‘Where are you hiding?’

Siegfried heightened every sense and braced for Sun Devourer Nox’s next ambush.

“Hohoho! You’re getting nervous. I can hear your heart beating wildly from all the way over here.”

Sun Devourer Nox circled around Siegfried in the black smoke, taunting and trying to throw him off his game.

“Why? Are you scared?” 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

“I am darkness. The darkness that swallows all light.”

“Just give up. Dying now would be the wise choice.”

Sun Devourer Nox kept jeering from within the black smoke, trying to unnerve Siegfried.

And it was surprisingly effective.

“Damn it...” Siegfried groaned.

The voice was coming from all directions, and he found it extremely difficult to pinpoint Sun Devourer Nox’s location.

‘Focus... Focus again...’

It was then.

Puuuk!

A black spike sprang out from the darkness and pierced Siegfried’s thigh.

“Argh!”

Siegfried cried out in pain from the unexpected ambush.

‘Damn it.... This is crazy...’

The Invincible Spear Art could automatically intercept most attacks when he couldn’t react in time, but Sun Devourer Nox’s ambush was so perfect that even the Invincible Spear Art couldn’t react to it in time.

That meant that an ordinary person could neither avoid nor block the ambush, making Sun Devourer Nox the ultimate opponent designed to be unbeatable by ordinary players.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Siegfried muttered inwardly.

Blood gushed from his thigh, but he ignored the pain and maintained his focus in preparation for the next ambush.

‘This is bad. I’ll be at a disadvantage if this goes on. I’ll keep getting hit until I run out of HP and die.’

He briefly considered using World of Despair, but decided against it.

The World of Despair could drag Sun Devourer Nox into Siegfried’s domain, but that was about it.

Even after getting dragged into the World of Despair, Sun Devourer Nox could simply stay in his smoke form and attack in the same manner.

In other words, Siegfried would face the same situation regardless of whether they were in the World of Despair or not.

‘There must be a way to beat him. All bosses have a raid pattern...’ Siegfried thought, desperately searching for a tactic.

He decided to activate Shield of Malice and prepare for the next ambush.

The Shield of Malice explosively increased his defense, making him almost invulnerable.

Meaning, no matter how many times Sun Devourer Nox ambushed Siegfried, he would receive almost no damage while the Shield of Malice was active.

And Siegfried’s decision proved to be correct...

Bam! Bam!

Sun Devourer Nox’s attacks failed to get past the Shield of Malice’s effect, Hyper Armor, and bounced off, dealing zero damage.

As expected, Shield of Malice was quite a dependable skill in these kinds of situations.

‘I need to find a way. There must be a way to beat him,’ Siegfried thought, desperately searching for a way.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of anything.

‘Ah, screw it. I’ll just unleash everything.’

With that thought, he began to unleash his most powerful skills indiscriminately.

Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain, Absolute Zero, Infernal Hellscape, Frozen Hell, and all sorts of other offensive skills in his arsenal.

The chain of attacks packed quite the firepower—but Sun Devourer Nox took no damage.

Rather than take no damage, his HP gauge was nowhere to be seen.

‘Should I try using the Sensory Eye.’

Siegfried activated the skill to try and detect Sun Devourer Nox’s true form, but even with Sensory Eye, he still couldn’t find where the demonic creature was hiding.

He looked everywhere and started to wonder if this entire cloud of black smoke was Sun Devourer Nox itself.

‘Damn it... The Shield of Malice’s duration is almost up,’ Siegfried grumbled.

Out of desperation, he unleashed the Wave of Annihilation.

And then—

[Sun Devourer Nox]

[HP: ■■■■■■■■■□]

For the first time, Siegfried dealt damage to Sun Devourer Nox.

“...!”

The shockwave unleashed by the Wave of Annihilation struck the smoke.

“Ghraaaah!”

Sun Devourer Nox’s scream echoed shortly afterward. This was the breakthrough that Siegfried was desperately searching for. The only way to deal damage to Sun Devourer Nox was to use skills that could directly hit the particles within the smoke.

***

Though Siegfried had found a way to hit Sun Devourer Nox, it did not mean the fight had swung in his favor.

“You dare...” Sun Devourer Nox growled low, furious after he had taken some damage.

Shwiiik! Shwiiik! Shwiiiik!

He unleashed a barrage of rapid-fire strikes from within the black smoke, punching holes all over Siegfried.

‘Urghhh!’ Siegfried gritted his teeth and endured the attacks while keeping his vital spots covered.

Had he not been so fast to react, he could have sustained fatal wounds, as holes would surely appear in his heart, brain, or lungs.

‘Damn it... Wave of Annihilation works, but it has a long cooldown,’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly.

That was not the only problem...

[Sun Devourer Nox]

[HP: ■■■■■■■■■■]

While the Wave of Annihilation had shaved his HP, Sun Devourer Nox had already recovered from the damage. As expected of one of the Ten Calamities, his regeneration rate was so terrifyingly high that he managed to recover from the damage in no time.

Sun Devourer Nox’s ominous voice echoed throughout the black smoke.

“I’m going to fill you with holes until you’re nothing but a tattered rag.”

Enraged, he unleashed another round of indiscriminate attacks, shooting out black spikes that impaled Siegfried’s body.

The Invincible Spear Art’s automatic defense system did kick in, but that did not make Siegfried invulnerable.

Sun Devourer Nox’s attacks were so fast and discreet that some managed to slip past the Invincible Spear Art’s automatic defense system.

Thus, Siegfried took tremendous damage in the blink of an eye. He was in danger. He found himself helpless against a formless enemy that couldn’t be attacked.

“Do you realize just how powerless you are now?”

“Stop resisting and give up.”

