[Hidden boss encounter]


    [Night Shade King]


    "Damn, where are these bossesing from?"


    This game was something else. You could be strolling through a peaceful vige, and out of nowhere, a boss monster would appear.


    But Kaisen wasn''t deterred.


    At level 120, he was confident no boss could take him down. Plus, he had all those lust points he gained from the guardians and Theodora if he needed a power boost.


    "Well, let''s see what you can do, shall we?"


    Just as he thought that, the massive ck titan''s hand shot forward, moving at the speed of a broken branch falling in slow motion.


    Kaisen frowned at the absurdly slow speed.


    "This thing is so slow. Why the heck is it even called a boss?"


    Crash~


    Kaisen casually jumped back as the titan''s hand crashed to the ground.


    Despite its slow speed, the behemoth''s sheer size and power meant the impact would be devastating.


    Hended gracefully a few feet away from the hand, ready for whatever came next.


    "My turn."


    He summoned his Loathsome ws and dashed forward, eager to slice through the titan''s hand and cripple the beast.


    Just as he was about to make contact, something shot out from the fist at a ridiculous speed—something ck, something that looked like the regr hands of a Night Shade.


    "Shit!"


    For a split second, he was caught off guard, thinking the boss was sluggish and easy prey. That moment ofcency nearly cost him.


    Kaisen barely had time to react, but he swiped his ws with lightning speed, severing the hand just as it touched him.


    "You gotta be shitting me!"


    [Level 1]


    It happened again. Although the hand didn''t injure him, it grazed him, dropping his level all the way to 1.


    A moment''spse in focus cost him precious minutes of his life.


    Now, he had to wait two minutes to fully restore his level. But, hey, at least the boss was slow, right?


    He just needed to watch out for those damn small hands.


    Kaisen had to swallow his words when he saw the boss retracting its hand at an rming speed. It was... fast, incredibly fast.


    "Ah, you really gotta be shitting me!"


    It wasn''t that the boss was slow; it was that he was so ridiculously high level that it felt slow. Now that he was back to level 4, he could see the boss''s true speed.


    "I just need to distance myself for the next two minutes, that''s all."


    The best course of action was to—


    Crash~


    Before he could even finish his thought, another hand shot forward at an incredible speed.


    Fortunately, Kaisen had dived to the left just in time, narrowly avoiding the blow.


    The dive also ced him just out of reach of the smaller hands. Wasting no time, he sprinted as fast as he could.


    He was now at level 10. He just needed to hold out for another minute to reach level 70, then a few more seconds to fully regain his level.


    Thud~ Thud~


    He could hear the boss''s heavy footsteps as it pursued him.


    "Ahh~ this is not good, not good at all."


    His mind was racing, trying to figure out a solution, but it was clear that his current tactics were not working.


    ''I didn''t even damage the thing—wait a minute? He has health loss?''


    The boss''s health bar wasn''t full. There was a tiny sliver missing at the end.


    Kaisen wouldn''t have noticed if he had been in the heat of the fight, but now he could see it clearly. A tiny nick of the red bar was missing.


    ''The hand that I severed, that must be it.''


    Indeed, that seemed to be the case. He hadn''t done any other attack besides cutting the hand.


    ''So that''s how I defeat him, huh?''


    After running for two minutes, Kaisen turned around, fully leveled and ready to take on the massive creature.


    The creature raised its foot painfully slowly and stomped down on him. Kaisen deftly evaded the hands protruding from the leg and the impact area around it.


    Not only did he have to avoid the hands and legs, but he also needed to stay clear of the damage zone around the boss''s movements.


    "Alright, big guy," Kaisen muttered, gripping his Loathsome ws tightly. "Let''s dance."


    He dashed forward, aiming for another limb, ready to sever and weaken the creature piece by piece.


    So for the next few minutes, Kaisen focused on evading and striking the hands that shot up from various parts of therge body.


    Each sessful hit chipped away at the boss''s health bar until it was reduced by half.


