Chapter 12
Chapter 12 – Welp, He’s Dead
XtremePengu1n: Welp, he’s dead :Deadge:
Adam saw the message pop up in chat a split second before a massive wolf’s jaws clamped down over his head.
For an instant, his mind filled in the worst-case scenario. His skull crushed. His body dropping limp. Blood spraying into the air.
Then instinct took over.
He yanked the wooden staff from his inventory and moved.
Using every bit of speed he had, Adam threw the staff up over his head just as the wolf’s jaws snapped shut. The wood wedged between its teeth, buying him a fraction of a second.
That was all he needed.
He twisted his body and hurled himself backward, barely escaping the killing bite.
The staff didn’t last. It snapped instantly under the pressure, splintering apart and leaving a mouthful of jagged wood behind.
The dire wolf recoiled slightly, whining as it spat out the splinters.
Bang!
A purple bullet slammed into the steel breastplate of the hobgoblin riding on its back. Sparks burst outward, but the armor held firm without so much as a dent.
“You might be able to dodge and counter any attack,” Mei said with a confident grin, “but your rider can’t. You alright, Adam?”
“I’ll survive. For now…”
Adam frowned, eyes locked on the enemy. “These bosses are tricky.”
The dire wolf turned toward Mei. The hobgoblin atop it leaned forward, glaring down at her as it growled something in its guttural language. Then it slowly dragged its thumb across its neck.
The message didn’t need translating.
You’re dead.
“Pfft!” Mei laughed, completely unfazed. “Sorry, but I don’t plan on dying to a shitty mini-boss. If you’re going to kill me, you’ll have to be the final boss at least.”
Whether the hobgoblin understood her or not, its reaction was immediate. It snarled something sharp and kicked its mount forward.
The dire wolf surged ahead, its massive saber dragging along the ground behind it, kicking up sparks, gravel, and dust as it charged.
Out of the corner of his eye, Adam noticed the chat spamming a single line.
Mei = :GIGACHAD:
The distance vanished in seconds. What had been several dozen feet closed in just a few long strides.
The hobgoblin yanked its saber upward in a vicious rising slash.
“[Shield]!”
A translucent, bubble-shaped barrier snapped into place around Mei. The saber crashed into it and bounced off with a heavy impact.
The dire wolf glanced toward Adam but didn’t move to attack. Instead, it gave him a look that felt almost… human.
Dismissive.
It didn’t see him as a threat.
The hobgoblin didn’t hesitate. It reversed its grip and brought the saber down in a brutal overhead strike.
The blade slammed into the shield.
Cracks spread instantly, branching across the surface like a spiderweb.
At the same time, Mei began charging a stronger skill. Her purple-and-blue pistol glowed brighter and brighter, a neon violet light bleeding from the golden star accents along its body.
[Overcharged Shot]
By forcing magic into your weapon to the point of near overload, you unleash a shot capable of piercing even the strongest defenses.
Effect: Deal massive piercing damage to a target
Castable 0 / 1
The moment the shield shattered under the combined pressure of the two mini-bosses, Mei fired.
She angled the shot upward, aiming beneath the dire wolf’s head to line both targets up in a single trajectory.
The timing was perfect.
The shot went off at the exact moment the dire wolf’s [Ultra Wild Instincts] expired.
Even so, the creature wasn’t a boss for nothing.
It reacted instantly, its body jerking aside at the last possible moment. The bullet just missed taking its head clean off.
But not completely.
The shot tore through the underside of its muzzle, punching straight through flesh and bone before continuing forward without slowing.
The hobgoblin was still mid-swing from its previous attack, its posture wide open.
For a brief moment, it looked like it couldn’t defend itself at all.
Then its armor lit up.
A harsh glow spread across the steel.
Hobgoblin General has activated [Harden]
[Harden]
Reinforce your body with hardened magic power.
Effect: Doubles defense for a brief moment
Sub-effect: Reduces piercing damage by 50%
The bullet punched through the breastplate, right over its heart.
Then it stopped.
Its momentum died before it could pass through completely. When the light faded, only a small, bloodied mark remained on the hobgoblin’s chest.
Both bosses pulled back, wary now.
Adam didn’t waste the opening.
He rushed to Mei’s side just as her legs began to buckle. She had completely drained her magic again, the aftereffects already catching up to her.
“[Magic Transfer],” Adam called.
Energy flowed out of him and into her, stabilizing her before the worst of the magic drain could hit.
While maintaining the transfer, he focused and tried something new.
