Kaito had never personally fought this yellow-skinned monster in his past life, but that didn't mean he was blind to its nature. Back then, when the game Glory was still in its infancy, word of certain unique bosses spread quickly among guilds. Every starter town had one such event—rare bosses that appeared only once in a controlled area, each carrying strange skills unlike the common monsters outside. In South Glade Town, this wandering Bard—disguised with illusion—was one of those unique bosses. Kaito had missed the chance to face it directly in his past life, but his sharp memory carried fragments of what the guilds had discovered through bloody sacrifice.
Some things were obvious. It had a Overlord Body skill which was practically a staple of every high-tier boss. With it, the demon could shrug off any control effects—stuns, freezes, binds—as though they were no more than a passing breeze. Only rare curse-type or suppression-type special skills could pierce that protection, which meant ordinary tactics of immobilization were useless.
Then there was Berserk. Any veteran of Glory knew that nearly all bosses had some form of frenzy state, but its effects varied. For weaker creatures, Berserk might double their attack. For powerful ones, it could multiply their output tenfold while sacrificing their resistances. If players weren't prepared, Berserk was usually the moment when a promising fight turned into a massacre.
But what made this yellow-skinned monster infamous was not its common skills—it was the bizarre abilities hidden beneath its illusionary Bard form. Yellow Mountain Illusion was one such technique. It preyed not on the body, but on the mind. Players caught in it would find their senses warped—unable to tell left from right, unable to judge distance or reality. Unlike poison or fire damage, illusion didn't show up as numbers floating above your head. Its impact depended entirely on the player's hidden stat: mental fortitude.
The stronger one's mental strength, the less devastating the effect. Yet mental fortitude was not a visible attribute panel like strength or agility. It was a hidden attribute, tied directly to a person's mind and willpower in reality. Martial artists in the real world, especially those of higher rank, naturally had sturdier mental fortitude, but most ordinary players did not. For them, Yellow Mountain Illusion turned the Misty Valley into an endless maze.
Still, even that wasn't what truly earned the Bard its reputation as one of South Glade's nightmare bosses. The truly outrageous skills were Soul Absorption and Soul Control.
Soul Absorption was a cruel ability that forcibly stripped away a fragment of a target's soul. The victim would immediately weaken, their stats dipping, their vitality draining as a continuous bleed effect gnawed away at them. And unlike ordinary damage-over-time effects that lasted seconds or minutes, this one persisted for twenty-four full hours.
Worse still, the damage would not stop until the yellow-skinned monster was slain. Many unfortunate players learned this the hard way. They would die once, resurrect, and still feel their HP ticking away into nothing. The only refuge was the respawn point, where the altar's divine recovery field could barely offset the soul wound. For an entire day, those players were effectively crippled—locked away, unable to participate in raids or leveling, forced to wait out the clock.
Soul Control was even more perverse. With it, the Bard could seize the very essence of its victim. Controlled players would lose all freedom in Glory. Their avatars became puppets, their bodies hijacked as if they were nothing more than hollow shells.
The controller—this yellow weasel demon—could make them fight their friends, sabotage parties, or simply throw themselves into death traps. And, like Soul Absorption, Soul Control lasted for twenty-four hours. It was not just humiliating—it was terrifying. Imagine logging in only to find your body no longer your own, forced to watch from the prison of your mind as you cut down comrades against your will.
Right now, the yellow-skinned Bard was still suspended in mid-air, his illusory robe rippling in the mist. Normally, a monster in that position would descend in order to strike, but this one hesitated. Without activating Overlord Body, it couldn't break free from Mei rin's relentless arrow suppression. And once Overlord Body was activated, the usual pattern for bosses was to immediately chain it with Berserk—a desperate trump card unleashed when their health fell dangerously low, allowing them to retaliate with everything they had.
But this monster was different. Unlike the beasts or mindless dungeon guardians that relied purely on instinct, this yellow-skinned monster was humanoid. It possessed intelligence on par with an ordinary adult, capable of weighing risks and deciding when to retreat or attack. That alone made it far more dangerous than wild bosses. In the early days of Glory, most players had no idea this was the case. They still treated NPCs and humanoid monsters as if they were simple AI programs, like in other VR games. That mistake cost countless lives—the Bard's illusions and cunning strategies had massacred many players until thousands finally banded together to bring it down.
Now, the Bard raised his hand, fingers glowing faintly, preparing to cast. Yet, just as suddenly, his arm dropped again. His eyes narrowed, irritation flickering across his illusory face. The reason was simple: casting distance. Even humanoid bosses had limitations. Their spell range was usually similar to the standard attack range of a ranger. And Kaito had calculated this perfectly.
Before coming here, he had deliberately equipped Mei rin with a bow that granted her a minor attack amplification effect that meant a 10% extended attack distance. That small edge made all the difference. Standing at her current position, Mei rin was able to fire at the Bard while staying just outside its own casting range. Every arrow that whistled past the mist didn't just chip away at its health—it forced the monster to hesitate, lifting its hand only to let it fall uselessly again.
This kind of maneuver wasn't unheard of. In Kaito's past life, professional gamers used a similar trick—stretching and pulling attack distances to lock bosses in awkward zones where they couldn't retaliate. But this wasn't some other game strategy guide. This was Glory, a full-dive VRMMO, and here the execution required precision, teamwork, and impeccable timing.
Even so, Kaito knew this couldn't last. Mei rin's movement speed was her greatest shortcoming. No matter how sharp her arrows were, her agility simply couldn't match the speed of a humanoid boss. Within just two seconds, the yellow-skinned monster's body blurred forward, covering ground with frightening ease. The gap closed, and suddenly, Kaito's entire party was within its threat radius.
Kaito's eyes narrowed to slits. He could see it—the monster's hand rising once more, its aura swelling with a skill activation. And this time, it was already in the Overlord Body state. That meant interruption was impossible. No stun, no knockback, no bind could cancel the casting now.
Worse, the skill it was about to unleash was Soul Absorption. Unlike fireballs or poison clouds, Soul Absorption didn't rely on trajectory. It was a lock-on ability. No amount of dodging, no last-second sidestep, could avoid it. Once the target was chosen, the soul would be marked, and the life drain would begin.
There was no room for hesitation. In an instant, Kaito's hands moved with decisive precision. With a sharp flick of his wrists, he summoned both of his blades—the Solstice Blade, radiating a cold brilliance, and the Dragon Fang Blade, burning with vicious strength. The twin weapons materialized into his grip, their edges gleaming with the promise of carnage.