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Not only was its Trample interrupted, but the immense force caused its front hooves to get stuck fast in the ground. It didn’t look like they would be coming loose anytime soon.

After being weakened by the Guardbreak Arrow, the boss still had 147 defense left. That arrow seemed to reduce armor by percentage, and the effect was extremely potent.

Sidestepping the Dread Knight’s counterattack, Starry moved around to its rear. From this angle, the boss could barely fight back.

Her Icy Moon Slash struck cleanly across the skull, triggering a massive weak-point hit.

Even the Soul Flame flickered unsteadily within its skull, dimming and brightening in turns.

Frost spread from its head down its entire skeletal body, seeping into the ground until even its front hooves were frozen solid. Still, even without Armor of Darkness, its level and rank were far too high, the frozen effect wouldn’t last long.

The scene felt oddly familiar. Zane didn’t hesitate for a moment before pressing Accept.

Since the forehead was its weak point, there was no reason to stop. Starry focused her normal attacks on the skull, striking over and over.

**Crack—!**

The ice was about to break!

Suddenly, a flash of white light shot forth, forming four radiant chains that tightly bound the boss in place.

Perhaps due to elemental advantage, this restraint worked even better than the freeze. As expected of a hidden class, so many strange and powerful abilities! Zane couldn’t help thinking so.

***

If the Dread Knight had been able to fight Starry and Zane evenly before, that balance shattered the instant Windblossom joined in.¹　

Without its Armor of Darkness, the boss’ HP couldn’t withstand the combined onslaught of a Mad Swordsman’s fierce output. In less than a minute, the three players and two pets had beaten it down to near death. It had barely 10,000 HP remaining. One more round of attacks would finish it.

The Soul Flame flickered weakly. “Young girl… could you wait… a moment?”

Starry’s hand froze mid-swing.

Windblossom came closer, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

Starry didn’t answer. She simply pointed at the boss.

“Thank you…” the Dread Knight said with relief. “I don’t even know how many humans I’ve killed… a hundred? A thousand? Though I had no consciousness, I still remember fragments, those horrific scenes of death.”

“Now that you’ve defeated me… it’s the punishment I deserve. Only… I wish for you to deliver a message… if she’s still alive.”

What kind of twist was this? A boss could issue its own quest? And a C-rank one at that?

Might as well accept it, there was no penalty anyway, and the more quests, the better.

“She’s called Obeya, she lives in Flarestar City. When you find her… tell her… her father has always remembered his daughter’s wedding.”

“…”

After finishing his message, the Soul Flame flared weakly again, as if refusing to die.

‘Are we fighting again?’

Still, Zane didn’t feel the slightest bit of worry. The heavily wounded Dread Knight was far too weak to cause any more trouble.

**Shrrrk!**

But then, something happened that none of them expected. The boss, Yamo, suddenly drove its hand straight through its own forehead. With sheer force, it split open its skull and seized the flickering Soul Flame within, clutching it tight despite the burning agony.

The faint sound of brittle cracking echoed, soft yet enough to make Zane’s hair stand on end.

‘Just how much willpower did that take?’

As the last trace of the flame faded, the boss’ HP bar emptied completely, down to zero.

A flash of golden light enveloped them. Starry rose to Lv.30 with 76% experience, while Zane reached Lv.30 with 7%. Windblossom gained plenty of experience too, reaching Lv.29.

Not only that, the ground glittered with dazzling gold light, it was a Unique-grade equipment! And definitely not just one piece! Even so… Zane didn’t feel like looting. Instead, he quietly walked toward the heap of corpses.

“Hey, where are you going? Don’t you want the loot?”
“You pick first. We’ll take whatever’s left.” Zane waved dismissively.

Under normal circumstances, he’d never act so casually. Unique gear was a huge deal, a single piece could outclass an entire set of Rare equipment. But… there was something far more important right now.

Windblossom sighed, half speechless, yet still collected all the drops. With so many people around, who knew if some thieves would try to snatch them? Even if they had a one-minute ownership window, it was better to be cautious.

Zane pushed aside one corpse after another. Blood was everywhere, and his small hands were caked with grime.

‘Elna… no, Nana… where are you?’

“I’ll just take this one, it’s my way of repaying that favor from last time.” Windblossom said, holding up a pair of boots.

‘Where are you?’

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

‘Where… are you?’

His vision blurred. He hadn’t noticed it during the battle, but now exhaustion crashed over him like a wave. Still… this little bit of fatigue was nothing. Back then, he had once stayed up grinding for forty-eight hours straight just for a single piece of gear, though it never dropped in the end.

‘She’s beneath your feet.’ Zane narrowed his eyes, scanning the area carefully. ‘Where… wait!’ His heartbeat suddenly quickened. ‘Who just spoke?’

The voice had sounded calm, yet unmistakably familiar…the tone, the warmth, the presence. It was Starry. It was Starry herself!²　

‘Hmph? What, you’ve already forgotten me after just a few days?’ The playful, lilting voice scolded him. Zane could almost picture Starry’s faint pout in his mind.

“You… where did you go!?” Zane blurted out, unable to hold it in any longer.

Windblossom, who stood behind, jumped in surprise. “What do you mean? I’ve been here the whole time…?”

‘Sorry… there are some things I just found out myself,’ Starry’s voice carried a trace of apology.

(Things even Starry didn’t know? What could it possibly be?) Zane pondered for a moment.

Then came Starry’s teasing complaint. ‘More importantly… how long are you planning to keep standing on top of Elna like that?’

(Standing… on what? Elna? Now that she mentioned it… the floor did feel unusually soft!) Looking down, the golden-haired girl couldn’t help but curse aloud. “What the hell!”

Her Decayed Bone Boots were planted squarely on something flat, and that something moved! Startled, Zane lost his balance and stumbled backward in a panic.

“Khh—!” Elna, whose chest had just endured a string of impacts, reflexively tried to cough, and then— her lips met Zane’s squarely in the next instant! Their eyes locked together, her emerald irises wide with panic.