The squad ascended the spiral staircase of the central clocktower, stepping out onto the mist-shrouded rooftop observatory.
"Maintain tight diamond formation along the perimeter railing!" the First Player ordered, scanning the rain-swept battlements with razor focus.
"Vasa, keep your frost ready on the rear approach!"
"My mana regenerated to seventy percent during the climb!" the frost mage shouted back through the howling wind.
"I will lock down any sudden flank spawns!"
"Nobody is taking us by surprise on this open deck!"
"Emilia, anchor the center of the rooftop with thorn seeds!"
"Seeds are buried beneath the gravel!" the plant user called out, gripping her focus staff tightly.
"I am ready to sprout a defensive briar wall at your signal!"
"We will create a secure fighting zone right here on the battlements!"
"Kendra, keep your chitin tower shield angled toward the central dome!"
"My shield stance is locked and grounded!" the defender answered, bracing her feet against the stone tiles.
"No surprise attack will knock me off balance!"
"Look at the center of the platform!" the dark-haired striker warned, pointing her glowing dagger toward the ancient stone dial.
"There is a massive figure sitting atop the central sundial!"
Through the swirling midnight fog, a towering humanoid shape rose slowly from the ancient runic carvings of the observation deck.
The figure stood eight feet tall, clad in jagged bone armor that radiated an ominous crimson aura of condensed blood mana.
In his right hand, he held a colossal bone greatsword that crackled with violent arcs of dark red lightning.
Two glowing eyes burned behind his spiked bone visor, locking onto the five humans with chilling intelligence.
[ Boss Alert: Rexar's Ward Avatar (Rank D-) | Health: 2,500/2,500 | Role: East Wing Gate Commander ]
"That energy signature is far denser than the Broodmother we just killed," the defensive fighter whispered, raising her chitin tower shield.
"My danger instincts are screaming at maximum volume right now!"
"This opponent possesses higher intelligence and refined combat technique," the striker observed, shifting her weight onto the balls of her feet.
"Look at the way he balances that colossal greatsword with a single hand."
"He is assessing our positioning just like an experienced gladiator," Vasa murmured, narrowing her eyes through the rain.
"His stance shows zero defensive openings across his upper chest."
"Notice how the crimson mist clings to his blade like living serpents," Emilia added, taking a firmer grip on her wooden staff.
"Every rune carved into that sword looks designed to drink blood."
"Let me inspect his true attributes before we engage," Nox said, activating his appraisal skill with a pulse of mana.
[ Appraise Skill Activated: Target 'Rexar's Ward Avatar' Analyzed ]
[ True Classification: Remote Blood Projection | Core Origin: Buried Central Dungeon Anchor ]
[ Warning: Slaying this avatar will open the East Wing refuge, but the true Dungeon Warden remains sealed in the campus core! ]
[ Active Abilities: Blood Siphon | Dread Cleave | Command Howl ]
"He is not the true dungeon master in the flesh," the First Player informed his party, tightening his grip on his spear.
"This is a remote blood avatar acting as the gatekeeper for the East Wing subzone."
"Destroying him will shatter the phase barrier and claim this entire refuge, but his true core is buried deep beneath the school grounds."
"So he is just a hollow puppet sent to guard the door?" the striker asked, a dangerous smirk touching her lips.
"A puppet with five times our physical mass," the youth noted, tracking the red lightning dancing along the monster's greatsword.
"Do not let his puppet status fool you for a single second."
"His strength attribute easily exceeds twenty-five points on the physical scale."
"Treat every single blow as lethal."
The towering warrior laughed, his deep voice resonating like grinding millstones across the stormy rooftop arena.
"Well observed, little insect," Rexar mocked, resting the flat of his bone greatsword across his armored shoulder.
"You have cleared my hound packs and butchered my broodmother with amusing efficiency."
"You speak fluent human language?" Vasa gasped, her eyes widening in sheer disbelief as she gathered frost mana.
"Every monster we fought before was just a mindless beast driven by animal instinct!"
"Mindless beasts are merely livestock bred for the lower tiers of the Great Convergence," the avatar sneered with cold contempt.
"Your entire pathetic planet has been converted into a global entertainment arena for off-world patrons."
"Thousands of cosmic entities are watching your world burn from the heavens right now."
"They place bets on which human sectors collapse first and which champions perish in agony."
"You are nothing more than sacrificial cattle trapped in a divine slaughterhouse!"
"Do you really think speech will shake our resolve after everything we killed tonight?" the striker challenged, twirling her frostblade.
"You are just another trespasser standing on our ground!"
