Within the Helheim world of Yggdrasil.
A thunderous roar echoed as two colossal beings clashed in a brutal battle.
As the view drew closer, it became clear that the combatants were two massive dragons. The deafening impact of their collisions reverberated through the sky, brilliant magic filling the air. Far in the distance, a lone skeleton could be seen casting spells.
[Wings of the End – Níðhöggr]
As one of the hidden world bosses, it possessed overwhelming defensive and offensive power.
To challenge a being like this, it normally required a team of at least double-digit numbers to stand any chance. Even the rarest class, [World Champion], had no ability to defeat it alone.
Yet, in the final moments before Yggdrasil's shutdown, this world boss, which should have been quietly waiting for the end, was instead met by two challengers and dragged into a fierce battle.
"ROAR!!"
With an earth-shaking bellow, a massive magic circle formed before Níðhöggr, and an immense surge of energy erupted from its mouth.
Both challengers were familiar with this attack. As the innate magic of all dragonkind, Dragon Breath, also known as Dragon Roar, was the most common skill among dragon bosses.
Violet dragon breath surged toward the challengers. Instead of dodging, one of them opened its own gaping maw, a similar magic circle appearing in front of it.
[Demonic Dragon's Roar]
As the magic took shape, an even greater wave of energy burst forth. Pitch-black dragon breath collided head-on with the incoming attack, the two overwhelming forces canceling each other out.
Just as the stalemate seemed poised to continue, the figure in the distance, who had been steadily stacking buffs, finally made his move.
A dazzling magic circle appeared. It was the sign of a Super-Tier Magic activation.
Although classified as magic, it functioned more like a special skill. It consumed no MP, and its only restriction was a limited number of uses per day. To use it again, one had to wait for its cooldown.
"ROAR!!"
Sensing the activation of Super-Tier Magic, Níðhöggr immediately stopped its dragon breath and charged straight toward the caster.
Aside from its overwhelming power, Super-Tier Magic had a hidden effect. No matter what boss you were fighting, once you activated it, you would become the highest-priority target.
No amount of taunting could change that first target. Because of this, players once dubbed it the strongest aggro-pulling skill.
The massive body lunged toward the tiny skeleton before it. Yet even as enormous dragon claws loomed overhead, the skeleton made no move to dodge, continuing to channel the Super-Tier Magic as if the imminent attack didn't exist.
"BOOM!!"
A violent explosion rang out as dragon breath slammed directly into Níðhöggr's massive body. With its aggro held by the ally, the dragon-form player's breath struck without obstruction.
A deafening roar followed. Dragon scales shattered, and precious dragon blood sprayed everywhere.
As a world boss, every scale and every drop of blood was an invaluable material. After its defeat, they could be harvested for countless purposes, from potions and weapons to alchemy and more.
The boss's HP plummeted rapidly, dropping to around three percent in the blink of an eye. Just a few more strikes, and the battle would be over.
"Momonga, now."
A voice came through voice chat. The magic circle beside the skeleton player named Momonga flared brilliantly. It was as if the sky itself collapsed, a colossal pillar of light crashing down onto the airborne boss.
[Super-Tier Magic: Fallen Down]
As the casting completed, the terrifying beam ravaged everything across the battlefield. At its center, the world boss Níðhöggr let out a scream of agony.
The HP bar above its head fell at a terrifying speed.
"3%"
"2%"
"1%"
"0%"
Under the relentless bombardment of magic, as its HP vanished completely, the enormous dragon finally stopped moving.
With a heavy crash, one of Yggdrasil's strongest hidden bosses, the dragon known as Wings of the End – Níðhöggr, was finally defeated.
The massive dragon corpse slammed into the ground. It didn't disappear. Players could harvest all kinds of materials from it.
Dragon scales, dragon blood, even rare dragon crystals. All of it was precious, and how much you could collect depended on how intact the boss's body was.
All around them, specks of light in different colors began to appear. Those were the rewards for defeating a world boss. Weapons, potions, and even, with a small chance, a world-class item.
