Deep inside the Twilight Throne, the battle had already reached its final stage. The chamber no longer resembled the magnificent throne room it had once been.
The marble floor was shattered.
Pillars had collapsed.
Purple flames burned along the walls, while cracks spread across the enormous throne platform where King Vareth stood.
His black armor was broken in several places, revealing crimson energy pulsing beneath his skin.
His enormous greatsword dragged across the floor.
KRRRNNNGG—
The sound sent sparks flying. Across from him stood eight players. Their health bars were already dangerously low.
Malakai tightened his grip around his weapon.
"Everyone. This is the last phase."
A golden timer appeared above the battlefield.
[King Vareth — Final Phase]
LP: 10%
Then—
DING!
Boss Skill Activated: [King's Last Judgment]
The entire chamber went silent.
Vareth raised his sword toward the ceiling. Darkness immediately gathered above him. Thousands of black blades began forming in midair.
Grimfang's expression changed.
"That's a wipe skill!"
Lumina immediately activated her barrier.
"Everyone behind me!"
[Holy Sanctuary]
A massive golden dome expanded around the party.
Ironclad planted his shield into the ground.
[Titanic Bastion]
StormArrow fired every remaining arrow into the boss.
[Rain of Arrows]
Ashveil vanished.
[Shadowstep]
NightFox disappeared into the darkness.
TitanForge charged.
[Berserker's Charge!]
Even Malakai rushed forward.
But Vareth had already completed his chant.
"Kneel before the throne."
The black blades descended.
BOOOOOOOM!
The golden barrier shattered instantly.
CRACK!
Ironclad's shield exploded apart.
One player after another disappeared beneath the overwhelming attack.
Lumina — DEAD.
Ironclad — DEAD.
StormArrow — DEAD.
Ashveil — DEAD.
NightFox — DEAD.
TitanForge — DEAD.
Grimfang attempted to escape. He took three steps. A black blade pierced through his chest.
Grimfang — DEAD.
Silence.
Dust filled the chamber.
The only remaining health bar belonging to a player was—
Malakai.
His armor was almost completely destroyed.
His LP—
17 / 1,420
King Vareth slowly lifted his sword.
"You are alone."
Malakai spat blood onto the ground.
Then smiled.
"Exactly."
His eyes began glowing crimson. The Demonkin blood within his body started boiling.
Racial Skill Activated: [Demonic Awakening]
The blood of the Demonkin has awakened.
For 60 seconds, you are no longer bound by mortal limitations.
A shockwave erupted from Malakai.
BOOM!
The stone beneath his feet cracked. His horns lengthened. Dark veins spread across his arms. A black-red aura wrapped around his entire body.
Demonic Awakening
+50% Attack Power
+30% Magic Power
+30% Attack Speed
+20% Movement Speed
+25% Maximum LP
+20% Life Steal
Dark Damage: +10%
Damage Recovery: 2%
King Vareth's eyes narrowed.
"A Demonkin..."
Malakai vanished.
BOOM!
He appeared directly in front of the boss.
SLASH!
His weapon struck Vareth's chest.
-438
Before Vareth could react—
SLASH!
-512
Another strike.
SLASH!
-487
Three attacks became six.
Six became twelve.
Malakai's attack speed had reached a level Vareth could barely track. The Demonkin moved like a shadow.
Vareth swung his greatsword.
WHOOSH!
Malakai ducked. The sword passed over his head. He stepped onto the blade itself. Then launched himself upward.
[Demonic Fang]
A black crescent of energy exploded across Vareth's face.
CRITICAL!
-1,284
Vareth staggered. For the first time, the boss's LP moved.
10% → 8.7%
Malakai grinned.
"You're not invincible."
Vareth roared.
Boss Skill Activated: [Thronebreaker]
The entire platform erupted. Massive pillars of dark energy exploded from the ground. Malakai jumped between them.
One missed him by inches.
Another grazed his shoulder.
-183 LP
His health fell dangerously low.
12%
Vareth charged.
