Just as they were about to execute their suicide plan, Lizbeth sent them a message, ordering them to stop immediately and instead stall the flesh monstrosity. This meant Sean’s distraction plan would still be in motion.

  “Why did she tell us to stop? Will the storyline advance somehow—just like with the sudden reinforcement from mechanical golems and arachnids?” Sean murmured. Whatever the reason, he knew he had to play his part.

  He turned to face the grotesque abomination looming over the battlefield with determination. “Alright, big guy, let’s see how you can handle this.”

  With a sharp motion, Sean cast {Shadow Arise}. Five shadow puppets materialized around him, their spectral forms armed with shadow-forged weapons and armor. They moved with an eerie fluidity, circling him protectively.

  “Spread out and harass it! Keep its attention on me!” Sean commanded.

  The shadow puppets darted forward, flickering as they struck the monstrosity from multiple angles. Although their attacks were insignificant, barely scratching the surface, they did their job of distracting it. One puppet leaped onto the creature’s grotesque torso, slicing at the pulsating flesh, while another darted between its thrashing tendrils, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

  “SKREEEEAAARRGGHHH!” The flesh monstrosity let out a deafening wail, sending chills down Sean’s spine. Its tendrils flailed wildly, smashing the ground in an attempt to swat away the elusive shadows. Each strike sent shockwaves through the air, yet the puppets persisted, reforming when shattered and continuing their relentless assault.

  In a way, Sean’s power was the perfect counter to this monstrosity.

  “Come on, you ugly freak! Is that all you’ve got?!” Sean taunted, hurling a {Flame Dart} at one of its bulging limbs. The blast scorched the grotesque flesh, leaving a sizzling mark and fully drawing the monstrosity’s attention onto him.

  “Oh, poop.” He immediately regretted his action as a massive tendril lashed toward him. Thankfully, he managed to narrowly dodge the strike by leaping aside, though the shockwave blasted him several meters away and left him sprawled on the ground.

  “Kuro! You’re one hell of a baiter!” Satellite called from behind cover, his voice filled with awe and disbelief

  The other players gaped in awe as though he were the main character in a story. For a moment, the battlefield seemed to revolve entirely around him.

  “Argh…” Sean groaned as he forced himself to his feet, shooting a glare toward Satellite and the others. Damn it, you fools! “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and cast your spells at its weak spot!”

  Auralise was the first to react, snapping her fingers as brilliant arcs of light swirled around her. “Alright, you heard the man! Let’s take this thing down! {Luminous Barrage}!” She thrust her hands forward, sending a volley of radiant orbs streaking toward the monstrosity.

  “Let’s go, team!” Satellite shouted, stepping out from cover and raising his staff. “{Thundering Wrath}!” A bolt of crackling electricity shot forth, striking one of the monstrosity’s flailing tendrils and causing it to recoil with a hiss.

  “Time to show off some fireworks!” another player declared, spinning his dual wands. “{Frostlance Volley}!” Sharp, icy projectiles erupted from his wands, piercing the creature’s grotesque form and freezing chunks of its flesh in place.

  “Eat this, you ugly sack of meat—{Flaming Spiral}!” shouted another, launching a twisting column of fire that collided with the monstrosity’s torso, leaving a charred, smoldering wound in its wake.

  “Make way for the big guns!” bellowed a player, channeling his mana into his magic gauntlets. “{Seismic Strike}!” He slammed his fists into the ground, sending shockwaves rippling toward the monstrosity. The impact caused its massive frame to stagger briefly.

  “—{LASER}!”

  “—{Harder Daddy}!”

  “…”

  Every player cast their offensive, self-generated spells—spells that they (and their computers) had put their sweat and blood into through countless hours of effort and experimentation. Each spell was unleashed with the aid of magic weapons they had painstakingly acquired from the in-game auction, some at exorbitant costs. The results were no less shocking.

  Even Butterfly, who was grievously injured, managed to stagger to her feet and unleash a spell. Her body was clad in flame as she rushed head-on to punch the monstrosity’s body, causing it to stagger momentarily. An explosion erupted at the area of impact, leaving a charred wound on its pulsating flesh.

  “SKREEEEEEEEEAAAAARGHHHH!!” The flesh monstrosity let out another ear-splitting wail; its tendrils flailed even more wildly. But the relentless barrage of spells forced it to reel and stagger under the combined assault, twitching in agony.

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  For a brief moment, it seemed as though the players’ unyielding determination might turn the tide. Punctured wounds accumulated as each spell landed on its body, swaying its towering frame as though on the verge of collapse.

  But alas, the gap in power could not be bridged so easily. While their collective assault inflicted several visible injuries, the damage dealt was ultimately insignificant. Despite these spells’ grand names, they were all Aleph tier, and none of the players here had advanced beyond second-stage Initiate Attunement. Their destructive capabilities, while impressive, were insufficient to deal a decisive blow.

  This proved true in less than a minute. The monstrosity began to recover, its wounds knitting back together with terrifying speed as it absorbed the remains scattered across the battlefield. Worse still, the punctured wounds didn’t just heal—they hardened and twisted into sharp, jagged mounds of flesh that targeted the players.

  Like a bolt from the blue, the sharpened flesh mounds launched outward toward the spellcasters. The projectiles moved with bullet-like speed—far too fast for anyone to react.

  “Gahhh!”