"Finally… it's over."
The skeleton player named Momonga let out a breath as he stared at the fallen dragon.
To be honest, he hadn't been completely sure his spell would finish off the world boss in one shot.
He had stacked nearly sixty buffs on himself and chugged ten bottles of special potions. Some of them were rare ones like [Supreme Magic Enhancement], [Supreme Armor Break Enhancement], [Dragon Spirit Cocoon Eradication]… pushing his magic attack to an absurd level.
But it was still a world boss. There was no such thing as being too careful.
He had even been ready to use paid items to fire off another Fallen Down if it didn't die, and then another if that still wasn't enough. After all, his friend had given him plenty of those paid items that shortened Super-Tier Magic casting time.
"Nice work, Momonga. Three hours in, and we finally killed it."
The enormous dragon in the sky slowly descended, its vast shadow blotting out the light. Four huge horns jutted from its head, and three pairs of massive wings beat behind it. Its tail, as long as its body, swayed freely.
Its entire body was black. On either side of its chest were dark crimson spots that looked like gemstones, yet eerily resembled eyes. There were no feathers, only exposed skin covered in jet-black, hardened dragon scales. Its gaze was vicious, its teeth razor-sharp, its claws seemingly able to tear anything apart, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
The dragon's silhouette sank lower and lower, until it became a figure about the same height as the skeleton, horns still crowning its head. It smiled at him as it spoke.
(PS: The protagonist is a Dragonoid. Since the game can't pick the dragon race, the protagonist obtained a special class [Dragonslayer]. Combined with grinding day and night, he gained the ability to transform into a dragon.)
"Seriously… it wasn't easy. Just the two of us actually cleared a world boss, and it was the hardest dragon-type boss, too."
Momonga, the undead player, couldn't help but marvel.
It was something he never would have dared imagine before. If someone had told him two people could defeat a world boss, he would have thought they'd lost their mind, unless they were using world-class items.
"Naohara, we really owe this one to your special skills. Otherwise I'd have been killed ages ago."
Looking at his friend, Momonga, also known as Suzuki Satoru, said excitedly. This raid had depended heavily on Naohara's special class, [Dragonslayer]. Without it, the outcome was hard to say.
"And if you hadn't buffed me and thrown out all those disruptive curse and debuff spells, I wouldn't have been able to hold it back."
Naohara waved it off. They might have looked evenly matched, but that was only on the surface. Without Momonga's buffs on him and the debuffs on the boss, he really wouldn't have been able to fight it.
Even like this, he had already revived three times. One more death and he would have been sent back to the respawn point. [Dragonslayer] was strong, but it wasn't a cheat code.
To this day, there had never been a case of a same-level world boss being killed by a single person.
They had spent months preparing. Even then, clearing it with just two people, plus several world-class items, had been lucky.
Of course, if you're cheating, then forget everything he just said.
Special Class: [Dragonslayer]
"Born a Dragonoid, yet standing in opposition to dragons. But the youth who slays dragons will one day become a dragon."
"Ability 1: Dragon Lord Transformation"
"After bathing in countless dragon blood, you have undoubtedly gained the power to become a dragon. Once you transform into a giant dragon, your attack and defense will increase dramatically."
"Ability 2: Dragon Blood Sacrifice"
"Bathing in a dragon's blood will make you stronger. Go. Hunt every pure-blooded dragon across the continent. They will become your strength.
(After killing a certain number of pure-blooded dragons and bathing in their blood, your attributes will receive a small increase.)"
"Ability 3: Dragon Soul Resurrection"
"The dragon soul does not perish. When you die, you can resurrect immediately and remove all negative effects. (Limited to three times per day.)"
"Ability 4: Ruler of Dragons"
"Damage dealt to dragon-type creatures increases by 50%."
"Ability 5: Fallen Dragon Transformation"
Enter a bleeding state, losing 1% of maximum HP every 10 seconds, increasing damage dealt by 5%."