Ep. 5 — Chapter 21: Forest of Mist (4)

The clanging of his pitch black obsidian and the boss's monstrous sized arms didn't cease. Instead, it only got more intense. The guy gritted his teeth and pushed forward, trying to push back the boss. All he got in reply was the boss's prideful grin, though there was some strain in his voice.

"Go! Leave here and stop talking!"

Instead of following his orders, I continued to unfurl the chains and spun it around. Whooshing sounds were made as it spun around my body. More and more clouds were being drawn towards me as I continued to draw speed in the rotations of the chains.

[Skill, 'Chain Mastery Lv. 10' is activated strongly!]

I observed the ensuing battle with immense focus. Both the guy and the boss showed no sign of slowing, or even an opening for me to jump in.

Sparks emerged from the clashing of their weapons. Well, only the man had a weapon, but the boss's body itself could be considered as a weapon. After all, not only is it perfectly deflecting the guy's slashes, but it also delivered powerful blows that shattered the ground.

I wasn't entirely sure how these chains would prove to be effective against the current enemy now. If only I had a proper weapon, like that guy over there.

[Your Skill, 'Chain Mastery' is…]

Ah, nevermind. This is my weapon now.

The speed of the chains had increased exponentially. I took a quick step forward and lunged at the boss at that moment.

The guy dodged a solid blow to his stomach, staggering back before reflexively turning back, aiming the tip of his blade at the heart of the boss. He saw me and then opened his mouth in shock. "You,…I said get out!"

[Foolish!]

Using that to its advantage, the boss abandoned their duel and aimed straight for me. The guy's expression turned anxious and he quickly jumped towards me as well.

"Out of the way—!"

Before he got the chance to finish, the boss grinned and swung his arm back, slamming it against the guy. His quick reflexes moved to block the blow, but the weight of his attacks sent the man flying away.

It was a ridiculous sight. Seeing a fully grown man being sent several hundred metres away with a single swipe of an arm, like wiping dust off a tabletop. The man flew through the air and disappeared within the mists. Now that he's gone, the boss turned his attention back to me with a sinister grin. And also glare. Once again, he huffed, the fumes coming out of his nostrils filled the entire area. A comical sight indeed.

[Your self confidence has brought you to your own demise. But I do appraise you for your bravery. However, you look to be much weaker than the previous one.]

He was right. The guy from earlier is most definitely stronger than I am. Not only his weapon and his skills, but also the fact that he already knew about the nature of this boss. It isn't too far out to assume that he's a veteran player. Just like I am. And that weapon…it definitely does not belong to a beginner.

[Now, what will you do?]

I raised my head to look at the boss.

[You're quiet now. Are you afraid?]

[Maybe I'll let you off for now.] He raised his finger and brought it over his mouth. [A game, per se.]

"A game?"

[Yes. A game.]

He nodded suspiciously. I gripped tighter on the chains, carefully eyeing the boss with uncertainty. Either way, he continued on, [I'll let you live. Run from here, and try to make it out of this place before I get you, and then—]

I didn't wait for him to continue before running in and dealing a blow to his jaw. The boss fell back, and I wrapped the chains around his neck, tightening the binding.

Keuok—!

Without stopping, I leapt over his shoulder, spinning the chains around his neck at a quick speed, wrapping it all around his neck and pulled his entire huge frame down as I landed behind him. He fell back and planted straight into the ground.

I was able to quickly manoeuvre the chains to unwrap and return to me. The surrounding fog dispersed as his body hit the ground.

The boss got on his knees, shaking his head in agitation. His eyes fell onto me with deep anger. His hand touched his neck and rubbed the areas I had choked him from earlier, and he steadily got to his feet. Now that he came back up, I realised just how tall it was. Roughly about three heads taller than I am.

"Sorry, but I'm sort of in a rush now. I don't think I can play your games today." I said, both hands tightly holding onto the chains.

[Is that so?]

"..."

[Another Player has entered the 'Boss Battle'.]

[Adjusting boss's strength level.]

Once again, the previous Player charged at the boss with his blac blade. This time, I moved in as well. They both of us engaged in battle, simultaneously attacking the boss from both sides.

I tried hard to coordinate with the man, but his movements were near perfect, fluidly drawn cuts. It made it hard to adjust my attacks to match his without messing him up. Leaving no opening for me, I resorted to bringing the boss down instead of dealing massive damage. Not that I could anyway.

However, the boss's current strength level seemed to overshadow both mine and this guy's. Just how much of a difference does it make when someone else enters?

His fists flew out in all directions. I barely managed to keep up with it and dodged purely by instinct. In fact, it was like my body moved before I could understand what was going on. I was genuinely glad that I had invested that many Points in my agility. Similarly, the guy beside me was busy fending off against the attack. As he stepped back, creating some distance between himself and the boss, I tried to move in.

"Get back!" He yelled out and I instinctively obeyed, using the heel of the foot to jump back.

