Free Web NovelChapter 41: The Boss Appears
The toxic black mist swirling around the shattered sarcophagus parted like a physical curtain.
THUD. THUD.
The heavy, rhythmic sound wasn’t the footsteps of a man. It was the sound of hooves.
A colossal spectral steed stepped out of the shadows. Its flesh was completely rotted away, exposing ancient, blackened bones glowing with a sickening purple aura. Ghostly blue flames flared from its empty eye sockets and its nostrils with every heavy, snorting breath.
But it was the rider that made the temperature in the cathedral plummet.
Atop the skeletal horse sat the Death Knight. It was easily seven feet tall, completely encased in heavy, jagged black plate armor that seemed to drink the ambient light around it. A tattered, blood-red cape hung from its broad shoulders, and in its right gauntlet, it casually held a massive, two-handed broadsword practically dripping with concentrated dark magic.
The horde of undead surrounding the altar completely fell silent, bowing their heads in mindless reverence to their resurrected lord.
Arthur didn’t hesitate. He narrowed his eyes and activated his trait.
[Active Skill: Eagle Eye (Lv. 7) Activated.]
His vision zoomed in, piercing through the dark aura radiating from the boss to scan its core. A red system window forcibly materialized in front of him, and the numbers made Arthur’s stomach instantly drop.
[Boss Entity: Forgotten Death Knight]
[Level: 45 (Elite Raid Boss)]
[Estimated Strength: 180+]
[Status: Highly Aggressive. Mount Active.]
Arthur gritted his teeth, killing the projection.
Level 45, Arthur cursed internally. Average first-year cadets are around level 10. Even Leon is probably only level 18 right now. The raw stat difference is a literal canyon. If that broadsword hits any of us directly, it won’t just break bones; it will cut us completely in half.
"What... what is that thing?" Chloe whimpered, her mahogany staff shaking so violently the crystal rattled.
"That is the consequence of touching things that don’t belong to you," Arthur said, his voice entirely devoid of panic. He didn’t have time to be scared. His gamer brain had instantly shifted into raid-leader mode.
He reached into his system inventory, pulling out two high-tier blue mana potions he had looted from the goblin den.
He turned and threw one directly at Elara’s face.
The Elf Princess flinched, barely catching the glass vial before it shattered against her chest.
"Drink it, Princess," Arthur barked, his voice ringing with absolute, unquestionable authority. "Your MP is bottomed out. Your ice magic needs to be online right now."
Elara opened her mouth to snap back, her noble pride bristling at being ordered around by a human commoner, but the sheer, freezing terror radiating from the Death Knight shut her up. She popped the cork and downed the bitter blue liquid in one gulp.
Arthur looked down at Chloe. "Healer! Pump a concentrated stamina buff into Cedric. Wake the tank up! We need his mass!"
Chloe nodded frantically. She knelt beside the unconscious giant, pressing the glowing green crystal of her staff against Cedric’s forehead. A surge of restorative magic washed over him. Cedric groaned loudly, his eyes fluttering open as the bleeding on his forehead stopped.
"W-What hit me?" Cedric slurred, blindly reaching for his cracked tower shield.
"A reality check," Arthur answered bluntly. He stepped to the absolute center of the defensive circle, making sure every single student was looking at him.
"Listen to me!" Arthur roared over the rising, ghostly hum of the Death Knight’s aura. "That thing out-stats all of us combined! If we fight it like a disorganized mob, we will all die in the next sixty seconds! We are fighting this as a raid!"
Alicia gripped her broadsword, her green eyes locked on Arthur. Despite her deep-seated disdain for him, her knightly training recognized exactly what was happening. In the face of overwhelming terror, Arthur Vance was the only one standing perfectly still, reading the battlefield with cold, calculated precision.
"What are your orders, Archer?" Alicia demanded, officially stepping down from her role as party leader.
"You and Felix are the main wall!" Arthur commanded, pointing to the front of the altar. "Felix, you anchor the center. Alicia, you use your Vanguard Knight Arts to parry and deflect the blunt force of its swings! Cycle the aggro between the two of you so neither of your shields breaks!"
Felix dragged his heavy iron shield to the front, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the noble prodigy.
"Emily!" Arthur continued. "You are the physical interceptor! Keep the trash mobs off the mages and protect our flanks! If that skeletal horse tries to trample the frontline, you punch it in the damn jaw and break its momentum!"
"With pleasure!" Emily grinned fiercely, wrapping her hands tighter in her brawler tape.
"Leon!" Arthur snapped, turning his gaze to the golden boy.
Leon looked at him, his holy broadsword gripped tightly in his hands. He was waiting for the reprimand, waiting for Arthur to curse him out for breaking the seal.
