated arrow and pulls back the string. My eyes narrow.

So, he got his hands on one of the first System Weapons huh? And it’s a ranged one? I guess the System hasn’t abandoned us yet! There’s still a way out!

“Hehehe of course I’m not afraid of you. Borrowed power can never reach the apex!” The Demon Lord’s voice drips with sarcasm as he mocks Harem Leader. “Hahaha just kidding! You really thought I’d say something like that? Perhaps I should wait while you charge your ultimate attack? Nah…GO DIE!”

*KRANG!*

A six-fingered demon hand opens, sending crackling lightning so loud it burns my eardrums, down at the youth carrying a bow. Harem Leader’s expression changes, fear filling his eyes as the four girls at his side shriek in fear. Clearly, he was hoping to bluff his way into charging up a powerful System Weapon’s attack. For a second, I consider going over there to try to help, but even if I wanted to tank the attack, I’m not fast enough to make it. Yin watches with wide eyes as it looks like Harem Leader’s about to be wiped out of existence.

“Not on my watch!”

A hulking brute of a man appears. I haven’t seen him before. He must have been from one of the other entrances. Carrying a thick shield embossed with the Demon Lord’s own insignia, he launches himself in front of Harem Leader and blocks the lightning.

*Chi! Chi!*

His feet slide backwards, and a group of similarly bulky body builders run in to support him! Putting their hands against his back, they push with everything they’ve got, keeping him from getting knocked off!

“Oi, pretty boy! I’ll hold him off! Just take him out!”

“T-Thanks!” Harem Leader shakes his hair out of his eyes, as his straining shoulder muscles struggle to pull the ridiculously big bow back. My guess is his stats are barely high enough to wield such a powerful System Weapon. However, there’s no denying the unfathomable power gathering between his hands! “I’m ready! Get out of the way!”

“YEA!” The body builders and shield wielding dude dive out of the way to open a way directly to the Demon Lord! “FIRE!”

“Daring to use my own weapons against me?” Demon Lord Belziarde narrows his eyes until they seem like just slits. “Heathens…always such pathetic thieves!” However, despite his prideful words, he holds up his hands to form a defensive shield of prismatic, spinning lightning. A second later, Harem Leader lets go of the bowstring and fires!

*Weng*

The noise is explosive, this strange bouncy reverberation like a steel cable snapping. The air distorts on top of Tiendas Tower, and even from here, I can feel the aftereffects of a shockwave as the System Arrow leaves the bowstring. Harem Leader sags as all of his mana is converted into energy for this one attack. Every single person watching holds their breath-

*Chi Chi Chi*

The Demon Lord’s electric shield buzzes as the purple arrow makes contact. He grunts, a goat-like noise which does not fit his almost-human face. Then the arrow pierces through the barrier and smashes into his hands!

*Bang*

“Guhhh…not bad.”

Belziarde’s hands tremble and he sinks down, floating just above the waiting weapons of several Hunters below him. Clearly, he has suffered some damage and can no longer maintain his height.

“To bring out so much of Magistrate Puer’s power despite just gaining his bow. Not bad, not bad! However, you only had enough mana for one shot! Now what will you do? I’m still here!” The Demon Lord’s pale face breaks into another wide smile as he continues to hover. “You’re still helpless and soon I will recover!”

“Yin. Now!” I yell and the beautiful girl at my side explodes into action. While Harem Leader and shield guy were distracting the boss, we’ve been sneaking in closer. Now we’re almost directly beneath him. The Demon Lord notices all the killing intent beneath him and hurriedly moves to dodge. However, Yin is Lvl. 20 with a full agility build! Her speed is unescapable!

*Tch*

She taps off the ground, soaring into the sky, her katana flashing. The Demon Lord’s eyes widen, as she arrives next to him in an instant. One girl and one boss stare at each other for a split second before her blade swings.

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*Puchi!*

Yin cuts into one of his hands at the wrist. Fortunately, the boss is a mage type, and seems to have weak physical defenses. Even still, her replica katana isn’t strong enough to leave more than a thin gash, a flesh wound at most. The boss smiles, licking his lips as if to show he isn’t injured. However, then Yin attacks a second and third time, leaving additional cuts on his other arm and shoulder before gravity causes her to fall back to the tower.

*Tap*

She lands and Belziarde laughs, spreading his luxurious purple coat out as a few thin drops of blood fall down.

“All that and you’ve barely managed to make me bleed! Hahaha you’re too weak…too weak-?” Suddenly he cuts off as Yin’s eyes glow crimson. For the first time, I feel killing intent from the girl’s glare. Maybe she really will become a Death God one day…

“You’ve hurt too many people! Pay for your sins!”

*Snap*

Yin’s hair billows and for a brief second purple smoke curls up from the back of her neck as she watches the Demon Lord fall out of the sky. Everyone watches in shock as the thin little cuts she left on him, lengthen from an invisible Asura’s strikes. The ghostly image of the Reaper’s blade seems to manifest behind the Demon Lord, as Belziarde’s wrist is almost blown apart from her System Skill.

