Game of the Universe: Zenith

Arthur took a deep breath and steadied himself as he glanced at the two figures on his left and right respectively.

John was only a few meters away from him, but Arthur could no longer make out his facial features. All he could see was the faint outline of the big man’s body and the spear resting on his left shoulder.

Pyth, standing on his right, wasn’t much different. His chest heaved with every ragged breath he took as he held his makeshift axe with both hands, but that’s all that was visible through the fog.

Finally, Arthur looked to the cloud of white mist ahead and said seriously,

"If any of us ends up too deep into the mist and loses sight of each other, make sure to shout when the boss attacks you. That way the other two of us will know where you are."

"Got it." John said, not even blinking.

Pyth seemed to weigh things a second longer before giving him a curt but hesitant nod.

"Yeah. That’s... not too bad, I guess." he said.

Arthur stayed silent when he heard that. He could guess what Pyth was thinking. After all, this situation wasn’t much different than a few minutes ago. In Pyth’s eyes, Zane and Brock had simply been swapped out for Arthur and John, while the mountain boss still held every bit of advantage against them. The moment they lost track of one another, that thing would simply pick them off one by one again.

But Arthur just shook his head and said,

"Don’t worry. I’ve already figured out how the boss moves. We can do this."

Pyth nodded again but didn’t say anything.

Soon, the tremor of another massive step rolled through the ground, and all three of them tensed at once.

Arthur’s eyes scanned the shifting wall of white plume, looking for the next flicker of movement.

The Alpha came from the left this time, its massive leg sweeping through the fog.

"On me!" John shouted, his voice booming across the peak.

He didn’t try to block the attack. He already knew better than that. He just rolled under the moving mountain of muscle and rock and thrust his spear upwards. Sparks leapt as the spear tip clashed against the giant leg, the edge biting in just enough to draw a few drops of blood before bouncing free.

John’s strike didn’t open a wound, but it actually forced the boss to stop in its tracks for a second.

Arthur didn’t waste a second.

The moment he heard John’s voice, he stretched out his right hand and aimed for the massive shape looming out of the fog.

A water arrow took form in an instant, cutting through the mist and flying straight for the monster’s eye. Unfortunately, it didn’t find its mark. The azure arrow struck the beast’s head and burst apart with a wet splash.

"I’m coming!" Pyth shouted, swooping in from the right.

His axe rose and fell in a furious chop. He’d been hacking at the same spot since the fight started, and it finally began to pay off, as the ’blade’ chewed through the outer hide and peeled away some of the protective rock!

Blood welled from the Alpha’s leg, painting the ground a deep crimson.

The boss’s head turned, its eyes flashing with that same orange light as it focused on Pyth.

"BACK!" Arthur shouted.

Pyth threw himself backward, barely escaping as a leg slammed down where he’d been standing a second ago. The shockwave was strong enough to even blow away some of the mist around the boss, sending Pyth stumbling another couple of steps.

But John didn’t waste the opening. He charged forward and thrust his spear once more, this time aiming for the monster’s belly.

...This time, the white spear tip bit deep into the Alpha’s body. It wasn’t just a scratch, but a real wound!

Blood sprayed out, splattering across the stones as the boar’s flesh tore open in an instant!

"Finally!" Arthur thought.

At the same time, the Alpha let out a bellow that shook the whole summit, thrashing in pain after John’s attack. Then, it began to lash out, its leg sweeping back and forth with a kind of violence it hadn’t shown before.

John tried to roll away and dodge, but he was far too close to avoid the raging tantrum.

Before he could do anything, the boss’s blow caught him squarely in the side.

The sound that followed next was brutal, like wood snapping under strain, as John’s body left the ground and flew backward like a cannonball, tumbling through the fog before slamming into the rocky slope with a loud crash.

Arthur’s eyes widened as he saw John’s figure vanish into the mist. He only managed to catch the outline of the man’s big frame rolling a few meters before it finally came to a stop.

...John grunted as he hit the ground with a thud, curling onto his side, before he let out a loud,

"Ahhh, fuck!"

A wet cough followed, but even through the fog, Arthur could make out the sound of a spear butt hitting the ground as John forced himself back up.

At the same time, the Alpha turned its head, its molten eyes fixing on Arthur.

The ground shook with every step it took as the giant boar disappeared back into the mist.

Arthur quickly raised his hand and prepared to fire another [Water Arrow]. He tried to track the boar’s blurred outline as best he could, waiting for the moment it stepped out again to attack.

And as expected, it didn’t take long.

The massive beast roared again and stepped forward, raising its front leg as if to squash him into paste.

But Arthur had been waiting for this. The pattern of its attacks was so simple now that he knew how it moved.

He didn’t even need to be told where the monster was aiming. He just stepped to the side as the massive hoof came crashing down on him.

...Or at least, that’s what Arthur thought would happen.

He’d been planning to dodge the boss’s strike and then bombard the wound John had torn open in its belly with water arrows.

But from the looks of it, he didn’t even need to dodge.

Because John wasn’t done with the boss just yet, either.

His voice tore through the mist, as a loud, furious roar reverberated across the mountain peak.

"ROOAAARR!"

The sound slammed into the boss like a shockwave, taking Arthur by surprise. Even Pyth, who’d been winding up for another strike with his axe, felt the hair on his arms rise.

And at that moment, the Alpha’s steps faltered. Its head jerked away from Arthur, its amber eyes snapping toward John instead.

For a moment, its whole body shifted as its raging momentum vanished.

But that was more than enough.

Neither Arthur nor Pyth wasted the opportunity they got.

Pyth lunged in first, chopping at the same leg seam from earlier. His axe bit deeper than before, opening a wide groove that bled like a fountain. The Alpha’s frame finally dipped, its left leg giving out as it dropped to one knee.

And of course, Arthur moved at that same moment, his hand stretching forward. By now he was so close to the boar he didn’t even need to aim. He was right next to its belly.

The first [Water Arrow] cut through the air and landed in the open wound in the boar’s stomach. It sank deep into its flesh before bursting inside with a sharp splash.

The Alpha shivered and let out another pained, furious roar.

Unfortunately, it had no time to rest.

His second arrow was already forming, the tip aimed for the exact same spot as the first one.

Arthur let it fly, and another wet splash echoed through the mist. This time, blood poured out in heavy streams, splattering across the summit as the [Stonehide Alpha] roared even louder.

But mo matter how strong its armor was, the inside of its body was still that of a living thing. How could it keep taking hits like that and remain unharmed?

Arthur’s eyes narrowed as his third [Water Arrow] began to take form. And naturally, he didn’t aim anywhere else, but that same torn-open wound.

The boss was already struggling back to its feet, its pained roars dying down as it struggled to get up. But Arthur gave it no room to recover. The third [Water Arrow] eventually came.

The azure arrow hissed through the air as it sank deep into the Alpha’s belly, bursting inside just like the ones before it.

The Stonehide Alpha convulsed, and a pained cry, louder than any before it, echoed across the entire mountain.

But that was the last sound it made before its massive body toppled sideways with a ground-shaking earthquake.

The stone cracked under the weight of its fall, and a cloud of dust billowed out, mixing with the white mist in the air, before the system’s notification appeared in Arthur’s eyes.

[Stonehide Alpha defeated. +233 EXP]