When the word ‘boss’ is mentioned, if you are a gamer who was immersed in the world of games, the first thing that would appear in your mind would be the long huge HP bar that fills a part of the screen.
However, if you are a person who sought the path of ‘git-gud,’ then you would know every boss monster has the potential to be reborn or enter a new phase.
Either their HP bar would be filled, or their attacks would take a new form. And, the way they do it would mostly be a cutscene.
We, as a player, would see a cutscene where the boss monster would either power up, scream, roar, or speak some words.
This was the same with the Time Guardian.
Considering the game Legacy of Shadows: The Hunter’s Destiny was inspired by the souls-like games, it was no wonder that was the case.
The second phase would start with a loud roar, where the monster would release a scream filled with time attribute mana.
However, this roar had a special attribute, as with that huge roar, a zone would be formed by the Boss, trapping the player and empowering itself.
But that was not the only thing that zone did.
The borders of the zone had a small property.
The attacks coming out of that zone would be nullified since the time and space mana would disturb the attack and render the kinetic energy to zero.
How does it do that, some of you may ask?
The idea is simple and could only be explained thanks to the term ‘mana.’
Basically, what it does is increase the amount of time the projectile takes to travel from outside of the zone to inside.
The distance between the outside of the zone and the inside of the zone may look thin, but the time it takes for an arrow or any other projectile to travel that distance is widened thanks to the effects of time mana inside.
This is what makes it impossible to attack the monster from outside of the barrier since the projectiles would lose their kinetic energy, which means losing their strength to attack.
This is the way the boss monster would force the range players to approach the monster, and that was the reason why I was saying if I were Ethan, I would be able to beat it without batting an eye.
Since, for close-range combatants, it isn’t much.
However, no matter what it is, those who played the soul-like games would know every boss monster would at least have a way to get cheesed.
The developers of Legacy of Shadows: The Hunter’s Destiny liked putting easter eggs and small details into their games.
And they did it for this part as well.
‘Time-immune stones.’
While I was playing the game, I wondered, in this place where time mana is frequent and dense, how come the trees and the environment are not directly affected, like the climate?
The corrosion rate should have been high as the chaos ensued in this place, but the rocks, earth, and dirt weren’t directly affected by it, different from the equipment I had used here.
The cups and plates I used to eat were all eroded over the course of one month, which should have taken at least two years, and that was also the case in the game.
This showed the time mana was affecting the materials, but how come it wasn’t affecting me, monsters, or this place itself directly?
The answer was simple.
This place was constructed with materials that are immune to the time mana. Because of this fact, I came up with the idea of using the stones in this place to craft stone-headed arrows and use them against the Time Guardian.
And, now, here we were.
‘Keen Eye.’
My eyes, filled with mana, were observing the monster inside with wounds around its body.
“You think you are safe now?”
The monster was also looking at me from inside the barrier as if saying that I wouldn’t be able to attack him from a distance no more.
“Let’s see how long you can keep that up.”
Knocking the arrow, I started measuring the distance.
‘The distance from here to Boss Monster is around 100 meters.’
And then, I referred to my results while I was firing my arrows.
‘This arrow will fly around the speed of 100 km/h, which means it will travel 27 meters in one second. It will cover a distance of around 3.7 seconds. This should be sufficient enough.’
The average speed of my arrows was around 150 km/h. However, the arrow I was going to use is not the perfect arrow designed for aerodynamics but something I crafted on my own.
And, because the arrow was not the perfect arrow, it was going to be very hard for the arrow to damage the boss.
Normally.
Pulling the string, I relaxed my breath and focused on my senses, my eyes locked on the monster.
My mana moved like tendrils entering the small segment of the arrow on its body. That part was where a surprise was waiting for the monster.
‘This amount of mana is perfect.’
SWISH
With that thought, I released the arrow, watching it pierce through the barrier, defying the time-altering properties.
‘And then….’
‘Bam.’
BOOM!
The moment the arrow connected with the Time Guardian, it triggered a concealed explosive mechanism within the arrowhead, a property I had embedded using my mana.
The explosion rippled through the boss, causing severe damage and leaving a visible mark of victory.
I knew the head made from a stone wouldn’t pierce its skin, and it wasn’t even my intention. I bought several bodies of explosive arrows without heads for this purpose alone.
