Two figures stood opposite each other, giving off such an extraordinary aura that travellers from the ends of the earth would be able to feel the pressure that they exerted. They squared off in the desecrated ruins of a palace, the chipped chiselled stone it was made out of a reminder of how ancient the battlegrounds were.

One figure was a monster, a half-breed between an orc and an undead, the name of which was and was protecting what could be seen as the switch that enabled players to leave the game. It was the final boss of the online game and even reaching such a creature was a difficult feat in itself. It had a red bulky body with horns that sprouted out of the top of its head and it carried a greatsword that could level a mountain with one swing. Pitch black beads which counted for its eyes focused on the other figure, tracking their every movement. Standing at over 30m tall, it donned a magnificent black armor, amplifying the terror that it exerted onto its surroundings. It would be no exaggeration to call this creature ‘a thing from your imagination’ for the overwhelming pressure and the hate it gave out truly was unimaginable. It was indeed a monster deserving of the title of ‘Final Boss’.

The other figure was a human. His name was Victor and he was the only person capable of facing such a creature. Clad in an ornamented blue and white robe with a tattered cloak fluttering behind him, he held a pure crimson bow in his right hand and a sheathed scarlet katana at his waist. His face was shadowed by a cowl, covering most of his features except for his sapphire eyes.

From an outsider’s view this seemed like an unwinnable battle for the young man, however the strength between the two opponents were unmistakably in favour of the human who boasted the maximum amount of combat strength that the game could let you upgrade.

Victor took a step back, notching an arrow onto his bow as he did so. As he was preparing to fire a shot, Xythul responded by slashing in an overhead arc at him with a speed so insanely fast it rivalled the firing shot of a bullet. The greatsword crashed into the palace floor, shattering a wide area on its impact. Where the sword met the floor, not only did it obliterate the flooring but it also managed to pierce the ground underneath.

But. Victor was no longer there.

In the time it took for Xythul to swing its sword, he was already leaping backwards 5, 10, 20 feet creating a safe distance between him and the half-breed. He had used the skill to determine the movements of its attack and repositioned himself with which allowed him to match the speed of his opponent.

Aiming for its right arm, Victor released the already prepared shot from before. As he did so, he muttered the words giving his arrow maximum armour penetration and amplifying its damage by tenfold. When the arrow found its target, it pierced all the way through, rendering the arm useless and leaving behind a trail of blue blood as it made its exit on the other side dyeing its red body a violent turquoise colour. The greatsword it was carrying landed on the floor with an earth-shattering boom which could be heard from miles away. Xythul’s HP bar had decreased by ½ its original health. Considering it was a single shot against the end boss, it was a substantial amount of damage.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Xythul roared in pain at the gaping hole in its upper arm . It was similar to that of the rumbling of an earthquake, the tremors it caused shattering stone with their force. Immediately, Victor leaped out of the way, due to ’s prediction. Even so, the other arm swung dangerously close to his body, inches away from contact at a fast speed trying to chase the afterimage of Vic’s body.

“Hmph. Not bad.”

Even as he scoffed, Victor made sure not to underestimate Xythul’s abilities since he made it this far, it would be a shame, to say the least, if he lost now to his pride. With one hit, the HP gauge in the corner of vision could vanish to grey and he would be flattened with ease, there was simply no room for error here.

was a game where actions in the game could cause severe health implications in real life, even resulting in death in extreme cases. As such, the government officially banned all distribution of the game but by that time, it was already in widespread circulation and popularity – it was incredibly easy to get a copy of the game. Things took a turn for the worse, especially for the government, when people found they couldn’t log out of the game. And that was 2 years ago.

It was for the sake of getting people back to their own lives, that he was here trying his best at clearing the game.

A lot of people’s hopes were riding on his shoulders. A boy who cried every day at being separated from his family.  A girl who was struck with grief at having lost her sister to this very game. There was also a man, desperate to reunite with his wife. Even his own family was waiting for him. All of them had struggled, fought, battle, cried and most of them had vanished. It had been too long.

And now he was here, sweet victory almost in his sights. He’d defeat Xythul once and for all and he’d grant those people, the ones who struggled with him, the ones who helped him even when he was about to give up – he’d give them the freedom that they deserved.

The only thing standing between him and his goal was this creature here.

