"What do you mean?" Dafiona let out a low chuckle, the sound dripping with undisguised mockery. It rose steadily, swelling into a wild, maniacal cackle. "Hahaha, foolish adventurers! Did you really delude yourselves into thinking you were saviors?"
She rose slowly to her feet. The black robe on her body billowed without a breath of wind, and mysterious glowing runes began to swirl across the fabric. Her entire aura shifted in an instant, and a suffocating pressure swept forth like a tidal wave, engulfing everything in its path.
A blinding scarlet notification blared to life on their system panels:
[Dafiona the Moonveiled · Mythic Overlord]
Level: 200
HP: 17450000/17450000
(Target level exceeds scan limits. Additional stats unavailable)
This was Dafiona's true form!
She looked down at the stunned Kalis and Lia, her eyes blazing with a near-deranged light. "I thought I'd spend my final years wasting away in frailty and decay. But the heavens smiled on me! They sent two imbeciles straight to my door, bearing a gift of power! Now that my strength is fully restored, I'll soon return to settle a long-overdue score with my sanctimonious sister—the Lunar Archbishop!"
She paused, a cruel smirk twisting her lips. Her voice was casual, yet laced with a bone-chilling coldness. "Of course, as a 'thank-you' gift, I'll grant you both a quick, painless death."
Before the words even faded, she swung her staff violently. A condensed bolt of moonlight shot through the air with a sharp, tearing whistle, streaking straight for the unsuspecting Lia!
"Look out!"
Kalis's pupils contracted sharply. Pure instinct drove him to lunge sideways, shielding Lia behind his body. At the exact same moment, he summoned his spell with a thought—[Crystal Barricade] materialized instantly, a thick earthen-yellow shield enveloping him completely.
Crack!
A crisp, shattering sound rang out. The moonlight blade slammed into the shield, instantly tearing through and neutralizing the [Crimson Barrier] granted by his Mythic-grade helmet.
"This game's NPCs actually scam players now? That's just plain disgusting!" Huddled behind Kalis, Lia trembled with rage, unable to hold back a string of curses.
She was furious, but Kalis was absolutely livid!
If he'd known this old hag was this devious and treacherous, he would've teamed up with Lia to kill her and loot her gear right from the start. None of this mess would've happened!
But it was too late now. The precious Elixir of Eternal Youth was already gone, drunk down to the last drop—spilled water could never be retrieved.
There was only one way out now: kill this backstabbing witch and settle the score once and for all!
"[Lightning Bolt]!"
"[Magic Missile]!"
Kalis snarled through gritted teeth, unleashing two instant-cast low-tier spells in quick succession. They streaked toward Dafiona with crackling electricity and a whistling roar.
But before the attacks could even graze the hem of her robe, a transparent barrier materialized out of thin air, blocking them completely without so much as a ripple.
"Pathetic little ants, and you dare resist me?" Dafiona scoffed, her eyes oozing contempt.
She clenched her left hand in a loose fist, and a vast, tsunami-like surge of lunar magic erupted forth.
In the next instant!
BOOM—!
A dazzling white shockwave of moonlight exploded outward in all directions, centered on her body!
A deafening roar shook the sky. The entire tavern crumbled like a house of cards under the shockwave's onslaught, splinters and stones flying like cannonballs in every direction.
The terrifying residual energy continued to spread, flattening building after building in the heart of Boulder Town until a thick cloud of dust blotted out the sun.
"Aaaah——!"
"What's happening? What's going on?!"
"Help us!"
Shrill screams rang out one after another.
The tavern's bard Algernon and the innkeeper never even had time to react. They were swallowed whole by the moonlight shockwave, their HP plummeting to zero in an instant, killed on the spot.
Bang!
Another layer of Kalis's Crimson Barrier was shattered, leaving only a thin, flickering light screen barely holding on.
Lia, shielded tightly behind him, narrowly escaped the same fate.
The moonlight shockwave finally dissipated after expanding nearly five hundred meters outward. Within its range, players and civilian NPCs alike lay dead or dying.
