"Can we sit down for a second?" Judgment pleaded, huffing while supporting herself on her knees.

They had taken three more camps out in a single night. Overall they alone gained fifty-six points for Apollo. The sky was filled with stars, but after their tasks, they didn't get a chance to rest. The rest of the party seemed to be in a bit better condition, but the big spells Judgment used each time tired her out.

"We will rest when we are close to our objective," Astre replied, leading the party. He was keeping his abilities up constantly to make sure they weren't ambushed, but he was used to both the dull pain in his temples and long hours of grinding.

Judgment groaned, but she kept walking while supporting herself with her staff. The rest of the party fared better. Flash and Hermes were a bit tired, but most of their objectives focused on quick actions and pulling out. On the other side, the two sisters whose work was only second to Astre were happily hopping just behind their leader. Once he kept his promise by allowing them to fight, they considered him their best friend.

"What will we fight next?" chirped Sanguine.

"Good question," Astre responded, looking at Frank, who walked next to him. "Did the scout really didn't have more information than 'There were big marks'?"

"I only have what Andre told me through the long-range communication," declared the silver armored warrior. "Well, at the very least, there should be a legendary boss. The scouts were forced to defeat two epic beasts close by."

Astre, shook his head, "Are we a suicide squad now? Going to fight legendary monster we know nothing about. Still, who would have thought that monsters can give points."

During when they were returning from exploding their last target to bits and killing stragglers, Frank received a call from the main base of Order of Sun. Some scouts found themselves attacked by two large epic-grade black pumas. When they killed both animals, losing two of their own troops, they received four points for each kill.

"Who knows, no one was told that probably some hidden rule. Wouldn't be the first time the devs did something like that," Frank said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe I will see some actions now. Making sure that few people won't run away wasn't that exciting."

Frank was quite skilled protector. He was total skill level twenty and had an LP pool of eighteen. All his skills were focused on receiving damage and decreasing it. To the point, he was unable to do any meaningful damage himself. Pronounced by that was the fact his only arms were large tower shield and short sword.

"I'm sure you will have great time making sure you don't die to the legendary boss we know nothing about. I hope you can hold it off for long enough for me to plan something," remarked Astre.

"Blegh, have been forced to do worse," the shield of the team affirmed. "Though for this, we only got one chance. Maybe Andre wants to get rid of you."

"Wouldn't be surprised. I highly doubt the man trusts anyone," concluded Astre, not being so different himself. Still, he needed to play along until he saw his chance. "Getting rid of me is probably to his benefit."

"I think he dislikes anyone who wants more than just following Apollo for easy money," Frank stated. That sentence set several red flags in Astre's mind.

"Then I just have to prove that I like Apollo's money," Astre said carefully. "Doing few jobs to prove myself seems fine."

"Are you..." Frank tried to say something, but he was interrupted by a sudden sound behind them.

Astre was the first to notice what was wrong. Judgment fell down to the ground face first. He quickly ran up to her, followed by Hermes. "Are you fine?" the team leader asked.

"Sorry..." she spoke meekly. "Tired."

"That's because you always skip on team training," told Hermes, his face looked worried despite his words.

"That's torture, not training," she countered.

Astre knew they needed her firepower for the boss. Without it, their chances were much lower. Turning around, he crouched, showcasing his back to her.

"Eh?" the girl released a surprised gasp.

"Get on, we need you for this," Astre demanded then added, "I'm the only one that can carry you unless you want to be planted against Frank's hard plate."

Both Hermes and Flash were already too tired themselves to carry anyone else. He also didn't believe that the sisters were fine after using so many rage skills willy nilly.

With a bit of muffled complaining from Judgment, she got up and put her hands around his shoulders. Soon Astre was up and carrying the lightning mage. All in all, she was light enough for him to not be bothered by it. Many things decided the strength of a player in the game. After a lot of testing and experiments, the player-base agreed that it was based on skillsets and their levels and how much you trained with your game body.

"Are you sure I can't help?" asked Hermes, looking somewhat uncomfortable at him.

Astre got the idea, but he wasn't going to let his most versatile mage tire himself out. "You can by making sure later that Judgment survives. If you are too tired to focus on spells to hide her, it will be pointless." Hermes only nodded and returned to the track.

"It's JUDGMENT," she spoke tiredly but still accenting each letter.

"Can you drink another potion?" asked Astre, noticing some time has passed since her last one.

"I think so? I drink quite a lot of them, so I think my tolerance is quite high."

Astre nodded and pulled out one of the potions he got from crafters. He asked if there were any mounts, but it seemed only Apollo and Andre had them. They had to force three players to waste five of their slots to carry them in.

The girl took it and drank the blue liquid. Then silently, she whispered to his ear, "I wouldn't talk too much to Frank. He seems off, but Andre chose him for a reason."

