Jiang Yunpeng knelt on one knee in the shallow water, gasping for breath, one hand pressed against his chest. Blood streamed from the corner of his mouth, dripping into the murky pool below. He looked down at his other hand, clutching the shattered remains of the wooden shield he'd received upon becoming a Guardian. Its durability bar flickered weakly below 20.
"Damn it..." he rasped, blood bubbling in his throat. "What *is* this thing?"
He forced his head up. Ten meters away, a hulking, four-block-tall humanoid creature threw its headless torso back and unleashed a guttural roar. Its body was a grotesque lattice of smaller, fleshy muscle cubes. Its upper body was unnaturally broad, tapering to a neck stump where its eyes, nose, and mouth were grotesquely embedded. The sheer size was terrifying, but it was the creature's arms that froze his blood – replaced entirely by two massive, cleaver-like blades. A single swing had sundered his shield and carved a bone-deep gash across his chest.
He turned his head painfully towards the cowering researcher. "What is that?! Explain!" he demanded, his voice thick with blood and fury.
The researcher flinched, visibly trembling. He swallowed hard, forcing words out through chattering teeth. "Th-That's... Specimen Zero-Ten... the Blade Dancer... A viral weapon prototype... meant for the Brazilian conflict. But... the world fusion... it escaped containment..."
Jiang Yunpeng's blood ran cold. *A boss. An actual regional boss. Of all the cursed luck!*
He focused his gaze on the monstrosity, willing its stats to appear.
**[Level 1 Regional Boss - Blade Dancer]**
**[HP: 150]**
**[ATK: 10]**
**[DEF: 10]**
**[STR: 12]**
**[MOV SPD: 2]**
**[ATK SPD: 1]**
*Confirmed.* Despair threatened to overwhelm him. *150 HP! And 10 DEF means it shrugs off at least 2 points of damage per hit! I can't survive two more blows!*
He frantically scanned the dark cavern. Jagged rock walls offered no escape. Trapped.
His gaze fell on Jiang Xue'er. She sat motionless in the water, legs folded beneath her in a childlike "duck sit," her hands resting limply on her knees, her silver eyes fixed blankly on the rippling surface. Seeing his daughter, so vulnerable, so *lost*, ignited a desperate spark within the old priest. *For my daughter! I have to hold on!*
Fear receded, replaced by grim determination. He tightened his grip on the broken shield shard, analyzing the stats again. *That HP pool... insurmountable. The defense... crippling. But I have to try.*
The Blade Dancer, drawn by the splashing and voices, fixed its crimson eyes on Jiang Yunpeng. A fresh roar of fury echoed through the chamber – rage that its prey still lived. The massive cleaver-arms lifted slowly, menacingly. Then, with surprising speed for its size, it charged.
**THUD! THUD! THUD!**
Each heavy footfall shook the blocky floor. It moved like a living battering ram.
"Aaah!" The researcher shrieked, scrambling crablike backwards through the water.
"RAAAAH!" Jiang Yunpeng bellowed in response, his face contorted with effort and pain. He raised the splintered shield remnant and lunged forward to meet the charge.
They closed the distance in a heartbeat. The cleavers whistled down towards Jiang Yunpeng's head. He twisted his body sideways at the last possible instant.
**CLANG!**
The blades slammed into the ground where he'd stood, shattering the blocks. Seizing the opening, Jiang Yunpeng swung his shield fragment like a club, aiming for the vulnerable-looking joint where blade met wrist-muscle.
**THUNK!**
The impact sent a jolt up his arm. It felt like striking solid iron. *No give! Impossible!* Panic flared. He raised the shield again, forgetting the boss's superior attack speed. Before he could strike, a thick, blocky leg snapped up.
**CRUNCH!**
The armored knee connected squarely with Jiang Yunpeng's chest.
"URK—AAAGH!!"
The force lifted him off his feet. He flew backwards like a ragdoll, crashing into the shallow water. His HP bar plummeted: **12 -> 2**.
