Mid-chant with [Meteor Descend], Kalis couldn't abort the spell to cast anything else, and [Crystal Barricade] was still on cooldown.
"Three more seconds! Just three lousy seconds! Dammit, I refuse to lose like this!" Panic burned hot in Kalis's chest, but once the incantation's rhythm was set, there was no stopping it.
"Pathetic little ant—die!" Seeing he had no defenses left, Dafiona's face twisted into a feral grin. She swung her staff violently, and a condensed, crystal-sharp [Moonlight Slash] sliced through the air with a piercing shriek, streaking toward him at an angle.
"[Purification]!"
In that split second of mortal peril, Kalis's eyes widened in shock—Lia, who'd just been killed, had respawned on the spot in a flash of white light, and slapped [Unstoppable] on him instantly!
But… Unstoppable only negated crowd control effects, not damage! The incoming strike would still be lethal if it hit!
"[Lunar Aura Shield]!" Lia didn't pause for a heartbeat, tossing him a brand-new shield buff right after.
Crack!
The Moonlight Slash hit Kalis dead-on. The Lunar Aura Shield shattered instantly, absorbing the full brunt of the killing blow and nullifying the damage completely.
"Do your skills even have cooldowns? How'd you cast them so fast?" Kalis gaped in disbelief. Barely thirty seconds had passed, yet Lia's core abilities were already fully refreshed—way beyond the cooldown limits of any regular class.
Before Lia could answer, a second [Moonlight Slash] came screaming toward him like a reaper's scythe.
Two more seconds.
This time, neither of them had any skills left to cast.
"Kalis, I did everything I could!"
A look of grim resolve flashed across Lia's face. She charged forward in a single bound, spreading her arms wide and shielding Kalis with her body.
Squish—
The Moonlight Slash pierced straight through her heart. A terrifying damage number -247,000 popped above her head. Freshly respawned, she crumpled to the ground once more.
"Damn… that's brutal…"
Watching his teammate die twice in a row to protect him, Kalis's chest felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer, a sharp pain throbbing through it. But he couldn't stop—the chant for Meteor Descend had only one second left.
And Dafiona's next attack was already inches away.
It was over… He had no skills left to conjure another shield, and [Crimson Barrier] from his mythic helmet still had over four minutes before it could regenerate. Was he really going to come this far just to fail at the last moment?
Zap!
A beam of moonlight slammed into Kalis's chest. Agony exploded through his body, and his vision went black in an instant.
But… he was still alive!
[Immortal Soul]
A brilliant golden status icon rose slowly above his head. His HP bar was still full, and a golden shield equal to his maximum health shimmered around his body!
Immortal Soul! It was the passive effect of his [Godslayer Robe]!
"Holy crap, I totally forgot about this trump card!" Kalis's heart surged with elation, despair vanishing in an instant.
At that exact moment, his chant for [Meteor Descend] finally reached its end!
BOOM—!!!
The earth trembled violently. Blazing fire tore through the clouds, bathing the entire Boulder Town in light as bright as day. A colossal meteor, big enough to dwarf a small hill, wreathed in starfire hot enough to incinerate everything in its path, came crashing down on Dafiona!
"No! He actually finished casting the forbidden spell!" Dafiona's face paled drastically as she cursed loudly. Kalis's earlier stellar combo had already chipped over three million HP off her total. Now, seeing this super meteor, six times larger than a regular one, she knew instantly she couldn't tank it head-on.
She waved her staff frantically, unleashing three defensive spells in quick succession: "[Lunar Shield]! [Saintly Barrier]! [Moonlight Aegis]!"
Three layers of crystal-clear shields overlapped, cocooning her tightly in the center. At the same time, the super meteor slammed into the ground!
BOOM—!!!
A deafening roar shook the heavens. A terrifying shockwave spread outward in all directions like a tsunami. The three Saint-rank shields around Dafiona shattered one after another under the meteor's crushing force, letting out crisp cracking sounds.
-10,000,000
-20,000,000
-30,000,000
The three shields absorbed a whopping sixty million damage points total—their defensive power was nothing short of monstrous! But this [Meteor Descend] packed a total of 240 million damage!
After shattering the three shields, the meteor's power remained undiminished, slamming into Dafiona's body with full force!
"[Body of the Moon Goddess]!" Dafiona gritted her teeth and activated her last trump card, a brilliant silver glow bursting forth from her body.
Bang!
The ground shook violently. A massive crater exploded where the tavern used to stand, and Dafiona was slammed straight to the bottom of it.