*Thud*

The Demon Lord lands on his feet, dropping into a kneeling position as he gathers his breath. Anger clouds his features, the arrogance from before disappearing. He stares at Yin with undisguised confusion.

“You…that blade is ordinary, but you’ve obtained the power of the gods!” He hisses in frustration, a forked tongue coming out as he licks his lips. The goat-like eyes sneer as he raises his hands once more, one of which has a deep gash in the wrist. “Alright. I’m done playing around. Taste despair!”

First the Demon Lord sends a column of sheer lightning into the grand staircase. Hunters are still pouring in but as his vengeance arrives, they are forced to dive out of the way. Some of them jump back down the staircase, desperate to escape.

*BOOOM!*

The grand staircase shatters, crumbling to bits. A satisfied Demon Lord laughs cruelly.

“Now you cannot leave. Trapped like the rats you are. And I think it’s time to harvest!” He extends his six-fingered hands in both directions and spins in a circle as a streaming, burning, beam of lightning explodes out!

*Weng*

The beam cuts across the whole rooftop, and I scream as I realize he intends to kill everyone in one blow!

“DOWN! EVADE IT!”

The lucky ones drop and just have the hair on top of their head seared. Some of the higher-level Hunters like Yin choose to jump into the skies over the whirling beams. But all the lower-level Hunters, anyone with slower reflexes who doesn’t dodge in time…are caught.

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

“He-!”

“N-!”

The twin beams sweep through the top of the tower as Belziarde spins, cauterizing the wounds as they go. So many people fall I can’t even count them. It’s like the crowded rooftop just emptied and became a graveyard in mere seconds. When the Demon Lord’s mana fizzles out and the beams fade away, perhaps thousands lay dead.

“The System sure is impressive…” I hear Tatsuya’s voice. Amazingly, he has survived, but the salary-woman, Andie, he has been traveling with was too slow to duck. He stares at both halves of her with an oddly blank expression. To my surprise, I see Penelope beside him. She’s still alive, having fallen to the floor after my warning. Perhaps the girl has more potential than I thought. Of the countless Hunters who made it to the top of Tiendas Tower, maybe only a few dozen remain.

A flicker of movement comes from the side. The hunched over Demon Lord turns his head as a man in full black armor charges towards him, his sword on high. It’s Jian, the corrections officer.

“Hahaha! Thanks for clearing out the trash! Now it’s my turn!”

The Hawaiian shirted man and the wavy red-haired boy charge forwards as well, their machete and shovel swinging wildly.

“You dare!” Demon Lord Belziarde raises his hands, but this time his white lightning comes slowly, and from the hand which Yin injured, nothing comes at all.

Belziarde’s running out of mana!

The wavy red-haired boy is sent flying backwards, his hair on fire. But Jian and the Hawaiian shirt manage to reach the boss.

*Shing*

The boss is reeling. Demonic purple blood spurts out from a thick wound on his shoulder. Jian has managed to hit him right where one of Yin’s Ghostblade Asura marks exploded! Hawaiian shirt dude goes for his injured wrist, trying to hack off a hand.

*Puchi*

A six-fingered hand falls to the ground with a wet smack. The Demon Lord howls as he loses more and more blood. Over from the side, a panting muscle-bound freak holding a charred shield cheers them on. Behind him, Harem Leader and his girlfriends lay exhausted, watching the battle. I turn my head as Yin lands beside me after evading Belziarde’s ultimate attack. Her sharp eyes go to the boss.

“I’ll go with you. Let’s finish this.” I tell her.

She nods, a hard expression on her face as she realizes most of Tatsuya’s party has been eliminated. In the corner of my eye, I see the Hunter Counter has refreshed.

1,000,001

A full 3,520 players have died in this boss battle. The rooftop is littered with bodies and doubtless, down below, those who were pushed off the edge lay broken. It’s terrible, a human tragedy. But that is the way this Secret Dungeon goes. A thought occurs to me.

If I wasn’t here to help Yin, would it really have gone so badly that every single Hunter would have died in this fight? Was my presence here all it took to change fate? We still have a million Hunters left and this boss is almost dead.

Putting it off, I notice the orange cat peeking out of Yin’s jacket. It quickly pops back under after seeing all that’s going on.

Ugh, what a useless familiar! Not that I can blame it. It’s just a housecat!

“What was that?” Tatsuya suddenly appears behind me. However, I ignore him.

There’s no time. If we give the boss a chance to recover this could get dangerous.

Rushing in, I raise my cleaver on high!

“AHHH!” The Hawaiian shirted man is sent flying back as the Demon Lord smacks him with an arm. Even as a mage type, the Boss has god-like strength. Jian attacks him furiously as he sees us approaching.

“No! He’s mine! The last hit is mine!” The black-armored man hacks away with abandon. However, his fury makes him careless and a simple slip up is enough for the Demon Lord to roar. Static fills the air and a shockwave shoves the corrections officer to the edge of the platform. He just barely manages to dig his heels onto the roof and avoid falling to his doom. “NOOOOO!”