He already thought so too, but he restrained himself from answering. After all, he didn't trust the person on his back any more than Frank. Even if he usually would find that unlikely, he wasn't going to take any chances. There was also the point of why Frank was given one of their few long-range communication devices but not him.

Their trek through the jungle continued in silence.

Astre stopped around one quarter of a mile away from the place where the pumas attacked the scouts. He used the combined power of geomancy scroll, Burrow his level 2 ability from Camp Making, Create: Camp with all its options and Cover to hide the entrance to the camp he made.

He never showed that he had this skill before, but he didn't consider it one of his vital secrets. He also doubted that those people could use it against him somehow. His camps were not easy to find even if you knew they were there. Once, he forgot where the entrance to his campsite was, so he knew.

The cavern he made was quite spacious, comfortably fitting the seven people inside, with each having a corner to themselves. The tent the ability made could only suit at most two people, but it wasn't a problem since he took sleeping bags from the crafters. Each of the party members was sitting on one around the campfire made of glowing rocks.

"That's quite a comfortable skill to have, especially if you are out killing stuff for days without returning to a city," attested Frank looking around the walls.

"I'm more interested in what's inside that pot." Flash wiped the saliva off his mouth, looking at a container above the campfire. "Even if I know the capsule feeds our bodies, it still doesn't feel like we have eaten anything."

"Oh, I forgot you don't have a capsule," Hermes said, relaxing and massaging his feet. "I'm used to long gaming sessions. My brother bothers me less here since he is busy with Apollo. I wonder if I will be ever rid of his nagging."

"Well, not that I know your family situation," commented Flash silently. "But I would love it if my sister called mom or me at all. Even if just to nag."

"You are right; you don't know anything," Hermes responded harshly.

Flash simply shrugged, "So what about the food?"

Astre looked at both of the young men for a second before dismissing it. Whatever problems they had, this wasn't the place to solve them. "It's what I took from your cooks. Some kind of beef soup, both meat and vegetables, are epic grade ingredients."

"Oh, will it give buffs? You milked the crafters for quite a lot," Frank declared.

Astre has done that, not that he felt sorry about the crafting team complaints. "I did my best to complete the tasks I was given. You are underutilizing the crafters as it is, so I gave them something to do."

"I feel like you may be even bigger slave-driver than Andre," the silver-plated warrior commented.

"At least Astre is actually doing something, not taking care of logistics," said Flash dismissing the notion. "It's also not like we have a choice."

"It should help us with our exhaustion too," Astre declared, lifting the pot's lid and mixing with a wooden spatula. "If we don't get to rest after this, I will do the next assignment alone." He took out wooden bowls and started filling them.

"No need," Sanguine replied, looking at the pot.

"We often... play throughout the night, in secret," explained Eclipse. "Then, attend college."

"Wait, you are college-age!?" yelled Hermes, straightening out from his slumped position. "I thought you were like fifteen at most!"

The girls only stared enigmatically at him before their attention was taken by the bowls Astre passed them. The sisters quickly started eating with a pleased look in their eyes.

"Rude..." grumped Judgment bringing herself up from laying flatly on her sleeping bag. She stared at the bowl before her face lifelessly, "Feed me."

"No," said Astre placing the bowl in front of her. Soon he passed the food to everyone and sat down himself. "Unless you want to carry me on the way back this time."

"I will reject that offer," the blond girl replied, taking the dish to her mouth.

"Oh, it's good!" Frank expressed after taking a sip. "Usually, the stuff we get isn't that well seasoned. Did you do something?"

"Well, they did ask me if I wanted the food for officers, I just said to give me food with the best buffs. I was negotiating with them about scrolls during that," Astre answered while focusing on eating. He didn't really feel hungry, but at the same time, his mind told him he should be.

"What a nice boss we have," Flash spoke between mouthfuls. He devoured everything in the bowl within seconds. "Oh! The buff is great too!" the black-haired young man shouted as he noticed the notification he received. "Can I get another bowl?" he asked, looking at the still half-full pot.

"Now that I heated it up, it entered its expiration period again. So, unless any of us have the right ability to stop it, enjoy yourself," Astre announced, finishing the bowl. He smiled as he looked at the notification.

Applied Buffs (Lasts two hours):

Speed increased by 10%

Damage done increased by 15%

Damage received decreased by 10%

Stamina increased by 20%

Your body is reinvigorated with the warmth of a hearty meal.

"Everyone remembers each of the scenarios?" asked Astre as they closed in on the location of where the boss lair was supposed to be. During their rest, Astre went over a lot of possible outlines for the encounter.

"We never had such detailed plans for any of our previous missions under Jones," responded Hermes. "I remember them more or less."

"We were at least taken on a mission sometimes," said Flash, looking behind his shoulder he added, "The girls usually stayed behind or done their own things."

