The moment they stepped through the massive door onto the 50th floor, an oppressive wave of holy power washed over them, so immense it nearly brought them to their knees. The stone chamber around them dissolved like a mirage, the walls and ceiling melting away to reveal a dense, humid jungle.
High above, sitting on a branch, was the small goblin creature they had seen before. He watched them with sad, knowing eyes, as if he knew they were walking to their deaths.
Everyone was on high alert. Kaelen, Zarya, Nyx, and Luna formed the front line, their weapons drawn. They knew a powerful being was here.
Suddenly, Liam's System blazed.
> BOSS DETECTED
> * Name: Light General (6th)
> * Level: 180
> * Strength: 900
> * Agility: 900
> * Endurance: 900
> * Magic: 950
> * Type: Light
> * Health: 60000/60000
>
"BE CAREFUL!" Liam screamed, but it was too late.
A figure appeared before them, moving with a speed so blinding that no one but Liam could even perceive it. In a flash of white and gold, the Light General stood there, his hands already wrapped around the necks of Luna and Nyx, lifting them effortlessly off the ground.
"ATTACK!" Kaelen roared, charging forward.
The General didn't even look at him. While still holding the two girls, he lashed out with a kick, an uppercut so impossibly fast and powerful that it snapped Kaelen's head clean off his shoulders. His body crumpled to the ground, his head flying through the air. He was dead in an instant.
Liam's mind went numb. He couldn't heal a body without a head.
Seraphina and Zarya let out piercing screams of terror. Garrus collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "I want to live!" he sobbed. "I want to go back to my sister!"
The General looked at the two struggling girls in his grasp. "They told me not to kill these two," he said, his voice calm and melodic, "but both of you are demons. I will have fun with both of you later." His hands began to glow with a brilliant light, and both Luna and Nyx went limp, unconscious. He tossed them to the floor. "Take them," he commanded the goblin in the tree. The creature leaped down, placed its hands on the girls, and all three vanished.
The General's cold, radiant eyes finally settled on Liam. "You are Liam, am I right? You brought these people to their death. When all of them have died, it will be your fault."
He moved, a blur of lightning speed, straight for the weeping Garrus. "I don't want to go down easy!" Garrus cried, desperately activating his shield.
A second before the General's hand could shatter the shield and end Garrus's life, Liam intervened. He slammed into the General with the full force of his power, sending the holy warrior flying backward into a tree with a sound like thunder.
The General stood up, brushing a piece of bark from his shoulder. "Waw," he said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "That was a hit. You cracked part of my armor." He vanished again.
The fight began. To the terrified survivors, it was incomprehensible. They could only see two lines of light—one a deep, abyssal dark, the other a blinding, holy white—colliding and dancing through the air and across the jungle floor. Every time the lights touched the ground, trees were sheared in half, the earth torn asunder.
The General appeared before Liam and landed a devastating blow to his face, throwing him to the ground. Liam's vision swam, his entire body screaming in protest. He forced himself to check his status, and the information that flashed in his mind was grim.
> Liam – Level 186/∞
> * Title: The General
> * Strength: 920
> * Agility: 920
> * Endurance: 920
> * Magic: 920
> * Dark Force: 420
> * Green Attributes: 95 (Harmony - Tier 1)
> * Light Attributes: 70 (Inherited - Tier 1)
> * Health: 27000/54000
> * Status: Heavily Damaged, Bruised
>
Seeing this, he didn't hesitate. He stood, forcing his power to the surface. A brilliant green light enveloped his body, stitching wounds closed and mending bruised flesh. The healing was instantaneous, but the cost was staggering, as a new notification immediately confirmed.
> HEALING COMPLETE
> Liam – Level 186/∞
> * Title: The General
> * Strength: 920
> * Agility: 920
> * Endurance: 920
> * Magic: 120 / 920
> * Dark Force: 420
> * Green Attributes: 95 (Harmony - Tier 1)
> * Light Attributes: 70 (Inherited - Tier 1)
> * Health: 54000/54000
> * Status: Stable
>
His Health was full, but his Magic had been decimated, dropping from 920 to a mere 120. He knew he had to end this fight now, with what little power he had left, or they would all die.
Meanwhile, in a stone building hidden within the jungle illusion, Luna and Nyx awoke. They saw the goblin cowering in a corner. "Please," it whimpered, "I am tired of this slaughter. I only did what the General commanded." Luna looked at the pathetic creature, then to Nyx, who gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. "Vanish," Nyx commanded, her voice cold but without malice. The goblin, stunned by the mercy, scrambled away into the shadows. Without another thought for it, the two raced back towards the battle.
On the battlefield, the General landed, creating two ancient, glowing swords from pure light. He moved to attack. The swords were so fast Liam could only react to one, parrying it with his own dark energy. The other blade closed in on his neck, the air itself seeming to scream as it was cut.
Suddenly, a clang of steel echoed behind him. Nyx was there, her own sword clashing with the General's light-blade, knocking it aside. The opening was all Liam needed. He grabbed the General's freed wrist. His other hand, now glowing with Dark Force, became a machine. A fist slammed into the General's chest, again and again, each blow a detonation of shadow.
The General struggled, freeing his hand to strike back, but Luna arrived, her own attack slapping his arm away. "Master, take this!" she screamed, throwing the poison dagger.
Liam caught it. He grabbed the General with one hand, his other a blur, stabbing the poison dagger into the holy warrior over and over. Liam saw a massive tree nearby. He dragged the struggling General towards it and, with a final, desperate roar, slammed him against the trunk, driving the poisoned dagger through his chest and pinning him to the wood.
The General hung there, impaled. The light in his eyes faded. He was dead.
A series of notifications flooded Liam's senses.
> BOSS ELIMINATED
> * Enemy: Light General (6th)
> * Experience Gained: 20,000
> LEVEL UP! (x20)
> Liam – Level 206/∞
> * Title: The General
> * Strength: 1020
> * Agility: 1020
> * Endurance: 1020
> * Magic: 1020
> * Dark Force: 460
> * Green Attributes: 115 (Harmony - Tier 1)
> * Light Attributes: 90 (Inherited - Tier 1)
> * Health: 60000/60000