The battle erupted into chaos immediately.
The Guardian was fast—terrifyingly fast for its size. Its four arms lashed out, forcing IronVanguard to block desperately. Each hit that landed on his shield sent visible shockwaves through the air.
-67 HP!
-71 HP!
-58 HP!
"Healing!" Miko's staff glowed brightly as she poured healing into the tank.
RaidKing activated Berserker Rage and went all-in, his greatsword striking with massive damage numbers.
-285 HP!
-302 HP!
[Guardian: 7,413/8,000 HP]
Velara darted in and out of shadows, her daggers finding gaps in the Guardian's wooden armor. Max coordinated with her, attacking from the opposite side to split the boss's attention.
The Guardian's HP slowly decreased: 7,000... 6,500... 6,000...
Then it hit the phase transition.
[PHASE 2 ACTIVATED]
[Guardian of the Corrupted Grove enrages!]
The boss's single eye blazed brighter, and suddenly the ground cracked. Corrupted roots shot up from below, attempting to grab and immobilize the party members.
"Dodge!" Velara screamed, flashing away from a grasping root.
Max rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being caught. RaidKing wasn't as lucky—a root wrapped around his leg.
[ROOTED: Cannot move for 5 seconds]
[Corruption damage: -15 HP/second]
"I'm stuck!" RaidKing shouted.
The Guardian immediately focused on the immobilized target, all four arms raising for a devastating combined strike.
"SHIELD WALL!" IronVanguard activated a defensive skill, projecting a barrier of light between RaidKing and the boss. The Guardian's attack slammed into it.
[Shield Wall absorbed 500 damage]
[Shield Wall shattered!]
The barrier broke, but it bought enough time. The root released RaidKing, and he rolled away just as the Guardian's follow-up attack cratered the ground where he had been.
"Focus! Burn it down!" IronVanguard commanded, struggling to maintain aggro as the boss became more erratic.
The battle intensified. The Guardian's attack patterns became less predictable, and more roots kept erupting from the ground. The corruption damage was stacking on everyone—Max's corruption stat had jumped to 18/100, and he could see the debuff affecting the party.
[High Corruption: -5% to all stats]
They pushed through, their combined damage slowly whittling down the Guardian's health.
5,000 HP... 4,000 HP... 3,000 HP...
[PHASE 3 ACTIVATED]
[WARNING: GUARDIAN ULTIMATE ABILITY CHARGING]
The boss suddenly stopped moving. Its eye glowed with blinding intensity, and energy began to gather around it—dark purple lightning that arced between the twisted trees.
[CORRUPTION STORM INCOMING]
[TIME UNTIL CAST: 10 seconds]
"That's the wipe mechanic!" HealerMiko shouted. "The forums said if this cast completes, it does massive AOE damage and gives everyone Corruption +50!"
"We need to interrupt it!" IronVanguard tried to charge forward, but roots erupted specifically to block him.
Velara attempted to reach the boss but was forced back by lightning strikes.
RaidKing was too far away, his movement speed still reduced from earlier root damage.
The cast timer ticked down: 8 seconds... 7 seconds...
Max looked at the Guardian, calculating distance. He was closer than the others, but not close enough. The roots would catch him before he reached the boss.
6 seconds... 5 seconds...
Unless...
Max made a split-second decision. He activated Summon Contract.
[Summon Contract: Shadow Echo]
[-20 MP]
The shadow peeled from the ground beside him, rising into its familiar humanoid form.
Interrupt. Now.
The Shadow Echo shot forward like a bullet, its form streaking through the air. It phased through the grasping roots, immune to physical obstruction, and slammed into the Guardian with its spectral claws.
-67 HP!
[CORRUPTION STORM INTERRUPTED!]
The gathered energy dissipated, and the Guardian staggered, its ultimate ability canceled.
"YES!" Max shouted, adrenaline surging through him.
"Nice interrupt!" Velara called out. "What skill was that?"
Max froze.
"What?" he asked.
"That interrupt! I didn't know hybrid builds had ranged stuns. What ability was it?"
Max's blood ran cold. He looked at the Shadow Echo, which was now engaged in close combat with the Guardian, its claws raking across the boss's wooden armor.
Velara couldn't see it.
"The... the interrupt?" Max stammered.
"Yeah, something hit the boss and stopped the cast. Was it a throwing knife or a spell?" Velara was still fighting, not looking directly at Max, focused on the boss.
Max glanced at the others. RaidKing was back in melee range, his greatsword cleaving into the Guardian. IronVanguard was desperately maintaining aggro. HealerMiko was spam-healing everyone.
None of them were reacting to the Shadow Echo.
None of them could see it.
The entity was right there, fighting alongside them, dealing damage with every strike—but to everyone else, it was invisible. They saw the damage numbers, saw the boss's health dropping, but they couldn't perceive the source.
Max's mind raced. He had assumed summoned entities would be visible to other players, like Summoner class pets. But the Shadow Echo was different. It existed in a state that only he, bound to it through Soul Contract, could perceive.
It was his alone.
"I... threw a dagger," Max lied quickly. "Hidden weapon skill."
"Nice! Didn't know you had ranged options!" Velara seemed satisfied with the explanation.
The Guardian was down to 1,500 HP, its movements becoming more desperate. The Shadow Echo continued its assault, and Max could see its damage numbers appearing for him alone:
-42 HP!
-38 HP!
[Shadow Echo healed for 4 HP via Drain Touch]
To the party, it probably looked like the boss was taking damage from nowhere—or maybe they thanked it to environmental effects or some mechanic they didn't understand yet.