"I'm fine. I remember everything!" protested Judgment, "Compared to your feeble minds, I have great memory!"

"We are fine," noted Sanguine and Eclipse.

"But, why plan seven, fourteen, and fifteen escape?" asked Eclipse with her head tilted.

Astre decided he would thoroughly explain, for his own sake, he didn't want the sisters to cause everyone's death. "Seven is in case the boss is a ghost or elemental type. We don't have any way to contain him for more than few seconds, only Hermes' barrier can do that. Then it can just fly around the battlefield and take out everyone without us being able to do anything.

"Any trap that would be effective against something like that would use legendary or mythical materials that neither me or crafters have. While we could deal some damage, since most of us have some magical capabilities, it wouldn't be enough to kill it before it gets us.

"The closer we are to our destination, the more I doubt it will be one. Some trees look as if something big passed along this path. The foliage is also too short there and there as if something cut it." Astre finished his monologue.

"So, we won't escape?" asked Sanguine with a smile.

"Still, fourteen and fifteen, remember? Have you ever seen a mythical boss?" inquired Astre.

Both of the girls shook their heads, "We tried to find one on our own," answered Sanguine, and Eclipse added, "Too many legendaries in the way."

"You are crazy," said Flash. "Hermes and I didn't participate in the hunt, but we watched, and it was a mess. 90% of our whole guild task force was eliminated. Two hundred people. We had everything, from sieges weaponry to war formation spells too."

"Legendary is nothing compared to mythical ones," stated Astre. "Zosimos from the Star of Genesis once tried to stake legendary bosses against one. The boss killed seventy-one lesser grade monsters, and even then, the guild had to finish it. It's not something we could stand against. Even Gorgan had to use the whole might of his guild to even stand a chance." Astre mentioned Gorgan since the girls seemed to idolize him.

"Really?" asked the surprised girls.

"Yep, so if you want to have a chance to continue battling in the tournament, listen to Astre," replied Frank through the slits of his silver helmet. He put it on when they left the camp. "Still, I find it doubtful the devs would place a mythical boss in the tournament."

"Me too, but it wouldn't be the first crazy thing they have done. I just like to consider everything," affirmed Astre.

"We want to fight Mythic," Sanguine said wistfully.

"Dying worth it?" Eclipse wondered, letting out broken sentence.

It seemed they had returned to square one. If it continued like that, the girls would throw themselves to their death sooner or later. Astre caressed his eyebrows. Then he came up with an idea. "Well, if you want to fight one, you also want to win. Right?" Both girls nodded, so he continued, "Then. If we win the tournament, let's try and hunt one together. We have a better chance of winning this competition than defeating one."

The girls stopped and stared at Astre. As always, their eyes were filled with mystery. Then the sisters nodded to each other and brought out their pinkies. "Promise?"

Astre seeing no better alternative, stretched out his hand and entwined his pinkies with theirs. "Promise."

"Now you have done it, Astre," declared Judgment. "You will die if you don't keep it."

Astre shivered. He wanted to call it an overstatement, but after looking deeply into the black and red eyes, he wasn't so sure anymore. The smile on the sister's face seemed genuine too.

"Anyway, I will go ahead and scout. You stay here and prepare. Be careful as I will start setting up some universal traps from now on," Astre said, changing the conversation. "Be especially ready for plan three and four," he added before walking ahead.

"So careful," stated Frank. "Those were the ones in case the boss had additional monsters with it?" He silently asked the team.

Astre was walking carefully and setting up traps for a while before he felt something. He was sure he was being watched. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see anything, but he wasn't going to get careless. Depending on the type of legendary boss, it could very well one-shot him, especially if it was good at hiding.

He pulled out his bow and waited. He wanted to have the advantage of the first attack, but it seemed he would be the one on the defense. He had his Death Sense up all this time, but now he upped his focus to his limits.

Part of his brain told him he should have just rejected this one task. At the same time, if he wanted to have the best chance of getting out of this hopeless alliance, he needed to make a good impression first. So that, at least Apollo would trust his opinions.

Then he saw some foliage move, he immediately adjusted to face that direction, but he didn't see anything. Suddenly, everything in his vision turned into shades of gray. Now that he was less surprised, he noticed some weird red shapes in his sight, then he felt thousands of pointy objects ripping into him, tearing him into two parts. For a second, he thought his pain setting got changed to the max, but he didn't have any more time to think as the world returned to normal, and his body was whole once more.

Quickly he dashed away and released one of his syringe arrows. For a second, he thought he missed, but then the arrow stopped midair, with a sound of it piercing the flesh. He could see something was trashing in the foliage in front of him, but he focused on increasing the distance first and charged his Snipe.

The air shimmered, and slowly black scales showed themselves, a long mouth filled with an innumerable amount of sharp teeth, each facing a different direction. Purple liquid and saliva spilled from them the deadly orifice. The purple liquid seemed to be pulling out from a rotten piece of flesh that spread quickly around the point the arrow impacted its face.