The boss swung his sword horizontally.
Malakai blocked.
CLANG!
The impact sent him flying across the room and crashed through a pillar.
-241 LP
His health dropped below—
20%.
For one second, everything became silent. Then another system message appeared.
Hidden Effect Activated: [Demon's Instinct]
Malakai's pupils became vertical. His grin disappeared. His expression became completely feral.
Damage dealt: +30%
Critical Hit Rate: +20%
Crowd-Control Resistance: +50%
Fear Immunity: Active
The aura around him became darker. Vareth raised his sword.
"DIE!"
Malakai charged. Neither of them attempted to defend anymore. It became a battle of pure destruction.
Vareth swung.
Malakai dodged.
Malakai struck.
Vareth blocked.
Vareth countered.
Malakai took the hit and continued attacking.
SLASH!
-1,102
CRITICAL!
-1,847
His life steal activated.
+58 LP
Another strike.
-1,394
+72 LP
Vareth's armor shattered. The boss stumbled backward.
7%
5%
3%
The sixty-second timer continued falling.
12 seconds.
Malakai's breathing became heavier. Vareth raised both hands.
Boss Skill Activated: [Twilight Execution]
The entire chamber turned black. A gigantic magic circle appeared beneath Malakai.
The attack was unavoidable. Malakai had no time to escape. He simply tightened his grip.
"Then I'll kill you before it activates."
8 seconds.
He charged.
7 seconds.
Vareth swung. Malakai took the hit.
6 seconds.
Malakai struck Vareth's abdomen.
-1,756
5 seconds.
Vareth counterattacked.
-392 LP
Malakai's LP dropped to—
3%.
4 seconds.
He stepped forward.
3 seconds.
Vareth raised his sword.
2 seconds.
Malakai jumped.
1 second.
His weapon descended.
[Demon's Instinct — Critical Strike]
CRITICAL HIT!
-4,982
The sword pierced through King Vareth's chest.
For several seconds—
nothing happened.
Then the boss's massive body began cracking.Red light escaped through the cracks.
King Vareth — LP: 0 / 58,000
The king looked down at the weapon buried in his chest.
"...Impossible."
Malakai pulled the weapon free.
"No."
He looked into Vareth's eyes.
"Just badly timed."
BOOOOOOOM!
King Vareth exploded into thousands of fragments of dark energy. The entire Twilight Throne shook.
Then—
DING!
System: Boss Defeated.
System: King Vareth has been defeated.
System: Final surviving player detected.
System: Solo Boss Contribution — 100%
Malakai stood alone in the middle of the ruined throne room.
His sixty-second awakening expired. The demonic aura disappeared. His body immediately became weak.
Demonic Price Activated.
Current LP reduced by 15%.
Weakness applied for 30 seconds.
Malakai dropped to one knee.
He laughed.
"Worth it."
Then the entire world heard the announcement.
WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT
Congratulations to Team Obsidian Crown!
First Clear achieved: Level 15 Instance Dungeon — [The Twilight Crypt]
Team Members:
Malakai
Grimfang
Ironclad
Lumina
Ashveil
StormArrow
NightFox
TitanForge
First Clear Rewards:
All team members receive: [Random Tier Equipment Chest]
Team Leader Reward: [Guild Order]
For several seconds, the world remained silent.
Then—
WORLD CHAT EXPLODED.
"THE TWILIGHT CRYPT?!"
"Already?!"
"They actually cleared it!"
"And they got the Guild Order?!"
The Guild Order was something every ambitious player understood. It wasn't simply an item.
It was the foundation of a guild.
With it, Obsidian Crown could establish its own guild territory, construct a Guild Hall, recruit members, unlock guild-exclusive systems, and begin building an organization capable of competing for territory.
Players who had spent days searching for the requirements immediately became jealous.
"Damn it! Malakai and Grimfang just got lucky!"
A player slammed his fist against his desk. His companion laughed.
"Relax. We'll surpass them."
"Easy for you to say."
