“Get out of the way!!!”
Black Tooth roared, its sharp, giant claws sweeping across with a burst of wind, slapping away the tank players swarming in front of it like sweeping garbage.
“Holy crap! The BOSS can still burst?!”
“Don't panic, don't panic! Quickly fill the gap! We can't let a breach open!”
“On it, on it!!”
As soon as those words left their mouths, the standby players immediately stepped up, seamlessly filling the opening and forming an impenetrable human wall once again.
Black Tooth was panting heavily, its three-meter-tall body trembling slightly, its dark green scales covered with scorched scars and gaping wounds.
It could no longer remember how many times it had swung its claws or spat out dark energy balls, yet these humans just kept coming!
If this dragged on, no one would even need to strike a final blow; the endless battle of attrition alone would tire it to death!
At that thought, panic spread through its heart like a tidal wave.
“Roar—!!!”
In this desperate situation, Black Tooth held nothing back, letting out a shrill roar from deep in its throat.
Pitch-black dark-attribute energy rapidly condensed, surged, and boiled inside its gaping maw. In an instant, an orb of dark black energy compressed to the extreme took shape!
The next second, a surging dark torrent erupted outward, crashing violently into the dense crowd of players!
The exploding dark energy raised a wave of pitch-black shockwaves, clearing a large area in an instant. Over a dozen players were killed outright, white light flashing one after another, tearing open a brief vacuum gap.
A glint of hope flashed in Black Tooth's eyes. Seizing this fleeting chance to catch its breath, it turned and tried to break out.
However, before it could even take two steps, the surrounding scattered players swarmed back like a rising tide, rapidly encircling it once more and blocking off all escape routes.
“The BOSS is trying to run!!!”
“Block it! Block it! Block it!!!”
“Hold steady! We've grinded it down to low health! The last hit is mine!”
“In your dreams! Whoever steals my kill, I'll fight you!”
Hearing the noisy, irritating shouts in its ears, Black Tooth sank into complete despair.
Battling until now, its hard scales—the very ones it took pride in and which had been impervious to blades and spears—had long since been shattered and burned layer by layer by the darkness-countering Holy Light.
Scorched and cracked scales fell off piece by piece, ghastly bloodstains covered its entire body, and its sturdy flesh was completely exposed to the barrage of spells and weapons.
Fireball burns, lightning strikes, Rock Spike thrusts, Vine Entangle bindings... Countless sources of damage stacked on top of each other. Its injuries grew heavier, its stamina rapidly depleted, and its movements grew increasingly sluggish—even the speed it was so proud of had slowed down by more than half.
In the end, it was surrounded three layers deep by over a hundred players, tightly trapped in the center of the clearing with nowhere left to run.
The dense crowd formed an airtight circle, leaving not a single gap.
Black Tooth hunched over, panting heavily. Ghastly wounds from burns and tears covered its body, and blood continuously dripped down its limbs onto the ground.
Its initial contempt, mockery, and arrogance had long vanished without a trace.
All that remained was deep, bone-chilling terror, alongside utter confusion and absurdity.
As yet another overwhelming wave of skills smashed toward it, its psychological defense line completely collapsed.
“AAAAHHH!!!”
“You forced my hand!”
It let out a hysterical roar—and then, under the astonished gazes of the players, Black Tooth pulled an object out from behind its back.
It was a pitch-black, extraordinary scale.
This was a divine object given to it by the Shaman. It hadn't wanted to use it, but this group of humans was simply too bizarre.
“Huh? The BOSS pulled something out! Is it dropping loot?”
“Loot my foot! This stance clearly means it's casting an ultimate!”
“Ah?!! Don't tell me there's a phase two?!”
“Stop chatting! Interrupt it quickly!!!”
While the players were arguing, Black Tooth had already raised the scale high into the air, rapidly mumbling something under its breath. A faint wave of divine power gradually radiated outward from the scale.
The next second, the pitch-black scale burst with a dazzling, deep dark light!
“Oh no!”
Within the Divine Kingdom of Light, Iluvia, who had been quietly watching the battle, felt her heart jump violently. An extremely ominous premonition instantly shrouded her mind!
Before she could even react, a terrifying, evil, and deathly pressure that made souls tremble descended abruptly!
Right after that—
A dragon's roar resonated.
The sound came from an extremely distant place, yet felt as though it exploded right beside everyone's ears.
Deep, thick, full of tyranny and unquestionable majesty, it vibrated the air until it hummed, rattled the gravel on the ground, and caused a loud buzz in every player's ears.
“Holy crap?!”
“What's that sound?!”
“In the sky! Look up at the sky!!!”
All the players looked up in unison.
And then, they witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The sky cracked open.
To be precise, pitch-black photons surged wildly from the scale in an incomprehensible manner, rapidly gathering midair.
A massive, translucent dragon composed entirely of pitch-black photons appeared out of thin air in the sky!
Its body blotted out the sky and the sun.
Layer upon layer of majestic, terrifying dragon scales shimmered with a dark, divine luster of destruction. Its giant dragon wings unfurled and drooped, casting a shadow that thoroughly engulfed the clearing in darkness.
The sky for hundreds of meters around was completely blocked by that dark body, making the whole world seem to fall into a dim, suffocating twilight in an instant.
Dead silence filled the field.
Even the air froze.
“Holy... crap...” someone murmured with a drifting voice, mouth agape, jaw almost dropping to the ground.
The heavily injured Black Tooth raised its head with great difficulty, gazing up at the massive dragon body blotting out the sky. Terror and disbelief almost overflowed from its eyes!
