The roar was physical.
It slammed into the players like a wall of solid sound. Knocking low-level mages off their feet. Causing stamina bars to plummet.
From the fissure in the center of the Plains of Despair, a claw the size of a carriage slammed onto the earth. The claws were black obsidian. Dripping with liquid magma.
Then the beast pulled itself free.
[Boss: Doom-Howl Wolf (World Boss)]
[Level: 30]
[HP: 500,000 / 500,000]
[Rank: Calamity]
It stood twenty feet tall at the shoulder. Its fur was a matted nightmare of grey steel and shadow. Its eyes were burning coals of hatred.
"ATTACK!" The Crimson Skull commander screamed. "First hit gets the loot rights!"
Greed overrode fear.
Hundreds of spells and arrows flew toward the massive wolf.
Fireballs. Ice shards. Iron arrows—a rain of damage.
ping. ping. ping.
[-1]
[-1]
[Immune]
[-2]
The attacks bounced off the wolf's steel fur like pebbles hitting a tank. The players watched in horror as the health bar didn't even move a single pixel.
The Wolf King lowered its massive head. Looked at the ants surrounding it.
It opened its maw.
[Skill: Doom Howl]
"ROOOOOAAAAAR!"
A shockwave of red energy exploded outward. 360-degree circle.
The front line of the Crimson Skull—fifty heavily armored tanks—didn't just die. They exploded. Their armor shattered. Their bodies turned to mist.
[-5,000 (Area of Effect)]
The shockwave continued. Tearing through the mages and archers behind them. In a single second, three hundred players were wiped from existence.
"Regroup! Healers! Heal the front!"
There was no front left though.
The Golden Lion guild tried to flank. "Hit the legs!" someone shouted.
The Wolf turned. It moved with a speed that shouldn't be possible for a creature of that size. A blur of shadow.
SWIPE.
A massive claw carved through the Golden Lion formation. Twenty players bisected instantly.
It was a massacre.
The "Alliance" of guilds crumbled. Discipline vanished. It became a stampede. Players were trampling each other to get away from the monster that was slaughtering them effortlessly.
"It's unbeatable!"
"It's bugged! The defense is too high!"
"Run!"
Amidst the chaos of fleeing players and flying bodies, one figure was moving toward the boss.
Sebastian walked calmly through the panic. A mage ran past him. Screaming. A warrior crawled by. Missing his legs.
Sebastian ignored them. His eyes were locked on the Wolf.
[System Analysis: Doom-Howl Wolf.]
[Weakness: Underbelly (Soft Tissue). Right Eye (Blind Spot).]
The Wolf finished slaughtering a squad of Iron Covenant paladins. Threw its head back to howl again.
Suddenly it stopped.
Its ears twitched. It smelled something.
Not the scent of fear. The scent of... prey? No.
The scent of a rival.
The Wolf lowered its head. Its burning eyes locking onto the small, ragged human walking toward it.
"Grrrrr..."
The Wolf growled. A sound like grinding tectonic plates. It ignored the thousands of other players. It sensed the density of Sebastian's soul.
"Just you and me," Sebastian whispered. Drawing the [Shadowfang].
The Wolf lunged.
Faster than sound. To the players watching from the ridge, it looked like teleportation. The massive maw snapped shut where Sebastian was standing.
CRUNCH.
Dust billowed.
"He's dead!" Valerie screamed from the backline. Covering her mouth. "Zero!"
The dust cleared.
Sebastian was not dead.
He was standing inside the open jaws of the wolf. Holding the massive upper fang with his left hand. The lower fang with his feet planted firmly on the beast's tongue.
He was physically holding the jaw open.
[Real World Sync: 1.5%]
[Strength Limit Break Activated.]
His muscles screamed. The weight of the bite was immense. Enough to crush steel. Sebastian's stats though, boosted by the Forbidden Alchemy potions and his raw willpower, held firm.
"Is that all?" Sebastian gritted out. Blood leaking from his nose as the pressure mounted.
The Wolf's eyes widened in genuine shock. An ant was overpowering it?
Sebastian released the upper fang.
[Skill: Sky Walk.]
He kicked off the Wolf's tongue. Launching himself out of the maw and into the air. Spinning like a drill.
"Shadowfang."
He landed on the Wolf's snout.
[Passive: God-Slayer's Edge.]
He drove the dagger down.
The steel fur that had deflected hundreds of spells offered no resistance to the Divine-tier passive. The blade sank deep into the Wolf's nose bridge.
[-15,000 (Critical!)]
[Effect: Bleed applied.]
The Wolf roared in pain. Thrashing its head. Sebastian held on. Riding the bucking monster like a rodeo bull.
"You have high defense," Sebastian shouted over the wind. "No resistance to True Damage though!"
He ripped the dagger out. Stabbed again. And again.
Stab. Stab. Stab.
[-10,000]
[-12,000]
[-15,000]
The Wolf's HP bar began to melt. It panicked. Activated [Calamity Fire]. Wreathing its body in black flames.
Sebastian's health began to tick down from the ambient damage.
[HP: 80%... 70%... 50%]
"Time to end this," Sebastian hissed.
He jumped.
He launched himself high into the air. Hovering above the Wolf's head. He holstered the dagger.
He raised his right hand.
"Solar Flare."
This wasn't the Tier 1 version though. He poured 5,000 Skill Points into it mid-air.
[Evolution: Solar Flare -> Sun God's Lance.]
A spear of pure, condensed white plasma materialized in his hand. Blindingly bright. Casting a hard shadow over the entire Plains of Despair.
The Wolf looked up. Terror in its eyes.
"Burn," Sebastian commanded.
He threw the lance.
It didn't fly. It erased the distance.
BOOM!
The lance struck the Wolf directly between the eyes.
The explosion was silent for a split second. Then the sound caught up—a crack that shattered the windows of the UI.
A mushroom cloud of holy fire rose into the sky.
The Wolf's body was engulfed. Its HP bar evaporated instantly.
[-450,000 (Overkill!)]
The massive beast collapsed. Its body turning into ash before it even hit the ground.
[Ding! You have killed the World Boss: Doom-Howl Wolf.]
[Global Announcement: Player 'Zero' has slain the First Calamity!]
Sebastian floated slowly down into the crater of glass and ash.
In the center of the destruction, a golden token floated. Untouched by the fire.
[Item: Guild Creation Token]
Sebastian grabbed it.
He looked up at the rim of the crater. Twenty thousand players were staring down at him. Absolute, terrified silence.
He raised the token high.
"The Sanctuary is open," he declared. His voice amplified by magic. "But entry... is not free."