  “Uaarghh!”

  “Argh, no!”

  “Aaaaahh!”

  Agonized screams erupted as the projectiles struck their marks. Players fell like ragdolls, their bodies punctured mercilessly. Those hit directly in the chest were killed instantly, their faces frozen in shock and disbelief.

  It was like an apocalyptic nightmare!

  Sean, by sheer luck and quick reflexes, managed to throw himself aside, narrowly avoiding the same grisly fate. Unfortunately, he sacrificed his legs in the process, losing his ability to walk. Gasping for breath, he glanced at the carnage, his heart racing.

  The remaining players groaned in pain and despair, paralyzed by fear. The sheer brutality of the previous attack had crushed their spirits entirely. Despair hung thick in their heart, suffocating any hope of victory. It was just too much!

  Just as their morale seemed to hit rock bottom, a fiery vortex erupted against the monstrosity’s grotesque form, forcing it to stagger back in pain. The flames left a scorched wound across its pulsating flesh, temporarily halting its regeneration.

  The players turned toward the source of the attack, eyes widening in disbelief. Flying above the battlefield, clad in a new, ornately detailed Magus robe, was the headmaster himself.

  “Esteemed Headmaster!”

  “Sir Astralium!”

  “Hooray! We’re saved!”

  The cries of relief rippled through the surviving players as hope rekindled in their hearts. Sean himself couldn’t help feeling a spark of hope igniting within him.

  The flesh monstrosity, as if sensing the arrival of a far greater threat, let out another ear-piercing wail. Its tendrils flailed wildly as it turned toward the headmaster.

  In response, the headmaster casually adjusted his robe as his sharp gaze locked onto the monstrosity. “You’ve had your fun,” he said, raising his hand as a spatial crack shimmered into existence in his palm, radiating an ominous glow. With a slow, deliberate motion, he clenched his fist, sealing the crack with an air of finality.

  “Now, it’s my turn.”

  ***

  “So, this is the monster that’s been hiding in the forest…” Victor muttered, narrowing his eyes. He recalled Valeria describing the abomination as “the filth of the Outer God.” If her claim held any truth, then this was no ordinary foe—this monstrosity had to be eliminated as fast as possible.

  He scanned the battlefield below him with an annoyed glare. It was littered with debris and fallen players. Just how many had died in this war? Three hundred? Four hundred? Maybe more…

  If he were still a third-stage Initiate Attunement, as when he faced the queen spider, his fate might not have been much different from the players below. Thinking of that battle, Victor noted that Silken and her children, along with the mechanical golems, had retreated—undoubtedly under Lizbeth’s orders. They had suffered enough losses; there was no need for further sacrifices.

  After taking a hit from Victor’s spell, the flesh monstrosity began to regenerate, knitting itself back together with disturbing ease. In retaliation, it lashed out, snapping its massive tendrils toward him with animalistic rage.

  “What impressive resilience.” Victor summoned his Voidborn Orb. A faint, purple glow radiated from it, amplifying the Cosmo elemental particles around him. “Let’s see how well you handle this.”

  With a flick of his wrist, he activated {Gap Hole}, summoning spatial rifts around the monstrosity. The tendrils whipped toward him, but each one disappeared into a rift, only to reemerge and strike another part of the monstrosity’s grotesque form. The creature howled in frustration as its attacks turned against itself.

  “SKREEEEAAAAARGHHH!”

  The monstrosity retaliated once more, twisting its mass to generate sharp, flesh-like projectiles. Reacting instantly, Victor cast {Ethereal State}, phasing out of the material plane as the projectiles passed harmlessly through his body. Simultaneously, he blinked to another position with {Blink}, reappearing above the creature.

  “I’ll end it with this!” Victor declared. Channeling Cosmo elemental energy through his sigil, he cast {Warpblade}, raising his hand high as an enormous ethereal blade materialized in his grasp. The shimmering blade towered even above the flesh monstrosity, pulsating with raw spatial power. With calculated precision, Victor swung the colossal blade downward.

  The monstrosity reeled as the ethereal blade cleaved through its grotesque body, splitting it cleanly into two. Thick, black ooze spewed from the bisected halves, bubbling and writhing as the creature desperately tried to fuse itself back together.

  Not allowing it time to regenerate, Victor swung the ethereal blade again and again with ferocity, carving the abomination into chunks. Each strike sent pieces of the monstrosity flying across the battlefield, its regeneration increasingly hindered with every blow.

  By the time he stopped, the monstrosity had been reduced to dozens of misshapen, twitching pieces. Yet Victor wasn’t finished.

  Activating another of his sigils, Victor channeled his infused mana into his left palm. “{Blazing Burst}!” he chanted. A massive, scorching cyclone, five times the size of his previous attack, erupted from his palm and barreled toward the scattered chunks of the flesh monstrosity. The blazing vortex roared with the intensity of a small sun, engulfing the pieces of the abomination in an inferno.

  “Die!” Victor shouted as the cyclone burned through the monstrosity’s remains. The black ooze sizzled and evaporated into foul-smelling smoke, leaving nothing but charred fragments behind.

  For a moment, there was silence. Even the players, who were typically quick to make comments or jokes, were struck speechless. All eyes were fixed on Victor, who hovered above the smoldering remains, basking in the aftermath of what seemed to be his victory.

  But then, from within the dissipating smoke—