C178: There Is only One Truth!

The bonfire crackled in front of the courtyard, casting flickering shadows. I silently lit it, my heart brimming with excitement.

From the start, a bonfire had been placed here. It was a clear signal: the player was about to face a BOSS.

Recalling Guda, the Judge from the previous game, I couldn't help but anticipate the challenge ahead. Standing before the enormous stone gate, I recognized this for what it was—not a mere hint, but a provocation.

Facing the Ashen Judge for the first time had been brutal. I could still remember that dismal defeat. However, this time, I felt confident. Having grasped the game's mechanics, I believed I could demonstrate my strength.

But something was amiss.

"Why don't I have an element bottle? Could it be that it was taken when I was imprisoned in that cell?" I muttered in frustration, quickly checking my inventory.

Despite waking up in the cell, my armor remained intact. Yet, the element bottle was missing.

In the previous game, even when crawling out of the grave, I had an element bottle on hand! This absence made no sense.

Still, I didn't linger on the thought. Perhaps it was a deliberate choice by the developers to heighten the difficulty. Without an element bottle, the battle against the next boss would naturally become more punishing—an intentional obstacle to make newcomers reconsider continuing.

"This setup isn't exactly friendly to beginners," I sighed. "The fault tolerance rate is way too low."

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and pushed the courtyard gate open.

The creaking of the door echoed as I entered the room.

The space inside was eerily empty. Near the entrance, I noticed a glowing piece of advice etched on the ground. At the same time, bloodstains were scattered throughout the room, their presence ominous.

The game had retained the advice system from its predecessor. When a player fell to a BOSS, their blood left a mark—a haunting testament to our struggle.

But where was the BOSS?

Curiosity pulled me toward the advice on the ground. Just as I leaned in to inspect it, a shadow suddenly loomed overhead.

With a deafening crash, a massive demon wielding an oversized hammer descended from heaven, landing squarely in front of me.

The battle UI flared to life, displaying a single, ominous name:

Devil of the Undead.

"Isn't this the elite monster at the top of the tower in the Cesspool?"

Facing the outlier demon on the screen, Song Ren was genuinely surprised.

The boss resembled the outlier demon encountered in the Farah Fortress of Dark Souls but appeared smaller. However, the sense of oppression it radiated was just as strong—primarily because the battle environment was indoors. The demon dominated most of the screen, making it look exceptionally intimidating.

Even so, a strange sense of relief washed over Song Ren. This wasn't an entirely new monster but rather a familiar face.

Back then, Song Ren had fought outlier demons atop the tower in the Cesspool. Sure, dying twice when encountering it for the first time was frustrating, but victory was eventually achieved!

Now, there was no shield, no element bottle, not even a decent weapon—just a broken sword. Yet, what of it? As an accomplished fire passer, what challenges hadn't been overcome before? A demon, after all, couldn't stand in the way of the noble pursuit of spreading the fire.

With a deft roll, Song Ren dodged the sledgehammer attack and maneuvered behind the boss. The broken sword slashed down at its massive figure.

Then the damage counter appeared: -6.

It was baffling. That meant the attack only dealt 4 points of damage. And as for the boss's health bar—well, it seemed almost untouched. The sheer length of the bar under the name Dead House Demon was daunting as it taunt myself to push for my best effort.

"Is my attack technique wrong?"

Rolling twice to create distance and to fill the stamina bar, Song Ren made another attempt. This time, the damage improved slightly, climbing to -11.

Looking at the numbers, the truth was undeniable: the broken sword was utterly useless. In an instant, Song Ren's calm demeanor cracked.

"Are you kidding me? This damage is pathetic! Is this for real?!"

Even when playing Dark Souls before, starting as a deprived character wasn't easy. But at least the starting weapon—a shabby chicken leg—packed some punching power.

Now, holding this ridiculous excuse for a sword, Song Ren could only question the cruel whims of fate.

Moreover, the toughening effect is particularly impressive. In the dual-wielding state, Ash Guda could be crippled with a few battle cries.

But now, starting the game as a knight, the situation has changed. The armor feels overweight, and the shield and sword seem to have vanished. Instead, all that's left is a broken metal.

If the attack power of this broken sword was at least decent, there wouldn't be much to complain about. But when striking a demon with it, there's no blood!

If not for the damage numbers that appear, I might have thought my attacks weren't effective. But looking at the pitiful damage—just a two-digit number beginning with a 1—it feels like trying to do a pedicure that'll take until the year of the monkey or the month of the horse to finish!

Before I could continue brooding, the demon raised its sledgehammer and slammed it down. I got distracted, failing to dodge in time, and was smashed hard, losing half my health instantly.

"And now, I don't even have an Estus Flask to heal!" I muttered bitterly.

For this kind of pedicure, at least provide a nail clipper! A napkin isn't going to cut it!

Maybe attacking for long enough, or dealing enough damage, will trigger a plot kill or something? Surely the game doesn't expect me to defeat this boss entirely on my own? That has to be possible, right? But how!

But the narrow space, combined with my lack of healing items, led to disaster. Before I could land many hits, I made a mistake, and the demon took me out with another hammer blow.

[You Are Dead.]

I stared silently at the screen as it went dark. The familiar phrase appeared, and my character respawned at the bonfire.

By this time, I didn't rush in. Instead, I paused to think.

"Did I do something wrong? No Estus Flask, a broken sword with pitiful damage—did I miss picking up some items earlier?" I wondered aloud.

"Or is it that I need to beat this boss without healing and grind it down with the broken sword?"

"Impossible!" I frowned.

If that's the case, this difficulty level surpasses even Dark Souls!

With the damage from this broken sword, how long would it take to finish the fight?

I thought back to the influencer gods who once wielded axes to give a pedicure to Yhorm as he clipped the nails of ancient flying dragons—perhaps only they could achieve something like this.

And even they would have healing items!

This difficulty rivals the challenge of defeating the Nameless King at level one. But those who attempt such feats are seasoned veterans, not ordinary players. For most players, this is insurmountable.

It's just a gatekeeper boss; surely there's no need to ramp up the difficulty so absurdly for newcomers, right?

And one thing I know for sure is that Chen Xu's games don't usually frustrate players in this way. Well, except for that sledgehammer game that almost made my blood vessels burst. That doesn't count.

Dark Souls has always been about challenges grounded in reason—tough but fair.

After running through the map again and confirming that I hadn't missed any items, I stood at the entrance to the boss room and smirked.

"So, there's only one truth!"