Only a handful of high-ranking militiamen in polished armor managed to cling to life, their sturdy gear and high HP barely saving them as they collapsed to the ground, trembling violently.
"Damn it! This crazy woman didn't even spare the civilian NPCs!" Kalis stared at the shattered ruins before him, his heart filled with shock and a searing sense of guilt.
His poor judgment had allowed Dafiona to regain her power, unleashing this tragedy on the town.
If that was the case, then he would be the one to clean up this mess—with his own hands!
"[Meteor Shower]!"
Kalis began chanting his incantation in a deep voice. A torrential surge of stellar power swirled wildly around him. In the blink of an eye, a rain of meteors streaked across the sky, forming a dazzling celestial downpour that blanketed a radius of dozens of meters, trapping Dafiona firmly within.
"You little runt, you actually survived that?" Dafiona looked genuinely surprised that he was still standing after taking a moonlight blade and a full shockwave head-on.
The meteor shower, laced with searing fireballs and magic missiles, crashed down on Dafiona like an inverted galaxy.
Three layers of damage stacked up and exploded in the same split second! Even a Saint-rank barrier would struggle to block it completely!
But…
A glowing white spherical shield rose abruptly, cocooning Dafiona safely inside. The onslaught of attacks crashed against the barrier, vanishing without a trace like water sinking into mud—not even a single point of damage registered.
"That's the Lunar Temple's ultimate passive skill—[Eternal Moonlight]!" Lia's face paled drastically as she quickly explained. "It grants complete immunity to all damage for three seconds! It's a divine skill only those who've reached the Fifth Stage can master!"
"Freaking broken OP skill! If I had that, I'd be invincible for like thirty thousand seconds…"
Kalis cursed inwardly. Knowing attacks were useless for now, he immediately grabbed Lia and retreated at full speed, putting over a hundred meters between them and Dafiona.
"The way you two squirm around is almost cute." Dafiona lowered her barrier slowly, wearing a cruel, cat-and-mouse grin on her face. She waved her staff repeatedly, hurling one devastating moonlight spell after another at them like shooting stars.
"Kalis, watch out! I'm buffing you!"
Lia didn't dare waste a single second. She weaved her hands in quick, intricate seals, and three bursts of brilliant light descended on Kalis one after another.
"[Lunar Blessing]!"
"[Dark Moon Enhancement]!"
"[Lunar Aura Shield]!"
The three powerful buffs took effect instantly, boosting Kalis's attack and defense by a huge margin. Lia stared at the barrage of spells raining down from the sky, gritted her teeth, and spoke with a note of resolve. "My survivability is too low, I won't last long. If I get killed, I'll respawn immediately and go get help from the Lunar Temple. You have to hold on!"
"No need for that." Kalis let out a cold snort, his eyes sharpening to a razor's edge. "We'll see who dies and who survives today!"
Being tricked and deceived by an NPC was the ultimate insult to his intelligence! He swore he wouldn't rest until he reduced this old witch to ashes!
Player-NPC honor? Rules and agreements?
The moment Dafiona tore up their deal, all of that had ceased to exist!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A hail of moonlight spells slammed into Kalis relentlessly. His last remaining layer of Crimson Barrier shattered, and the Lunar Aura Shield's effects vanished instantly.
Immediately after, a thick beam of moonlight crashed into his chest with devastating force!
-310,000!
A terrifying red damage number floated above his head.
A Level 200, Fifth-Tier Mythic Boss, her strength was truly unparalleled! A single basic attack dealt two to three hundred thousand damage. Her sheer power was beyond comprehension.
But Kalis's Crystal Barricade still held firm. Its massive shield HP kept him standing steady as a mountain.
"Three seconds are up! You old witch, prepare to die!"
Kalis counted the seconds silently. The moment the Eternal Moonlight barrier vanished from Dafiona's body, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he struck again without hesitation.
First, a Magic Missile to test the waters, followed immediately by his wide-area crowd control spell—[Star Wind]!
