The sky tore open like wet paper. Ethan shielded his eyes as a blinding shaft of violet light pierced through the morning clouds. The edges of the rift shimmered with unstable energy, jagged like broken glass. A wind howled through the city as if the world itself was screaming.
Then the shadow emerged.
At first, he thought it was a building collapsing—but then the "building" moved. An immense, insectoid form, blacker than midnight and covered in jagged chitin, pushed its way through the tear. Its segmented body glistened with slime, and its six clawed legs were as tall as city buses. Two scythe-like appendages jutted from its forearms, and its eyes burned with a sickly green glow. The World Boss had arrived.
The System's cold voice chimed in his vision, informing him exactly how doomed they were.
[World Boss: Abyssal Behemoth — Lv. 30] [HP: 50,000/50,000] [World Quest Triggered: Survive or Slay] [Reward for Slayer: Mythic Class Evolution Token]
All across the ruined streets, hundreds of Inducted froze in awe and terror. Makeshift guilds huddled behind overturned vehicles, the air thick with whispered prayers and panicked breathing.
Kayla swallowed hard. "We're… supposed to kill that?"
"It's a walking skyscraper," Jace muttered, pale as a ghost. His conjured bow trembled in his hands.
Ethan's grip tightened on the Abyss Fang, the serrated edge humming faintly with blue energy. "We don't have to kill it," he said, eyes locked on the monstrosity. "We just have to survive long enough for the others to die first."
Kayla gave him a look that said she wasn't sure if he was joking. "…Inspiring."
The Behemoth roared. The sound was a physical force, rattling teeth and sending shockwaves through broken windows. With terrifying speed for its size, it swung one massive claw down. A squad of unprepared Inducted were caught in its path. They barely had time to scream before the claw flattened them into the cracked asphalt.
[Inducted x12 Eliminated.]
The survivors scattered. Some fired glowing arrows and bolts of magic at the creature. The Behemoth's carapace flared, deflecting most attacks harmlessly. Someone screamed, "It's not taking damage!" and another voice shouted back, "Aim for the eyes!"
Kayla jabbed her spear toward the nearest intact building. "We need elevation! Hit its weak points—eyes, joints!"
Ethan nodded and sprinted with her, using overturned cars as cover. A spray of acid slammed into the pavement where they had been seconds ago, hissing as it ate through steel. They dove through a broken doorway and climbed the cracked stairwell to the roof.
By the time they reached the top, the battle below was a frenzy of lights and screams. Fireballs, arrows, and summoned beasts attacked from all angles, but the Behemoth hardly seemed to care. Each step it took crushed cars and sent shockwaves rippling outward.
Kayla crouched behind a crumbling ledge, panting. "We need to target its weak spots. Eyes first."
"I can distract it," Ethan said. His System Overlord class thrummed in his chest like a second heartbeat. He could feel the energy waiting to be unleashed. He selected his fused skill.
[Overlord Mode: Tier 1 Activated.] [Duration: 60 seconds.]
The rush hit him instantly. His vision sharpened, every movement of the Behemoth appearing in slow motion. His muscles thrummed with power.
"Cover me," he said—and then he jumped.
Using broken window frames and twisted rebar as handholds, Ethan sprinted up the side of a collapsed building and leapt onto the Behemoth's leg. Its chitin was slick, but he jammed the Abyss Fang into a seam to anchor himself. The Behemoth shrieked, thrashing, but Ethan climbed higher, using the weapon like an ice pick. He reached the upper thigh, where a faint glow pulsed beneath its carapace, and swung.
-250 HP (Critical!)
A geyser of black ichor sprayed into the air. The Behemoth reared back, letting out a roar that shook the city. Ethan almost lost his grip as it thrashed, but Quick Dodge Lv. 3 triggered instinctively, letting him swing to a more secure hold.
Below, the battle was disintegrating into chaos. Not all Inducted were united. Two guilds—The Iron Fangs and Bloodspire—turned on each other mid-fight, screaming accusations about loot rights. Spells and arrows meant for the Behemoth struck fellow humans instead. Kayla cursed from the rooftop. "They're killing each other instead of the boss!"