"We didn't ask for your cosmic masters to invade our city!" Kendra shouted, banging her fist against her shield.
"And we certainly won't roll over and die for their entertainment!"
"Our lives are not fodder for your off-world masters," Vasa shouted, channeling frost spikes between her fingers.
"We will freeze this entire tower before we surrender an inch!"
"A very noisy trespasser who talks way too much," the youth agreed, raising his service pistol with a steady arm.
The sharp crack of a gunshot echoed across the rooftop, cutting through the howling wind and rain.
A 9mm lead bullet struck Rexar squarely in his right shoulder plate, chipping away a chunk of bone armor with a shower of sparks.
[ Combat Initiated: Rexar's Ward Avatar | 45 Physical Damage Dealt ]
[ Ammunition Remaining: 5/8 Loaded in Active Magazine | 16 Reserve Rounds ]
"Less talking, more dying," the First Player said coldly, lowering his smoking pistol with an indifferent smirk.
"You are worth five thousand experience points, and I have plenty of stat points waiting to be spent."
"Insolent mortal filth!" Rexar roared, his crimson aura exploding outward in a violent shockwave.
"I will drink every drop of blood from your broken corpse!"
"Blood Projection... awaken the hunting pack!"
The avatar slammed his bone greatsword into the runic platform, unleashing a tidal wave of boiling blood mana across the tiles.
Dozens of crimson blood hounds coalesced from the mist, snarling viciously as they charged the perimeter line.
"These summons carry zero experience value!" Nox called out, tracking their phantom energy signatures.
"They are pure mana projections designed to pin down our backline and isolate us!"
"Do not waste high-tier skills on phantom illusions!"
"Kendra, activate your shield reflection skill and hold the center platform!"
"Carapace Reflection... activate!" the defender shouted, slamming her chitin shield into the lead phantom hound.
A shockwave of reflected force detonated outward, blasting four blood hounds into mist with a thunderous boom.
"The frontline is secure on the central stairs!"
"Vasa, freeze the summon circle beneath the greatsword!"
"Glacial Wall... freeze them solid!" the frost user screamed, creating a barrier of ice between the phantom hounds and the squad.
"Emilia, root the flanks with your briars!"
"Briar Cage... trap the pack!" the plant user cried, thrusting her staff into the gravel.
Thorny vines surged around the remaining blood hounds, pinning their crimson bodies against the frozen battlements.
"We have the phantom pack locked down on the lower platform!" Kendra reported, bracing her feet against the deck.
"The avatar is leaping for the high ledge!"
"He is trying to cut you two off from the rest of the squad!" the frost mage shouted, launching a volley of ice lances.
Rexar deflected the ice lances with a casual flick of his wrist, leaping twenty feet through the air with terrifying speed.
"Command Howl... bow before the Warden!" the avatar bellowed, unleashing a psychic shockwave that rattled the air.
The sonic wave hammered into the lower platform, forcing Kendra, Vasa, and Emilia to drop to their knees under crushing mental pressure.
"The backline is stunned for three seconds!" the striker yelled, darting across the ledge to intercept the falling commander.
"We have to take him alone on this ledge!"
"Stay mobile and bait his heavy cleave into the masonry!" the First Player commanded, circling toward the avatar's blind flank.
"His greatsword has massive reach, but the recovery window after a downward slam is wide open!"
"I will take his front and draw his eye!" she called out, ducking beneath a sweeping backhand strike.
Rexar sneered with cold contempt, shifting his massive two-handed grip on the hilt of his bone greatsword.
"You think mere agility can overcome absolute rank suppression, little girl?"
"Die beneath the blade of the Houndmaster!"
The avatar lunged forward with blinding speed, his colossal bone greatsword descending in a devastating vertical arc aimed directly between the First Player's eyes.
"Shadow Stride... shift!"
The First Player dissolved into purple spatial particles a split second before the bone blade connected.
The greatsword struck the roof deck with earth-shattering power, cleaving the floor in half and sending slabs into the storm.
"Dodge and flank!" Yeda shouted, lunging forward with both blades drawn into a lethal scissor stance.
"Let's show this cosmic gatekeeper what human fighters can do!"
"Right behind you!" the First Player answered, stepping out of the shadows with his spear leveled for the kill.
"Your blood belongs to the Citadel now, monster!"
"We take your head and open the gates!" the striker yelled, driving her blades toward his exposed throat.
"Witness the strength of humanity's First Player!" Nox roared, channeling all his combat mana into his spear tip.
"This rooftop belongs to humanity from this night forward!"
"Shatter his guard and claim the subzone!" the squad shouted from the battlements below.