Dust spiralled through the ruined street as the abomination took a single step forward, pavement cracking beneath its enormous weight. Limbs—some scaly, some armoured, others flesh-like and festering—twitched and reformed with every pulse of its grotesque body.
A clawed arm burst from its left shoulder, only to wither and sink back into its shifting torso moments later.
Hyun-woo gritted his teeth. "This thing… it's made from everything."
Every monster they had seen until now—goblins, hounds, trolls, worse—it looked like parts of all of them had been jammed into this thing's body and left to rot and reanimate. The result was a towering, twitching monstrosity that radiated violence and decay.
Jin-soo spat to the side, eyes wide and trembling. "You sure this isn't a raid boss from a nightmare?"
There was no time for jokes. The boss lunged.
Hyun-woo's instincts screamed—he barely leapt back as the creature's claw tore a car in half like wet paper. The shockwave alone knocked Jin-soo off his feet and sent debris flying in every direction.
Hyun-woo dashed to the side, circling wide. Watch.Adapt. Move. Strike when it opens. But every time the monster attacked, it changed. Its limbs reformed, skin morphed, joints bent in directions that made predicting its next move impossible.
Still, he had one advantage: his new skill.
Critical Strike.
He just needed one clean hit. One exposed weakness.
"Jin-soo!" he shouted. "Keep it distracted. Hit and move!"
"On it!"
Jin-soo flanked the creature, slashing at its calf. His blade barely pierced the skin—and in response, a barbed tail shot out from the creature's back, nearly impaling him. He rolled to the side with a gasp, panting hard.
Hyun-woo waited, watching the boss twist and contort. Its back was exposed, flesh stretched tight like cracked leather. Now.
He surged forward, blade glowing faintly with the energy of Critical Strike. He aimed for the exposed spine, the one part that seemed less mutated.
His sword drove deep into the boss's back—a perfect hit.
The monster shrieked, a bone-splitting roar that made his vision blur. It staggered forward, stunned briefly.
Hyun-woo backed off immediately. "It worked!"
But the victory was short-lived.
The boss thrashed violently. Its body warped again—the spine split open, spilling out a writhing tendril that lashed across the ground. Hyun-woo blocked with his sword, but the impact still knocked him off his feet.
Blood trickled down his face. He wiped it off, cursing under his breath.
"We're not doing enough damage," Jin-soo growled, his stance shaky, every breath laboured. "It just keeps changing."
"We don't need to break it," Hyun-woo replied, voice low but steady. "We need to outlast it. Exploit its shift timings. Hit hard right after it changes forms."
The next few minutes blurred into a savage blur of violence and narrow dodges. They were dancing on a knife's edge. Hyun-woo landed two more Critical Strikes, but each success was followed by brutal retaliation. Jin-soo's clothes were torn, his breathing shallow. Hyun-woo's arms trembled from fatigue.
Still, they held their ground.
Then, the creature paused.
Its entire body convulsed as it restructured again—new limbs tearing free from old wounds, eyes blinking open across its torso in grotesque clusters.
"Here it comes again," Hyun-woo muttered, bracing for impact.
With a sudden, inhuman scream, it charged. This time it was faster—almost too fast. Hyun-woo barely dodged as it blitzed toward him, its entire body a blur of twitching limbs and jagged bone.
A claw grazed his ribs. Pain flared white-hot. He crashed into a wall, coughing hard, the taste of blood thick in his mouth.
Jin-soo rushed in, trying to pull the boss's attention. "Hey! You ugly freak! Come get me!"
The boss turned—then stopped. For a moment, it froze, head twitching unnaturally.
And then it roared.
Not in pain, not in rage.
In anticipation.
Like it knew the end was near.
Hyun-woo forced himself to his feet, limbs aching, blood dripping down his side. His sword felt heavier now. Slower. But his eyes didn't waver.
He could feel the weight of every breath, every heartbeat, every second slipping through the chaos. This was no longer just about skill or strength. It was about willpower. About who could push further when their body screamed to stop.
"Jin-soo," he said quietly. "Get ready."
"For what?"
Hyun-woo raised his blade, facing the monster head-on.
"This fight's about to end."