"You are our primary melee DPS," Arthur ordered, pointing directly at the glowing holy sword. "Your affinity is the only thing that can reliably cut through that dark armor. Let the tanks absorb the hits, and you strike exactly when it overextends! Do not play the hero! Do not charge in alone!"
Leon nodded firmly, his righteous determination returning. "Understood."
"Elara! Chloe!" Arthur yelled to the backline. "Pure support! Chloe, heals only on critical damage. Elara, I don’t care about your pride; you are crowd control today. Spam your ice magic on the stone floor around the boss to slow its mount down!"
Arthur stepped back, drawing his Whisperwind Longbow.
"I will be on the perimeter providing artillery and shot-calling," Arthur finished, his blue mana string humming to life. "Stick to your roles, don’t break formation, and we might actually live to see tomorrow."
As if responding to the end of his speech, the Death Knight raised its massive broadsword toward the vaulted ceiling.
A deafening, metallic screech tore from beneath its black helmet.
The spectral steed reared up on its hind legs, its hooves striking the stone floor with the force of a bomb, and charged directly at the altar.
"BRACE!" Arthur roared.
The ground violently trembled as the massive, undead cavalry unit crossed the cathedral in seconds.
"Hold the line!" Alicia yelled, stepping perfectly in sync with Felix.
The Death Knight swung its broadsword in a devastating horizontal arc, aiming to cleave both vanguards in half.
Felix planted his boots, angled his heavy iron shield, and braced for impact. Alicia stepped right into the pocket beside him, her sword flaring with wind mana as she pushed upward to deflect the trajectory of the massive black blade.
CLANGGG!
The sheer kinetic force of the impact was like a localized hurricane. The shockwave blew the toxic mist completely away from the center of the room.
Felix’s boots tore deep trenches into the solid stone floor as he was pushed back three feet. The iron of his shield buckled, a massive dent forming in the center, but his stance held. Alicia’s arms violently trembled, her teeth gritted as her wind aura sparked and screamed against the oppressive dark magic of the boss’s weapon.
"Leon! Now!" Arthur barked.
Leon didn’t hesitate. With the boss’s broadsword locked against the vanguard’s defense, the protagonist blurred forward.
"Holy Strike!" Leon shouted, driving his glowing blade in a brutal upward thrust directly at the Death Knight’s exposed ribcage.
The holy magic scorched the black plate armor, burning a deep, glowing scar into the metal, but it didn’t pierce entirely through. The Death Knight ripped its broadsword back, the sheer strength of the movement throwing Alicia to the side, and violently kicked Leon in the chest with its heavy, armored boot.
Leon flew backward, tumbling across the stone floor.
The spectral steed let out a ghostly neigh, rearing up to bring its heavy, flaming hooves down on the exposed protagonist.
Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.
Three perfectly placed mana arrows slammed directly into the side of the horse’s skull. The sheer concussive force of Arthur’s triple-shot forced the massive beast to violently stagger sideways, its hooves completely missing Leon’s head and cracking the stone floor beside him.
"Emily!" Arthur called out.
"I see it!" Emily roared.
She vaulted off a broken pillar, launching herself entirely into the air. While the steed was staggered by Arthur’s arrows, she brought her right fist down like a meteor, channeling every ounce of her martial aura into a single strike.
She punched the skeletal horse directly in the jaw.
CRACK!
The bone violently splintered. The massive spectral steed let out a shrill scream as it was literally forced to its knees by the sheer, terrifying physical strength of the martial artist.
"Elara! Freeze the ground!" Arthur yelled, drawing another mana arrow.
The Elf Princess didn’t argue. She pointed her silver bow at the struggling horse’s hooves. A massive wave of freezing ice mana erupted from her weapon, instantly coating a twenty-foot radius of the cathedral floor in thick, jagged glaciers, locking the steed’s legs firmly into the ground.
"We have it pinned!" Cedric bellowed, rushing forward with his heavy warhammer, completely ignoring the blood running down his face.
Arthur stood on the perimeter, his eyes narrowed as he watched the 8-man raid execute his orders flawlessly.
The coordination is perfect, Arthur noted, his finger resting on the glowing blue bowstring. But it’s not enough. That black armor is way too thick.
The Death Knight slowly turned its helmeted head toward Arthur. Even from sixty yards away, Arthur could feel the absolute, freezing hatred radiating from the glowing red slits of its visor. The boss realized exactly who was orchestrating its downfall. freewēbnoveℓ.com
The Death Knight raised its left hand, pointing a heavy, armored gauntlet directly at Arthur.
A massive, condensed sphere of pitch-black dark magic instantly manifested in its palm, crackling with lethal energy.
[Warning: Lethal Magic Attack Detected.]
"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me," Arthur muttered.
