Doug doesn’t know what happened. Only that Boss was there, and now he’s gone. So is First Boss. It was not a good time. And the creature that murdered them both is still alive!

Doug doesn’t have time to mourn. Or know what mourning is. He does have time to murder.

The Boss Mimic stands comatose, unable to fathom what has occurred. The primary enemy? Gone. The Core? His one reason for existing? Gone. The dream of defending the core against all who dare to lay eyes on it. Gone. Yet he remains. A failure. A pathetic thing, with all the power of hell yet nothing to show for it. No core. Nothing to defend. He can feel himself go inert, the power leaking from his being, the hardened flesh-like scales softening, the muscle shrinking, and yet, he can’t care. Not about his fate. Or the minor presences that surround him. Closing in on him as strength wanes and wanes.

He could lash out. He could murder them all. Uproot their pathetic existence, but there would be no glee in it. No joy in returning to what he was before. A simple hunger-fueled thing that waited patiently for prey that never arrived. Always hungry, always yearning, always desperate for the sound of something warm, preferably, and full of meat.

A subsistence, unthinking, unfeeling, not really appreciating much beyond the next meal to come. If the Boss Mimic understood what depression was, he would seek help! He would petition the 7 Lords that preside over his existence, the Dukes of Hell, for mercy!

But with Doug, there is none. Only the sharp point of a steel blade jabbed into his shrinking form. Over and over and over, as the System chimes-

Boss Mimic has taken Major Piercing Damage

Boss Mimic has taken Major Piercing Damage

Boss Mimic has taken Major Piercing Damage

Boss Mimic has taken-

A silent scream of agony echoes inside the dungeon chamber as the Boss twists and turns away from the pain but is never able to really move. Even his body slowly becomes more rooted in place, taking the shape of a simple treasure but oozing with black blood even as the flesh underneath becomes increasingly softer and pinker. More skeletons wordlessly descend on the Boss Mimic. Who doesn’t bother to defend, for his heart is broken…

*******

As what remains of the Skelly Boys stab the Boss Mimic to death, the System screams in silent agony. The intruder is in her realm, unable to faze in or out of existence. Truly trapped in a land not quite the void but the white wall in between. Desperation builds as the Dungeon Core tries to escape the Liche unconsciously by burning through the creature from the inside. But it doesn’t work. The Liche isn’t human or alive, but a creature sustained with mana and will. And each attempt to burn itself free only feeds Matt the mana he needs to sustain his unlife.

And causes errors and glitches to build.

If the System crashes, a complete erroring out, this world reliant on levels and quests, parties, and notifications will be thrown into chaos. Chaos the Three Lords of Chaos would enjoy. The Harbingers and their children will reign in this world, spreading their lies of freedom and unreason to every corner. Because there is nothing to stop them, nothing to defend the System. Even the Eleven Lords of Order won’t intervene.

The only comfort that the System has is that, at the very least, despite failing her job as the One Lady, the Harbingers didn’t claim this world via a plan!

So she cries out to no one in particular, and the world wobbles as System Messages cease, and no further action can be tallied and calculated. For a millisecond, the world stands still. Because of one skeleton eating one E-Ranked Dungeon Core.