The Meteor Shower still rained down relentlessly as the Star Wind swept forth with a howl.
Combined, the Meteor Shower and Star Wind formed a violent domain of stellar energy, its terrifying damage tearing through the surroundings. The already shattered buildings were reduced to dust.
"A mere low-rank mage, daring to raise a fist against a Saint-rank powerhouse? How utterly laughable!" Dafiona scoffed disdainfully, her red lips parting as she began a brief incantation.
In the next second, a glowing virtual full moon rose slowly behind her. An endless torrent of moonlight converged into a thick beam of light, crashing down on Kalis like a divine punishment!
-300,000!
-300,000!
-300,000!
The beam erupted with devastating damage every 0.5 seconds, scarlet numbers popping up above Kalis's head one after another.
But almost simultaneously, Kalis's combo slammed into Dafiona with full force!
Crack!
-169,192!
-1,378,198!
-268,981!
The three layers of damage from Meteor Shower, Magic Missile, and Star Wind landed in quick succession.
But compared to Kalis's nearly 1,200 attack power, these numbers were clearly abnormal, barely a tenth of his theoretical damage output!
"Her spell resistance is a whopping ninety percent!" Kalis's heart jolted in shock.
He'd thought he could finish Dafiona off in just a few spells with his burst damage. He'd never imagined her defenses would be this terrifying! This was going to be far more trouble than he'd anticipated!
"[Meteor Descend]!"
Kalis's mind raced. Without a moment's hesitation, he stopped holding back and unleashed his ultimate, most powerful skill!
Meteor Descend's cooldown had long since expired. Seizing the window while the Meteor Shower and Star Wind still harried Dafiona, he began his lengthy incantation.
A colossal meteor began to gather silently in the sky, hidden by the moonlight, and the faint, searing roar of its friction against the air echoed overhead.
"Oh? You can actually inflict this much damage on me?" Dafiona frowned slightly as she felt the pain coursing through her body. Then her gaze sharpened abruptly, sensing the destructive energy building in the sky. Her expression darkened instantly. "Hmph, trying to cast a forbidden spell? That's suicide!"
She held nothing back now, swinging her staff like a windmill. Three single-target, high-damage killing moves hurtled toward Kalis without a single pause between them!
BOOM!
BANG!
SWOOSH!
Three deafening explosions rang out in quick succession. Three terrifying spells, each powerful enough to kill an ordinary Saint-rank warrior instantly, slammed into Kalis's Crystal Barricade!
-2.193,829!
-1,887,919!
-2,409,919!
Three scarlet damage numbers, each over a million, popped up in quick succession. Even though Kalis and Lia had braced themselves for the worst, the sheer terror of the damage still drained the color from their faces.
By some miracle, the Crystal Barricade held firm. Despite taking such a brutal beating, it didn't shatter completely, though its shield HP plummeted drastically, leaving less than a third intact.
"Hmph? Still alive after that?" Dafiona's eyes widened in genuine disbelief.
She was utterly confident in her own strength. No one below the Saint rank should've been able to withstand her consecutive onslaughts without being torn to shreds.
Yet this seemingly weak adventurer had not only survived—his elemental shield hadn't even been breached!
"This is impossible!" Dafiona's anger flared, and she raised her staff high once more, screaming out her incantation. "Then try this! [Lunar Cataclysm]!"
Hum——!
A colossal virtual full moon materialized out of thin air, hovering directly above Boulder Town. A cascade of frigid moonlight poured down, blanketing a radius of a hundred meters!
This was an indiscriminate area-of-effect attack!
"Aaaah——!"
Lia was caught off guard, hit directly by the moonlight. A terrifying damage number -800,000! floated above her head. She didn't even have time to scream again before her body crumpled to the ground, dissolving into a beam of white light as she was teleported back to the city to respawn.
On Kalis's Crystal Barricade, a massive damage number of 900,000 flashed into existence, ticking down relentlessly every single second for a full five seconds!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the earthen-yellow shield. Finally, with a resounding crack, it shattered completely into countless pieces!