Astre wasn't going to fail again because he didn't use everything he had available. The mythical poison seemed to do its work as the beast screeched in pain. The beast raised its body and stared at the cause of its anguish.

Now that Astre got a good look, he felt as if he was going to vomit. The beast looked deformed, broken even. Its claws seemed to pierce its own body, and its disproportionate form reminded him of anatomically wrong childhood drawing. The only reminder of what the beast could have been originally was a feline tail and left ear. The fur on them was scarce, the skin underneath dark and cracked. The spine of the monster pierced its own body and formed long spikes.

There was radiating aura around the boss, that seemed to be able to cut anything that stood in its way. Its eyes were filled with a silver membrane that reflected all light. The adventurer quickly released his arrow as the beast seemed to recover.

The projectile flew with velocity approaching the speed of sound, yet when it connected with the eye, it barely pierced it. It was enough. A red and yellow ball of fire enveloped it's left-right of the face, melting its scales and turning its eye into an unrecognizable mess.

The beast shrieked with pain once more. This time, the tone was high enough that Astre felt as if his eardrums were going to explode. He quickly used Analyze before turning around to widen the distance as far as he could.

??? (Peak Legendary Grade) Abandoned ???????? of ??????????'s sanctuary. Lost by time and hope.

Astre inhaled. This was going to be a hard fight. He wondered if he should escape and hide, but he somehow knew there was no escaping this abomination.

He heard a loud snap and ground cracking behind him, without waiting, he leaped to the side, throwing cloud of white dust into the air. He felt two ragged claws cut into his back. His armor protected him well, and the cut was superficial.

The beast shrieked again, as now, additionally to the tremendous pain it felt from its rotting mouth, racket of thousands of bells resounded in its head, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere. It slid, tumbled, and fell in chaos as the overpowering sound tore at its skull.

Astre gambled that the beast had highly sensitive vibration perception. He knew how combined dust of daze and ash of deep cathedral would act. Still, despite the ongoing status effect, the beast got up and turned in his direction.

The adventurer ran again, gaining some distance, finally, he found himself in the location he prepared for the chase. Still, he wondered just how effective it would be against such a monster.

Then everything turned gray again, the world of gray invaded by red shapes beckoned him once more. A ray of dark and white pierced his chest, leaving a giant hole, once again causing him hellish agony. He could only bite his lips to not fall unconscious.

He immediately dashed to his right as he released an arrow at the beast. Just in time for the wave of cursed energy burn the spot he stood at into withered grass and ash. The arrow lodged itself into the beast's mouth. This time the arrow was coated in oil that would help spread the rot, gathered from a claw of ghoul.

For a second, he noticed that the remaining silver eye of the beast turned white and black. Energies enveloped the abnormality as it dashed forward. It's speed comparable to hypersonic flight.

Astre barely reacted just before the monster pushed with its hind paws, pulling out his sword. He didn't even wait to initiate Parry and using his passive to its fullest capability, he tried to jump away. He felt the bones in his arm craking as it collided with the blur that threatened to demolish him.

The unopposable force threw him to the side, everything turned into a blur as he traveled through the air. Only stopping by crashing into a large tree, breaking it completely, losing his LP in the process. Without having time to grimace, he quickly got up as the beast ran at him again. This time its speed was comparable to sprinting jaguar.

A single string snapped, two strands made fully from orichalcum whipped themselves into the monstrosity neck. Cutting and breaking its black scales as white blood flowed from its wounds. Then a ball of fire erupted from the ground covering the monster's head and shoulders.

For some reason, the beast froze for a second, then a shriek, many pitches higher, broke Astre's eardrums as blood flowed from his ears. He saw rustling in the foliage around, followed by multiple traps being activated. A black puma soared through the air, crashing into the creature that summoned it.

Astre managed in a few seconds of confusion to enlarge the distance between the monstrosity. He held no hope of beating this alone without some severe traps. His only opportunity laid in the team he hoped still waited for him.

The team waited in the place, from time to time, hearing a thundering crash, a wave of the explosion, or seeing white and black lights. The forest was blazing and broken. Frank and Flash did their best to stop the two berserker sisters from running ahead while Judgment tried to calm them down.

"Plan four!" ragged voice resounded from the necklaces that each party member had. Just then, a ball of fire rose in their view, soon overtaking an area of over twenty yards.

"What the hell is that thing!?" shouted Flash, pointing ahead.

The whole party froze for a second, the giant explosion just died down, leaving an area of ash and embers. In the middle of it was the black beast, it's body ragged and cracked, half of its face taken by rot. Every part of its body covered in white fluid. It's one half-rotten eye releasing an aura of black and white power.

"I'm gonna puke," said Judgment.

