[Experience +15] [Current Level: 12 (0%)] Along with the pleasant prompt ringing in his mind, Rayleigh felt a warm current course through his entire body, sweeping away all his accumulated fatigue and drowsiness.
“Here it comes!” Rayleigh’s eyes shone with excitement as he couldn’t wait to open his inventory.
The staff lying quietly in one of the slots was now radiating an alluring dark-gold sheen.
Without hesitation, he dragged it into his equipment slot.
[Staff of Fire Ball] [+3 to Fire Ball] [+1 to Fire Bolt] [+1 to Ice Bolt] [+50% Damage to Undead] [Required Level: 12] “Holy crap!” Holding this ancient-looking staff topped with a glowing, fiery red ruby, Rayleigh almost drooled.
These stats!
It was practically a god-tier artifact tailored specifically for him!
“Andariel, you little bitch, just you wait for granddaddy Rayleigh!” Rayleigh’s confidence surged.
He felt like the sharpest guy in Rogue Encampment right now—ready to slay any god or Buddha that stood in his way.
“Alright, crew, grab your gear!
Time to claim our kill!” …
Inside the gloomy Throne Room, the air was thick with a sickening stench of blood and decay.
Rayleigh stepped proudly through the Town Portal.
Behind him, the archer Visala drew her bowstring, her face full of vigilance.
“I’m telling you, Visala, today I’m gonna show you what real art looks like!” Rayleigh twirled his new staff expertly in his hand.
“Art is an explosion!” Just as the words left his mouth, a massive figure slowly materialized in the shadows deep within the hall.
Andariel!
The Maiden of Anguish!
She was bare-chested, with four vicious spider legs extending from her back.
With every step she took, the tips of her claws dragged against the stone floor, making an ear-splitting scraping sound.
“A foolish mortal who knows not death.” Andariel spoke, her voice carrying an eerie, overlapping quality—both alluring and filled with agonizing screeches.
“The scent on you…
reminds me of those sisters who betrayed me.” “Hold your horses, lady!” Rayleigh raised his staff and aimed it straight at her.
“This is our first time meeting, so let’s not act like we have some deep hatred.
I just came…
to send you on your way!” “Fire Ball!” He roared, and the ruby at the top of the staff burst into a brilliant glow.
A fireball—a full size larger than before and blazing with roaring flames—whistled through the air, trailing a long tail of fire as it shot straight for Andariel’s face!
However, Andariel merely raised one hand with utter disdain.
*Boom!* The fireball smashed into her seemingly delicate palm, bursting into a brilliant firework of sparks.
And then, nothing.
Not even a trace of a scorch mark remained on Andariel’s palm.
The smile froze on Rayleigh’s face.
“What the hell?” “Is that all you’ve got?” Andariel’s figure suddenly blurred.
In the next instant, she appeared before Rayleigh like a phantom, her speed so fast that she left behind only a streak of afterimages!
“Holy shit!” Rayleigh’s scalp went numb.
Without thinking, he threw himself into a desperate roll backward.
*Screech!* A gust of sharp wind brushed past his head; he could even smell the foul, venomous stench wafting off her spider claws.
Before he could even scramble to his feet, Andariel opened her mouth.
*Spurt!* A jet of green venom sprayed out, covering the spot where he had been standing a split second ago.
The ground instantly sizzled as it was corroded.
“This chick has no honor!
Sneak attacking me!” Rayleigh scrambled away on all fours, his heart pounding wildly.
This wasn’t right!
This was completely different from the pace in the game!
How could she be so fast?!
To make matters worse, the surrounding Afflicted were alerted as well.
One particularly muscular elite monster, crackling with blue electrical arcs, shrieked and charged straight at him.
“Impedimenta!” Rayleigh waved his wand at the elite monster without a second thought.
An invisible barrier materialized instantly.
But he had forgotten—this was the world of Diablo, not Hogwarts!
The elite Afflicted slammed headfirst into the barrier.
Although it was momentarily blocked, its “Lightning Enchanted” trait was triggered!
*Zzzzt!* Countless Charged Bolts erupted from its body, scattering in all directions!
