"But understand this," Kaito continued, his voice hard. "Phoenix Guild doesn't quit. We don't give up because content is hard. We don't walk away because we are wiped a few times. Every top guild in the world has attempted this dungeon. Three have succeeded. We're about to be the fourth."
"How do you know?" someone asked.
"Because I refuse to accept anything less," Kaito said. "This is what separates elite players from casual players. Casual players quit when it's hard. Elite players push through until they succeed. So I'm asking: are you elite, or are you casual?"
Nobody left.
"One more attempt," Ayame said. "We've learned every mechanic. We know what's coming. We just need to execute perfectly."
"Everyone repair and restock," Kaito ordered. "We go in fresh. This is the last attempt tonight—win or lose, we give it everything we have."
Attempt #8 – The Final Try
The raid entered the boss chamber with grim determination.
Phase 1 went perfectly. Max and Night massacred the add spawns.
Phase 2 was clean. No deaths, perfect tank rotations, healers managing resources flawlessly.
Phase 3 transition—they executed the spread perfectly, tanks using defensive cooldowns at the exact right moments to survive the AOE burst.
They pushed into Phase 4. The Overlord split into three forms.
"Focus fire on the left form first!" Kaito commanded. "Everyone dump damage!"
The coordination was beautiful. All DPS focused on one target, burning it down before the healing could take effect.
The first form died. Then the second. Then the third.
[PHASE 4 COMPLETE]
[THE OBSIDIAN OVERLORD: 10% HP REMAINING]
"We've got this!" someone shouted. "Final burn!"
The boss's health dropped steadily: 9%... 7%... 5%...
Everyone was celebrating prematurely, dumping their skills, damage numbers overwhelming the screen.
But Max felt it.
Something was wrong.
The boss's movements had changed. It was fighting differently—more defensively, more carefully. Like it was conserving strength.
"Wait—" Max started to say.
[FINAL PHASE ACTIVATED]
[THE OVERLORD'S ULTIMATE POWER UNLEASHED]
The boss's body exploded with dark energy. Its size doubled. Its health stopped decreasing despite the continued damage.
[THE OBSIDIAN OVERLORD – ENRAGED STATE]
[HP: 5% – INVULNERABLE FOR 10 SECONDS]
"SCATTER!" Kaito screamed, recognizing the danger.
But it was too late.
The Overlord moved with impossible speed—faster than anything they'd seen before. It ignored the tanks completely, phasing through their attempts to intercept.
It went straight for the healers.
Max watched in horror as the boss appeared in the center of the healer formation in a burst of dark energy.
[OBSIDIAN EXECUTION]
One massive AOE attack, point-blank range.
-15,847 HP! (HealerMiko)
[HealerMiko: DEAD]
-14,923 HP! (LightBringer_Sora)
[LightBringer_Sora: DEAD]
-16,234 HP! (NatureSong)
[NatureSong: DEAD]
-15,456 HP! (HolyWater_Ken)
[HolyWater_Ken: DEAD]
All four healers died instantly.
"NO!" Ayame screamed.
The raid's health bars started dropping immediately—damage over time effects, AOE damage, the boss's passive corruption aura. Without healers, survival was measured in seconds.
The Overlord then turned its attention to the remaining raid members.
It killed the tanks next—Zen, IronFortress, SteelWall_Haru. One by one they fell.
[HolyKnight_Zen: DEAD]
[IronFortress: DEAD]
[SteelWall_Haru: DEAD]
Then the ranged DPS. ArchMage_Kira managed one final spell before the boss's fist crushed him.
[ArchMage_Kira: DEAD]
Kaito fought desperately, his legendary blade flashing, but even his level 43 power couldn't compensate for the missing healers and the boss's enraged state.
[PhoenixKaito: DEAD]
Ayame lasted ten seconds longer, her Sword Dancer abilities allowing incredible mobility, but eventually the corruption aura and residual damage brought her down.
[PhoenixAyame: DEAD]
One by one, the raid members fell.
SteelTitan. Velara. SilentEdge. ElementalStorm. All of them.
Max ran. He Shadow Stepped repeatedly, using every cooldown, drinking every potion he had. Night fought beside him, both of them desperately trying to survive.
The last DPS player died—ThunderStrike, caught by a sweeping attack.
[ThunderStrike: DEAD]
And then there was only Max.
[PARTY STATUS: 1/20 ALIVE]
Max's health was at 187/520. His stamina was at 94/410. He had no potions left. Night was at 423/780 health, and there were no healers to restore them.
The Overlord turned its full attention to him.
The invulnerability timer ticked down: 3 seconds... 2 seconds... 1 second...
[INVULNERABILITY ENDED]
[THE OBSIDIAN OVERLORD: 5% HP – 50,000/1,000,000]
Max stood alone in the vast chamber, facing a mythic-tier boss that had just slaughtered twenty elite players.
This was impossible.
He should run. He should accept the wipe, respawn, and try again another day.
But something in him refused.
He had come too far. Fought too hard. He had killed over five hundred enemies to reach level 20. He had earned his place in this raid through pure skill and determination.
He wasn't going to die running.
OUTSIDE THE DUNGEON – RESPAWN AREA
Kaito materialized in the respawn chamber and immediately punched the obsidian wall with his fist. The impact sent cracks across the surface.
"FUCK!" he roared, his voice echoing. "We were at FIVE PERCENT! FIVE!"
Ayame appeared next, her expression devastated. She grabbed Kaito's arm before he could punch the wall again.
"Kaito, stop. Breaking your hand won't help."
"We had it!" Kaito shouted, though his voice cracked. "We were RIGHT THERE!"
Other raid members spawned in one by one, their expressions ranging from frustration to exhausted defeat. Nobody spoke. The silence was heavy, oppressive.
SteelTitan sat down heavily, checking his equipment durability. "12,000 gold in repairs. Five hours of attempts. And we got nothing. No loot. No achievement. Nothing."
"My gear is completely broken," FrostQueen said quietly. "I can't afford to repair it all. I'll have to sell materials just to fix my equipment."
ArchMage_Kira was staring at his gold counter. "I spent 14,000 gold tonight. Fourteen thousand. On a failed run."
The despair was palpable.
Velara spawned in, immediately looking around the chamber. She counted the raid members—nineteen people present.
Her eyes widened. "Where's Max?"
Everyone looked around.
"He's not here," Velara said, her voice rising. "MaxThorne isn't here."
Kaito checked the party interface. His eyes narrowed. "He's still in the dungeon. Status shows alive."
"Alive?" Ayame moved closer. "How? The enrage should have killed him by now."
The entire raid crowded around Kaito, looking at the party interface.
[MaxThorne – Level 20 Soulbinder]
Status: ALIVE
HP: 187/520
Location: Obsidian Overlord's Chamber
"He's fighting it," SilentEdge whispered. "He's still fighting the boss. Alone."