The footsteps stopped.
A shadow detached itself from the gloom of the cave, tall and unnaturally still. The air around it warped, as if reality itself struggled to contain its presence.
Dex's breath hitched.
[OMNISIGHT SCAN FAILED]
[TARGET LEVEL: ???]
[TARGET STATS: ???]
Only a name flickered in his vision, searing itself into his mind like a brand:
[GUARDIAN OF THE VEIL]
The figure stood motionless, clad in obsidian armor that drank in the dim light of the cave. A long, curved katana rested in its grip, the blade so dark it seemed to cut into the world around it. An ominous aura pulsed from the Guardian, thick and suffocating, pressing against Dex's skin like a physical weight.
His fingers twitched.
The Data Dagger materialized in his hand, its unstable edge crackling with jagged blue energy. The air around it glitched, tiny fractures of light splitting the darkness—his only weapon against something that shouldn't exist.
This thing is way out of my league.
The Guardian's helm tilted slightly, as if studying him. Dex couldn't see its eyes, but he felt its gaze—cold, calculating, utterly devoid of mercy.
His pulse hammered in his throat.
He had fought high-level mobs before. He had faced down Ash Phantoms and Hellspawn Marauders and lived.
But this?
This was different.
This wasn't just an enemy.
This was an obstacle—something placed here to stop him.
The Origin Mask's voice slithered through his mind, almost amused.
"Run," it whispered.
Dex didn't move.
The Guardian raised its blade.
The katana moved faster than Dex could track.
One second, the Guardian stood before him.
The next, the weapon was already mid-swing, the edge singing through the air with a sound like a scream—not metal, not wind, but something alive.
Dex barely dodged.
He threw himself to the side, the blade missing him by inches. The force of the swing alone sent a shockwave through the cave, the ground trembling beneath him.
What the hell was that?!
The Guardian didn't pause.
It advanced, each step deliberate, its armor absorbing the light around it like a black hole.
Dex's grip tightened on the Data Dagger.
He had one chance.
He lunged, aiming for the gap between the Guardian's armor plates—
—and the katana intercepted mid-thrust, the impact sending a jolt up Dex's arm so violent he nearly lost his weapon.
The Guardian didn't even stagger.
It simply pushed, and Dex flew backward, skidding across the stone floor.
[HP: 178/215]
The Mask's voice came again, sharper this time.
"You can't win this fight."
Dex knew that.
But he also knew he couldn't run.
The Guardian raised its blade once more.
And Dex—
Dex smiled.
Because for the first time, he noticed something.
The Guardian's armor glitched too.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Just where his Data Dagger had struck.
The katana descended—a killing arc of darkness.
Dex's eyes flared blue.
[CYBER LORD GENE: ACTIVATED]
Time slowed.
His body moved before he could think, twisting away from the blade with inhuman speed. The Guardian's strike carved into the stone where he'd stood, splitting the ground like paper.
Dex didn't hesitate.
He kicked, his leg lashing out with a force that shouldn't have been possible. His boot connected with the Guardian's armored chest—
CRACK.
The impact shattered his own bones.
[HP: 5/215]
A scream tore from his throat as his leg snapped, the pain white-hot and immediate. But the Guardian staggered, its armor spiderwebbed with fractures, its health bar finally flickering into view for a split second:
[GUARDIAN OF THE VEIL – HP: █████ 65%]
It worked.
The Guardian reeled, its movements sluggish now. Dex didn't let up.
With a snarl, he hurled his Data Dagger straight for its visor—
The Guardian deflected it lazily, the blade clattering to the ground.
Dex threw his second dagger.
This time, the Guardian caught it.
And then—
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[UNAUTHORIZED USER DETECTED]
[CYBER LORD ARTIFACT: DATA DAGGER – HOSTILE HANDS]
[COUNTERMEASURE: SELF-DESTRUCT?]
Dex didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
The dagger exploded.
A shockwave of blue fire erupted from the Guardian's grip, its armor disintegrating like ash in the wind. The force hurled the creature backward, its body crashing into the cave wall with a sound like breaking glass.
When the smoke cleared, the Guardian lay motionless, its form flickering—half there, half not.
Dex collapsed to one knee, his vision swimming.
[HP: 5/215]
[LEFT LEG: FRACTURED]
[CYBER LORD ENERGY: DEPLETED]
The Origin Mask's voice slithered through his mind, almost impressed.
"Well. That was reckless."
Dex spat blood.
"Worked, didn't it?"
Then—
A sound.
The Guardian moved.
Its remaining armor fell away like dead skin, revealing something worse beneath.
Something alive.
"¡Pinche madre!" Dex snarled, forcing himself up on his good leg. Blood dripped from his shattered shin, his vision swimming with pain. Behind him, the Guardian rose—its true form a grotesque fusion of rotted flesh and writhing darkness, its once-pristine katana now cracked and flickering with unstable energy.
It staggered toward him, slower now—weakened, but not dead.
Dex spat, dragging himself backward.
"This is your fault," he hissed at the Origin Mask, his voice raw. "If your damn first skill wasn't locked behind some fucking romance sim bullshit, I'd be standing over that thing's corpse right now—not limping away like a goddamn coward!"
The Mask chuckled, the sound oily in his mind.
"Not my fault you don't have a powerful girlfriend to sleep with."
Dex's face burned—with anger, with something else. "You piece of—"
The Guardian lurched into view, its blade rising.
Dex didn't think.
He threw his last Data Dagger.
The blade slammed into the creature's chest, burying itself deep in the pulsing darkness where its heart should've been.
The Guardian froze.
Then—
It collapsed, its body hitting the ground with a final, hollow thud.
Dex barely had time to register the kill before the Mask piped up again.
"See? You didn't need my help after—"
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL 23 → LEVEL 31]
[REWARD: +40 HP | CYBER LORD SHOP UNLOCKED]
[TITLE EARNED: "GIANT SLAYER" (DEFEATED AN ENEMY 20+ LEVELS ABOVE YOU)]
Dex blinked.
…What?
He stared at the Guardian's corpse.
[GUARDIAN OF THE VEIL – DEFEATED]
[LEVEL: 50]
A level 50 boss.
And he'd just one-shot it with a fucking dagger.
The Mask went suspiciously quiet.
Dex exhaled, then burst into hysterical laughter.
"Guess I didn't need your stupid skill after all."