System: You have defeated Guardian Susan. 1,000,000 EXP gained.

  System: You have received Ectoplasmic Dust x20.

  System: Lucky Bonus triggered! You have received additional Ectoplasmic Dust x20.

  [Ectoplasmic Dust]: A crafting material. Can be refined and fused with weapons or applied directly as a temporary enchantment for your next 20 attacks.

  Kael’s eyes lit up. Ectoplasmic Dust was a high-tier enchanting material. Forty units were enough to craft or upgrade two, maybe even three pieces of gear. Aside from the dust, the boss had also dropped a large amount of essence. Unfortunately, there were no equipment drops.

  After a brief rest, the party turned back and headed down the other fork in the tunnel. Kael had expected to run into a new type of monster, figuring this was the Soul-Devourer’s territory.

  Instead, they continued to encounter the same human guardian spirits, their mournful forms lashing out as the group advanced. The sheer number of them was a grim testament to the Soul-Devourer’s cruelty. Susan’s ghost followed them silently, a mournful observer who took no part in the battles.

  The ten of them moved forward cautiously, exploring the new path. To keep their spirits up, Hazel started a conversation.

  “So, what do you guys think the Soul-Devourer looks like?”

  “Anything that eats souls has gotta be terrifying.”

  “Can’t picture its face, but I bet it’s huge.”

  “I agree,” someone else chimed in. “That massive roar we heard from the entrance had to be it.”

  Chatting as they went, the party cleared the remaining spirits. Unlike the path that led to Susan, this tunnel grew quieter and emptier the deeper they went.

  Suddenly, the narrow passage opened into a vast, cavernous space. They had arrived.

  This had to be the Soul-Devourer’s lair. The massive chamber was filled with countless chests, gleaming in the party’s light—the lost legacy of Beryl Creek. But there were no guardian spirits, and more importantly, no sign of the Soul-Devourer.

  “Hold up,” Kael called out, motioning for everyone to stop. He walked forward alone, the glow from his Heart of the Ocean pendant pushing back the darkness. Only then did the sheer scale of the cavern become clear. It was far larger and more open than Susan’s chamber.

  They walked for nearly a hundred yards, passing row after row of treasure chests, and still found nothing.

  Seeing no boss, Orion’s attention drifted to the loot. He crept over to a nearby chest, grabbed the latch, and pulled.

  CLINK.

  It didn’t budge.

  The sound made everyone turn to look at him. Orion gritted his teeth and pulled again.

  CLINK.

  Nothing.

  He let go with a frustrated grunt. “What a piece of junk,” he grumbled. “The System just keeps saying, 'Quest Item. Cannot be opened.' I’m not trying to break it, just wanna see what’s inside. It’s not like I even care about this stuff anyway.”

  The others couldn’t help but snicker at his failed attempt.

  Rena covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. “What if there’s a legendary item in there? You telling me you’d just leave it?”

  Orion puffed out his chest dramatically. “As the prophecy foretold, my heart is pure! Do I look like the kind of person motivated by greed?”

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  “Yes!” all the girls shouted in unison.

  Orion was left speechless. He was about to offer a rebuttal when Kael’s voice cut through the cavern.

  “Quiet. It’s here.”

  “What?”

  Everyone spun around, scanning the darkness, but they saw nothing.

  “Where?”

  “There,” Kael said, pointing. “On top of the chest.”

  They followed his finger and finally noticed something out of place. On a distant treasure chest sat a cat—a cute, fluffy tabby, calmly licking its front paw.

  “Haha! Is that it?” Orion burst out laughing. “You got spooked by a little kitty cat?”

  He started walking toward it, hands outstretched. “Here, kitty, kitty…”

  “Don’t go near it!” Kael yelled urgently.

  Orion waved a dismissive hand. “Afraid of wh–”

  He never finished the word. A black shadow blurred past him.

  Orion collapsed.

  In the distance, the tabby cat was back on the chest, licking its paw as if nothing had happened. But now, the very tip of its claw seemed to gleam with a fresh slick of red.

  “Hazel, shield up! Move in!” Kael commanded. “Everyone else, keep your distance!”