A buff.
He imagined the magic flowing into her body transforming, reshaping into something more. A pale blue aura formed around her, faint at first, then growing stronger.
[Multifarious Magic Buff]
Apply a buff based on your mental image of its effect.
Effect: Boost skill damage by user’s Magic rank ×10% (D × 10% = 40%)
Class Skill: +50% effectiveness
Then he layered something else on top of it.
The [Berserk] effect from his staff.
The pale blue aura shifted as deep red energy bled into it. The two forces merged, twisting together until the color deepened into a vivid purple that radiated off Mei’s body.
A new notification appeared.
Buff Synergy Active
When two compatible buffs are applied to a single target, their effects may merge into something entirely new based on the target’s current state.
Both Adam and Mei froze for half a second, caught off guard.
Neither of them had known something like this was even possible.
New Buff Created! [Berserker’s Magic Buff]
[Berserker’s Magic Buff]
The fusion of [Berserk] and [Multifarious Magic Buff], created in a moment of need.
Effect: Increase all stats by 1 rank for 60 seconds
Side-effect: Reduce all stats by 1 rank for 24 hours after the effect ends
The purple aura pulsed once, stronger than before.
Mei’s stats had surged past normal human limits, brushing right up against the edge of true superhuman power.
Her Luck stat had even risen to B, which represented true superhuman luck.
What that would actually mean over the next sixty seconds was impossible to predict. Still, with the boost to her other four stats, she already had more than enough power to overwhelm both bosses.
Mei bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, testing the change.
Each step left shallow dents in the packed earth beneath her boots.
“…Yeah,” she said, a wide grin spreading across her face. “This feels nice. Like I’ve become a new person.”
She rolled her shoulders once, then looked up at the two bosses.
“Now let’s start the real fight.”
She crouched low, coiling like a spring, then launched forward in a perfect sprinter's form.
The ground cracked beneath her as she kicked off, her body accelerating instantly to a speed that blurred the eye. She crossed the same distance the dire wolf had earlier in less than half the time.
Her bear tooth dagger flashed, catching the flickering light of the still-burning camp.
Before either boss could react, she was already past them.
A deep gash opened along the dire wolf’s flank.
The beast let out a sharp, pained yelp as its legs gave out beneath it. It crashed onto its side, the impact throwing the hobgoblin from its back.
Mei didn’t hesitate.
She pressed forward, staying on top of them.
Off to the side, Adam sank down onto the ground. He wasn’t completely out of magic, but he was close enough to feel it. His body felt heavy, sluggish.
Still, he kept watching.
And, out of habit, reading the chat.
Martial-Master127: This young girl has been well trained. She is displaying many masterful forms of various martial arts. Karate. Kendo. Hapkido. And Taekwondo, to name a few.
GammaLord: Who let the old man in? Calling a twenty-some year old woman a “young girl.” Just how old are you, @Martial-Master127?
Martial-Master127: I am not an old man. I’m still at the spry age of 67!
WowSpelledBackwards: Damn! He’s old af! :Oldge:
HottieHunter: Oppa! I see you reading chat, it’s me! OppaOppaOppa, I’m using my friend’s account since mine was banned. Please read this message! ILY! ❤️🥰
(Bot): HottieHunter has been timed out by SweetSarah. Reason: Ban evasion
HeHeHaHa: :LULW:
Adam shook his head slightly, then pulled his attention back to the fight.
Mei drove her foot into the dire wolf’s side just as it tried to push itself up, knocking it flat again.
Then she raised her leg high overhead, her flexibility on full display, and brought it crashing down in a brutal axe kick.
The impact cracked like a gunshot.
The wolf’s skull caved inward, the force slamming its head into the ground. It didn’t die, its vitality too high for that, but its body went slack, completely dazed.
Mei flowed into her next move without pause.
She raised her pistol and fired a rapid burst of smaller purple shots, forcing the hobgoblin to halt its scramble toward its fallen saber.
Each shot struck with just enough force to disrupt its movement, keeping it off balance.
Closing the distance, Mei shifted into close-quarters combat.
Her dagger carved quick, precise arcs, targeting weak points in the hobgoblin’s armor, while her pistol fired in tight, controlled bursts at any exposed gaps.
The hobgoblin tried to recover, clawing its way across the ground, but it couldn’t find its footing.
Every movement it made was interrupted.
Every attempt to stand was shut down.
It was completely caught in Mei’s rhythm, forced to move exactly how she dictated.