"Once we clear our instance, we'll get one too."
Across the world, another question began spreading through World Chat.
"How do I join Obsidian Crown?"
"When is their Guild Hall opening?"
"What benefits do members get?"
The answer would soon become terrifying.
Once the Guild Hall was constructed, simply remaining inside it for thirty minutes would grant:
[Guild Hall Blessing]
+50% Experience Gain
For players struggling to level, that single benefit could mean hours saved every day.
Obsidian Crown had not merely cleared a dungeon.
They had obtained the first piece of something much larger.
Meanwhile — The Secret Root Chamber
Far away from the celebrations, Solus stood before something completely different. Something far more dangerous.
Ghorak, the Stonehide Chieftain.
The massive creature slowly rose from his shattered throne. At over three meters tall, he towered above Solus.
His rocky hide was darker than obsidian. Jagged crystals protruded from his shoulders and forearms.
Thick black roots had fused into his body, wrapping around his limbs like living armor. In his hands was a gigantic stone maul.
The weapon had been forged from a broken mining pillar, reinforced with iron chains and embedded with Blackroot Ore.
Ghorak lifted it. The ground trembled.
THOOM.
Solus instinctively took a step backward. His eyes narrowed.b
The pillar.
The information from the Ascendant Pillar suddenly replayed inside his mind.
Blackroot Ore.
Root-bound monsters.
Crystal growth.
Structural instability.
And one particular piece of information—
Blackroot roots become unstable when exposed to concentrated heat.
Solus looked around the chamber. There were three enormous root clusters running across the walls.
One passed directly beneath Ghorak's throne. Another climbed the western pillar. The third disappeared beneath the floor. His eyes sharpened.
"So that's why this place exists."
Ghorak roared.
[Stonebreaker]
The maul came down.
BOOOOOOM!
Solus jumped sideways.
The floor exploded. Fragments of stone flew past his face.
-27 LP
Even the shockwave had damaged him. Solus rolled across the ground. He barely recovered before Ghorak charged.
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
Every step shook the chamber. Solus stabbed with his spear.
[Piercing Thrust]
-19
The spear barely penetrated. Ghorak didn't even flinch.
He swung.
Solus ducked.
WHOOOOSH!
The maul smashed into the wall. The entire chamber shook.
Solus immediately understood.
"Direct combat is impossible."
He wasn't fighting a normal Level 8 Elite. Ghorak had overwhelming strength and defense.
If Solus exchanged attacks with him, he would lose. So he stopped trying to win through damage. He began studying the boss.
Ghorak attacked again.
Solus ran around him. He intentionally kept Ghorak between himself and the root-covered pillars.
THOOM!
Miss.
THOOM!
Miss.
Ghorak roared in frustration.
Solus smiled faintly.
"Too slow."
He had noticed something. Ghorak's left leg always dragged slightly after every heavy attack. The roots around that leg weren't merely armor.
They were restricting his movement.
Solus suddenly remembered another piece of information from the pillar.
Root-bound Rockhide variants possess extraordinary defensive capabilities, but their movement becomes increasingly restricted as Blackroot growth accumulates.
Solus's eyes widened.
"You're not stronger because of those roots."
He looked at the root wrapped around Ghorak's leg.
"You're being held together by them."
Ghorak charged while Solus waited.
Five meters.
Three meters.
Two.
At the final moment—
Solus jumped sideways.
Ghorak's maul struck the ground.
BOOM!
Solus landed behind him.
Instead of attacking Ghorak—
he attacked the root.
[Piercing Thrust]
CRACK!
The root split.
Ghorak suddenly screamed.
"ROOOOOAAAR!"
The entire chamber shook.
Solus stared.
"I knew it."
The root wasn't merely part of Ghorak's body. It was connected to his strength. A small portion of Ghorak's defense dropped.
System: Ghorak's defensive structure has been destabilized.
Solus grinned.
"Now we're playing my game."
Ghorak turned. His crimson eye burned brighter.
