The fight continued without giving any of them enough time to properly recover, while the Choir Master’s Health fell far slower than the destruction spreading throughout the city.
Leon deflected another chain with his shield as Mira passed through his shadow and appeared behind the Choir Master, forcing him to turn just as Karl attacked from the opposite side.
Death Severance crossed his arm and added another mark before Karl immediately retreated from the black pages forming around him.
[Death Mark applied.]
The Fortress Commander followed with his spear, but several barriers appeared and absorbed most of the attack before the Choir Master released another shockwave that forced all four of them backwards.
Karl glanced toward the Health bar while regaining his footing.
[Choir Master: 75.2%]
They had been attacking him continuously and still had not even removed a quarter of his Health.
Leon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and tightened his grip around the sword he had switched to several moments earlier.
"This bastard is ridiculous."
"We’re still damaging him," Mira replied as the remaining darkness of her Shadow Domain shifted around her feet. "Just very slowly."
Another massive crack spread across the street before either could continue, splitting through several nearby buildings as pieces of the dungeon sky broke apart above them.
Karl looked toward the destruction for barely a moment before turning back, they simply needed to keep attacking.
The Choir Master raised one hand and black chains erupted from beneath Karl’s feet, forcing him sideways while Leon rushed through the opening with Qi covering his sword.
A barrier appeared in front of Leon, but Mira emerged from its shadow and struck from behind.
The Choir Master twisted away from her daggers before the Fortress Commander’s spear forced him to move again, leaving Karl enough room to approach from the side.
Death Energy gathered around the Death Stick as Death Severance formed once more.
The Choir Master noticed him and several black pages immediately gathered between them.
Karl cut through the first group before stepping around another, then swung Death Severance toward the Choir Master’s exposed side.
The curved blade passed across his chest and left another shallow wound.
[Death Mark applied.]
Then another notification appeared.
[Death Execution activated.]
Karl’s expression immediately froze.
What the fuck?
The Choir Master’s body suddenly stopped moving as the golden light inside his eyes flickered violently.
His Health bar remained unchanged for barely an instant before everything disappeared at once.
[Choir Master: 75.0% → 0%]
Nobody moved, Leon remained halfway through raising his sword while Mira stood several metres behind the Choir Master with both daggers still inside her hands.
Even the Fortress Commander stopped after preparing another attack, Karl emptily stared at the Health bar.
It actually activated?
The Choir Master slowly lowered his golden eyes toward the shallow wound across his chest, apparently just as confused as everyone else by what had happened.
The black tome slipped from his hands before his body collapsed onto the broken street.
Every active ability disappeared alongside him, the chains covering the battlefield dissolved, the remaining barriers shattered and the corrupted mist gradually faded while the revived dungeon creatures collapsed around them.
For several seconds, the three of them simply stared at the corpse. Leon eventually turned toward Karl with an expression somewhere between disbelief and suspicion.
"What the fuck did you just do?"
Karl looked down at Death Severance before glancing back toward the dead Overlord. For once, he did not have a particularly impressive explanation.
"I got lucky."
Mira slowly turned toward him. "Lucky?"
"My skill has a special effect."
Karl dismissed the scythe-shaped Death Energy around the Death Stick before continuing.
"Every successful attack has a one-percent chance to instantly execute a suitable target."
The silence returned as Leon looked toward the Choir Master’s corpse, then toward the spot where its Health bar had displayed seventy-five percent only moments earlier.
"You have a skill that can randomly kill something with three-quarters of its Health remaining?"
Karl shrugged slightly. "One-percent chance."
Leon and Mira exchanged a look.
Karl frowned. "Why are both of you looking at me like that? I didn’t decide when it activated."
Leon slowly shook his head. "Of course your random Necromancer skill has a one-percent instant-death effect."
The result had surprised him almost as much as them, especially considering how many times he had already used Death Severance without activating Death Execution once.
I suppose one percent eventually has to happen.
His attention returned toward the Choir Master’s corpse, but after several seconds, something began feeling wrong.
There was no familiar warmth entering his body and no experience notification had appeared either.
Karl’s expression gradually changed.
"Wait."
Mira had apparently noticed the same problem because she was already checking her interface.
"Where’s the EXP?"
Leon stopped joking and immediately opened his own panel, several seconds passed before his eyebrows drew together.
"We got nothing."
Karl looked toward the corpse again, that made absolutely no sense.
A Level 30 Overlord should have given them an enormous amount of experience, especially considering the difference between their current Levels and its classification.
Karl’s eyes narrowed.
Then this isn’t over.
Before he could say anything, brilliant white light suddenly erupted throughout the street and covered everything around them.
Leon immediately raised his weapon again.
"What now?"
The ruined city vanished before anyone could react and for barely an instant, Karl felt nothing beneath his feet before solid stone suddenly returned and the white light disappeared around him.
The entire environment had changed.
The ruined streets, collapsing buildings and fractured sky were gone, replaced by an enormous cathedral that looked completely untouched by everything they had just witnessed.
Tall white pillars extended toward the ceiling while coloured light passed through enormous stained-glass windows and spread across the polished stone floor.
There were no cracks across the walls and no signs that the place had ever fallen into ruin.
Leon slowly looked around the cathedral before lowering his weapon slightly.
"This is the same place?"
Mira did not answer him, her attention had already moved toward the far end of the cathedral and Karl followed her gaze a moment later.
A large statue stood behind the altar and someone was kneeling before it.
The figure appeared to be a young girl dressed in a simple white priestess robe, with her back turned toward them and both hands held together in prayer.
Karl watched her for several seconds before activating Perception and a system panel appeared.
[Seraphine]
[Level: ???]
[Classification: ???]
[Status: ???]
[Information: ???]