Chapter 48: Fury Unleashed.
"Boss monster…!"
The words slipped out of Roxy's mouth before she even realized she had spoken them. She did not fully understand what the term meant, but the instinctive fear curling in her stomach told her everything she needed to know. Her hands tightened around her staff as she followed Zodac's gaze, pointing instinctively in the same direction.
The night felt different all of a sudden.
The wind, which had been howling moments earlier from the remnants of her storm spell, slowed to an unnatural crawl. The forest ahead seemed to hold its breath. Even the distant insects and nocturnal creatures fell silent, as though something far more terrifying had stepped into their territory.
Zodac exhaled heavily beside her.
It wasn't a normal breath. It was ragged, uneven, the sound of someone forcing air into battered lungs. Roxy turned sharply toward him, finally noticing the way his shoulders sagged and how his stance, once so unshakable, wavered slightly.
"You're hurt?" she asked, alarm creeping into her voice.
"No—" he replied quickly, still staring forward, his eyes never leaving the darkness ahead. "No, nothing serious. Just a scratch."
Roxy frowned. She could see it now—the subtle tremor in his legs, the faint clench of his jaw as if he were biting back pain. Zodac was lying, and not very well.
She raised her free hand without waiting for permission. A soft green glow blossomed from her palm, warm and gentle, flowing toward him like drifting fireflies.
"Heal," she whispered.
The light wrapped around Zodac's body, seeping into his wounds. The bruises along his arms dulled, the sharp sting in his ribs eased, and the pounding ache in his head softened. He let out a quiet breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"Thank you," he said at last.
What he didn't say—what Roxy couldn't know—was that he had been deliberately holding back his own mana. Every instinct told him this fight wasn't over. Whatever was coming… it would demand everything he had left.
"No prob—"
Her words died in her throat.
Something moved.
Not fast. Not sudden.
Slow.
Deliberate.
From the depths of the forest where moonlight could not reach, shadows began to shift. Trees groaned softly, their branches bending as something massive brushed past them. The ground vibrated—not with a stomp, but with a steady, confident weight.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Roxy's breath caught.
The darkness itself seemed to peel back as the figure emerged, inch by inch, until pale moonlight spilled across its form.
It was enormous.
Three times the size of the monsters they had fought so far, its body was a mass of corded muscle and dense, blackened flesh that seemed to swallow light rather than reflect it. Its skin looked like hardened obsidian, scarred and ridged, as if it had survived countless battles. Each breath it took caused its massive chest to expand like a bellows.
Its head was worse.
A reptilian skull, elongated and jagged, crowned with thick horns that curved forward before bending back like cruel crowns. Rows of monstrous teeth jutted from its jaws, some broken, some newly grown, all stained dark with old blood. Its eyes glowed an unnatural green, burning with intelligence—cold, calculating intelligence.
This was no mindless beast.
On either side of it stood two familiar shapes—normal-sized monsters, smaller by comparison but still terrifying, positioned like loyal bodyguards. They growled low, ready to spring at a single command.
For the first time since the battle began, Zodac hesitated.
Fear crept into his chest—not the paralyzing kind, but the sharp, dangerous awareness that told him he might actually die here.
"Your friends…" he said quietly, never looking away from the monster. "We could really use the backup."
Roxy swallowed hard. Her legs trembled beneath her robes.
"I can't," she said, her voice shaking despite her effort to sound firm.
Zodac finally glanced at her, disbelief flickering across his face. "What do you mean you can't? Why?"
"If I leave… it won't let us go," she said quickly. "And even if I did manage to escape—what about you? You can't survive this alone."
Her words hung heavy in the air.
Zodac knew she was right.
If they retreated, the creature would follow them straight into the village. Houses would fall. People would die. And if he stayed behind alone to stop it, the outcome was uncertain at best.
"What do we do?" Roxy asked, fear bleeding through her composure.
Zodac inhaled slowly, forcing his mind to steady. "First thing—take out the minions."
Roxy nodded, gripping her staff tighter. "Okay."
"At once," he said.
She met his eyes, seeing the resolve there, and for a moment her fear softened. He gave her a brief, reassuring smile—one that said *trust me*—before launching himself forward.
"Blitz Drain!"
A dim red glow wrapped around Zodac's body as he surged toward the monster, mana flaring violently. He didn't wait.
"Kogestu—Crescent Slash!"
He swung his blade twice in rapid succession, sending two razor-sharp waves of compressed energy screaming through the air toward the beast.
The boss monster roared.
*RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!*
The sound alone was devastating. The shockwave rippled outward, shaking the ground, rattling trees, and vibrating through Roxy's bones. The roar echoed endlessly through the forest, as if the land itself were screaming.
In a blur of motion that defied its size, the monster leapt into the air. The crescent slashes tore harmlessly beneath it, slicing through trees and stone instead.
At the same time, the two smaller monsters sprang forward, rushing Zodac from opposite sides.
"Roxy!" he shouted.
She slammed the base of her staff into the ground. "Earth Spike!"
The soil beneath her feet rumbled violently. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground, racing toward the charging monsters. As they reached Zodac's position, jagged pillars of stone erupted upward with brutal force.
The monsters had no time to stop.
They were impaled instantly—blood spraying as their bodies were lifted and torn apart by the spikes.
"Nice one!" Zodac yelled.
"Thank you!" she called back, relief flooding her chest.
"Now we can—"
**BOOM**
The world exploded.
The boss monster landed.
The impact was catastrophic. The ground buckled beneath its feet, a violent shockwave blasting outward in all directions. Trees snapped. Dirt and debris flew into the air. Both Zodac and Roxy staggered, barely managing to stay upright.
The monster straightened slowly, cracks of energy rippling beneath its skin, as if the impact had only energized it.
The war shield materialized around Zodac's arm with a flash of light.
"Two against one," he muttered grimly, "and the odds are still against us."
Without warning, the monster vanished.
No—*moved*.
It crossed the distance in an instant.
Zodac barely had time to react before a massive fist filled his vision. He raised the war shield just in time.
*BOOM!*
The impact was unbearable.
The force shattered the air itself, sending Zodac flying backward like a ragdoll. He smashed through a tree, splintering it apart, and crashed hard into the ground.
"Argh!" he groaned, pain ripping through his body.
Roxy watched in horror.
The speed. The power. Her mind replayed the moment over and over, struggling to comprehend how something that large could move so fast.
The monster advanced, each step deliberate, crushing the ground beneath its feet.
Roxy snapped out of her shock and raised her staff. "High Volt!"
Blue lightning surged forth, striking the monster squarely.
Nothing.
It didn't even slow.
The creature ignored her completely, its glowing eyes locked on Zodac as if she were nothing more than an insect.
Panic flared in her chest.
She fired again. And again.
Still nothing.
Desperate, she screamed and unleashed everything she had, finally forcing the monster to turn its head toward her.
Zodac looked up, blood running from his mouth.
"No," he whispered.
The monster shifted its focus.
Toward Roxy.