"Listen to me, and you might live," Lucas's voice cut through the panicked chatter of the Helios party. He had their complete, unwilling attention. The Awakened Grotto Guardian took a thunderous step, shaking the very ground they stood on.
Lucas pointed a finger at Evelyn. "You're the fastest. You will be the lure."
Before she could protest, he turned to her guildmates. "Mages, your job is not damage, it's control. I need you to hit its ankle joints with frost and earth spells, anything to slow its pivot speed. Warrior, you are on intercept. When it throws rocks, you are the only thing standing between us and a party wipe."
The orders were insane, but they were also the only plan on the table. Evelyn stared at him, her pride warring with the cold terror of the Level 20 World Boss looming over them. The debt was one thing; putting her life in the hands of "Tamer Trash" was another.
"Why should we trust you?" she demanded.
Lucas's gaze was cold, his [System Insight] already feeding him the answer. [Awakened Grotto Guardian | Level 20 (World Boss)] [Behavioral Flaw: Territorial Protocol. Guardian cannot move more than 100 meters from the central Sunpetal cluster. Exceeding this boundary will trigger a temporary System Stasis as it attempts to reset.] [Symbiotic Link: The Guardian's core is mystically bound to the 'Sunpetal Prime'. The Guardian is immune to all direct damage. Destroying the Sunpetal Prime is the only way to defeat the Guardian.]
"Because I'm the only one here," Lucas said, his voice dropping to a low, confident hum, "who is actually reading the code."
He didn't wait for her agreement. He turned to Kael. "Distract it. Left side."
The wolf, a blur of gray fur, darted out, letting loose a sharp, challenging bark. The Golem's massive head swiveled, its crimson eyes locking onto the insignificant wolf. That was the opening.
"Evelyn, now! Get its attention and run directly west!" Lucas commanded. "Don't stop until I tell you to!"
With a curse, Evelyn made her choice. She dashed forward, her blade leaving a brilliant silver arc across the Golem's leg. The attack did zero damage, but the Golem roared in fury, its attention now fixed solely on her. She turned and sprinted, the Golem stomping after her in a ground-shaking pursuit.
What followed was a masterclass in controlled chaos. Lucas became the conductor of a desperate orchestra. "Mages, slow its right leg! Now!" he yelled. A volley of ice shards and grasping earth spells slammed into the Golem's ankle, causing it to stumble for a precious second. "Warrior, incoming debris, ten o'clock!" The warrior raised his shield just in time to intercept a boulder the size of a small car, the impact sending him skidding back several feet.
Evelyn ran for her life, her stamina bar plummeting, the Golem's footsteps like thunder behind her. She crossed a line of ancient, crumbling pillars at the far edge of the cavern. "Stop!" Lucas's voice commanded.
She did. The Golem, reaching the same invisible line, froze mid-stomp. Its body locked in place, and a pulsing red status effect appeared above its head: [RESETTING...]. The behavioral exploit had worked. They had a window.
"What now?" the warrior gasped, his arms trembling.
Lucas didn't answer. He simply walked past them, his eyes fixed not on the frozen Golem, but on the largest, most vibrant cluster of flowers at the grotto's center—the Sunpetal Prime.
"That's its heart," Lucas announced to the stunned party. "The Golem is immune to all damage. The only way to kill it is to destroy the very thing we came here to get."
The silence that followed was heavier than the Golem's footsteps. They had risked everything, awakened a World Boss, and now their only path to victory was to sacrifice the prize.
Evelyn stared from the magnificent Sunpetal Prime back to Lucas. This was his plan. This was his gambit. It was insane. It was infuriating. And it was utterly, undeniably brilliant.
"Helios," she commanded, her voice filled with a new, grudging respect. "Target the flower. On my mark."
As they raised their weapons, the frozen Golem's crimson eyes snapped open, its stasis broken by a wave of pure, symbiotic rage. It couldn't move, but it could feel its heart being threatened, and it let out a roar that promised a world of pain.