Sanguine looked around, trying to find Astre. Eclipse's eyes flashed white, she looked up and pointed her finger upward. A half-burned figure, with ragged, torn, and cut cloak, was falling through the sky. Frank yelped and ran to grab it just before it hit the ground. He caught the adventurer by his sides and slid a little on his metal boots, trying to not fall.

"Not the first time I got blasted away by my traps. First time with someone to catch me. Thanks," Astre voiced his appreciation as Frank set him to the ground. "Down to four LP."

"What the hell is that freak of nature!?" shouted Judgment, thoroughly disgusted.

"Later, it's coming," Astre informed.

The beast charged at them, it hobbled on three paws, but its speed was still enough to outrun a galloping horse. It didn't notice as a crystal shone in the bark of one of the trees, seven beams of freezing light hit the monstrosity body, the ground under it turning into a sticky golden substance. The substance froze, and the beast was stuck, but not for long, as with each pull of the beast arms, it cracked.

"Take care of the pumas according to plan, Sanguine, Eclipse follow me," Astre announced, running ahead with his sword in hand.

The girls didn't need another encouragement as they charged ahead. The rest of the party stayed in place, soon noticing the black shadows that moved in the forest.

"Those are epic, right?" Frank asked no one in particular. "I hate taunting those, they never behave the same... I will do my best to gather them."

"Flash and I are to protect Judgment as she chants," said Hermes. "If you can call that a chant."

Judgment raised her staff and pronounced confidently, "The ancient powers, structuring this world, let me Guide Mana of yours. By my right and Channel Mastery, I beseech the final authority of the lost ones. The rules of this world bend to my Channel Strengthening. My soul Strengthen Magic, focusing my very being into Spell Manipulation..."

"If it helps her focus on spell preparation. That's a lot of magic enchanting abilities" Flash commented

"Sounds promising. Our guild doesn't really allow once a day magic like that, so I'm surprised," Frank observed. "I'm going to do my job."

The silver-plated warrior ran ahead in the direction of the shadows. Screaming, "Raise Attention! Blazing Spirit! Warrior's Glory! Boost Aggro! World's Center! Gaze Lure! Fighting Words! You little cowards hiding in the shadows! Come try to get some real meat!" The tirade of abilities caused every eye of every monster to focus on him. Even the legendary boss turned its head before it was smashed into the ground by an enormous boulder-sized ax.

Soon ten of dark bodies pounced on the warrior. "Giant's Might! Aegis! Titan's Mass! Unbreakable! Unpiercable! Uncuttable! Earth's Shake!" As he pronounced the final words, he slammed his shield into the ground. The beasts hit the warrior and were stopped effortlessly as they fell to the ground. The epic monsters tried to get up, but the earth escaped their grasp as it cracked and fell apart.

"Wow! That's a lot of abilities, won't his brain fry?" Flash spoke, looking at the warrior and added carefreely, "With this much, we have nothing to worry about!"

"Don't get careless. My Eternal Darkness combined with Invisibility and Deceive Target is good at hiding, but I didn't test it against so many epics before," Hermes said.

Just as he said that they heard a growl behind them. Looking behind, they saw a feline beast, sniffing around, looking for something. "I guess I can't fake smells? Stupid epics..." Hermes lamented. The creature had yet to find them.

"7th Gear! Lightning Flash! Lightning Stab! Quick Stab!" shouted the black-haired man and dashed at the monster. Stabbing it in the neck, blood spurted out, and the beast recoiled in surprise. Before it had a chance to recover, "Bloody Mess! Assassinate!"

Two daggers plummeted into the beast neck again, first twisted and turned tearing the flesh into minced meat, second cut deeply, cutting artery and windpipe. His passives, Quick Daggers, Deep Cuts, Serrated Blades, did its work surprising the beast and deepening the damage.

The creature tried to swipe at Flash, but he Instant Dashed away and immediately followed with Backstab, appearing above the monster, plunging the daggers into its back. He Kicked the beast back, simultaneously backing away.

Yet the creature didn't fall, it gathered itself. It's hateful gaze watched the black-haired assassin. Then, just as it was going to attack, a bolt of dark light engulfed the puma, binding it and causing it to fall to the ground.

"Good job, but I was going to..." the mage said but immediately shouted, "Skip Chant! Manifold: Barrier!"

Three blue barriers, one behind the others, formed in front of Hermes. Two large black cats smashed into it, breaking two shields before finally stopping on the third one. Without waiting, he cast another spell, "Dark Push!". A wave of dark force crashed into the three beasts, pushing them away into the direction of the struggling Frank. "Change Sight," he added at the end, causing the monsters to see him in Frank's place.

As the extra monsters slammed into the warrior's back, he stumbled. His armor was bent, and he was gasping for air. He didn't lose any LP yet, but he could feel in his cracked bones that he was close. "Wow! Thanks, if you find any more throw them, ugh!" he didn't finish as he grunted and pushed a beast away with his shield. "Much longer!?"