The moment the arrow appeared in front of the monster, it exploded since the mana supplying the mechanism was depleted, making the trigger activated.
Since the monster wasn’t expecting an attack to come from outside, it was in a state with its guard lowered, and this was going to cost him his life.
And just as I intended, the explosion erupted within the Time Guardian, leaving it reeling from the unexpected assault.
SWISH SWISH SWISH
The force of the blast threw the monster off balance, and I seized this opportunity to fire more arrows, each finding its mark and causing further damage.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The unique arrowheads I had crafted were not only explosive but also infused with a poison that was going to bleed the boss from the inside.
It was not a high-quality poison, but it was something that would work, and that was all I needed. After all, the boss monster can’t go anywhere, and I have enough time.
ROAR!
The boss let out a resounding roar of agony, struggling to regain control and retaliate.
My continuous onslaught didn’t give it a moment’s respite. The poison was working its way through the monster’s body, sapping its strength and causing its movements to slow down.
SWISH SWISH SWISH
As the boss weakened, I pushed forward, moving closer to the barrier the Time Guardian had set up.
The zone was a double-edged sword, protecting the monster but also restricting its movement. In this world, nothing came without a price, and utilizing the zone meant he was compressing his powers inside the barrier.
Even though the Time Guardian changed the trajectory of the arrows from time to time, even then, the explosions were still close enough to it.
It was desperate, confined to a smaller space, unable to fully utilize its time manipulation powers.
ROAR!
He tried to protect his body by changing dimensions, but by doing so, he used a lot more mana.
Also the poison was building up its effects one by one, making the monster more desperate to attack me.
SWISH
‘This is the last one.’
Of course, my supply of arrows was also limited, and at some point, it was bound to reach its end.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t have any other weapon.
I did two more and a bunch of supporting.
GULP
Grabbing a potion from my inventory, I gulped it immediately and felt the strength returning to my body.
GULP
Gulping another one, I felt my mana refilled.
CRUNCH
And gulping the last pill, I felt my heart throbbing. The strength coursed through my body as I felt pumped up.
SWOOSH 𝑶𝗏𝐥xt.𝔠𝑶
With confidence surging through me, I took a deep breath, activating my skill [Dash], and sprinted towards the monster.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
My feet splashed through the muddy ground as I closed the distance, my eyes fixed on the weakened boss.
Sweat mixed with rain dripped down my forehead, my heartbeat drumming loudly in my ears. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I prepared for the final stage of the battle.
ROAR!
The Time Guardian roared loudly as it also rushed at me, with its form turning blank and phantom from time to time.
It unleashed a desperate attack, but my reflexes were honed, and I dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth thanks to the pill I had taken.
I leaped into the air, high above the boss, and with all my might, my gun was pointing at the monster from above.
At that moment, time seemed to slow down as I could see the boss monster form slowly turning transparent, just like the [Temporal Shifters].
‘I won’t let you.’
I immediately reached for the bell on my belt. My movements felt slowed, probably thanks to the monster, but it was not enough.
RING!
As I rang the bell, I could feel the mana around us getting disturbed as the transparent form of the monster returned to normal.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
As I pulled the trigger rapidly three times in one second, three bullets left the gun.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
And that was what marked my leap in the air, as my mana-imbued bullets pierced right through his head.
SPURT
Blood spurted from its head as the monster’s skull was cracked open.
ROAR!
However, the monster was yet to die, as a heaven-defying roar echoed around the surroundings.
-CRASH!
I was blasted off by the roar as I crashed the rock before me.
“Kurgh-!”
Blood poured from my body as I felt my bones and rib cage were broken.
“Grr…..”
However, I needed to press through right now. I knew the monster wouldn’t die from bullets alone.
Pulling my daggers from my belt, I imbued my crimson-colored mana into them.
My vision turned crimson as I felt like I was slowly losing my sanity.
My eyes locked on the monster before me.
SWOOSH
I dashed to the monster, in my eyes, the same figure of my dreams playing.
Onslaught of the Crimson Moon.
It was time to end this fight.
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You can check my discord if you want. You can see the illustrations of characters there.
The link to the discord server is in the description of the book.