"You lose, if you die."
Uttering those words, Kai pointed his finger directly at the man, who still had his arms down, trying to figure out how he was going to go about the fight.
[The skill Fire Manipulation has been activated.]
In the blink of an eye, a force of twisting, crackling flames shot out of Kai's finger. It launched straight at Ligard like a coiled snake striking its prey.
Shocked, Ligard quickly raised both of his heavy battle axes and crossed them right in front of his chest, using the wide blades as a makeshift shield against the torrent of flames.
Boom!
As soon as the flames made contact with the steel, Ligard found his body getting pushed back by the raw power behind the attack.
His boots skidded against the stone floor, leaving black streaks as he struggled to find traction.
Then, following the impact, came the pain.
The heat was not merely cosmetic. It transferred through the metal weapons and into his hands. Every muscle in his arm felt like it was going to be ripped apart, and even worse, his skin was burning.
The sensation crawled gradually from his fingertips and up his forearms, searing the digital flesh.
"Dammit, how is this boss's attack so strong? I am a Level 25 Fighter!"
Ligard glanced to the side to check his health bar, his heart sinking.
HP: 76/100.
His eyes widened in shock. He had lost nearly a quarter of his health in such little time from a single blocked spell.
Realizing he could not risk having to go any lower, he quickly dashed to the side. He moved away from the lingering trail of flames to a place where he could catch his breath and pat out the fire that was still singing his arm guards.
The pain he felt was one thing, but on the other hand, the boss was simply standing there.
Kai watched him with an unnerving, patient gaze, as though waiting for him to make a move.
From Ligard's expression, it was clear he believed that whoever the developer was that coded this particular boss had to be a sadist.
Meanwhile, Kai fully faced the man, waiting for him to stand to his feet.
'Yo, that attack was far stronger than I expected,' Kai thought to himself. 'To think I got all these elemental abilities just from devouring those mage-class players earlier. I wonder what kind of skills I would get if I devoured this one?'
Ligard finally managed to extinguish the persistent flames clinging to his forearms, the smell of burnt leather and flesh acrid in the air inside the wind dome.
His breath was ragged, his heart hammering against his ribs. He knew he could not afford to play defense against this boss. The raw power was overwhelming.
He had to exploit a weakness. Bosses always have a tell. His eyes narrowed in desperate calculation.
Seeing Kai simply standing there, unmoving, Ligard saw his chance—or at least, the only chance he was going to get.
He shot forward, a low, guttural roar escaping his lips.
"Take this, you bastard!"
His twin axes, heavy with the force of a Level 25 warrior's charge, became twin blurs of silver steel. He activated one of his combat arts to increase the speed of the swing.
Ligard brought his right axe down in a mighty arc aimed at Kai's clavicle. The blow was solid, precise, and packed with enough momentum to cleave a goblin in two.
Swoosh!
But there was no clang of metal hitting armor. There was no thud of steel biting into flesh.
Instead of the expected jolt of impact, his axe passed harmlessly through the space where Kai's shoulder had been. It was like swinging through a thick, cold current of air.
Ligard's momentum nearly sent him spinning past the boss, his balance compromised by the lack of resistance.
"What the hell?"
He checked his combat log instantly. No damage registered.
Whirling around, Ligard saw Kai still standing there, his form rippling where the axe had passed through. The body of the boss wasn't skin and muscle. It was a coalesced, dark gray mist, held together by an unseen force.
His attacks were useless. He was slicing through nothing but phantom essence.
Ligard didn't panic, not immediately. He was a seasoned player. He realized the fatal flaw in his approach: physical attacks were nullified by the mist-like form. He needed to hit something solid.
His gaze locked onto the pulsating, malevolent red orb suspended precisely where a heart should be. It was the only solid point in the shimmering humanoid mass.
It was the source of the boss's power and, clearly, its sole vulnerability.
He dodged a lazy swipe from Kai's misty hand and leaped backward, planting his axes firmly into the ground to anchor himself.
He needed space to focus on his next move, a skill-shot aimed directly at the core.
"Focus, focus," he muttered, drawing a deep, steadying breath.
But this boss wasn't coded for fair play.
The moment Ligard stopped moving to focus on the target, Kai moved with inhuman speed. The mist-body lunged, dissipating the intervening space in an instant.
Before Ligard could lift his weapon, he felt pressure.
Kai's hand, now solidifying into something dark and metallic around Ligard's skull, radiated a chilling, oppressive heat.
The pressure intensified, not just physically, but psychically. Ligard's face contorted in sheer terror, his eyes rolling back as if every thought in his mind was being extracted and scrutinized.
Ligard tried to raise his axes, to bring them up for a desperate defensive strike to sever the arm holding him, but his muscles locked. He was paralyzed by the sheer, overwhelming power radiating from Kai.
"You have shown me what I need," Kai's voice echoed.
It was no longer a simple statement but a dry, rasping whisper that seemed to come from inside the warrior's own head.
"This is how you die. Sadly."
The red orb at Kai's center pulsed rapidly, drawing in the surrounding mist.
The entire boss form surged forward, growing in size, enveloping Ligard like a tidal wave of shadow.
Ligard didn't even have time for a final, defiant scream.
He felt the cold mist turn into an excruciating, searing agony as his character's entire physical form—bones, armor, and life essence—was crushed and then dissolved into Kai's undulating mass. The darkness swallowed him whole.
[Player Ligard has been defeated.]
[You have devoured a Level 25 Warrior-Class Player.]
[New skill acquired: Axe Mastery.]
The wind inside the dome howled, masking the silence left by the dead warrior.
Kai reformed, his misty form settling back into its calm, humanoid shape.
The pulsating red core now seemed to burn with a slightly richer, darker hue, fed by the fresh data he had just consumed.
'Axe Mastery... interesting,' Kai thought, flexing a newly solidified hand. 'That one fought with spirit. Such a waste of potential.'
The encounter had lasted less than a minute, yet the gains were substantial. He glanced at the empty spot on the floor where the player had stood moments before. There was nothing left.
'Now, who is next on the list?'
Kai turned his gaze toward the swirling wall of wind, preparing to drop the barrier and face the remaining four members of the party.
However, before he could move to attend to the rest waiting for him, the system flashed a new, unexpected notification in front of him.
[Would you like to add this form to your library?]
Kai stopped.
'What?'
...
[A/N]
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