Before the survivors could even process the horrifying miracle of a dead man being resurrected as a shadow slave, a deafening BOOM shook the ceiling of the subway station. Dust and concrete rained down on the platform.
[Warning! A localized Calamity Event has been triggered!][The 'Goblin Warlord' has locked onto the massive mana spike inside the Safe Zone!]
Kael looked up. The faint blue dome of the Safe Zone barrier flickered dangerously.
"They're breaking through the barricades!" one of the guards screamed from the top of the stairs.
A horde of over a hundred Mutated Goblins, led by towering Hobgoblins, was pouring down the subway stairs, crushing the flipped cars and shopping carts with sheer numbers. The survivors panicked, breaking formation.
"Hold the line!" Elara shouted, raising her Azure Blade, but her voice cracked. She was still just a teenager. The sheer volume of monsters was terrifying.
Kael casually walked toward the stairs, kicking a broken vending machine out of his way to serve as a makeshift throne. He sat down on the dented metal, crossing his legs.
He didn't draw his dagger. He simply pointed his finger at the surging green tide of monsters.
"Arthur," Kael commanded lazily. "Kill them."
The Shadow Vanguard didn't hesitate. With a burst of unnatural speed, the pitch-black knight launched itself toward the stairs. It didn't feel pain. It didn't feel fear. It only knew the absolute will of its sovereign.
SLASH!
The shadowy Azure Blade cleaved through three Goblins at once, instantly turning them into black mist. The Hobgoblins roared and swung their spiked clubs at Arthur, but the weapons simply phased through his shadowy armor, dealing zero physical damage.
Arthur retaliated with an 'Energy Wave', a massive arc of blue power that decapitated a dozen monsters in a single strike.
The two hundred human survivors watched in stunned, pin-drop silence as a single shadow single-handedly held off an army. Kael sat on his vending machine throne, resting his chin on his fist, watching the slaughter with bored eyes.
Whenever a monster managed to slip past Arthur, Kael's eyes would glow.
Death Lines.
He could see faint, glowing red lines tracing the weak points of the lower-level monsters. With a flick of his wrist, he threw a salvaged kitchen knife with perfect precision, striking the exact intersection of the lines.
Thwack. A Hobgoblin dropped dead instantly, a cheap kitchen knife buried to the hilt in its eye socket.
[You have slain a Level 8 Hobgoblin.][You have slain a Level 5 Goblin.][Level Up!][Level Up!]
"Too easy," Kael muttered, watching his experience bar skyrocket while he barely lifted a finger. "But where is the Warlord?"
As if answering his question, the concrete stairs exploded. A massive, ten-foot-tall creature covered in crude iron armor smashed its way down to the platform. It wielded a rusted guillotine blade attached to a heavy chain.
[Boss: Goblin Warlord (Level 18)]
The Warlord let out a roar that shattered the remaining glass in the subway station. It swung its massive guillotine blade, smashing Shadow Arthur into the wall and temporarily dispersing his form.
The boss locked its blood-red eyes onto Kael, recognizing him as the alpha of the room.
Kael finally stood up from his vending machine. He stretched his neck, cracking it loudly.
"A Level 18 boss on day one. The System is definitely trying to kill the glitch," Kael smiled, drawing the Monarch's Dagger. "Good. I was getting bored."