Boss Battle

Clancy the crab raises his pincers in the air and smacks the top of his shell threateningly. He was ready to battle the demon.

And the demon looked back at him, big hammer in hand. Clancy's beady eyes fix on the hammer. He could handle the demon's magic, but that hammer would crack his shell. 

"BATTLE TIME!" Clancy cries, scuttling sideways and shooting a stream of foam toward the demon.

The demon whips back his long cape, turning it into a swirling circle of wind. The wind blows away all of Clancy's foam in moments, but Clancy is ready for more. He snip-snips in the demon's direction. 

The demon dodges Clancy's attack and swings his hammer. Clancy narrowly dodges - one of his small legs was almost crushed. 

The demon bares his fangs at Clancy. "What's a crab doing attacking us like this!?" the demon screeches. 

"SAVE HUMAN WOMAN! HELP BARNACLES!"

"Tch. A mindless beast without a master. Very well, crab. I shall return you to the earth!"

The demon begins to charge a giant ball of purple energy, readying a powerful magical attack. Clancy raises his claws to defend.

The demon's magic blasts Clancy, but the crab resists. He uses one of his crab abilities to harden his shell like a diamond. The magic attack brushes off and doesn't leave a single scratch on Clancy.

The demon is shocked. "Impossible! Only a Guardian Beast could resist such a powerful spell!"

Clancy wasn't about to get into a shouting match. He swung his pincer and caught the demon's hammer from midair. As the demon struggles, pressing his hammer against Clancy's claw, Clancy thrusts his other arm into the demon's torso. 

"Agh!" the demon shrieks. 

"I AM KING CRAB! CLANCY!"

The demon hobbles backward, clutching his stomach. He's badly wounded but still alive. 

"I will destroy you!" the demon shouts, raising his hammer. 

Unbeknownst to the demon, Barns was moving through the crowd, assassinating the other monsters methodically and building a path toward the demon. 

Just then, Barns leaps from the crowd, his longsword in hand. He swings his sword through the air and slashes at the demon from behind. 

The demon falls to his knees, eyes wide open and full of shock. Blood spurts out of his mouth and he crumples. 

At that moment, the monster crowd goes wild. They set upon Barns and Clancy in a wild rage. Clancy shoots his foam and Barns swings his sword, but its not enough. There are too many enemies. Clancy and Barns begin to lose ground, backing up closer and closer to each other.

The corpses are piling up, building a barrier between Barns, Clancy, and the rest of the horde. It's still not enough. Over a hundred ravenous monsters are crawling over each other to kill Barns and Clancy.

Barns grits his teeth. Before he was reborn, he had all kinds of skills to use in a situation like this. But all he had right now were his three skills - SS Rank Resurrection, S Rank Rebirth Flame, and B Rank Crab Affinity.

"BARNACLES! EVACUATION TIME!"

Barns is snatched up (carefully) by one of King Clancy's claws as the crab shoots a jet of foam at the ground. It propels them up into the air, and they land on top of a nearby building.

Barns looks over the side of the building. The monsters are already trying to get up here. It's like they're in a blood rage.

"HAVE IDEA. WILL USE S RANK SUPERSKILL."

Barns raises an eyebrow at his crabby friend. "What in the what?"

Clancy raises his claws in the air and the land itself begins to froth. All around them, the town is engulfed in a foamy coating. The monsters on the ground that are still alive are caught up in the foam and are consumed. 

Barns stares out over the foamy landscape. "You mean to tell me you could have done that all along?"

"RARE SKILL. ONLY HAVE THREE CHARGES EVER."

Barns makes a big 'O' with his mouth. "Well…I guess I appreciate your discretion. We have two more charges for emergencies."

"THAT WAS MY LAST CHARGE."

"Great…"

…

Since everyone was foamed up, it didn't take long to gather the bodies in the village square. The foam makes the bodies feel a little…lighter?

Once everyone is gathered (and the beheaded ones separated), Barns uses his resurrection skill.

A flash of light appears as the resurrection activates. The fallen humans begin to be reborn, rising from the foam like hatchling eggs. 

Barns' progress bar appears:

[Progress: 403/1000000]

Almost 400 people resurrected in town, nice!