It was at that moment that the boss raised both of his hands and slammed the ground under him. The place where I was standing before was reduced to crumbs. Shit, I nearly died, didn't I? Wait a moment…

"An attack pattern?" I turned to the guy and he nodded, readjusting his blade. I found myself staring at it again before he snapped me back to attention.

"Focus. Here he comes."

For now, I would focus on the defensive. The man headed right as soon as the boss moved and I made my way to the opposite direction to throw the boss off course. Since the level adjustments have been made, we couldn't trick him to only come for one of us while the other does damage. That did make me realise and remember that this was still a Game. Things such as attack patterns exist.

"Follow my lead."

"Understood," I nodded.

As the man spun around and charged at the boss from behind, I did the same, keeping a bit of a distance between the two of us so that the boss couldn't get us at once. Either way, the guy was faster than me.

I extended the chains out and the man slid across the ground, evading the backhand from the boss. That same hand was caught by my chains and I pulled him back, turning his attention to me while the man went under his legs and sliced at his ankles. Blood spurted out of the deep cuts made in the back of his legs and he staggered unsteadily.

I used that to my advantage and ran ahead, striking the boss in succession with both ends of the chains. Although it couldn't cut through, it still left consecutive heavy damage on the boss's body and I continued to hit him from all sides.

[This damned Game!] The boss cried out in agony and a shocked expression overcame the other guy's face. Similarly, I was thrown aback.

Right, this is a Game. And that guy is just a part of it. I didn't take into account that the bosses and other original characters of [World Ascension] may realise that they are in a game. So it was a bit shocking to hear it being blurted out of the mouth of a boss.

[You bastard…! I'll show you my true strength! Screw the Game and the system's monitor!]

The boss screeched out. Its muscles bulged and started to expand. Little by little, the boss grew in size and a red aura surrounded his entire frame. At the same time, yellow sparks appeared around him and a pained groan was heard. However, he didn't stop and continued to strengthen himself immensely. I could only watch in pure horror.

Bloodlust was prevalent. It was suffocating. The sheer intensity of his aura made me choke. The other guy was also somewhat frozen as well but regained himself before I did.

"Leave from here. Go that way and keep running. If you make it out, this quest will end." He started ordering me as soon as he could manage to speak. The slight strain in his voice made it clear that the boss's intense bloodlust was having an affect on him as well. "Go! He will be weakened if you leave this battle!"

"I told you I'd help you get that drop, didn't I?"

"This is no time to be talking about drops! Get the hell out of here!"

His brows were furrowed. Now that I got a closer look, his sword really does match his overall appearance. His hair, along with his eyes and his outfit were all black. He gritted his teeth and shook his blade once more, urging me on. "Go now!"

My eyes trailed over to the timer.

[30:21]

Even if I move now, there is no guarantee that the boss wouldn't start heading for me only.

"Don't worry about the boss. I'll be keeping him busy. You just—!"

"No." I blurt out, spinning my chains with speed.

His eyes were wide. He turned to me with a deep frown, gritting his teeth. His jawline was prominent, and a vein bulged. "Stop joking and go! Or you'll really die…!"

"That shouldn't concern you, damn it!" I ran ahead towards the boss. "We don't know each other enough for that."

"Oi! What are you…?!"

I closed the gap between the boss and me and approached him head on. I could easily tell that the red aura from him was only strengthening him even more by the second. Nevertheless, I keep running towards him without much thought.

[And you still dare…!]

[Your Skill, 'Chain Mastery' has levelled up!]

The chains felt lighter in my hand now and spun around with incredible speed.

[I don't fear the system anymore! Strike me dead, for all I care, I'll kill you both before I die! Damn it!]

The boss's speech started to sound different. Like a real person now, and less like a character from a game. I jumped in the air, leaping towards the boss and prepared to attack with all my might. There was just barely half an hour left, and I needed to defeat the boss here.

He drew back his fist, and the air became drawn to it. The red glow increased and his fist started to vibrate tremendously. Only a few inches were between us and I lashed him across the face with the chain, and his fist met my core. At that moment, I clenched my jaw to brace for impact, several messages appearing at once before a strong gust of wind blew all around, followed by an explosion.

I flew across the area and nearly went flying before a set of hands caught me, preventing me from crashing to the ground. We tumbled down and rolled a few times before coming to a halt.

"Damn it…! I told you not to!"

There was a slight delay in the messages, but I did invest a large amount of coins in all of my stats right before impact.

[5,000P has been invested in Strength!]

[5,000P has been invested in Agility!]

[5,000P has been placed in Durability!]

…

[15,000P has been spent!]

The impact was great. Even though I increased my stats tremendously, I could barely keep myself from vomiting out blood. The pain was still unbearable, and my vision blurred. The guy was saying something, but all I could hear was ringing.

Once again, a message popped up.

[You have successfully defeated the 'Boss'!]

[Sub-Quest: 'Passing Through Blind' has been cleared!]

I couldn't help myself from grinning, despite the pain.