Vengeful

Team Shadow Liege silently watched their target from the cover of the bushes. The field boss, known as the White Claw had been surrounded by another team of players. They too were hunting the field boss for the special items that it would drop.

"So what do we do, Shade? Should we attack?" Quietly asked Rondo.

"No. This field boss is quite strong. Let's wait until they weaken it a little before we strike," he replied.

Rondo agreed. This seemed like the wisest thing that they could do. Even if the players failed to weaken the boss, then it would simply kill them which would mean less competition on the next stage.

However, things weren't going well for the team that was attacking the boss. Though their team comprised of eight players— more than any other team that Shade had come across so far, they were still being easily overwhelmed. The power of the field boss was frightening.

At first, it had seemed as if this team had a chance against the field boss. Unfortunately, they were now losing ground, quickly becoming overwhelmed by its fearsome strength. Not before long, every member of the team had perished at the massive claws of the field boss. It was disheartening.

"I don't want to sound like a coward or anything but I don't think we should go up against that thing..." Warned Maria.

"Don't worry! You have the most beautiful team captain with you! We'll defeat that monster with my dazzling presence!" Humored Celia.

"I still don't get how you can all be so calm... You've witnessed what that thing can do, haven't you?"

"Quiet and get into position," interrupted Shade. "It's about to eat the players that it just killed. This is a good chance to catch it off guard."

Everyone agreed with Shade. The timing seemed perfect. They had even formulated a plan which they were almost certain would work.

"Rondo, do it now!" Instructed Shade.

Rondo then withdrew two arrows from a quiver on his back before loading them into his bow. Attached at the end of each arrow were small explosives strong enough to uproot trees.

Quickly, Rondo shot his arrows into the hind legs of the massive bear. It then quickly turned towards them before roaring in rage. It was evident that the arrows felt like nothing more than tiny needles to the massive beast. However, soon after, the explosives went off, rattling it with pain.

The field boss roared in agony as blood pushed its way forward from its hind legs, slightly hindering its movement. They had successfully managed to damage it.

"Okay, hurry and go!" Shouted Rondo. "I only have one more explosive for the backup plan so you've got to make it count!"

Following this, Shade, Celia, and Maria ran from their cover towards the field boss. It roared aggressively, almost driving them deaf but they refused to falter.

"Maria, you're up," instructed Shade once more.

Immediately, both Celia and Shade then came to a stop before covering their eyes. On the other hand, Maria began casting hand signs to activate a magic attack.

The field boss was now charging straight towards them but thankfully, due to the explosive arrows, it was moving significantly slower. This gave Maria just enough time to finish casting her hand signs.

"Light Magic: Blinding Rays!!" She chanted.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light radiated from Maria's presence, temporarily blinding the field boss. Just as planned, Shade and Celia were however unaffected due to covering their eyes. Now they had a clear shot to inflict more damage on the boss without issue.

"Celia, now stay behind and guard Maria just in case! I'll go ahead!" Ordered Shade.

Shade then dived towards the stunned field boss with his sword in hand. His current objective was not to kill the boss. Given its size, Shade knew it would be fairly difficult to kill it so easily. For now, he planned to wound it with his sword so that the paralysis ability would take effect, giving them a full minute to end its life without issue.

Just as he had planned, Shade then dived forward before piercing the field boss's thick neck with his blade. It screamed in anguish as blood spilled from its newly made wound. Shade had succeeded. All they had to do now was proceed with a full-fledged attack to kill the boss.

However, this was when the worst-case scenario happened. To Shade's astonishment, the field boss simply came around with a powerful swing of its paw, swatting him a few feet away into a nearby boulder that shattered upon impact. The paralysis ability of his sword had failed to stop the boss.

"Shade!!" Screamed Celia in worry.

Shade hissed. It was as he feared. The field boss was immune to status ailments which meant that his sword's ability was completely useless against it.

Following this, the field boss chose Maria as its next victim. Its jaws flew open as it aimed to chomp her in half. Fortunately for her, Celia was there to counter with a swing of her sword.