“How long do you think you can keep holding out like this?”

“You will not leave here alive.”

Sun Devourer Nox’s voice echoed yet again.

The taunts unnerved Siegfried, causing gaps to appear in his defense that Sun Devourer Nox exploited with pinpoint accuracy.

Siegfried was being driven into a corner.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You are afflicted with Bleeding!]

[Alert: HP has decreased!]

[Alert: HP has decreased!]

[Alert: HP has decreased!]

Siegfried’s HP dropped by the second, as blood gushed out from his numerous wounds.

Still, there was nothing he could do.

Sun Devourer Nox had no tangible form, making him practically invulnerable to both physical attacks and debuffs.

Siegfried wondered whether the encounter was even beatable, and he couldn’t help but feel suspicious of the developer’s intentions.

An enemy that could only be damaged by a particular skill only lost ten percent of its HP. This was just absurd.

“Do you feel powerless?”

Sun Devourer Nox’s black stake skewered Siegfried through the stomach.

Shwik!

“Gah!”

Siegfried spat blood.

“I am the void.”

Sun Devourer Nox‘s voice echoed in Siegfried’s ear.

“A void that devours everything. In the end, you, too, will be consumed by the void.”

Numerous hands shot out from the black smoke like a horde of zombies. The hands reached out to Siegfried and wrapped around him, tightening their grip on him.

“Argh! Aghh!”

Siegfried fought with all of his strength, but there was no way out. He was bleeding severely, and the black smoke’s grasp on him was so strong that he couldn’t move a muscle.

“Time to die.”

With that, a black blade was pressed on Siegfried’s throat.

‘Damn it... Is this how it ends...?’

Siegfried thought he was done for.

In four years, he had faced countless crises, but he had never once felt this powerless.

‘Damn it... If only I could hit him. At least, I won't feel like I got cheated by that damned beeheve...!’

“Father!”

All of a sudden, Verdandi’s voice pierced through the darkness.

***

“...!”

Siegfried was startled at Verdandi’s sudden appearance.

“N-No! Don’t come here! Run away, quick!”

The last thing he wanted was for his beloved daughter to get caught up in this disaster.

He didn’t mind dying in this battle. He would take a huge penalty, but he would be resurrected in two days, anyway.

However, it was different for Verdandi. As an NPC, her death meant eternal separation, and that was the one thing he would never allow to happen.

“Hurry! Hurry, run away!” Siegfried shouted again.

“No! I will save you, father!” Verdandi retorted. Unfortunately, she did not listen to his words. Instead, she waved her hand, as if tracing something in the air. Then, from her hand, a faint green light radiated, its glow like that of an emerald gemstone.

Srrrk... Srrrk...

The black hands gripping Siegfried suddenly loosened, letting go one by one.

‘Huh? W-What’s going on?’

Thanks to that, Siegfried managed to break free from Sun Devourer Nox’s restraint.

Once free, he rushed over to Verdandi’s side and stood protectively in front of her.

“Verdandi!”

“Let me help, Father.”

Siegfried was about to tell her to run away, but she spoke with firm resolve while waving her hand. Then, the black smoke began to slowly dissipate until it gathered together again, forming the silhouette of a creature.

“W-What is this?!” Sun Devourer Nox exclaimed.

He couldn’t help but feel extremely flustered. After all, his smoke form was forcibly undone.

‘No way... Was that the power of alchemy?’ Siegfried thought, stunned at the bizarre phenomenon. That was the only way he could explain what just happened. The black smoke was composed of incredibly fine particles that he could only damage using the Wave of Annihilation.

However, those particles were forcibly gathered to form the true form of Sun Devourer Nox, and it had to have been done by some kind of special power.

And that special power was none other than alchemy...

In other words, Verdandi had forcibly manipulated the black smoke particles. She was a genius born with talent in martial arts, magic, and even alchemy, so it was indeed possible for her to force Sun Devourer Nox into revealing his true form.

“F-Father...! I cannot hold him for too long...!” Verdandi shouted.

“Okay! Leave it to me!”

Hearing her cry, Siegfried quickly drew his +10 Sky Piercer.

This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Now that Sun Devourer Nox’s true form was revealed, it was time for the demonic creature to pay. Sun Devourer Nox was no longer invulnerable, and this was the hour of vengeance for Siegfried.

“You’re dead meat.”

Siegfried immediately activated Karma Flare and Embrace of Despair, applying stacks of debuffs on the demonic creature.

“Arghhhk!”

Sun Devourer Nox groaned and writhed violently as the debilitating debuffs weighed down on him.

Woooong!

Siegfried charged up Touch of Death and gathered it at the tip of his +10 Sky Piercer.

The next instant—

Shwik!

Siegfried drove his +10 Sky Piercer straight into Sun Devourer Nox’s chest, unleashing the full brunt of Touch of Death inside of him.

“G-Gah...!”

The demonic creature’s pitch-black eyes bulged as though they were about to pop out of their sockets.

[Sun Devourer Nox]

[HP: □□□□□□□□□□]

His HP dropped to zero.

‘Not enough!’

However, Siegfried did not stop there. He knew from experience that these demonic creatures could be as treacherous as one could be, so complacency was not something he could afford.

If he were to let his guard down and allowed Sun Devourer Nox to slip away, the consequences would be disastrous.

Shwik, shwik, shwiiik!

Even though Sun Devourer Nox’s HP had already dropped to zero, Siegfried unleashed seven consecutive attacks straight into his chest in the blink of an eye.

Seven Steps to Invincibility!

Right after unleashing Touch of Death, Siegfried unleashed his other ultimate offensive skill—the fearsome skill that could instantly kill the target once unleashed.