The doors boomed shut behind him and sealed like a vault.
The chamber was wide and clean. A sun disk was carved into the center of the floor—rings within rings—its grooves filled with dull gold.
Four thick pillars marked the corners of the disk, each tall enough to touch the broken clerestory. Sand had blown in and settled in shallow fans along the walls. Iron sconces ringed the room but held no flame; the light came down in pale shafts from the cracked roof, dust hanging in the beams. There were no side doors. No alcoves. Just the circle, the pillars, and the figure standing on the inner ring.
It faced him already.
[Faithwarden of the High Sun — Epic — Lv. 8 (Boss)]
The monster stood tall, obsidian plates shaped like muscle covering its body. White mantle draped the shoulders, pinned with starbursts. A jackal-crowned helm held narrow ember slits for eyes. The long staff rested upright—dark shaft, gold rings, a halo head with an amber core that pulsed like a steady heart.
Loki breathed once, then slipped off the line of the doorway.
[Vanish]
[Movement Speed increased by 10%]
He stayed low and angled between the nearest two pillars, closing smooth on silent feet.
'It looks like a mage or priest type. I can get a few hits in before it reacts,' Loki judged.
As Loki was closing in, the monster's staff tapped the floor, and a clean bell rolled across the room.
[Revelation Tap]
[Stealth Canceled]
[Rooted: 2.0 s]
[Revealed: 5.0 s]
Weight hit his legs like a hand, and he couldn't move anymore.
"Shit, stealth cancel and root," Loki said, frowning.
The Faithwarden lifted the staff and aimed. Amber gathered at the ringed head, bright and hard.
[Solar Lance — Charging]
He watched the glow swell and counted in his head. one… two—
The root fell. He threw himself sideways, body moving before the thought finished. Then the beam tore past where his chest had been and carved a straight line through the pillar stone behind him.
[You have taken 120 damage.]
The edge clipped his foot. He staggered, rolled, and came up behind cover.
"If I had even one less point in Agility, I'd be dead."
He steadied his breath, kept low, and peeked. The Faithwarden hadn't moved. It stood in place, staff upright again, ember core steady.
The halo hissed. Amber bled out and gathered above the helm in a burning crown.
[Crown of Noon — Channeling]
Small suns peeled off and started spitting bolts in a slow sweep.
Loki ran hard sideways, hugging the outer ring, kept the pillar between him and the crown, and let the bolts chew stone where he'd been. He cut across to the next pillar and stayed there until the motes died off.
"I'll cancel that with my stun next time. And I need to figure out the tap's cooldown. I still need to be careful..."
Loki's mind ran ahead, laying out routes and counters, sketching how to answer skills he hadn't seen yet.
[Vanish]
[Movement Speed +10%]
He eased out from cover.
The staff tapped once.
[Revelation Tap]
[Stealth Canceled]
[Rooted: 2.0 s]
[Revealed: 5.0 s]
"Fuck, it's low cooldown!"
Amber swelled at the ring head again.
[Solar Lance — Charging]
The root dropped. He broke the line earlier this time, cutting the angle instead of diving flat. He slid behind a pillar and counted in his head, steady breaths. twenty… twenty-five… thirty.
"About thirty to thirty-five seconds. That gives me a small Vanish window."
The crown reformed—same telegraph.
[Crown of Noon — Channeling]
He waited one heartbeat, then closed the distance.
[Riftstep Cut]
He drew a straight lane across the circle, entering just as the motes began to fire.
[Umbral Pulse]
The stun hit clean.
[Stun: 1.0 s]
[Oxheart] lit his limbs, and he unleashed a flurry of attacks.
[STR and CON Doubled — 3.0 s]
He unloaded quick slashes. One, two, three—clean entries.
[Weakspot Triggered]
[Backstab Triggered]
The stun dropped. The boss planted the staff, both hands braced.
[Aegis of Sunshine — 1200 Shield HP]
A dome shield formed around the warden.
[Applying Slow 50% for 3.0 s]
Drag hit Loki's legs inside the dome, but he kept cutting.
[Weakspot Triggered]
[Critical Hit!]
Cracks spidered through the barrier; it broke right as Oxheart fell off. The warden staggered and swept the staff through his space. Loki leaned back, hands to stone in a quick back handspring, then ran sideways.
The channel started again—crown hum rising.
[Crown of Noon — Channeling]
Riftstep was up, but Umbral had 2 seconds left. So all he could do was move.
[You have taken 40 damage.]
'Now!', he said as a mote clipped him.
[Riftstep Cut]
Loki snapped behind the boss.
[Umbral pulse]
[Stun: 1.0 s]
And started slashing again.
"Yeah. I've got this," he said, calm.
When the staff tapped, he ate the root, read the Lance, and blinked away.
When the crown spun up, he'd close in and use [Umbral Pulse] to cancel it.
If the barrier went up, he crossed early, accepted the slow, and broke it fast with clean work. He kept [Poisoned Dagger] to harass between windows—more for pressure than damage.
A blind flash burst off the staff once.
[Solar Flare]
Loki turned his face, let the white wash his mask, and slid by sound until it faded.
A stray crown bolt clipped him when he mistimed a cross.
[You have taken 38 damage.]
'It's ok, it's just a blind, ' he said and adjusted timings.
Each time the staff tapped, he marked the clock. About 30 seconds, steady. That gave him safe stealth windows in between.
The bar dropped through half, then forty, then—
Armor brightened. Hairline amber cracks lit under the plates. Heat bled out into the ring.
[Second Phase — 30% HP]
[Radiant Aura (Passive) — Burning 6 dmg/s, 8 m aura ]
A hot halo came on around the boss. The next blind hit harder; the crown motes moved a little quicker.
When Loki moved in to attack, [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6], the burn ticked his HP.
'No way to avoid damage now. can't drink potions either. I need to end this fast.' he said and locked in.
[Riftstep Cut] to cross the ring.
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
[Shadow Blink] to a side shadow.
[Umbral Pulse] to snuff the crown.
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
Stay inside the barrier and carve the body.
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
When the boss's HP dropped to 25%, [Assassination] became active.
[Vanish]
He slipped, counted two, then committed.
[Riftstep Cut]
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
Straight through the dome. The slow grabbed him; he pushed anyway.
[Umbral Pulse]
[Stun: 1.0 s]
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
The crown died mid-spark.
[Oxheart]
Power hit his arms for the last time. He aimed only at glow marks: Each entry was clean. The bar slid to red.
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
[Solar Flare]
White blew out point-blank. He took it and kept cutting. A mote caught his side as he turned the last angle.
[You have taken 42 damage.]
[Burn: -6] [Burn: -6] [Burn: -6]
The boss's HP hung by a thread, and so did his. He did not rush, kept calm and focused. One more clean entry would finish it.
He waited half a beat for the pulse to fade and took the line towards the helm.
[Weakspot Triggered]
The helm snapped, amber went dark, and the body broke to light in a slow fall.
Silence grabbed the room. His bar settled at a thin sliver.
[Acquired 2800 EXP]
[Acquired 6 Evolution Points]
[Aquired 1800 TLE]
[Acquired 2050 NTLE]
[You have reached Level 7]
He stood still, head tipped back, hands hanging loose, breath coming hard.
After a couple of seconds, he checked his health.
[Health: 6]
"Not… hah… even… close," he said, and fell back laughing.