“Yin…GET HIM NOW!” I call out encouragement as she accelerates towards the boss. In the critical moment, I see the Boss’s goat-like eyes open wide, a smile creeping up on its purple lips.

“WAIT!”

It’s too late. A cage of lightning explodes into existence around the Boss just as Yin gets there. She reacts insanely fast, a true agility type. Bringing her sword up to guard her face, she abruptly vaults up into a backflip to get away. Even still, the edge of the lightning cage touches her foot and she screams in agony as thousands of volts charge through her!

“YIN!” I scream as well, desperate to reach her. The smart girl throws her sword down to the rooftop while in midair, tumbling away and landing in a heap by the muscle-bound freak who quickly drops his shield in front of her.

*Dong*

“U-Ugh…” She groans, sprawling limply behind the thick man’s protection. It’s obvious she cannot move, her leg just twitching and jerking from residual electricity. The Demon Lord smiles at me, perhaps seeing my low level as his electric cage is pierced by Yin’s sword. The metal blade sparks as it crashes into the web of lightning and short circuits the skill. As the defensive cage sputters out, Yin’s sword clatters to the ground, the tip chipping as it hits the platform of Tiendas Tower. I sigh, seeing the damage. Though still usable, I can’t help but feel pain at seeing a valuable weapon break.

It’ll need to be replaced soon. But it’s done a lot. After all, it’s just a replica blade.

“Weakling…you think you can kill me?” The Demon Lord groans, but seems confident in his victory. “I can smell it. You don’t have the power of the gods! You’re just trash!”

*Tap Tap Tap*

Over by the side, Jian, has regained his footing on the platform and is sprinting in for the final blow. He’s fast, almost as fast as Yin, definitely higher than Lvl. 15. However, his full armor is slowing him down and the Demon Lord jerks his head sideways and dismissively blasts him with lightning from his one remaining hand.

*Bzzzz*

Jian screams as the lightning conducts through his full plate, dropping to the deck with a sizzle. I see Tatsuya behind me, watching with an unreadable expression. There’s something strange with the way he’s looking at me, I can’t tell what he’s thinking.

Just focus on killing the Boss!

I think I hear Tatsuya say something from behind me that doesn’t make sense.

“Worms…pathetic worms squabbling in the dirt. You make me sick…”

Then I rush in at the kneeling Demon Lord who raises his hand at me. However, he has barely any mana after blasting Jian.

“GET HIM!”

“YOU GOT THIS!”

Harem Leader, Yin, and the shield wielding muscle freak all cheer me on as I raise my butcher’s blade and go in for the kill!

I hope killing this bastard doesn’t make me too strong!

“MROOOWWW!”

Even my useless familiar sends out a cheer from inside Yin’s jacket as well.

“DIE!”

With all my might I ram the butcher’s blade into the Demon Lord’s neck!

“GUH?!” He chokes as the thick knife chops through his skin. “Y-You’re different! How can you be so strong!”

“You underestimate Hunters.” My cold dispassionate words are followed with a second chop.

*Puchi!*

This time it cuts deeper, and the Demon Lord wheezes as air escapes from the hole in his neck every time he tries to talk.

“H-a-h h-a-h…very…good!” Belziarde seems close to breathing his last. “AGH!”

I rip my blade out and prepare for a third and final swing. The Demon Lord’s hand falls, he’s defenseless. However, for some strange reason, he stares over my shoulder, as if looking at something behind me.

“H-e-h…heheheheh!” He wheezes, chuckling insanely as my blade goes back once more, “F-Fool…you think killing me means anything? You won’t get to live to enjoy the reward!”

“Oh really?” My eyes narrow, wondering what the Demon Lord means. However, I don’t intend to let him recover anyways. “Whatever. Go to hell!”

“Nooooooo! You’ll regret this!” He screams in the end. The System Secret Dungeon Boss still feels terror as my thick cleaver enters the hole in his neck and chops off his head.

Then it’s over.

*Crumple*

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

…

Congratulations!

Endless level up notifications come from the System. Over in the corner of my vision, the Hunter Counter refreshes as the Boss dies.

1,000,000

Exactly one million Hunters left. A far cry from the zero I expected.

We survived the Secret Dungeon?

I take a look around the rooftop to see everyone staring at me and the fallen Demon Lord. It seems like we should start celebrating. The air thrums with the thrill of victory. I’m almost about to drop my cleaver when I see something.

Something terrible.

A blinking red notification alerts me to the truth of the matter. It is as I expected. Secret Dungeons are not so easy.

System Notification:

1st Objective: Defeat Demon Lord Belziarde In The Depths Of The City!

Complete!

2nd Objective: There Can Really Only Be One!

Slay All Other Parties Before The City Crumbles!

All Hunters Will Be Sealed Inside Tiendas City Until One Party Remains!

City Destruction Timer: 10:00:00

Hunters Remaining: 1,000,000