The entire room turned into an electrotherapy chamber in an instant!
“Dammit!” Hit by two Charged Bolts he couldn’t dodge in time, Rayleigh jerked violently, his health bar dropping by half in a flash.
His lightning resistance was sitting at zero right now!
“Visala!!” He yelled at his mercenary.
Visala faithfully executed her duties, firing ice arrows in rapid succession in an effort to slow the enemies down.
But Andariel was completely immune to such tricks.
Her movement speed was too fast; while dodging arrows, she continuously spat venom, her spider claws swinging in an airtight defense.
Rayleigh was in utter disarray, forced to dodge frantically in the tight space.
Fire Ball?
He wanted to cast it, but he couldn’t find a single casting window!
The moment he stopped, Andariel’s claws and venom would instantly drown him.
“No way!
I’m gonna die!
I’m gonna die!” Seeing that his healing potion cooldown wasn’t finished yet, and another jet of Andariel’s venom spray was already right in front of his face, Rayleigh bit his tongue, whipped a scroll out from his belt pouch, and tore it open!
A blue Town Portal expanded beneath his feet.
Without hesitation, Rayleigh dove headfirst into it.
*Thump.* He tumbled out of the portal, landing heavily on the cold stone floor of Rogue Encampment.
“Huff…
huff…
huff…” Rayleigh panted heavily, drenched in cold sweat, feeling like he had just walked back from the gates of hell.
He opened his status panel and saw that his health was down to less than one-tenth.
A half-second later, and he would have really been a goner.
“Damn it…
I blew it…” He slammed a fist onto the ground, his face full of frustration and unwillingness.
He had thought upgrading his weapon would make him unstoppable, but he’d almost been wiped out in one burst.
This Andariel wasn’t a boss you could just stand still and burst down.
Her insane speed, wide-area poison attacks, and that electric minion…
“I need to figure something out.” Rayleigh didn’t give up.
His cautious nature took over once again.
He ran over to Akara, fully restored his health and mana, and then gritted his teeth as he spent all the gold coins on him to buy a belt full of potions.
“If brute force doesn’t work, I’ll have to use my brain.” Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he began to review the battle.
The most disgusting part was that Lightning Enchanted Afflicted.
The Charged Bolts it released virtually blocked off all dodging space.
“I have to take that thing out first!” Rayleigh quickly determined his core strategy.
As long as he dealt with that mobile power grid, he’d have enough space to slowly deal with Andariel.
Taking another deep breath, he adjusted his mindset and stepped through the portal once more.
Back in the Throne Room, Rayleigh didn’t rush out blindly.
Hiding behind a stone pillar near the portal, he carefully poked his head out to observe.
Andariel was pacing back and forth in the center of the hall, while the Lightning Enchanted Afflicted went on a regular patrol along her perimeter.
An opportunity!
Rayleigh calculated its patrol path and Andariel’s detection range.
After observing for a while, the Afflicted finally walked to a turn in the hall—a spot where Andariel couldn’t see it, allowing Rayleigh to draw the Afflicted deep into the corner and eliminate it.
Now was the time!
“Fire Ball!” Keeping low, he pointed his staff, and a fireball flew out silently, hitting the Afflicted square in the back.
“Roar!” Pained, the Afflicted let out a furious roar and immediately spun around, charging toward Rayleigh.
“Hooked!” Instead of retreating, Rayleigh advanced to meet it.
“Ice Bolt!” An ice bolt carrying biting cold shot out first, accurately striking the target and coating the Afflicted in a layer of white frost, slowing its movement.
Immediately after, Rayleigh chanted a strange syllable.
“Bowel-Plucking Curse!” A gray ring of light flew from his staff and settled onto the Afflicted.
With its fragile internal organs attacked from within, the monster’s health bar dropped in huge chunks.
“Impedimenta!” Facing the Charged Bolts bursting out from the monster as it charged, Rayleigh was fully prepared.
Invisible barriers rose and shattered continuously in front of him, blocking all of those deadly electrical spheres.
“Visala!
Focus fire!” The mercenary’s ice arrows arrived as well, hitting one after another to stack slow effects on the monster.