The divine object the Shaman gave it could actually summon His Grace the Dragon!
“Ha... Hahaha...” Its expression instantly became fanatical and worshipful. “It's His Grace! I'm actually seeing His Grace the Dragon with my own eyes!!! I—”
In midair, that massive, terrifying dragon head slowly lowered.
A dark gold vertical pupil glanced down at it.
There was not a single trace of emotion in that gaze.
Yet Black Tooth felt the icy chill in that look, feeling as though all the blood in its body had frozen solid.
This filled Black Tooth with immense awe, and its voice abruptly ceased.
The next moment, an even more terrifying pressure released from the massive dragon body. That was no longer ordinary dragon majesty—that was True God pressure!
It was a supreme oppression at the deity level, hundreds of times stronger than before, enough to cause ordinary creatures' souls to collapse instantly!
The ferocious dragon head slowly swept its gaze over the humans on the ground. With just a single glance, it was filled with fury:
“Hmph! Merely a group of mundane humans who haven't even stepped into the Extraordinary rank, yet you dare use the artifact I bestowed upon you without permission?!”
In that majestic voice, there wasn't the slightest hint of warmth. Black Tooth felt its soul shatter. Having barely recovered from the previous pressure, it almost fainted again.
“I... I... Your Grace...”
The pitch-black dragon had no intention of listening to its explanation. In its eyes, an ant's explanation was utterly meaningless, even if the ant was its believer.
“Useless trash!” The voice was ice-cold.
Under the triple pressure of dragon majesty, True God pressure, and direct questioning by a True God, Black Tooth was directly scared unconscious.
The dragon didn't even spare it a second look.
The players, on the other hand, felt zero pressure. On the contrary, far from being crushed by the pressure, each of them craned their necks and stared wide-eyed, gazing at the dragon in midair with faces full of excitement. Their eyes held nothing but curiosity and awe, without a single shred of fear.
Some even started chatting on the spot, their tone utterly thrilled:
“Holy crap?!”
“Whoa?! Is this the dragon in this game? This is way too cool!”
“Hiss! This 3D model is so realistic! Is the graphic quality really this top-tier?!”
“Huh?! I can't even appraise it! The Appraisal status panel is just a bunch of question marks.”
“Hey, what do you guys think... what does it feel like to ride on its back?”
“??? Are you serious???”
“Holy crap?! Brother, you're a real ruthless one! This guy clearly looks like an ultimate BOSS, and you actually dare think about that?!”
“If you want to seek death, don't drag us along! I don't have any Resurrection Coins left.”
“Hey, hey, hey! Don't you guys think a Dragon Knight sounds super cool?! Flying in the sky is so awesome! Just wait, I'll show you how a dragon trainer handles this!”
“Fuck! You've been playing Palworld too much, haven't you?!”
Some players had already started stroking their chins, pondering whether they could find a way to tame this dark dragon and use it as a mount. They were even planning how to fit it with a saddle and what elemental gems to feed it later.
After all, a Dragon Knight! Which player wouldn't want to become a cool Dragon Knight and fly freely through the sky?
The pitch-black dragon True God felt offended. What did it hear? These ants dared to discuss a deity?! These ants even wanted to tame it as a mount?!! Who gave them the courage?!!
Although there were some terms it didn't quite understand, it obviously understood what words like "ride," "mount," and "tame" meant.
“Presumptuous—!!!”
At that thought, it instantly flew into a rage. An extraordinarily terrifying energy gathered inside its mouth in a flash, distorting the surrounding air.
The next second, a destructive dragon breath slammed into the ground with a boom!
“BOOM!!!”
The earth shook and the mountains trembled!
In an instant, everyone's vision went completely blank!
The terrifying explosion swallowed up more than half the clearing. Shockwaves of pitch-black energy spread outward in rings, blasting a massive deep pit into the ground. The soil was burned into charred glass by the high heat, and surrounding trees were uprooted by the airwave.
The intense light was so blinding that no one could keep their eyes open, leaving only a sea of pure white in everyone's vision.
When their sight finally cleared, all the players at the center of the explosion had disappeared. Along with Bruce and Momozi, dozens of people didn't even see a flash of white light before being sent straight back to the respawn point.
Only a dozen or so low-health players remained around the edges, sprawling on the ground covered in dirt and soot, utterly dumbfounded.
“Holy crap?!”
“Holy crap?!”
“Damn you, game devs! You spawned an ultimate BOSS right in the beginner village???”
“The BOSS went berserk!”
“I'm done! It's all because of you big-mouthed idiots! Talking about riding a dragon! Look what happened now, it used its ultimate and wiped out the raid!”
“...I was just saying it casually, who knew it could actually hear us!”
The remaining players were stunned. Ignoring their injuries, they scrambled to their feet and ran into the distance, cursing the dog dev for being inhumane, designing this level of BOSS for a beginner quest—it was way too ridiculously OP!
Seeing this scene, Iluvia, to be honest, felt a surge of panic in her heart.
Oh no.
It seemed things had truly gotten out of hand...
The moment the pitch-black giant dragon appeared, she recognized its identity at a single glance!
That's right, it was also a True God!
And Iluvia even knew him—he was one of the many True Gods who had participated in the siege of the former Goddess of Light a thousand years ago, known as the Dragon of Shadows and the Calamity Dragon King—the True God, Mosator Gross!
However, compared to the titles of Dragon of Shadows and Calamity Dragon King, he had another title widely spread across the Aenoria continent—
The Lord of Plague and Calamity!
Rate on N.U.