-12,398,299
A damage number far exceeding expectations, but still not lethal, floated above her head.
She was still alive!
"Dammit… how the hell is this old witch so tanky?!" Kalis stared in disbelief. A forbidden spell dealing over two hundred million damage hadn't been enough to one-shot her. Factoring in all the damage reductions, her final damage resistance had reached a ridiculous ninety-five percent!
"Hahaha… foolish little ant! Did you really think this would be enough to defeat me?" From the bottom of the crater, Dafiona let out a wild, triumphant laugh. Her HP was down to less than two million, but she'd survived against all odds.
She floated out of the crater, looking disheveled with her black robe torn to shreds, but her tone was still dripping with arrogant contempt. "Weaklings will always be weaklings. Against a true powerhouse like me, everything you do is just useless flailing… er! You!"
Before she could finish speaking, a [Lightning Bolt], a [Magic Missile], and a [Fireball] slammed into her one after another.
-1,672,892
-900,918
Two fatal damage numbers popped up in quick succession. The final Fireball missed its mark, but the combined damage of the first two spells completely drained the last of her HP.
Dafiona's eyes widened in shock. She stared at Kalis, standing not far away, disbelief etched on her face as a flood of regret washed over her. She'd had the perfect chance to finish him off, but she'd wasted precious time monologuing instead!
"Still alive, and you didn't finish me off right away; instead, you wasted time running your mouth. How stupid can you get?" Kalis's cold, mocking voice echoed in her ears.
In the next moment, all strength drained from Dafiona's body. Her eyes lost their luster, and she plummeted back down to the bottom of the crater with a heavy thud.
Clatter—!
In an instant, a mountain of gear and items exploded out of her body, practically filling the entire bottom of the crater!
At the same time, a series of pleasant system notifications blared in Kalis's ears and echoed in Lia's as well, even from across the server:
Ding~ You have defeated Level 200 Mythic Overlord [Dafiona the Moonveiled]. You gain 98750 Prestige Points!
Congratulations! You are the first player in this server to slay a Saint-rank Overlord. Honorary Reward: One Mythic Skill Tome of your class!
Your party has defeated [Dafiona the Moonveiled]. Split Experience Gain: 92650000 Points!
Congratulations! Level Up to Level 68!
Congratulations! Level Up to Level 69!
...
Congratulations! Level Up to Level 85!
[Server Announcement]: Players 'Kalis' and 'Lia' have become the first to slay a Saint-rank Overlord!
[Server Announcement]: Players 'Kalis' and 'Lia' have become the first to slay a Saint-rank Overlord!
[Server Announcement]: Players 'Kalis' and 'Lia' have become the first to slay a Saint-rank Overlord!
The three consecutive server announcements exploded like thunderclaps across every corner of the server. Every player froze in place, struck dumb with shock.
"A Saint-rank Overlord? Isn't that a Level 200+ Mythic Boss?!"
"Holy shit! Two players took down a Level 200 Mythic Boss? Are they cheating or what?!"
"Any pros out there who can explain this? The server's been live for less than two days!"
"A Mythic Skill Tome! An actual Mythic Skill Tome! I'm so jealous—I want one too!"
"Check the leaderboards! These two leveled up faster than a rocket!"
With the server live for less than two days, most players didn't even fully grasp the terror behind the words "Saint-rank Overlord"—these were Level 200+ Mythic Bosses with Saint-tier combat power. Even regular Level 200 Bosses weren't worthy of the "Saint-rank" title!
And now, someone had actually defeated a monster that powerful? It was beyond comprehension!
Countless players scrambled to open the level leaderboard. At the very top, Kalis had skyrocketed all the way to Level 85. Lia was right behind him at Level 82, leaving everyone else in the dust. The third-place player, "Thorne," had just barely hit Level 50. Everyone ranked fourth and below hadn't even reached Level 45 yet.
"This is insane…"
The server's chat channels were instantly flooded with countless exclamations and comments.
Kalis's friend list blew up with messages and friend requests, but he ignored every single one.
Right now, there was only one thing that mattered: looting the loot!
The meteor crater wouldn't last long; it would be auto-repaired by the system soon enough. If he delayed, the rare items the Boss dropped might get buried underground forever, impossible to retrieve!
Kalis didn't spare a glance for Lia, who was still respawning back in the city. He jumped into the crater in a single bound and began frantically grabbing every item in sight.
Mythic gear, mythic items… as far as the eye could see, everything glowed bright red!
Gasp—!
His gaze froze instantly. Among the pile of red-glowing loot, one item lay quietly, radiating brilliant seven-colored light!