"May the internalized power of Zeus grant me strength with his Lightning Guidance..." Judgment continued her chant. Casting a spell that would allow her to control her ultimate magic better.

"Soon!" shouted back, Hermes, "Gather them up, I will cast!"

The warrior nodded and shouted his ability, "Vortex Pull!" A vortex of air formed around the warrior, pulling each and every beast close to him.

"Stand in place, Soul Freeze," Hermes cast his level four white magic ability. Each of the beast in the area, together with the silver warrior, stopped in place. Their bodies were refusing to listen to their commands. "Quick Rescue. Now!" Blue haired mage announced as the warrior flew through the air and landed in front of the mage.

Judgment closed her eyes and thrust her staff forward. Finished her incantation, she proclaimed, "My Lightning Source, strike with my wrath! God's Judgment!"

The dark sky filled with flashes, then, without warning, thunderbolt the width of the tree trunk, fell at one of the beasts. Then another, and another, soon the whole area where the monsters were stuck, was filled with lightning. A crackling pillar of electricity lightened up the sky in every direction.

The party had to cover their eyes while doing their best to cover their ears. It felt as if it was going to burn their eyes out while deafening them forever. In the chaos, no one heard the mad laughter of a single girl.

When the spell died out a dozen seconds later, the static electricity in the air cracked. The ground turned into a single blackened crater. The dark bodies of the epic monsters were barely recognizable.

"Look at it! Ouch!" Judgment shouted excited as a crackle of electricity struck her.

"Isn't this a bit of an overkill?" asked Flash, looking at the effect.

"Feels like it, doesn't it?" Frank responded. "It isn't though, epics are quite hard, and you need that much. Unless it was their direct weakness, it wouldn't kill a legendary, hurt them, not bring death."

"Details! Details!" complained Judgment with a giant smile on her face, turning to the part. "Am I not amazing!? Look at my power!"

"Yeah..." silently let out Hermes, gazing at the blond girl.

"Oh, what's with that change of heart?" commented Judgment looking at the blue-haired mage.

"What!? Nothing, I was just surprised," Hermes stated embarrassed. Changing the topic, he asked, "Anyway, what about our leader?"

Then they saw a pillar of black and white, climbing into the heavens.

The beast freed itself quickly from the binding, it's not like Astre expected it to hold long. Astre ducked under a broad swipe and cut the beast paw for the nth time today. The sword barely cut into the monstrosity flesh; still, the wound healed soon after.

The abnormal monster seemed to have some crazy regeneration. No matter how grave the injuries were, they always closed. Yet the eye of the beast he destroyed beforehand didn't recover, and the poison was doing its work, so it had limits.

The sister's eye's flashed red as their muscles tensed. From what Astre learned, after a long dragging conversation, the stronger was the foe they fought, the more significant boost their rage abilities gave. They were also capable of using all their abilities without speaking.

Sanguine raised her ax and, with lightning speed, plunged it deep into the beast side. A black scourge of curse entered the beast, the hex causing the wound to blister and rot.

Eclipse's body and blade shone with white light, and she struck at the monster's neck, cutting deeply. White blood landing on her body, the liquid was slowly absorbed by her ability, increasing the intensity of the aura.

The beast roared, the area around its feat shook, a wave of pressure pushed the fighters away. Astre barely got up to his feet after rolling on the ground, the girls didn't fare much better, but the beast didn't wait. The blond adventurer reacted purely by instinct, gathered from his experience from the fight till now, throwing himself to the side.

A white laser passed by his head, yet the girls were not so lucky. The beam hit them straight on, shaving off their LP. Yet they didn't falter or fall, the red aura in their eyes shone brighter, now flickering outwards like flames.

For a second, the beast eye turned to the side, looking at a silver warrior distance away. The three fighters didn't waste the chance, jumping forward, the ax in the black-haired sister hand enlarged itself, soon overtaking its wielder in size. Jumping into the air with incredible speed, swinging at the monstrosity now mostly rotten head, it crashed down, breaking its skull as disgusting fluids rose into the air.

Eclipse jumped over the fallen beast and plunged her sword deep into the left shoulder of the creature, where it supposed heart was. Then with a second push, a fountain of white blood erupted into the air. Much more than should have been physically possible, everything seeped into the frenzied girl's body.

The beast reeled up, pushing both of the girls away. Astre slid underneath, with both of his hand on the hilt, he Stabbed, the sword entering deep within the beasts chest. He loaded another vial of the mythical poison into the healed, and gritting his teeth, he turned the ring on his blade. Spraying the lethal liquid inside the lungs of the beast.

He noticed that the rot on the beast's head was slowing down, he didn't want to risk it recovering. As the poison spread once more through its body, the creature yelped in pain. The wounds barely allowing it to breath, it toppled and twisted, trashing the area around it.