He lay half-submerged, blood gushing from his mouth with every ragged gasp. His chest felt like shattered glass; even the weight of water seemed crushing. His vision blurred and darkened at the edges. With immense effort, he turned his head towards Jiang Xue'er. His hand, slick with blood, trembled as he reached out towards her still form.
"R... run..." he choked out, the words barely a whisper.
But Jiang Xue'er remained statue-still, staring at the water.
**THUD. THUD. THUD.**
The Blade Dancer loomed over him, blotting out the dim light. The twin cleavers rose high for the final execution.
**WHOOSH!**
Suddenly, ethereal, silvery moonlight flooded the cavern, banishing the oppressive darkness. The Blade Dancer hesitated, the cleavers freezing mid-swing. Its crimson eyes squinted upwards in confusion. The entire cavern roof was now shrouded in a dark hemisphere, dominated by a luminous, crater-pocked moon.
***ROAR?*** A guttural sound of confusion escaped it.
A dark silhouette plummeted from the moon's zenith, growing rapidly larger.
***ROAR!*** Recognition dawned too late.
**"WYRMFIRE BLAST!"**
**WHOOM!**
A searing cone of dragonfire engulfed the Blade Dancer's head and torso. An agonized bellow ripped from its throat as flames licked across its muscle-cube body.
***ROOOOOAAARR!!***
It thrashed wildly, cleavers flailing uselessly, trying to beat out the impossible fire.
Su Han landed on the creature's broad shoulder, the momentum carrying him downwards. The Arcane Dirk flashed like quicksilver in the moonlight.
**SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!**
Four blindingly fast strikes ripped into the boss's back and neck. **-20! -20! -20! -20!** Its massive HP bar visibly chunked down: **150 -> 70 -> 50 -> 30!**
The Blade Dancer reeled, shock overwhelming its fury. *55 HP gone in seconds!* Terror replaced rage. It stumbled backwards, trying to disengage, to flee this impossible assailant.
But Su Han was already on the ground, moving with unnatural speed granted by the lunar domain. He charged forward, the dirk a blur.
*Thrust to the Face!*
*Horizontal Slash!*
*Piercing Heartstab!*
**-20! -20! -20!** **Total: -60!**
Three impossible strikes, faster than the eye could follow. The final blow drove the Arcane Dirk hilt-deep into the center of the Blade Dancer's chest.
Su Han looked up, meeting the creature's rapidly dimming crimson eyes. Its stat window was gone – a sign only seen in death. He yanked the blade free.
***HUM!***
The dirk sang as it cleared the body, the moonlight glinting cruelly off its dark metal. As Su Han slid it back into its sheath, the encompassing darkness imploded, rushing back into the weapon. The artificial moon vanished, leaving only the cavern's natural gloom.
**[Regional Boss - Blade Dancer: SLAIN!]**
A system notification blazed across Su Han's vision. The text pulsed in deep crimson, its ornate, almost arrogant font radiating a chilling sense of finality.
Simultaneously, in the Global Chat:
**[System Announcement]: Regional Boss 'Blade Dancer' has been VANQUISHED by Su Han! (Damage Contribution: 100%)**
**[Rewards Claimed:
A beat of stunned silence hung in the chat channel. Then, it exploded.
**Li Rongrong:** "HUH?! What?! Day FOUR?!"
**Fang Tong:** "Already killed a REGIONAL BOSS?! How?! This isn't the vanilla game!"
**Xiang Shaolong:** "F*cking hell! I'm still kiting zombies with half-slabs in my safehouse, and this guy's already boss-slaying?!"
**Zhou Yun:** "Big bro Su Han! Need a teammate? UwU~ I'm super affectionate! ♥"
Su Han swiped the flood of notifications and private messages away with a flick of his wrist. He turned, the moonlight's lingering glow fading from his eyes, and knelt beside Jiang Yunpeng. The priest stared up at him, his face a mask of utter disbelief, pain momentarily forgotten.
"You..." Jiang Yunpeng gasped, blood trickling anew from his lips. "*How... did you do that?*"