  “On it!” Hazel raised her shield and advanced.

  A moment ago, they had all shared Orion’s nonchalance, assuming the cat was just the Soul-Devourer’s pet. They hadn’t expected it to be so vicious.

  As the group drew closer, the creature’s information finally appeared above its head.

  [Soul-Devourer]: Level 30

  HP: 6,000,000

  Physical Attack: 7200

  Physical Defense: 1550

  .....

  This was the Soul-Devourer.

  Everyone had been wondering what kind of monster the people of Beryl Creek would have kept as a guardian. Now they knew. It was a cute cat. Anyone would have been fooled.

  Kael had already switched his attack settings to Manual Mode. He knew this type of boss would have insane evasion. Without gear that massively boosted accuracy, hitting it would be a nightmare. Its six million health and low defense were misleading; trying to defeat it with normal physical attacks would be next to impossible.

  Kael took aim and fired. His three clones fired in unison.

  Four arrows streaked toward the boss from four different angles.

  The tabby cat didn’t even seem to notice, still engrossed in its grooming. Just as the arrows were about to connect, it vanished. It was more of a flicker than a movement—one moment it was there, the next it was in the exact same spot, but all four arrows were now embedded in the wall behind it.

  “Whoa, that was a close one!” someone exclaimed.

  Kael’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t a close call. The creature had dodged with practiced ease. Its speed was terrifying.

  But the shot wasn't wasted. Though it had missed, it gave Kael a baseline for the creature’s reaction time.

  Hazel was slowly closing the distance. Just as she was about to use her taunt, the space in front of her blurred. The boss was gone. The Soul-Devourer was smart; it knew that the seemingly harmless tank posed the greatest threat. If Hazel landed her crowd control, it would become a sitting duck.

  But in the exact instant the cat dodged, four more arrows slammed into its side.

  -13286

  -6025 (Silkbind Shot)

  -20645

  -19834

  Kael had been waiting for that exact moment, predicting its escape path. The Silkbind Shot’s effect took hold, rooting the cat’s paws to the top of the chest. Trapped, it let out an infuriated hiss.

  In Manual Mode, Kael wouldn’t miss this opportunity. Arrows rained down in a relentless stream on the immobilized target.

  Seeing the boss pinned, the rest of the party swarmed in, surrounding it. Their goal wasn’t to add damage, but to layer on any control effects they could. The creature was too agile; if it broke free, there was no guarantee they could catch it again.

  Across the cavern, Orion, lying on the ground, crushed the last revival sigil he had. He staggered to his feet and slapped a few healing sigils on himself, his health bar slowly refilling.

  “Damn it,” he muttered, rubbing his chest. “That little monster hits hard.”

  Seeing that Kael had the boss locked down, he didn't bother rejoining the fray. Instead, he started wandering around the perimeter, checking to see if any of the other chests could be opened.

  Suddenly, a deafening roar ripped through the cavern.

  Orion spun back toward the fight. The tabby’s eyes were glowing crimson, its fangs were bared, and its fur stood on end.

  WHOOSH!

  In an instant, the cat ballooned in size, swelling monstrously until it towered twenty feet high.

  "ROOOOOWR!"

  The transformed Soul-Devourer now resembled some primeval beast. It opened its massive, blood-red jaws, ready to swallow the party whole. As everyone braced for the coming attack, it launched itself high into the air.

  “Scatter!” Kael yelled. “Everyone, back off!”

  A boss transformation always meant a signature move was coming.

  Yet, after reaching the apex of its jump, the Soul-Devourer didn't unleash a devastating attack. It simply dropped back to the ground where it had been standing. There was no skill, no damage—the only change was that its fur, once a mix of black and white, was now a solid, unnatural black.

  That’s it?

  Everyone was confused. A bigger target should just be easier to hit, right?

  But Orion, watching from a distance, saw the trick.

  “Look up!” he shouted.

  The party tilted their heads back. Floating silently in the air above the monstrous cat was another figure—a translucent, pale-blue entity, like a ghost.

  The boss had split into two.