A screech then echoed through the area as metal clashed with the hard teeth of the field boss. Nevertheless, this was far from enough to stop it.

The field boss then came around with another powerful swing of its paw, causing Celia to crash violently into Maria. The force was so great that they both rolled along the ground like a pair of lost tires.

Things were starting to take a very bad turn. Celia, Maria, and Shade all had their health bars deep in the red zone from a single attack each. They barely even had time to administer healing potions to themselves before the boss continued its assault.

However, Shade had a backup plan. He had already considered the possibility of his paralysis not working on the boss.

"Tsk..! Rondo, Arora, now!" He ordered painfully.

Almost immediately, Rondo ran from the bushes before shooting a few arrows at the field boss. In truth, he wasn't the best at using a bow but since the game had given him the Class Ability of the Archer, he had no choice but to use it.

Due to this, most of his arrows were hitting random points on the boss's body. However, one arrow managed to lodge itself into one of its eyes, permanently blinding it.

The field boss growled in agony as it clawed at its eye. It thrashed around violently due to the intense pain it now felt.

Taking advantage of this, Arora, who had been waiting in hiding jumped towards the boss. She then landed atop its head by plummeting her knives into its thick skull to serve as an anchor.

The field boss was now boiling with rage and pain. It continued to thrash around as it desperately aimed to shake Arora free from its head.

However, Arora was resilient. She was now much braver than before after facing death head-on. Gradually, she crawled towards the face of the field boss before plummeting one of her knives into its other eye. Thanks to this, the massive bear was now completely blind.

Once again, it roared in agony from its blindness. It then swept its heavy claws at the top of its head which managed to swat Arora painfully to the ground.

However, by this time, both Celia and Shade had used healing potions on themselves. They hurriedly charged in towards the boss to defend the now wounded Arora.

The field boss then came down with a powerful swing of its claw directly towards Arora. Thankfully, by this time Celia and Shade had managed to arrive just on time to parry the attack.

"What the hell..?" Cursed Celia in shock. "Isn't it blind?! How did it know where Arora fell?"

"Damn... It has to be by smell. I forgot that polar bears always had a strong sense of smell!" Guessed Shade.

Just then, to make things worse, steam began emitting from the monster's mouth. Everyone immediately knew what was about to come next.

"Shit! Celia, get away with Arora now!".

A powerful beam of light then shot from the boss's mouth, rattling the area. At least two dozen trees had been turned to dust from a single blast.

Fortunately, they had all managed to get out of the way just in time. Little did they know that the field boss had only used its special attack as a diversion. To Shade's surprise, it widened its massive jaws as it aimed to swallow him whole.

Desperately, Shade clenched his teeth as he placed his sword before him, catching the massive teeth of the boss, preventing its mouth from closing. However, Shade was now pinned to the ground unable to move. His sword was the only thing between him and a painful death. He needed to do something and quick.

Suddenly, to make things worse, steam once again began emitting from the boss's mouth. Shade's eyes widened with horror as he realized what it was trying to do. It was aiming for its special attack at point-blank range. There was no way that Shade could escape.

"Rondo!! Ignite the bomb and throw it towards me now!!" Shouted Shade.

Rondo didn't know what Shade was thinking but there was no time for questions. Hurriedly, he then ignited the bomb before throwing it towards him.

Shade then skillfully caught the bomb before throwing it down the massive throat of the boss.

"This is for killing my teammate!"

A second later, an explosion rocketed inside its throat, blasting its head to pieces. It was finally dead.

Sadly, before Shade could even catch his breath, he heard agonizing screams from behind. Hurriedly, he then turned around to see that his teammates were all being held hostage by a few unknown players.

"Shade, watch out!" Screamed Arora with a knife pressed against her throat.

Before Shade could even react, a player with golden blonde hair and dark brown eyes stepped forward. He wore a blue and black coat similar to Shade's and had a sword sheathed by his side.

"Damn, can't a guy catch a break..?" Cursed Shade to himself.

Finally, the mystery player then spoke to Shade in an agitated tone;

"Are you the one they refer to as the Head Reaper?"