Victor strapped the bow onto his back and unsheathed the katana at his side, the light reflecting off the shiny crimson surface of the blade until it reached its tip, illuminating his eerily calm face.

“This blade will taste the blood of the Gods.”

As Xythul glared a hateful stare at him, Victor vanished, a zigzag of blurry movements travelling up Xythul’s useless arm onto his left shoulder. With a whisper, he severed the other arm clean off the body.

Wrath of the Ancients:

It was a single overhead strike which had a weak base damage but dealt upto 100 times its damage based on the size disparity of the blade’s victim. Hence the name “Mortal Reminder”, the damage it potentially causes could befall even the greatest of gods.

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By now, with only a useless arm, Xythul collapsed onto its knees from the immense damage it had taken. It’s HP bar was only 1/10 now and the armor it had worn was cracked in several places, even one of its horns had been sliced off.

Even so, it wasn’t like Victor had taken no damage either, his robes which were specially reinforced with magic of the highest tier were now in tatters, as having to repel the massive blows put an incredible strain on the durability that it could withstand. Furthermore, he was also mentally exhausted, the battle had been going on for several hours and he was on the brink of collapsing from all the strenuous effort.

“Haaaaa…..”

Victor sunk onto one knee, taking a moment to regather his thoughts and reminding himself that all this was necessary.

“Don’t screw up now…”

He could feel the beady eyes of Xythul boring into him in what he hoped was the remnants of its fighting spirits. Victor rose back up, standing straight, he took a defensive stance in anticipation of what it was going to do next. However, when it didn’t move for a while he got wary of what it was trying to do. Using , the system confirmed his suspicions that its body was in a state of emergency recovery at an incredible rate. Already, its useless arm was repaired and it could move again. If left alone, Xythul would return back to its original state.

Of course, Victor wouldn’t let it do that.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

With a bellow, it picked up the greatsword off the floor and thrusted it in Victor’s direction.

Without a moment’s doubt, he activated and . With he would be teleported to a short distance away which he chose as the back of Xythul’s head. However, it would take a short amount of time to channel up, and in those precious seconds he would definitely be speared by the sword if it wasn’t for which slowed the movements of his surroundings thus giving him the time needed to teleport away. Even so, the speed of the thrust was unparalleled to any monster he had fought before and it managed to take a considerable chunk of his HP before he could blink away.

“Gah!”

Immediately his passive activated, giving him increased defensive stats, preventing any more extensive damage from the thrust.

Finally, Victor was in position.

He activated the katana’s hidden ability . Instantaneously, the atmosphere begin to darken and the temperature dropped significantly. Tendrils of smoke emanated from the handle of the katana, wrapping itself around the blade causing the scarlet colour of the blade to dim into a matt black shade. This gave the katana the ability to execute any enemy as long as their HP was in lower proportions than the wielder.

was a skill which even the most powerful warriors feared since they could not fight on even grounds with it – they had to be constantly wary of their health. Combined with the immeasurable attack power of the katana, the possibility of something defeating the wielder of such a blade was incredibly slim. Indeed, it was something to be afraid of.

Victor swung. There was only a whistle of wind as the blade met its mark, leaving a trail of black in its wake. In the end it left only a stump where Xythul’s former head lay and thus its lifeless body collapsed onto one side.

----

You have defeated and the last of its kind

You have acquired the title: Knight of Retribution

You have acquired the title: Guardian of the Forbidden

You have acquired the title: Paramount

 You have acquired the following skills: Terrify, Last Stand

You have acquired the following items: Soul of the Keeper of Secrets, God’s Hand

The room was filled with shining white light, the corpse of Xythul fading away in its brightness. When the light dimmed, a message popped up on Victor’s screen:

has been defeated and the last condition has been met.

It announced Victor’s triumph for the entire world to see.

You are now free to log out.

“Finally…”

The game which they were trapped in for two years had been beaten and a quick check of his log-in screen confirmed there was a logout button.

His friends could finally log out.

“If only you were here Winter…”

He chest swelled with a mixture of pride and sadness.

Would the girl he had fallen in love with acknowledge him now? He smiled bitterly.

Victor sat on the hard ground of the palace.

His stamina was drained entirely and he felt so mentally fatigued at this point, it took him effort just to stay awake.

“Maybe I’ll just take a short break…”

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