“Hey, Greg, you’ve fought this boss before when you were a silver rank, was it always like this?”

 

Linda, slightly scared by the development, whispered to Greg trying to find solace in his experience.

 

“No, it was nothing like this. 

This dragon has been the boss of this dungeon for many years and it has never once closed the doors when a party entered. 

 

We always had the option to escape.

 

That was one of the main reasons why so many new adventurers would use it to gain experience.”

 

Greg continued to explain until they were cut short by the sound of footsteps.

 

The trio turned around and saw a young lad walking towards them. 

His hair was a deep abyss black with only a streak of gray hair to contradict. 

 

The young man dressed strangely and wore a dark purple sleeveless jacket that would leave the majority of his sternum exposed along with matching purple pants and shoes.

 

But it wasn’t the clothing nor the purple forearm guards that drew the parties attention. It was the bright yellow eyes that shimmered yellow and had the slits of a lizard. 

 

The last thing that made Greg connect the dots was the sword at the creature's side, which was bone white with purple veins running through its blade.  

 

“Well, will you look at that, the old dragon has finally been usurped.”

 

Gerg said with a smirk as he dashed towards Bliss. 

 

Bliss was a little frightened at the initial speed of Greg’s attack but there was enough distance to provide him enough time to react. Bliss drew his dragon tooth blade and parried the attack.

 

The shear power behind the swing was enough to push Bliss back a meter or two. 

 

Greg saw that the creature was a little shaken up by his initial attack and smirked.

 

Greg knew that in general, new dungeon bosses tend to lack combat experience and strength relatively to the older bosses. 

 

Greg remembered the dragon being above level thirty which meant this boss who only usurped a weakened Marvel must be only in the early twenties in terms of level.

 

For him who was already level 30 this was a large gap that only powerful skills could overcome. Therefore Greg felt a little cocky going into the battle. 

 

It was a pity Greg forgot to factor in the experience Marvel would have gotten over the time Greg had not encountered him. 

 

“I wonder what sort of reward the dungeon will give me for being the first to kill its new boss.”

 

Greg spoke loud enough for the creature to hear and then attacked with his giant sword once again.

 

Bliss, who was by no means a sword master, attempted to parry the attacks again. By the end of the onslaught Bliss's back was against the cave.

 

Greg, feeling the closer of the battle near, raised his great sword to slam into the cornered dungeon Boss. 

 

Instantly in front of Greg’s eyes the cornered dungeon Boss disappeared and before he could turn around he saw a light shimmer around him and a glass made of energy cracked.

 

The Dungeon Boss seemed to have magically appeared behind him and had his sword already cleaving at Greg’s neck.

 

Bliss clicked his tongue at the site of the light barrier that had just shattered. It stopped his attack enough to save the adventurer's neck. 

 

Bliss looked across at the woman and pitied himself for not taking out the support party members first. 

 

In his previous life this would be considered a rookie mistake. He blamed himself and considered it a mistake caused by ‘the heat of the battle’.

 

Before Bliss could take another swing at Greg's neck an arrow was whistling towards him and once again Bliss teleported to dodge.

 

Another newbie mistake, leaving the rear support and sub damage dealer around. Bliss shook his head inwardly.

 

Greg had finally recovered and made sense of the situation. His teammate Linda had saved his life with her barrier skill. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief the Dungeon Boss had teleported from behind him and suddenly Greg was pierced by a sharp arrow.

 

In an instant Bliss appeared behind Linda and ran his sword through her stomach.

 

Linda’s eyes widened at the sight of the sword protruding her abdomen and she coughed up a pool of blood before she fell. 

 

Shocked at the sudden turn of the battle, Higgle fired five consecutive arrows trying to catch Bliss. 

 

Before Bliss was caught off guard but being the second time he was under fire from the adventurer he dodged the arrows a lot easier.

 

Bliss teleported behind Higgle this time and swung his dragon bone sword, but he was parried by the bow of the adventurer. 

 

“Lindaaaa!!!”

 

A voice rang out in rage and Greg could be seen with an arrow digging into his chest.

Bliss, who was busy attacking Higgle tried to look at Greg who was screaming but the moment he looked away from Higgle five arrows came attacking from the side forcing him to jump to avoid the barrage. 

 

However when Bliss tried to move, his legs felt as though they were pinned in place. Without a choice Bliss tried to parry the arrows but one still made it through and pierced him through the shoulder. 

 

Just when Bliss thought he had gotten the worst of it, he could see Greg above slamming down his massive sword. 

 

Bliss tried his best to parry the attack but the shear power behind the blow left a small creator beneath his feet. 

The shock of the attack traveled through his entire body and forced him to one knee. 

 

Greg knew his skill ‘Dominant Howl’ would only paralyze the enemy’s feet for a few seconds while simultaneously boosting his attack so he had to make a decisive blow within the five seconds.  

 

However just when Greg thought he had the upper hand a strange white energy covered the dungeon boss’s body.

 

[Self assurance Activated]

 

Almost instantly the boss launched an attack while still on one knee but the strength behind him was enough to throw even Greg off balance. 

 

Bliss followed up with another swing trying to take advantage of Greg’s off balanced nature but showing he was more than just a brute Greg countered the attack even in his awkward position.

 

Once again Bliss was blocked and ready to swing again however his attack was cut short when two arrows flew at him forcing him to dodge the attack. Higgle had a strange ability called ‘Lock On’ which essentially meant that so long as the arrows had not hit a target they would continue to follow the intended target.

 

Bliss continued to dodge the arrow strikes by twisting his body awkwardly. The problem was that the arrows even after missing made a parabolic curve and were ready to attack Bliss once again.  

 

Bliss once again was upset with himself for leaving the support members alive for this long.  

Since Bliss’s legs still weren’t cooperating, Bliss teleported behind Higgle ready to slice off his head.

 

That was when Bliss saw the wide grin on Higgle’s face. 

 

Higgle as though he had been waiting for this exact moment opened his palm wide and from it erupted a bright red beam.

 

Bliss was still paralyzed by Greg’s skill not to mention he was within point blank range of the attack. 

 

Higgle thought he had finally tricked the beast and it would be the perfect moment to use his most powerful skill. 

 

“Oni Beam!”

 

Bliss could see a bright red glow cover the entirety of the cave. 

 

Bliss wanted to teleport but the adventurer was known for ‘Targeting like’ skill, Bliss figured if he teleported away not only would the beam chase him but it would also give the adventurer sufficient time to fire another beam putting him in an even more dangerous position. 

 

 Either way the beam was already too close Bliss only had a few milliseconds to react.