As the people wake up and realize what's happening, Barns walks over to where the 'boss battle' happened. The menacing hammer once wielded by the demon is still laying there.

Barns picks up the hammer. As he does, a new message appears.

[Congratulations! You have acquired A Rank Weapon - Shock Hammer.

Special Ability: When you strike the ground, a field of electric energy will surround you for three seconds.]

Barns nods his head in approval. It's a little heavy, but that's a useful ability. Good thing the demon didn't know about it.

Speaking of the demon, Barns looks over and sees that the former demon is now awakening back as a human. Barns is surprised at how much he still looks like the demon they fought earlier. Thankfully, the man's skin has returned to a healthy color and the horns are gone. 

Barns steps up to the former demon and gives a little wave. The man jumps up. Does he remember their battle?

"So, hiya," Barns mumbles awkwardly. "Nice, uh, muscles."

The former demon looks down at himself. His nethers are covered in foam, but other than that, he's totally naked - as are many of the awakening humans. 

Whatever clothing they wore as monsters doesn't always fit their human forms. And not all of the monsters had 'clothing'. Who ever heard of a fully dressed skeleton or imp?

The man tries to cover himself up with some of the foam.

"You were a demon," Barns says flatly, getting to the point. "The other monsters here seemed to respect you. Do you remember any of that?"

The man nods solemnly. "When the apocalypse started, they told me if I cooperated, I could live forever…and if not, they'd kill me with that hammer."

The man looks out over the crowd. The humans begin getting notifications about the 'Property' system. 

"I was the mayor here," the man goes on. "You can call me Quinn."

"Alright. Come with me, Quinn."

Barns hops on top of a nearby roof that overlooks the resurrection plaza. This group of people seems more lost and confused than the first group, but there are hundreds more of them. 

"Everyone!" Barns shouts over the crowd. "I have an exciting announcement for you! You're…alive! I was able to resurrect you all!"

This is going a little less awkward than the first time. Barns is getting the hang of this.

"Now, we're going to work together to rebuild civilization, one town at a time! And…"

Barns hesitates, and he is interrupted by another. Not Quinn, but a woman. She's dressed in a beautiful white dress, and her skin glimmers in the sunlight. She is the image of ethereal beauty.

"Why, hello everyone!" The maiden declares. Everyone, including Barns, looks directly at her. 

"It is I, your Princess, Maria Dimartino! I have been waiting for this happy day for so, so long!"

The crowd erupts into excited banter.

"THE Princess Maria?"

"I thought she was captured by a demon!"

"Long live the princess!"

Barns stares back at the woman. Princess Dimartino? She doesn't look like she was just reborn. Her clothes are too clean and perfect. Where did she come from?

She looks straight up and makes eye contact with Barns. "This man is the legendary hero of prophecy! My fellow countrymen, please join me in saluting our hero!"

Maria commands a lot of presence in the town. They all recognize her. The perks of royalty, Barns supposes.

All four-hundred-odd people give Barns a noble salute. He can't help but blush. 

"Please, listen to his words! The hero will help us rebuild this town!"

Empowered by Maria's words, Barns begins explaining the 'Property' process, and how individuals can choose their houses. Some new rules are also revealed by the system. Instead of building all new houses, there is also an option to 'convert' the existing buildings into homes. 

Just like at the beachside village, monsters will be unable to approach these homes so long as someone remains within their 'Property'. 

Finally, as the citizens begin to set up and choose their homes, Maria approaches Barns individually.

"That is quite an impressive power you have, legendary hero."

Barns' heart skips a beat. This was the defining moment for him. If he could recruit a Princess to his harem, then he would become unstoppable.

"Just doing my job," he says coolly. "It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of one as illustrious as yourself."

Maria blushes and turns her face away from Barns. She sways from side to side and covers her smirk with a hand. 

"The pleasure is all mine," Maria says, a snide look in her eye. She looks out over the people still remaining in the plaza. 

"I say we should have a celebration, to commemorate you bringing the lovely town of Dimartino back to life. What say you, hero?"

"Call me Barns," he smiles. "And I'd never say no to a party!"