----Chapter 3----
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
The ground beneath Ethille shook violently. Dust and pebbles skittered across the cobblestones.
NPCs stumbled and fell, carts tipped over, and wooden signs rattled on their hinges. Children screamed and clung to their parents as merchants tried desperately to protect their stalls.
Every heartbeat seemed to pulse in rhythm with the tremors, the air humming with a growing, electric tension.
Those who had completed the Blobbling quest froze in small clusters, whispering nervously as they scanned the horizon. Beyond the town walls, the clearing pulsed with chaos.
A massive, gelatinous creature writhed and heaved, its semi-transparent blue form rippling like liquid glass. The thing shimmered under the sunlight, constantly shifting shape, as if alive with unstable energy.
Subtle distortions bent light at the edges of its body. The air itself quivered slightly, as if reality were stretching.
The town, usually alive with the chatter of NPCs and adventurers, fell eerily silent. Even the birds had stopped flying.
Outside the gates stood Fenriz, arms crossed, sapphire scales glinting beneath the sun.
His piercing eyes locked onto the distant battlefield, calculating every movement with cold precision.
"So you already finished the quest. Quite impressive," he said, voice calm but edged with challenge.
Scarlet, the Arch Witch, arched an eyebrow.
"Tchh, I did not expect to see you here either. I thought you would be off somewhere gloating with those weaklings since you could not even handle those pathetic Blobblings."
Fenriz smirked, stepping forward.
"Huh? What did you just say?"
Before the tension could explode, a powerful, commanding voice cut through the air.
"Hey. If you are going to fight, do not do it here. Take it somewhere else."
Both Scarlet and Fenriz turned toward the sound.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Scarlet demanded, eyes glowing faintly with magic.
One of Fenriz's underlings swallowed hard.
"It is Volrax. The Lord of the Beastial Kin, leader of the Dread Fang Clan, from the original server of Etherissia."
Scarlet's expression faltered.
"You mean the top global rank one? That Volrax?"
From the shadows, Volrax stepped forward. His face was that of a white lion, regal and fierce. His mane shimmered like strands of silver silk, and his golden eyes gleamed with intelligence and authority.
Even standing still, he radiated dominance that demanded silence.
"Show me what you have, kid," Volrax said, tone deep and mocking.
"From the first time I saw you, I knew you were not an ordinary level one player. If you think you can hide everything from me, you are wrong."
The air rippled again, echoing the faint, distant tremor coming from beyond the town. Fenriz's claws flexed instinctively. NPC guards took a step back, muttering fearful prayers.
Volrax narrowed his gaze toward the horizon, his mane stirring in the rising wind.
"It is happening again," he whispered.
***
30 minutes earlier
The clearing was already chaos.
The Blobbling King loomed before the group, its semi-transparent blue body twisting like liquid glass, absorbing every attack.
Every strike sank into its form, only to be tossed back by its unstable, elastic body. Subtle distortions bent the light around it.
Keileen noticed faint flickers along the edges of the battlefield, brief ripples where the world seemed just slightly wrong.
Keileen's weapon felt useless, like trying to wound water.
"Everyone, attack at once! Time it perfectly!" he shouted, trying to steady his breathing.
Frustration clawed at him as every blow seemed meaningless. He gritted his teeth, turning toward Dieval's party.
They had been watching, hesitant, uncertain.
"Oy, Dieval!" Keileen shouted over the roar of tremors.
"If you want to get out of here alive, I need you and your party's help!"
Dieval blinked, still in shock. His hands trembled, but the fire in his eyes flickered back to life. He swallowed hard and nodded.
"Okay, just this once," he said.
Keileen smirked faintly.
"Ah, only this once, huh?"
He then scanned for the mage who had cast an ice dagger earlier.
"You, the one who used ice magic," he pointed.
"You threw an ice dagger a while ago, did you not?"
The mage stammered.
"W-What? Yes."
"Good. Freeze its belly, right where the core lies."
The mage hesitated for half a second, then nodded sharply. Mana surged in her hands.
"Lyra," Keileen called. "Pin its movement with your vines."
Lyra's eyes widened but she nodded, pressing her palms against the ground. Vines burst from the soil, wrapping around the Blobbling King's gelatinous limbs.
The mage from Dieval's party stepped forward, silver hair brushing her eyes. Mana gathered around her, turning the air cold and sharp. Frost crawled beneath her boots, spiraling outward.
"Let's see you freeze, you overgrown slime," she whispered.
"Ice Dominion: Frost Lance!"
A massive shard of ice burst from her staff, spiraling like a comet, slamming into the Blobbling King's lower body.
Its form froze solid from the belly down, crystalizing the translucent body. Beneath the frost, its core pulsed faintly, visible like a heart caught in glass.
"Everyone else," Keileen shouted, "we attack simultaneously. On my mark."
Garrick and Dieval charged first. Garrick swung his axe into the frozen belly. Spiderweb cracks spread across the ice, shards flying.
"Now!" Keileen yelled.
Dieval followed, fists crackling, striking the fractured ice. The shockwave rattled the ground but the cracks widened.
"Selene, Kina, your turn," Keileen called.
Selene sprinted forward, twin daggers gleaming. Kina raised her enchanted broadsword, blue mana glowing along the edge.
"Cosmic Starfall!" Kina shouted. Her sword split the cracked ice, carving into the Blobbling King's pulsing core. Fragments of slime splattered everywhere.
"Go for it, Selene," she yelled. Selene leapt, daggers tracing precise arcs, exposing the glowing heart beneath layers of slime.
"Perfect work," Keileen thought, heartbeat thundering.
"Now it is my turn."
He raised his hand. Mana flickered at his fingertips. A small fireball formed, unstable but powerful. He aimed at the exposed core and released it.
Then the world froze.
Shards of ice hovered midair. Garrick and Dieval were suspended, weapons inches from impact.
Selene's daggers glinted in stillness. Even the Blobbling King's body froze like solid glass.
Keileen could still move.
Panic rose like ice water in his veins. Heart hammering. Every instinct screamed danger. No wind, no sound, not even the hum of magic.
A cold dread pressed down. He realized the subtle distortions from earlier were the first signs.
Then the sky cracked. A jagged fissure split the heavens, stretching like a wound. Colors bled, sickly reds, purples, greens twisting like corrupted light. The clearing felt rewritten.
A hooded figure descended from the rift, floating downward. Its cloak rippled like black water, the air around it distorted.
The figure's presence pressed down, thick and suffocating.
A distorted laugh echoed across the frozen battlefield.
"Do you like it?"
The fireball hung suspended, flames flickering helplessly.
"How does it feel," the figure hissed, "to be so powerful? Huh? Tell me."
Keileen's stomach turned. That voice… the one behind the first glitch.
The figure spread its arms, welcoming the silence.
"Yes, yes, I like the way you look. It gives me chills," it whispered.
"Now do not disappoint me. Show me how you will finish the game you started."
The fissure flared brighter. The Blobbling King trembled beneath the frozen ice, a dull red glow pulsing in its core. Its rage skill awakened.
Keileen clenched his fists, knuckles white. This was no longer a mere bug. If he failed, the entire world was at stake.
So this was how it felt to be truly powerless.