The arrow Kael loosed was different. Its tip shimmered with a faint, pale-blue fluorescence. As it flew, the light intensified, shifting from blue to a brilliant white until the entire arrow became a searing bolt of pure energy.

  -21258

  The number that erupted over the Soul-Devourer’s head was staggering. Kael’s arrow had wounded the Ghostly Form.

  He hadn’t been standing idly by during the massacre. He had been enchanting his arrows. Ectoplasmic Dust could be permanently fused with a weapon through refinement, but in a pinch, it could also be applied directly as a temporary enchantment, converting a weapon’s physical damage into magical damage.

  One pouch of dust was enough for a single quiver of arrows. His plan had been to enchant five quivers—one hundred magical arrows—which should have been more than enough to burn through the boss’s two million health.

  But time had been short. He had only managed to prepare four. Eighty arrows would have to do.

  Struck by the enchanted arrow, the Soul-Devourer’s spirit let out a shriek of pure rage. It slashed its right claw through the air, and five streaks of white energy shot toward Kael. This was its kill shot; each streak dealt 150% of its base damage. If even two of them hit, Kael was dead.

  Yet, as the attack descended upon him, Kael just smiled.

  With a casual sidestep, he shifted his position by six or seven yards.

  Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

  Five deep gouges appeared in the stone floor where he had just been standing. Kael was untouched. The power of Manual Mode wasn’t just about landing perfect shots; it was about perfect evasion. If his reaction time was fast enough to move out of the attack’s trajectory, the game registered it as a clean miss.

  Having dodged the skill, Kael instantly retaliated with an arrow of his own.

  -78275

  A triple damage critical hit, amplified by the Ghostly Form’s double magic damage vulnerability, took a massive, visible chunk out of the boss’s health bar.

  After firing, Kael didn’t press his advantage. He immediately began running, creating distance again. It wasn’t cowardice; it was tactics. The boss’s spell projectiles were incredibly fast. At close range, he wouldn’t have time to react. The moment he moved, a bolt of lightning crashed down on the spot he had just vacated.

  CRACK!

  The stone tiles shattered.

  Fortunately, Kael was slightly faster than the boss. Once he had opened the distance to over forty yards, he spun, fired another arrow, and kept running.

  -20979

  Another lightning strike missed.

  Kael played it safe, sticking to a strict rhythm: run for eight or nine seconds, create distance, turn, fire, and immediately start running again. The DPS was slower, but it was safe. He was alone now. There was no room for error.

  In the first minute, he fired seven arrows, dealing 275,000 damage.

  In the second minute, he fired eight, dealing 305,000 damage.

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  ...

  After four minutes of this deadly dance, the boss’s health had dropped below one million. He had forty-nine enchanted arrows left.

  Kael allowed himself a small sigh of relief. He had enough ammo.

  But just then, the Soul-Devourer’s spirit began to change. Its translucent blue body started to flicker, the frequency increasing with every pulse. At the same time, the massive, dead corpse of its other half began to stir. It rose from the floor and floated into the air. The two forms—corporeal and spiritual—slowly drifted toward each other.

  When they collided, a blinding light engulfed the cavern.

  ROOOOAR!

  The Soul-Devourer appeared before Kael once more, whole and transformed.

  [Soul-Devourer (Primal Form)]: Level 30

  HP: 1,000,000 / 6,000,000

  Physical Attack: 9500

  Magical Attack: 7200

  Physical Defense: 5200

  Magical Defense: 5200

  ...

  Its defenses were slightly lower, but its attack power had reached a terrifying new level. The creature no longer bore any resemblance to a cat. It was now a true primal beast.

  Seeing it had become a physical being again, Kael was actually pleased. The Galeharrow’s passive didn’t work on ghosts, but now his Silkbind Shot could once again hinder its movement.

  He raised his bow and fired.

  Miss!

  It dodged! With a lightning-fast leap to the side, the Soul-Devourer evaded the arrow and immediately lunged. Kael backpedaled furiously, tracking the beast’s trajectory and loosing another arrow.

  -10263 (Silkbind Shot)

  A flicker of triumph sparked in Kael’s chest. He planted his feet, ready to unload. But the beast merely stumbled, and with a single flex, the golden threads of Silkbind Shot shattered. The root had held it for less than half a second.

  In the split second Kael was stunned by this, the Soul-Devourer closed the distance to twenty yards. A blue light shot from its eyes, locking onto him.

  System: You have been hit by the Soul-Devourer’s [Soul Shock]. You have lost control of your character.

  It's over! Dammit!

  But as the stun effect was about to take hold, a flash of green light flared around Kael’s body and the blue aura vanished.

  System: [Spell Ward] has been triggered. [Soul Shock] has been blocked.

  The Diadem! Of course!

  His Diadem of Unyielding Will had two passive abilities: [Spell Ward], which blocked a single targeted ability on a 10-second cooldown, and [Unyielding Will], which automatically cleared crowd-control effects on a 30-second cooldown. [Soul Shock] was a targeted skill, so [Spell Ward] had nullified it completely.

  Kael instantly activated his [Warp Emblem], Blinking twenty yards away to resume the deadly dance. Shaken by the close call, he didn’t dare get close again, staying at a safer fifty-yard range. The trade-off was that at this distance, the boss’s chance to dodge was much higher.

  Thankfully, since the boss was now physical again, his normal arrows worked just fine. If it had still been a ghost, his enchanted supply would have already run out. Firing two to three arrows a second, Kael slowly, painstakingly whittled down the beast’s health.

  800,000

  700,000

  600,000

  ...

  Half an hour later, the boss’s health finally dropped below 100,000. Kael didn't relax. As long as the boss was standing, the fight wasn’t over.

  He watched its every move, anticipating its next attack. The Soul-Devourer crouched and then leaped high into the air. Kael had seen this move several times; it was a gap-closer, letting it jump thirty yards forward. He’d been forced to use his Blink to escape it more than once.

  Just as Kael prepared to Blink away again, he noticed the beast wasn’t descending. It was floating at the apex of its jump. Its body began to swell, and a fiery red light emanated from within.

  Self-destruct!

  Kael recognized the desperation move instantly. He Blinked twenty yards back and then turned and ran without a second thought. Please don't have a massive blast radius! he prayed.

  He was too slow. Not just by a little, but by a lot.

  He felt a cataclysmic wave of force slam into his back, launching him a hundred yards through the air until he crashed into the far wall of the cavern.

  -200000

  Kael was instantly killed.

  The body of the Soul-Devourer fell from the sky, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. It lay still.

  Silence descended on the cavern, now a tomb for eleven bodies.

  No. Not eleven. Ten.

  The Soul-Devourer had left itself with a single point of health.

  It stirred, then shakily pushed itself up, sitting on the ground and panting with exhaustion. It looked around at the field of corpses and a grotesque smile spread across its face. It opened its massive jaws, ready to unleash a roar of victory.

  Before a sound could escape its throat, an arrow sprouted from its forehead.

  -11986

  Across the cavern, Kael stood, his bow raised, an unwavering gaze fixed upon the boss.