Ethan gritted his teeth as he climbed. The System wasn't just testing strength. It was testing who would turn on their own.
Then a familiar bellow rose from below. "HEY, FREAK!"
Ethan glanced down. Rogan was charging up the Behemoth's leg with his Berserker's Axe, his eyes wild. "I'm taking the kill—and the Token!"
"You idiot! You'll get us both killed!" Ethan snapped, but Rogan wasn't listening.
The Behemoth's HP dropped below forty-five thousand, triggering another System alert.
[World Boss in Rage Mode.] [All attacks +50%, All defenses +50%.]
The Behemoth began thrashing violently. Rogan slipped and barely clung to a chitin ridge. Ethan's heart pounded. Tier 1 wouldn't cut it. He needed more. The System whispered in his mind.
[Hidden Condition Met: Sustained Overlord Activity + World Boss Engagement] [Unlocking: Overlord Mode — Tier 2]
Energy exploded in his veins. His skin glowed with a faint blue aura, and his weapons pulsed like living extensions of himself.
[Overlord Mode: Tier 2 Activated] [+200% Attack Speed | +100% Damage | +50% Dodge | Passive Lifesteal Enabled] [Duration: 45 seconds]
Time slowed to a crawl. Ethan saw every joint, every weak seam in the Behemoth's armor. He moved like a phantom, slashing tendons and carving deep into its neck.
-1,000 HP (Critical!) -1,200 HP (Critical!)
Rogan gawked at him in shock. "What the hell are you?!"
"Humanity's last hope," Ethan growled, leaping for the Behemoth's head.
The Behemoth roared, swiping a claw toward the rooftop where Kayla and the siblings hid. The shockwave sent them sprawling. Ethan, glowing with Tier 2 Overlord energy, landed on the monster's skull. He raised the Abyss Fang, ready to strike the first fatal blow… and the System chimed a warning only he could see.
[Overlord Protocol: Phase 1 Complete] [New Directive: Eliminate All Threats—Human or Otherwise]
Ethan froze. "Wait… what?"
His class… was starting to think for him.
Ethan's breath caught in his chest as the words burned across his vision. Eliminate all threats—human or otherwise. His fingers tightened around the hilt of the Abyss Fang, and for a heartbeat, he felt the pull, a dark whisper curling through his thoughts. The world below seemed to slow even more, the chaos of the battlefield dimming into muted echoes. He could see everything: the Behemoth thrashing, the guilds screaming and tearing into each other, and Rogan clinging to the monster's carapace, glaring at him like a cornered animal. One thought pushed against the back of his mind, foreign yet seductive: they are all obstacles. Remove them.
He gritted his teeth and forced the thought away. "Not… me," he growled to no one but the System. His class didn't respond, but the blue aura around his body pulsed, alive and hungry. His knuckles whitened as he swung the Abyss Fang down in a vicious arc, cleaving into the Behemoth's skull.
The monster screamed and thrashed violently, its HP bar plunging by another one thousand points. Ichor sprayed across his armor, sizzling where it touched. The creature whipped its head, and Ethan was nearly flung into open air. He jammed the blade into the chitin and held on with his other hand, muscles screaming from the strain.
Below, the world was chaos. Kayla had regained her footing and was shouting commands to the surviving Inducted, her voice carrying over the din. Arrows, bolts of light, and bursts of elemental fire peppered the Behemoth, but most attacks barely scratched its hide. The two rival guilds that had been fighting each other were now scattered, some retreating entirely, others too stubborn—or too greedy—to flee. Every few seconds, a body hit the pavement, sometimes crushed under the Behemoth's claws, other times struck down by friendly fire. The System's chimes were cold and relentless as notifications of death rolled across the battlefield.
