The massive doors slammed shut behind them, the sound echoing like a thunderclap that signaled the end of their retreat.
Standing just a few meters from the entrance, the group huddled together. They made sure to stay within arm's reach of one another, their formation tight and trembling.
They were far away from the throne that sat at the opposite end of the hall, but the distance provided no comfort.
Lining the walls, flanking both sides of the expansive chamber, was another set of Skeleton Knights.
These were Level 40 elites, just like the ones outside. They stood perfectly still, like statues carved from bone and steel, their red glowing eyes fixed unblinkingly on the intruders.
At that point, it was clear to Ligard that this was no longer an ordinary dungeon.
Not by a long mile.
If these monsters wanted to, they could have swarmed the party the moment they stepped inside. They would have slaughtered them without wasting a single drop of sweat.
The fact that the skeletons hadn't attacked yet meant only one thing.
They were following orders. Absolute, disciplined orders.
Ligard finally moved his gaze away from the skeletal guards and towards the raised dais at the end of the room. The rest of his party members followed his line of sight.
There, they saw him.
Kai.
He was seated on the obsidian throne, his posture casually arrogant. One foot rested on the seat of the chair, his knee bent, while he leaned to the side, resting his cheek against a softly folded fist.
His body was not flesh and blood. It was composed of swirling, dark mist that held a roughly human shape, shifting and roiling like smoke in a bottle.
His eyes were two points of crimson light, staring into a dead void, yet somehow lingering heavily on the five individuals trembling before him.
'Oh, so these are the White Light Guild?'
Internally, Kai scanned them from top to bottom. His face—or the misty approximation of one—showed not a single hint of being impressed.
A blue window flickered in his peripheral vision.
[Notice: Killing a party on the first floor of the Boss Room will lead to higher rewards. 5x the normal rate.]
For a brief moment, Kai moved his eyes away from the party to acknowledge the system notification.
Five times the rewards.
It was a generous offer.
Once he had processed the notification, he turned his attention right back to his prey. Slowly, he raised a hand made of shadow and pointed a finger directly at the man standing at the front of the formation.
"Are you the one who goes by the name... Ligard?"
He asked the question slowly, his voice deep, mysterious, and vibrating with an unnatural bass that seemed to come from the walls themselves.
Ligard froze up.
He couldn't really tell why, but something about Kai knowing his name freaked him out more than the Level 999 woman outside.
"Y-yes... I am," Ligard replied.
He was perpetually confused as to what he was supposed to be doing. Was this a cutscene? Should he attack?
'Holy fuck, he actually answered. Nice, this might go easier than I expected.'
Kai suppressed a grin behind his misty facade.
'He is the strongest in the group, so this is the fastest way I can prove my dominance. Hehe, and if everything goes according to plan, I'll gain more popularity in less than a week.'
While his mind raced with strategies for maximizing his fame, he used his "Monster Voice" skill to let out yet another sentence to the young Fighter.
"Interesting. You are here to kill me, are you not?"
"..."
Ligard could not utter a single word.
It felt like whatever he said right now would make the situation far worse than it already was. Admission of guilt felt like signing a death warrant.
Even his teammates didn't make a sound. Since they had stepped into this room, the oppressive aura had stolen their voices.
That said, Ligard could tell from their stances that they were more than ready to fight if the need called for it.
After all, the only thing they were truly afraid of was the pain sensors. In this game, death wasn't final. If they died, they would be locked out for a week, but they could easily log back in after the penalty timer ran out.
But then, the unexpected happened.
Kai stood up from his throne.
It was something he hadn't done since the start of his very transmigration into this dungeon.
"Good. I would like to see how that would play out."
He rose to his full height, standing at about 6'2". He stared down at Ligard across the room, his form moving slowly, gliding down the steps of the dais toward the man.
"I can see you're afraid. But I expect you to take this seriously. I have a proposition for you."
Kai stopped several feet in front of Ligard. Up close, the swirling mist of his body was dizzying to look at.
"Y-you have a... proposition for me?" Ligard stammered, gripping his sword handle with sweaty palms.
"Exactly."
Kai leaned forward a bit, the red lights of his eyes narrowing.
"You are the strongest amongst your peers. Let us battle, as warriors do. If you win, then your friends can go scot-free, and you can, of course, have my life and the treasures within this room."
He paused, letting the offer hang in the air before delivering the crushing weight of the alternative.
"But if I win, you will die. And death will follow those who stand behind you right now."
The mist around Kai flared darker.
"However, should you refuse to pick an option from the two I already laid down for you, you will suffer. You will die a slow and painful death."
Kai lowered his voice to a whisper that seemed to bypass their avatars and speak directly to their real-world brains.
"And when you reach the other side of this 'game', you will find that all is dark. And the Europe you thought you lived in... no longer exists. You will be dead."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Every single party member that listened to what Kai said felt their blood run cold.
Fear aside, they all thought the same thing.
How does this monster know about the world beyond the game?
How does he know about Europe?
NPCs were programmed with lore about the game world, not the real world. Just that thought alone made everything else the Shadow of Victims uttered seem like a terrifying prophecy.
Was this really just a game? Or had they stumbled into something far more sinister?
'They look so shocked. I made most of it up, but it seems like it's working. I wonder, will they fall for the bait?'
Kai could barely hide the sinister smile forming on his face.
Perhaps it was because he became the Boss of the dungeon, but Kai was certain about one thing: he enjoyed seeing the raw fear on their faces. It was intoxicating.
Before he knew it, Ligard gave his response. The Fighter stepped forward, his face pale but his eyes determined.
"If those are the terms, then I accept. I will battle you."
"Ligard, no! What the hell are you doing? Can't you see this is a trap?" the Healer screamed.
"We can fight him together! They are no threat if we rush him!" the Rogue added, drawing his daggers.
One by one, his party members began screaming out their concerns for him. They were ready to break formation and attack as a group.
But Ligard ignored every single one of them without giving it a second thought. He raised a hand to stop them.
He knew something they didn't. This entity wasn't something they could swarm. If they broke the rules now, they would all die—and that threat about Europe terrified him to his core.
Seeing this resolve, Kai smiled.
"I misjudged you. You are brave. Very well, we shall have our battle."
Snap!
Kai snapped his fingers, the sound sharp and crisp in the large hall.
Immediately, he activated his skill.
[Wind Manipulation has been activated.]
Whoosh!
Instantly, a huge surge of wind erupted from the floor. A violent storm circled the both of them, expanding outward with tremendous force.
The gale blew the rest of the party members far away from the scene, tumbling them backward toward the doors.
The wind darkened, turning into a gray, opaque tornado that trapped only Kai and his opponent inside. It effectively blocked the vision of anyone who intended to look beyond the wind storm to see what was going on inside.
From the outside, the party members could only hear Kai's voice booming over the howling wind.
"If you are worried about your friends, I assure you, none of my subjects will lay a single finger on them so long as our duel continues."
Ligard stood in the eye of the storm. He was so focused that his mind barely wandered to his teammates.
He locked eyes with the monster.
He was about to battle an entity he knew nothing about.
There was no level displayed above Kai's head. There was no health bar.
here was not even a hint from the game system on how the boss was supposed to be defeated or what his elemental weaknesses were.
It was just him and the Shadow.
Kai pointed a misty finger at Ligard.
"Remember," Kai said, his red eyes glowing with lethal intent.
"You lose if you die."
Phew!