Free Web NovelChapter 10: Chapter10-Slaying the Stone Colossus, the Blood-Burning Buff!
"Well, well. Enemies really are bound to cross paths."
John gazed coldly at Nix, who was currently commanding his subordinates as they surrounded and attacked the Stone Colossus.
He remained where he was, silently observing their battle.
...
"Vice Guild Leader, I really can’t hold on any longer! My HP is almost empty! How about we retreat for now?"
A shield warrior was sent flying several steps backward by the Stone Colossus. Staring at the cracks covering his shield, he gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Retreat, my ass! No one is allowed to retreat without my order!" Nix roared angrily.
He had already reached Level 9. All he needed was the EXP from this Stone Colossus to reach Level 10.
Once he reached Level 10, he would be able to travel to the main city and complete his class advancement.
That was precisely why Nix had not reported the location of this Boss to the guild. Instead, he had chosen to seize it for himself.
"Listen to me! We must take this thing down today!
"I refuse to believe that so many of us can’t defeat a single Boss!
"If any of you dare screw this up, I’ll dock every last cent of your pay when we get back!"
Nix furiously urged his subordinates to continue attacking.
Several of them looked deeply aggrieved, but they were intimidated by this spoiled young master’s background. In the end, they could only grit their teeth and continue forcing themselves to endure the Boss’s attacks.
Under the relentless assault of the Stone Colossus, their condition grew increasingly worse.
Yet Nix still believed that the advantage was firmly in his hands and ordered everyone to keep attacking.
...
"How useless. They’re already in such a miserable state just from fighting an ordinary Stone Colossus."
John shook his head at the sight.
He had already examined the Boss with an Appraisal spell.
[Stone Colossus]
[Level]: 25
[HP]: 22,000
[AGI]: 20
[STR]: 1,500
[PDEF]: 1,500
[MDEF]: 1,500
John had originally assumed that someone capable of stealing his position as vice guild leader would at least have a little competence.
But this was it?
Any normal person would have understood that a Boss like this should be challenged by an organized guild party.
Yet this brat wanted to hoard the Boss for himself, despite not possessing the strength to defeat it.
He was truly stupid, useless, and greedy all at once.
John could no longer be bothered to keep watching.
He raised his hand and aimed directly at the Stone Colossus.
The Flameserpent Ring on his finger lit up, and the surrounding air instantly became scorching hot.
Boom!
A crimson beam of light shot across the distance, accurately striking the Stone Colossus in the chest.
The terrifying shockwave blasted sand and gravel throughout the entire mining region.
Nix and the others, who had been surrounding the Stone Colossus, were all knocked backward several stumbling steps by the force of the impact.
[-10,090!]
A damage number appeared above the Stone Colossus’s head.
Its HP had only fallen by a large portion. Surprisingly, it had not been instantly killed.
Most likely, the Boss’s extremely high Physical and Magic Defense had prevented John’s Flameserpent Ray from killing it in one hit.
"Fuck! What the hell was that just now?"
Nix and the others had been completely terrified by what they had just witnessed.
For a moment, they had thought some kind of apocalyptic disaster had descended upon them, and they hurriedly retreated in a panic.
Just then, the archer among them, whose eyesight was particularly sharp, suddenly noticed John standing in the distance.
He cried out in shock, "That skill just now... I think that guy was the one who cast it!"
Everyone turned to look at John at the same time.
When they saw that the other party was merely a young man dressed in pajamas, their eyes widened in disbelief.
Nix, in particular, stared at John incredulously.
That terrifying attack just now had been unleashed by this bizarre guy in pajamas?
At this moment, John was looking at the Stone Colossus in the distance, which still had not fallen. A trace of surprise appeared in his heart.
"It actually survived one of my rays. Not bad."
The Stone Colossus’s defenses were indeed impressive. It had even managed to withstand a direct hit from the Flameserpent Ray.
However, at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred.
A dazzling scarlet glow suddenly erupted from the Stone Colossus’s body, and countless cracks appeared across its surface.
Its originally sluggish movements instantly became violent and frenzied.