Rayleigh seized the opportunity and went wild with his Fire Balls.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* Fireball after fireball slammed into the Afflicted, blasting its skin open and flesh torn, causing it to wail in agony.
Finally, after Rayleigh dumped half his mana pool, the annoying elite monster gave a mournful cry, its massive body crashing loudly to the ground.
[Experience +120] A faint blue glow hovered over the corpse.
Gasping for breath, Rayleigh walked up and picked up the dropped leather armor.
He casually pulled out an Identify Scroll and slapped it onto the item.
[Hard Leather Armor] [Defense: 28] [Durability: 24/24] [Required Strength: 20] [+10% Poison Resist] [Poison Length Reduced by 25%] Rayleigh froze for a moment, then burst into wild joy!
“Holy shit!
Ask and you shall receive!” These stats were practically custom-made for fighting Andariel!
Without a second word, he threw on the leather armor, feeling much more grounded.
Refilling his potions, Rayleigh turned his gaze toward the solitary Maiden of Anguish in the center of the hall.
“Alright.
Now, it’s just the two of us.” Holding his staff, he walked out step by step.
“You actually dare to return?” Andariel looked somewhat surprised when she saw Rayleigh.
“Not only do I dare come back, I’ve brought you a big present!” Rayleigh grinned, revealing a flash of white teeth.
Same old routine.
“Ice Bolt!” Lead with ice, slow her down!
Andariel’s movement visibly stalled.
“Fire Ball!” Follow up with damage!
The fireball exploded on Andariel, taking away a small chunk of her health bar.
“Not over yet!” Rayleigh chanted the spell again.
“Bowel-Plucking Curse!” The gray curse halo appeared once more, landing squarely on Andariel.
Having been struck by the curse, Andariel’s reaction was entirely different from the minor monster’s before.
She let out a shriek of extreme agony, her entire massive body trembling violently.
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
*Splat—* A thick, pea-soup green poisonous mist burst forth from every pore of her body!
In the blink of an eye, the entire Throne Room was engulfed in the viscous poison fog, visibility instantly dropping to less than a meter.
“Holy shit!
What is this?
Chemical warfare?!” Rayleigh was completely bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
The poison fog was extremely corrosive, and his health bar began to drain at a slow but steady pace.
Subconsciously, he fired another Fire Ball into it.
And then, a violent chemical reaction occurred.
The moment the scorching fireball came into contact with the high concentration of toxic gas, it triggered a massive, catastrophic chain explosion!
Rayleigh only felt a flash of white light before his eyes, followed by an irresistible, colossal shockwave slamming violently into his chest.
*BOOM—!* The entire Catacombs trembled from the force.
Rayleigh was blown off his feet by the blast wave, sailing through the air in a trajectory before crashing heavily against the far wall and rolling to the floor.
His head buzzed wildly; he felt dazed, disoriented, as if every bone in his body had shattered.
Yet his survival instinct remained intact.
Almost mechanically, he downed two Healing Potions back-to-back, then recklessly gulped down three Full Rejuvenation Potions like they were water.
His health bar bounced back frantically from the brink of death, barely stabilizing at last.
“Cough…
cough…” Rayleigh coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, propping himself up as he stared blankly ahead.
“Did…
did I just beat the boss like that?” The poison mist had dissipated.
Where Andariel had once stood was now completely empty, save for a few charred fragments.
She had been blown to bits by her own poison gas combined with Rayleigh’s fireball.
Rayleigh sat on the ground in a daze, unable to process it for a moment.
Did he…
accidentally discover a massive, game-breaking bug?
Knowledge is power?
Learn math, physics, and chemistry to conquer the world?
However, when his eyes swept across the loot lying on the ground, all his doubts and pain vanished into thin air in an instant.
Among the pile of gold coins and potions, a brilliant golden light was quietly resting there, radiating an incomparable charm.
“Holy shit!
A Unique dropped!” Rayleigh’s eyes went wide.
Who gives a damn how the boss died!
Black cat or white cat, as long as it catches mice, it’s a good cat!
He scrambled over on all fours, grabbing the items radiating golden light right into his hands.