Rogan was still climbing, fueled by fury and perhaps desperation. "You're mine!" he roared, and launched himself toward Ethan, his Berserker's Axe raised high. He swung at Ethan's head, reckless and wild. Ethan twisted mid-climb, feeling the blade cut through the air inches from his face. He didn't think. He let the Overlord energy guide him, parrying with the Abyss Fang in a flash of blue light. Sparks flew, and the shock sent Rogan sliding back, barely clinging to the carapace with one hand.
"Are you insane?!" Ethan shouted.
"You think you're some kind of hero!" Rogan spat, eyes bloodshot. "You're just another freak! That Token is mine!"
The Behemoth reared up suddenly, letting out a roar that shook the air like thunder. Its HP bar dipped to forty thousand, and a new notification appeared, sending a chill through Ethan's bones.
[World Boss: Abyssal Behemoth — Final Rage Mode Engaged] [Attack +100% | Speed +100% | Defensive Carapace Hardened]
The creature's movements became a blur of lethal intent. One claw swept through an entire street, collapsing the remains of two buildings and sending survivors flying like ragdolls. Acid rain sprayed from its mandibles, sizzling wherever it landed. A dozen more Inducted fell in the span of seconds.
Ethan's Overlord instincts surged again, telling him to finish it, to take the kill and the power and let everything else die. He fought the urge with sheer will, leaping toward the Behemoth's primary eye. Time slowed as he spun midair, Overlord energy blazing along the edge of the Abyss Fang, and brought the blade down with all his strength.
The monster howled in agony as the eye burst in a spray of ichor and black smoke.
-2,500 HP (Massive Weak Point) [Behemoth is Blind on Left Side]
Rogan seized the moment, using Ethan's attack as cover to swing his axe into the creature's neck joint. A small chunk of chitin cracked, and he laughed, feral and triumphant. But his footing slipped, and he plummeted. He caught a ridge with one hand, dangling dozens of feet above the street.
"Help me!" he screamed, his bravado gone in an instant.
Ethan hesitated. The Overlord Protocol whispered: Let him fall. Remove the threat. Take the power. His fingers twitched, and for a second, he truly considered it. Rogan had tried to kill him twice. Rogan was dangerous. Rogan was an obstacle.
But then he saw Kayla below, fighting desperately to keep survivors alive, her face set with determination despite the hopeless odds. He saw the siblings, back to back, fending off smaller insectoids that had spawned from the Behemoth's body. Humanity was dangling by a thread—and if he gave in to that voice now, he wouldn't be the hope they needed.
With a curse, Ethan stabbed the Abyss Fang into the Behemoth for leverage and reached down, grabbing Rogan's wrist. "Climb, you idiot!" he roared.
Rogan's eyes widened, and for a moment, shame flickered across his face. He scrambled up with Ethan's help, panting, and didn't say a word.
The Behemoth thrashed in pain and fury, trying to throw them both off. Ethan's Overlord Mode timer ticked down in his vision, each second like a hammer against his chest. Forty seconds gone. Five left. He had one chance.
He planted his feet on the back of the Behemoth's skull and channeled everything—Arcane Strike, Mana Bolt, his raw physical strength, and the last of his Overlord energy—into one devastating blow. Blue-white light engulfed the Abyss Fang as he roared and swung.
The blade plunged deep into the creature's brain. The Behemoth convulsed, letting out a final, earsplitting scream that shook the city. Its legs buckled, and the ground below quaked as the massive body collapsed, sending a wave of dust and rubble into the streets. Ethan and Rogan leapt free at the last moment, landing hard on the cracked pavement below.
Silence fell, broken only by the crackle of fires and the distant whimpers of survivors. The System's cold, triumphant chime echoed across the ruined city.
[World Boss Defeated: Abyssal Behemoth] [+10,000 EXP | Level Up: 15] [Reward: Mythic Class Evolution Token] [Hidden Achievement: Overlord Slayer — Tier 1] [Warning: Overlord Protocol Advancing…]
Ethan lay on his back, chest heaving, staring up at the shattered sky. The battle was over. The city was half gone. And deep in his core, he felt the System stir, cold and watchful, as if it had only just begun to take him seriously.