It raised one enormous fist and slammed it into the ground.
Boom!
The earth trembled violently.
Countless fissures split open across the ground of the mining region, and streams of molten lava began surging out from within the cracks.
"Damn it! This Boss has entered a berserk state!"
The shield warrior’s face instantly turned deathly pale as he roared.
"We can’t stay here! Run!"
Immediately afterward, the five subordinates reacted with extreme speed.
They forcibly grabbed hold of Nix and began carrying him away from the mining region as quickly as they could.
Nix, however, was still unwilling to give up. His face twisted savagely as he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Why are you running?! Put me down! It barely has any HP left!
"All of you, get back there! I’m going to take it down!
"You bunch of useless trash! Did you hear me?!"
The five of them completely ignored him. They merely continued dragging him away with all their strength.
Although players could currently revive without limit at this stage of the game, every resurrection came with the penalty of losing one level.
If they were unlucky, they might even drop all their Gold Coins and equipment.
This vice guild leader might have an extraordinary identity, but all five of them knew perfectly well that this man’s combat sense was no different from that of an idiot.
The chairman had spent a huge amount of money hiring the five of them to help Nix level up. He certainly had not paid them to let this fool lose levels.
If the chairman learned that Nix had lost even a single level while under their supervision, having their salaries docked would be the least of their worries. They could forget about ever working in the gaming industry again.
Standing in the distance, John watched their ridiculous performance and suddenly found it rather amusing.
So this was the sort of clown who had stolen his position.
Previously, John had been filled with rage over the matter.
However, after witnessing this scene, he could not even bring himself to feel angry anymore.
In his eyes, Nix was no different from a mentally deficient child.
Lowering himself to argue with a fool like that would only be beneath his dignity.
John glanced down at the ring on his finger.
The skill’s cooldown was already over. He could fire a second shot.
Without hesitation, he aimed directly at the Stone Colossus, which was gathering power to unleash its ultimate attack.
Boom!
Another scorching ray burst forth.
In an instant, it struck the Stone Colossus head-on.
Before the Stone Colossus could even release its ultimate move, the searing ray pierced straight through its head.
Its body instantly exploded, turning into countless fragments of stone before collapsing to the ground with a thunderous crash.
[Congratulations! You have killed the World Boss, Stone Colossus (Level 25). You have obtained EXP +2500 and Gold Coins +25!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the A-Rank Weapon: Bluestone Hammer!]
[Bluestone Hammer]
[Attributes]: Attack +1500, Defense +1000
...
John looked at the corpse of the Stone Colossus.
His figure flickered, and in the next instant, he appeared directly in front of it.
He raised one hand and made a grasping motion.
"Devour!"
The Stone Colossus’s corpse instantly transformed into white light and was absorbed into John’s body.
A series of notification sounds rang out beside his ears.
[You have devoured the Level 25 Stone Colossus. You have obtained 2000 Free Attribute Points!]
[You have obtained the A-Rank Active Skill: Boulder Fury!]
[You have obtained 15 Luck Points!]
"Another skill?"
John opened his status panel and checked the details of his newly acquired skill.
[Boulder Fury]
[Effect]: Active skill. Upon activation, you enter a berserk state, increasing Attack and Magic Damage by 50%.
While active, this skill burns 1000 HP every second!
[Note]: This skill can be manually deactivated at any time. Once deactivated, the berserk state will immediately end, and HP consumption will stop accordingly.
...
The amplification effect of this skill was incredibly powerful, but the price that came with it was equally enormous.
Consuming 1,000 HP every second meant that even a Level 10 player would not be able to endure it for a single second.
It could be said that this skill was nothing more than a scalding hot potato. An ordinary player would not be able to use it even if they wanted to.
But John was different.
He possessed more than 100,000 HP, as well as a passive regeneration effect that restored 1% of his maximum HP every second. free𝑤ebnovel.com
To him, this skill essentially came at no cost whatsoever. He could keep it permanently activated and continuously enjoy a 50% increase to his Attack and Magic Damage.
There was absolutely no need for him to worry about running out of HP!
