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“Quiet!” A cool, crisp voice rang out, carrying a trace of sorrow and anger. Hearing that voice, the two who had been arguing immediately fell silent.

“The Dragon Abyss Legion has long ceased to exist. We… are nothing more than lingering souls from ancient times. Your squabbling is meaningless.”

The man called Victor clenched his fists, then reluctantly lowered them. “You’re right… the glory that belonged to Dragon Abyss is gone.”

“What nonsense! The glory of Dragon Abyss is eternal! Have a few ants already scared the courage out of you?” A voice, harsh and irritable, snapped back.

“Ruehl, be careful you don’t get killed by those ants~” the mage said with a dark, mocking smile.

“Hmph, I don’t need you worrying about me!”

***

A ferocious silhouette was rapidly approaching, its massive frame gleaming with a crimson light. Whoever it was, they came with ill intent. The ground trembled with each stride of the giant, who stood over three meters tall.

**Thud—Thud—Thud**

Zane instantly transformed into a gray wolf, and Starry leapt lightly onto his back. They couldn’t just sit and wait for death. First, they needed to see the enemy’s stats!

With both sides charging toward each other, the distance between them closed at frightening speed. Zane could almost hear the heavy, labored breaths of the approaching foe.

‘Are you kidding me? A Unique-tier boss?!’

Its attack power was already far beyond that of the Death Knight or the Demon King Statue! And with that terrifying defense and massive HP, under the level suppression, even Starry might not be able to deal meaningful damage.

And all its skills were hidden? Worse still, there were three of these monsters in total!

There was no fighting this. At that moment, Zane had only one thought—run.

“Return to town, now! This boss is impossible to fight!” Zane urgently sent the message through the party chat.

Seeing his enemies trying to flee, Ruehl, of course, would not allow it. He reached for the axe on his back and hurled it with all his might!

The enormous two-meter-long weapon spun through the air in a deadly arc toward them.

‘Damn!’ Zane almost coughed blood, ‘This thing could throw spinning axes too?’

Without the slightest hesitation, Starry and Zane separated!

A level 30 Unique-tier boss’ full-powered strike was not something he dared to take head-on. Even Starry’s defense would probably not withstand it.

Starry leapt aside just in time, and the axe whistled over the wolf’s back, sending cold sweat down Zane’s spine.

“Hm?” Ruehl frowned slightly, ‘My prized Throwing Axe actually missed?’

If he wasted too much time on these ants, that sharp-tongued mage would no doubt mock him. With that thought, he stopped hesitating and activated Charge! His massive frame flared with red light, his body becoming a streaking afterimage. This was even faster than a normal charge! And his target was… Starry!

Zane noticed immediately, and Starry felt a chill run down her spine.

Perhaps killing too many Dragon Abyss Knights had shifted most of the boss’ aggro onto her.

Both acceleration skills were activated at once, whether Starry can dodge in time depends on them now.

But… without any obstacles, avoiding a charge was extremely difficult, unless you anticipated it beforehand. And after dodging the Throwing Axe, how could Starry know what was coming from behind?

In the end, she couldn’t escape the charge’s path.

It had to be said, the larger the body, the wider the charge’s attack range. For a boss like this, it was practically a broken skill.

Just as the collision was about to happen, Starmew burst out from the pet space.

‘What is Starmew doing!?’

The moment it appeared, Starmew unleashed Frost Breath from its mouth, swept its tail to fire an Ice Spike, and even conjured Frost Claws upon its paws, striking forward, all three attacks launched at once!

But the Ice Spike didn’t even have time to fully form. Frost Breath howled against Ruehl’s body, but it only brought up a big, glaring “miss.” The Frost Claws struck as well—another miss!

‘What a scam! Is his evasion rate really that high? Or is it because his grade is simply too high?’

**Bang!**

Starmew was slammed hard into Starry, triggering a secondary hit.

Both master and beast lost a sizable chunk of HP. Even so, it was that very impact that saved their lives.

“Ruehl, your title of Berserker doesn’t seem very fitting,” a sharp, mocking voice pierced his ears.

“Enough nonsense!” Ruehl replied impatiently, snatching up the axe he had thrown earlier. He raised the massive stone axe high into the air. Though nothing could be seen, they could all feel an invisible force gathering into his hands.

‘What kind of move is this now? No matter, better to retreat first!’ Zane turned his head back, only to find that Shiu and the others still hadn’t moved!?

“What are you thinking? Get back to town, now!”

“There’s no reason the two of you should have to hold off the boss while we run,” Nangong said matter-of-factly. “If we go, we go together. If we die, we die together.”

“Right. And if you’re about to claim that ‘trading two levels for ten’ isn’t a loss, then I’d say your level 25 and 24 are worth more,” Wanderer said.

“If anyone’s stalling, it should be me. Isn’t that what a Knight is for?” Endless Sea chimed in, equally unwilling to leave.

Not a single one of them made a move to escape.

“You all…” Zane felt a warmth stir in his chest—yeah, as if. “That just means none of us are getting out of here,” he muttered.

It was already too late to run. The battleaxe, now imbued with crushing, mountain-breaking power, slammed violently into the ground. Cracks splintered across the earth, and the overwhelming force surged outward in all directions.

In almost an instant, a flood of outrageous damage numbers burst into the air.

***

A wave of white light flared across the battlefield, almost everyone dropped a level. The rankings board immediately filled with a few other players who took their place.

And on the ground, several pieces of equipment remained. They had likely dropped from those who had just died. Newly obtained gear always had the highest drop rate within the first half hour. Even the Ring of Mana had been lost.

***

“Hahaha, how about that? I took them all down with a single move!” Ruehl turned around and laughed heartily. But to his surprise, his companions were far from impressed.

The venomous mage, Kim, spoke in a voice tinged with fear. “You idiot… you actually split the foundation apart.”

Even Victor and the saintly Ladysha¹ had gone pale.

Ruehl glanced back and saw the patterns beneath the ground torn to shreds, with streams of air constantly rising from the fissures. Of course, Ruehl knew exactly what this meant.

The Forgotten Tower was not a stationary spire rooted to one place. It was… a colossal miracle capable of flight!

Cold sweat slid down his face.

**Zzzzzt—Zzzzzt—Zzzzzt**

The terrifying sound of crackling lightning filled the air.

**Boom!**

A lightning bolt as thick as a water barrel crashed down from above, striking Ruehl with flawless precision.

From his towering 150,000 HP, only just over 10,000 remained in an instant. He collapsed weakly to the ground, muttering, “Thank you, my lord, for sparing me…”

At the same time, under the influence of some unfathomable force, the damaged ground began to mend itself, the broken sections piecing together until they were restored to their original form.

A profound voice echoed through the first floor, its tone neither male nor female. “Adventurers, continue your challenge.”

It was only then that Starry finally snapped back to her senses. The chain of events had happened so quickly her mind struggled to keep up.

Yes… Starry had not died. And if one were to ask why… at the very last moment, Endless Sea had activated Guard. The target had been Starry. And now, after reaching level 25, she could also equip the Wraithfire Boots, pushing her defense past 300, just enough to withstand the devastating blow!

Ruehl lifted his head in disbelief. ‘One of them actually slipped through the net?’