Jin’s shout had barely finished echoing through the plaza before the ground trembled again.

This time, it wasn’t the light shaking of Hounds rushing through the trees or the faint scratches of Infantry dragging their claws against the stone.

It was way heavier, so much so that Deon thought a small earthquake had occurred.

Through the scorched trees, beyond the broken lantern wires and ruined walking paths, a sharp red light flashed across the darkness.

ZZZZZRAAAAAAK!

A beam tore through the park.

It passed somewhere beyond the trees, but Deon still felt the heat roll over his skin. Several blackened trunks were sliced clean through in the distance, falling one after another.

Hana’s face paled. "What...was that?"

Jin staggered forward, one hand on his knee as he tried to breathe. "I told you! Something huge came out near the lake! Ryker’s still there! He won’t leave the Zone!"

"Won’t leave?" Deon’s eyes narrowed. "Why the hell not?"

"He said if he left, the percentage stops going up!"

"Then let it reset! Dying inside the circle doesn’t help anyone!"

But whatever monster that was showing up wasn’t the only problem, as all around the park, a wave of monsters started to emerge one by one, hiding in the blackened trees.

Damn it, some kind of final wave?

"Tch...Vivian."

"Oh? Giving orders to big sis now?"

Deon ignored her comment. "Stay with the Flag, monsters are gonna start coming from all sides and I need to go help them claim that last Zone."

Vivian tilted her head, her red eyes narrowing with amusement. "And you think I can handle all three directions by myself?"

Deon’s gaze shifted toward the Card in her hand. "No, but I think the two of you can. And if push comes to shove, Mina and Nami can help out, but don’t make it so."

Vivian immediately straightened, mock saluting with her free hand as she smiled. "Aye aye, Captain!"

Deon ignored her and turned toward Hana. "You’re with me."

Hana nodded immediately, gripping [Basic Heal] in one hand and [Physical Boost] in the other. "Right."

Jin swallowed. "I—I’ll show you the way."

They broke from the central plaza and sprinted down the southern path. The trees blurred past them, their branches scorched black.

The southern side of Mihan Park...if I remember correctly, it should be the lake area.

And just as they emerged above the small hill, Deon was proven right. The area had once been one of the prettier places in District 4, with benches along the walking path, and a little wooden pier where people used to rent paddle boats during summer time.

Now, the entire lake was dyed black with pieces of wood floating across its surface like bones. Several boats had been snapped in half and dragged onto shore.

Deon took a quick scan of the area, immediately finding where the Zone was. The glowing circle was near the lakeside promenade, half of it overlapping the cracked stone path and the other toward the broken pier. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

[Zone M-4]

[Claim Progress: 74%]

Inside the circle stood Ryker.

His fire axe was held in both hands, but there was so much blood on him that Deon was surprised he was still standing.

"Come on, let’s help—" Deon started.

But he never finished his sentence, as something dragged itself from the water with a sound like a fork grinding against a ceramic plate.

The creature was massive, crawling on all fours as it made its way out from the lake slowly. Its ribs jutted outward before bone wrapped around the top of its frame, almost like an exoskeleton.

But the most noticeable things were the spikes that were growing above said bones. Four enormous spikes were present, each one glowing like molten glass.

Yet, as Deon stared closely, he spotted a detail. The first three were cracked, with red light leaking out almost like blood.

[ClownWithWifi: no freaking way, a Brute Crawler?! They actually sent one? Who the hell requested this?]

[AuraMonster: it does seem a little harsh.]

[RandomToastEnjoyer: wait isn’t this way above first game difficulty?]

Not supposed to show up? What the hell does that mean? Was this not supposed to be in this Round?

But as Deon thought about it, a single chain of events suddenly flowed into his head. He reached out to the side of his [Stream] panel, and clicked on one of the tabs.

[Challenge: The contestant, Deon Day, must clear the [Boss] of this Round alone.]

At the time, he’d treated it like any other streamer challenge. Dangerous and stupid—but still just a challenge.

His gaze moved to the chat window, searching through the scrolling comments until he found the name he was looking for.

[LovesAGoodBargain: Enjoy.]

"...You bastard," he said through clenched teeth.

Hana turned toward him, still holding [Basic Heal] close to her chest. "Deon?"

But before he could answer, the Brute Crawler had lowered its head, red light beginning to gather along the third spike before—

ZZZZZRAAAAAK!

The beam of energy swept through the hills, slicing clean through the nearby boulders and trees.

Deon had just managed to grab Hana by the sleeve and pulled her sideways just as it fired. The momentum caused them both to roll down the hill before he dug his shoes into the dirt and slowed them both.

They came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, both breathing heavily as they stared. Even with the arrival of the Brute Crawler, the amount of Hounds and Infantry did not slow. If anything, there seemed to be more coming.

"Damn it," he breathed out. "We have to get moving."

He glanced toward the red Zone, only to see Jin already there. Biscuit dodged an attack before jumping on one of the other Hounds, tearing it apart completely.

But before it could attack another, a claw went straight through its chest. The Hound went limp immediately before fading back into green light.

"Biscuit!" Jin shouted.

The name came out with enough panic that Deon almost thought it was for a real person.

Then the green light spiraled back into Jin’s Card, leaving nothing behind but the Infantry that killed it.

Deon and Hana arrived next to them, with the former asking immediately. "Can you summon him again?"

"I can! But..." he looked down at his Card, which had now gone completely blank.

Damn it, a cooldown, huh?

"How long?!" Deon asked, just deflecting an attack from the same Infantry before stabbing its core.

[You have defeated a Ruined Infantry.]

[+10 Points Awarded.]

"Around 2 minutes!" the boy answered, hands trembling as he shook his Card violently, expecting it to magically turn green again.

"Then stop shaking it and use your hands!"

Jin flinched. "My hands?!"

"Pick up something sharp and keep the Hounds off Ryker!"

Jin looked like he wanted to argue, but another Hound came rushing out from the side of the broken pier. Its jaws opened wide, aiming straight for Ryker’s back.

But the man didn’t turn, his whole body was focused on staying inside the circle while he fought off another Hound in front of him.

"Shit—!" Deon yelled, trying to reach him in time. "Ryker!"

Crrrrunch!

The Hound sank its teeth into his shoulder. But contrary to what Deon thought, the man didn’t go down. He simply kept moving, getting a clean slash across the front Hound’s neck before it went limp.

How the hell—?!

Deon managed to reach him inside the circle, kicking the Hound off his back. The creature slammed straight into the stone path before he drove his sword into its skull.

[You have defeated a Ruined Hound.]

[+3 Points Awarded.]

"Hey!" he shouted, running towards Ryker as quickly as he could. "What the hell, you okay?!"

Deon placed a hand on his shoulder, only for the man to turn and swing at him. "What the—!"

He twisted to the side, turning just barely enough to dodge the fireaxe before kicking off and putting some distance between them.

"Are you crazy? What are you doing—?"

But before Deon could answer, his eyes locked onto the dim green Card tucked inside Ryker’s belt, the white letters on it clear as day.

[Last Stand.]

"What does that mean?"

[ChairGoblin_22: It means—]

[He’s already dead.]