The girls tried to advance, but each time they got close, a push of white and black energy threw them away. Astre pulled out his bow and charged his Snipe. Then the beast got up, its survival instincts kicked in, and to the fighters' surprise, it turned around and fled.

The girls stared agape, and Astre immediately released his arrow. The projectile hit the beast behind in its left hind leg, exploding, tearing apart scales and flesh. The boss didn't slow down, soon it used its charge ability, dashing away, breaking trees, and splitting the ground.

Astre started running after the monstrosity, he couldn't allow it to heal itself. He was half certain that the creature would go after him again when it did. The sisters soon overtook him, their buffs granting them superior physical capabilities.

Soon the sister caught up to the beast, Sanguin brought her ax up and enlarged it once more. Black glitter following behind it, she swung it at the boss's paws. It tumbled to the ground, uprooting trees as it slid along the ground.

Eclipse stopped in front of the beast head, raising her sword up as her aura poured into it. With a loud yell, she brought it down, bright light engulfing the area, the sword of light cutting through the flesh.

The rotten head of the monstrosity fell down, hitting the ground with a disgusting splash. It fell apart, white blood and rotten flesh sprayed the field.

Astre caught up and looked at the beast in disgust. Then at the lifeless body, "Is it dead?" He asked, not believing it went down that easily.

"Astre is unfair," said Sanguine walking up to him. "Took all the fun for himself."

"Huh?"

"Yes, you whittled it down so much," confirmed Eclipse.

"Well, yes, but I didn't expect it to..." as he said that he noticed something with his Eye for Details. Immediately he took the girls by the hand and pulled them away.

The headless monstrosity twitched, then jolted, jumping to its feet. Its body convulsed, the skin on its back tore, two giant bone limbs rose into the air. Then two more, and more, turning into eight. Giant spikes that moved and bend.

The headless neck twisted, and the flesh of it boiled, closing the wound, a single black eye forming. It wrapped and turned, looking for them. When it noticed Astre, it enlarged. Two bone limbs headed for him.

Astre reacted quickly, dodging as the spike passed by him, two holes in the ground turned black and corrupted. The adventurer examined the beast. Its description didn't change. The rotting on its torso continued to spread, but Astre doubted the creature cared anymore.

The rest of the limbs moved and aimed at Astre. He Parried one, then stepped against the second, jumped backward to evade third, deflected fourth, the fifth cut his leg as he dodged, and the final one threatened to impale Astre.

A giant ax carried by similarly giant hand hit the beast throwing it away. An enormous Sanguine stood attacking the creature relentlessly. Chopping at it with her weapon. The monster didn't have the raw power to protect itself from the strike.

Astre remembered Sanguine briefly mentioned this ability. It seeped at her LP at an alarming rate. Astre guessed it was some weird law of conservation that the game used in its simulation. Still, its strength was quite significant, shortly overpowering the legendary boss. The adventurer pulled out his bow and charged Snipe.

Eclipse jumped from her sister's back, enveloped in the white aura, she stabbed at the giant black eye. A mountain of black liquid erupted. The sister absorbed it, but she had a grimace on her face. "Feels off..." Despite it, she struck again, absorbing more now black blood.

The beast raged, it aimed its bone limbs at the sisters. Eclipse dodged the first one by jumping. With a wide swing of her sword, she broke two more, but a fourth pierced her from behind.

More limbs attacked Sanguine, she was forced to disengage and protect herself. Her increased size hindered her, and the bone appendages pierced her arms. They tried to bring her into the air, but she fought them to a standstill.

Astre Sniped the bone spike that pinned Eclipse freeing her. Her wound healing but a black mark was left on her darkly caramel-colored skin. Sanguine's pale arms slowly turned black as the bones pierced her. She was also slowly starting to return to her smaller size.

Eclipse jumped, and with her sword, she freed her sister. Sanguine returning to the normal size. The sisters looked for a second at each other then jumped ahead.

Astre accompanied them, he didn't know what the sisters would do, but he would adjust. The limbs attacked, but Astre reacted with Instant Trap, orichalcum strings bound the bone arms wrapping them together.

The sisters ran under the beast, with a swing of their weapons a cross-cut appeared on the beast torso. They continued to slash, while Astre did his best to stop the limbs from reaching them, using multiple explosive traps and his orichalcum strings and freezing and light barrier runes. A tide of black blood fell on the sisters. Enlarging the white aura clinging to Eclipse.

For a second, they stopped, the power from Eclipse split in half and surged into her sister. Combined with the red glee from their eyes, looking as if bubbles of red flowed in rivers of white. They raised their weapon, the ax turning black and red, while the sword was white and red. Then the colors mixed and entangled, soon the arms turned gray, then the bloody red seemed to be winning, changing the shade once more.