    When the health bar fell beneath the halfway mark, the boss knelt on the ground and shook its head.


    ''Ah, second phase without another health bar. Gotta love these kinds of bosses.''


    Unlike the Demonic Vulture, where he had to kill the thing only for it toe back again, this boss had only one health bar but two distinct phases.


    The health bar wasn''t increasing; it remained the same.


    But the boss was doing something he didn''t understand. Being cautious, Kaisen ran backward, away from the boss as much as possible.


    ''Just to make sure...''


    When Kaisen finally thought he''d put enough distance between himself and the boss, he halted and turned around.


    The massive, ck mass that resembled a horde of Night Shadesbined raised its hand towards its head—or where a mouth should have been.


    What happened next made Kaisen grimace. It was grotesque beyond belief.


    The boss positioned its hand over the mouth area and began tearing at the flesh or whatever covered it.


    It poked and prodded until it created a hole, then used both hands, hooking its index fingers into the gap and pulling sideways.


    Kaisen''s eyes widened in horror as he witnessed the creature mutting itself in some bizarre ritual.


    The sight was unsettling, even for someone like him who had faced many horrors in this strange realm and in his world too.


    "What the hell is it doing now?"


    For the first time, Kaisen heard a sound other than the usual hum of a Night Shade. It started as a low groan, echoing eerily in the night.


    "Arghhhh!!!"


    The groan quickly escted into a high-pitched scream.


    The small hole the boss was prying at tore wider and wider, creating a jagged opening.


    The Night Shade King loosened its grip, looked up towards the moon, and unleashed a blood-curdling scream that made Kaisen cover his ears.


    The sound was so piercing that his hands couldn''t block it out.


    The scream vibrated through his whole body, making his teeth chatter and his bones feel like they were shaking.


    ''Oh, fuck this!''


    Not only that, his HP was dropping rapidly, like he was being drained of life.


    "What the fuck!"


    He sprinted away, relief washing over him that he had moved further back when the boss started its strange behavior.


    If he hadn''t, he was sure he would have died. Even at a considerable distance, the scream had hit him hard; he couldn''t imagine the impact at close range.


    The scream died down, and the boss stood up again. But something was off.


    It didn''t move from its spot; it just locked its crimson eyes on him. A bad feeling churned in his gut.


    Crack~ Tear~


    He heard the sound echoing all around him and finally understood what was happening. The crosses, covered in ck wax, began to vibrate wildly.


    Kaisen looked at the nearest cross. A hand suddenly tore through the ck wax, ck as night itself.


    Then a leg emerged, and the creature inside the cross fell forward onto the sand.


    The scene was eerie and chilling.


    The night sky was dominated by a blood-red moon.


    The desert, with its glowing white sands, was filled with crosses, each one trembling with a sinister energy.


    In the center of it all was a small red sphere.


    The giant colossus, ck as a ck hole, stared straight at him with its crimson eyes, radiating a malevolent presence.


    The air was thick with tension, and the only sound was the rustling of the ck wax as more creatures began to free themselves.


    It felt like the whole world was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to happen.


    The scene looked like it was straight out of aic book or some grim dark fantasy film.


    The fallen body convulsed and trembled uncontrobly on the ground before slowly rising.


    It took a moment, but its head tilted towards Kaisen and locked eyes with him, empty and soulless.


    ''Just want to go home, dammit.''


    It wasn''t just one. All around him, these creatures stood up, their movements jerky and unnatural, like puppets on strings.


    The colossal monster at the helm loomed over them, its crimson eyes glowing with a malevolent intensity.


    Kaisen breathed heavily and gulped, looking at the thousands of mindless creatures staring at him.


    He nced back at his friends, and immediately felt a wave of hopelessness.


    "No, no, no, no..."


    In the distance, Maximus, Lloyd, Sable, and Elfie were locking eyes with someone, and they looked terrified.


    Standing straight in front of them was Alice, her body rapidly being consumed by the ck substance.


    Her eyes, once full of life, now mirrored the same eerie glow of the Night Shades.