Elite Skill Activated: [Chieftain's Fury]
His body expanded. The crystals on his shoulders glowed red. His attack speed increased. Solus's expression became serious.
"Of course there's a second phase."
Ghorak swung. Solus ran toward the western pillar. At the last moment, he slid beneath the maul. Ghorak's attack struck the pillar.
CRAAAAACK!
The already damaged stone pillar collapsed. It crushed one of the massive Blackroot clusters beneath it.
The roots snapped.
Ghorak screamed again.
System: Blackroot Core destabilized.
Ghorak — Defense reduced by 15%.
Solus immediately attacked.
THRUST!
-47
Again.
-52
Again.
-61
The Stonebreaker Spear's passive activated.
[Defense Penetration: 5%]
For the first time, blood appeared. Ghorak stared at the wound. Then at Solus. His expression almost looked confused.
Solus smiled.
"You built your entire body around this dungeon."
He tightened his grip.
"So I'll make the dungeon kill you."
Ghorak roared and charged. Solus deliberately ran toward the final root cluster.
Ghorak followed. Every step brought him closer.
Ten meters.
Seven.
Five.
Solus suddenly stopped. Ghorak raised his maul.
[Mountainfall]
The gigantic weapon descended. Solus threw himself aside.
BOOOOOOM!
The maul struck the floor. The impact shattered the ground. The remaining root cluster beneath Ghorak's feet was exposed.
Solus didn't hesitate and he stabbed directly into it.
[Piercing Thrust]
CRACK!
The root exploded. A surge of dark energy rushed through Ghorak's body. The crystals covering his arms shattered. His massive body staggered.
System: Blackroot Core critically destabilized.
Ghorak's Defense: -30%
Ghorak's Movement Speed: -25%
Solus's breathing became heavy. His hands were shaking. He had almost no room for another mistake. Ghorak raised his maul one final time.
Solus looked at the weapon. Then the cracked ceiling. Then the broken pillar. Then Ghorak's feet. His mind connected everything.
"Your own weight."
Solus stepped backward.
"Your own weapon."
Another step.
"And this unstable chamber."
Ghorak charged. Solus waited until the final moment. Then jumped onto the broken pillar.
Ghorak swung.
The maul struck the supporting stone.
KRAAAAAK!
The remaining ceiling collapsed. Massive rocks crashed down. Ghorak attempted to move. But his root-bound leg failed.
He stumbled.
The maul became lodged between two massive stones. For the first time, the three-meter giant was trapped.
Solus sprinted forward.
Ghorak roared.
[Chieftain's Last Stand]
His strength exploded.The rocks began moving. Solus knew he had seconds. He remembered the information from the Ascendant Pillar.
Blackroot Ore conducts concentrated energy through connected roots.Solus looked at the black ore embedded in Ghorak's maul.
Then at the exposed Blackroot Core beneath him.
A dangerous idea formed. He drove his spear into the ore.
CLANG!
Nothing.
He pushed harder.
"Come on..."
Ghorak began freeing himself.
CRACK.
Solus's spear finally penetrated the ore. Dark energy surged through the weapon. Straight into the exposed core.
BOOOOOOM!
The Blackroot Core exploded.
Ghorak froze.
His crimson eye flickered.The crystals covering his body shattered one after another.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
Ghorak's gigantic body finally collapsed.
THOOOOOM!
Dust filled the chamber. Solus remained standing.
Barely.
His chest rose and fell violently. His spear was still embedded in the ground.
Then—
DING!
System: Level 8 Elite — Ghorak, the Stonehide Chieftain, has been defeated.
System: First Clear of [Secret Root Chamber].
Solus stared at the notification. He hadn't defeated Ghorak through strength. He hadn't even defeated him through superior equipment.
He had defeated him because he understood the dungeon better than the creature that ruled it. Solus slowly looked toward the broken Ascendant Pillar in the distance.
A faint smile appeared.
"Knowledge really is a weapon."
And beneath the corpse of Ghorak, something began to glow. Something Solus had never seen before.