They swung their weapons, a red tide of energy splitting the boss from the middle of its torso to its hind legs into two parts. The black blood fell on the sisters as they watched. A wild smile on their faces was obscured from Astre's vision.

The monstrosity fell once more. Astre was ready to sigh in relief, but suddenly his vision turned gray, he felt his whole body disintegrating. Waking up with a gasp, throbbing pain in his temples and blood shut eyes, he quickly grabbed the girls by their hands and started running.

His back burned as he fell to the ground; his word got effulged into a concept of white and black. He saw his LP going down twice, leaving him with only two left.

The world returned to normal, getting up he saw the two girls behind him laying still. He quickly analyzed them, and they were near unconscious, their LP was zero and their wounds grave. He promptly forced two healing potions and remedies down their throat. He wasn't sure if they would survive, but it would have to do.

Then he saw something in the air, a black jewel rose, with it the mangled body of the beast. He quickly shot at it, but a bone spike deflected his strike. He cursed internally.

The mangled flesh tore and changed, the bones creating a shield in front of the gem—the tissue surrounding it, creating an umbrella of gore behind it.

A black beam shot at Astre, grabbing the sisters by their collar he threw himself to the side. Barely avoiding it, he threw the sisters away. He could feel the pain of his tired body and mind. The constant thudding in his temples unceasing.

He used Dodge Shot to shoot at the eye and avoid another beam, then jumped and rolled to dodge another. He did his best to predict where the beam would land, but soon he was being overwhelmed. Two beams shot by his side, he ducked under a third, but a fourth pierced him, lowering his LP to one, as the hole in his torso healed.

Then another three beams shot at him before he recovered. But just before his inevitable death, three blue barriers appeared in front of him. Granting him just enough time to jump to the side before they broke.

He saw the rest of the team, without Judgment, arriving behind him, stepping on the broken trees and foliage. Immediately he issued orders, "Take the sisters and run, Hermes, throw me at the boss and run too!"

The blue-haired young man looked confused at him and the weird fleshy cocoon. Frank slapped him into action. A strong push threw Astre into the air. A beam shot straight at him, but he used Dodge Shot at the last second and appeared just in front of the monster. Grabbing the eye with his hands, he felt it burn, then he disappeared, leaving behind a Trap Doll - Ashes of Inferno.

A ball of blue and green, then black and white fire enveloped everything in the clearing.

Astre, drinking a health and mind potion, watched as in the distance the colorful fires died down. He was forced to drop all of his skills as he could no longer focus on them due to the pain. His hands tingled as the damage from touching the crystal took his LP down to zero and still left some damage. Sitting on a random fallen tree, he sighed. This was too hard. He opened his notifications.

Your team slew 16 x Epic Grade Monsters. 64 points You slew Peak Legendary Variant Boss. 75 points

With the points he gathered beforehand, Apollo now carried over two hundred points. Astre would be sure once the leaderboard updated, but with this, the alliance should have the second-place secured.

His team knew where to look for him, he left the doll near the camp he made beforehand. Within the next ten minutes, the team arrived in front of him.

"It's nice sitting down like that when we have to carry those two," Frank remarked, having Sanguine strapped to his back with a belt.

Flash carried Eclipse, stumbling every few steps, while Hermes made sure he didn't fall. Judgment stumbled after, supporting herself on her staff.

"You did great," said Astre standing up. He felt woozy, but he still needed to do one more thing. "Frank, we are going back for the loot, since you didn't pick it up. The rest go into the camp and rest, make sure to watch for the alarm just in case."

"Ah, I knew I forgot something," lamented the silver-plated warrior.

Astre could have reminded them to loot the boss through the necklace, but he wanted to loot it himself. Just in case. He stood over the broken shards of the black jewel and ash. Crouching down, he touched the crystal and said, "Loot." The remaining gem turned into a cloud of dust.

He looked over the notification, it seemed he mostly gained some of its scales and bones. Then he noticed the last one.

Key to Progenitor's Sanctuary

"Are you done? Anything good?" asked Frank.

"Not really, just some materials," lied Astre, faking a disappointed face. "Really, I wonder if the points were worth it."

"At least we live," Frank responded nonchalantly, seemingly buying the lie. "That was one hell of a fight. Is it always like that when you fight legendaries alone?"

"I'm usually more prepared, this boss nearly killed me with its first attack, invisible legendaries are such bullshit," Astre answered.

"Still, that may have been the best and most exciting operation I was on," Frank stated, taking off his helmet, he had a smile on his face. "Truly, I now recognize why our guild fails so much, despite the manpower."

Astre was going to say something, but then a band on the silver warrior's wrist shined, bringing it up, his face went grim. Finally, he declared, "It seems we are to return to base. Though I don't know if we will get rest. The scouts found Harbinger, and it's nasty. There is an undead army, heading through the mountains."