The warlord's movements became even more erratic—faster, stronger, but reckless. His body pulsed with unstable energy, veins bulging like they were about to explode.
His breathing grew ragged, but his rage only deepened.
"Vermin… I'll crush you all!" he bellowed, his voice shaking the chamber.
He lunged, and the ground shattered beneath him.
BOOM!
I barely managed to react—Phantom Step activated instinctively.
A blur—then impact.
A shockwave erupted from where I had been standing, the sheer force obliterating the stone floor. If I had been a second slower—I'd be dead.
Vance and Dane were forced back, struggling to hold their ground.
My two shadow warriors dodged and weaved, but the warlord was adapting.
I clenched my fists. "He's burning himself out," I muttered, watching his erratic movements. "But not fast enough."
Dane wiped the blood from his mouth, gripping his hammer tighter. "Then we speed it up."
Vance nodded. "We go all in. Kid, keep the pressure with your summons—we'll handle the rest."
I exhaled sharply and focused.
I raised my hand, and poured everything into my connection with the Eclipse Legion.
The warlord snarled, eyes flaring with hatred.
But beneath that, I saw a flicker of uncertainty
"Go!" I commanded.
My shadow warriors rushed him from all sides.
The warlord roared, swinging wildly. His fists breaking through bodies of darkness, dispersing them one by one, but the moment he turned to strike one, two more attacked from the opposite side.
Dane and Vance used the openings, their weapons cutting into his flesh with every staggered movement.
The warlord howled in fury, but his body was failing. The once unstoppable swings of his blade is now sluggish, lacking their former force. And then, His legs buckled beneath him.
The unstable energy within him reached its limit.
His massive body trembled as veins began rupturing—red mist leaking from his pores.
I narrowed my eyes. "Time to end this."
I sprinted forward, Phantom Step activating in full.
The warlord tried to raise his arm to strike, but I was already gone.
I reappeared behind him.
My dagger, coated in shadowed mana, plunged into his exposed nape.
CRACK!
His body froze. For a moment, there is silence. Then, a guttural, a deafening roar ripped through the chamber, shaking the very foundations of the castle.
Before I could react, a massive hand clamped around my entire torso.
"What?!"
The warlord's grip tightened like a vice, crushing the air from my lungs. His body convulsed, his rage fueling him beyond death itself.
CRASH!
With monstrous strength, he hurled me across the room. My body smashed into the throne, the force sending cracks running up its obsidian surface.
Pain exploded through me. I gasped, vision blurring from the impact.
But I wasn't the only one. My shadow warriors were sent flying as well.
The warlord exhaled heavily, his massive form looming over me, murder burning in his crimson eyes.
He raised his weapon—a jagged, bloodstained cleaver large enough to carve through a building.
This was it. I couldn't move in time. This was—
CLANG!
The sound of steel clashing against steel rang through the air.
Vance and Dane.
Both of them stood before me, weapons locked against the warlord's cleaver. Their bodies trembled suggesting they were at their limit. But still, they fought.
"We're not letting you die here, kid." Vance gritted his teeth, veins bulging against his skin as he pushed back against the warlord's crushing strength.
Dane, his breath ragged, let out a strained chuckle. "Damn… this bastard's strong… but not unkillable."
The warlord pressed down harder. The ground beneath them cracked.
I saw the struggle in their eyes, they had nothing left. And yet, they smiled at me.
"Ryzen…" Vance exhaled sharply. "We're out. It's your turn now."
Before I could say anything, the warlord let out a guttural snarl.
His cleaver swung.
Blood sprayed.
Vance's sword—shattered and Dane's hammer—split in two.
A moment later, their limbs fell to the ground.
They collapsed, their bodies hitting the floor in a pool of their own blood.
I stared. My mind refused to register what just happened.
Something inside me snapped.
A white-hot fury erupted in my chest, overwhelming everything else.
Pain, exhaustion, fear, none of it mattered anymore.
I clenched my dagger so tightly that my knuckles went white.
With a fractured body, I lunged forward. My remaining shadows surged beside me.
The warlord turned, his expression twisting into amusement until I drove my dagger directly into his eye.
Squelch.
The warlord let out a bloodcurdling scream. His body lurched back, hands clawing at his ruined eye.
But I wasn't done. Using Phantom Step, I reappeared above him, and stabbed his other eye.
The warlord's scream tore through the chamber, a guttural, inhuman wail that sent vibrations through the stone walls.
He staggered back, both eyes reduced to nothing but gaping wounds, blackened blood spilling down his grotesque face. His massive hands clawed at his ruined vision, his roars filled with unfiltered rage and agony.
I screamed and said, "You bastards! You took everything from me since the beginning!"
My family ten years ago...Roth, Vance and Dane—their lives, their sacrifice..
My remaining shadows surged forward. Their forms flickered and twisted, their weapons raised high. The last elite orcs, now nothing more than manifestations of my will, let out soundless war cries as they converged on the warlord's massive body.
He swung wildly, his blade cleaving through the air, but he was blind now. His movements were slower, reckless.
"Pin him down!" I commanded.
The shadows moved instantly. The one shadow latched onto his arms, his blackened weapon impaling his shoulders, locking his movements in place.
The other one plunged his blades into his legs, forcing him down to one knee.
The warlord howled. His whole body shook with violent resistance, his sheer strength enough to shatter boulders, but my shadows wouldn't let go. And neither would I.
With every last ounce of strength left in my body, I shot forward.
Phantom Step activated.
The world blurred, and I reappeared above him.
My dagger, bathed in shadowed mana, aimed directly for his skull.
His face twisted in raw fury.
"YOU—"
I brought my blade down.
The moment my dagger pierced through his skull, the warlord's body seized. His roar died in his throat. The energy faded from his limbs.
For a second, he seemed frozen in time. Then, a deep, sickening crack.
His massive body collapsed to the ground, motionless.
[Main Quest Complete.]
[You have slain the Dungeon Boss: Orc Warlord.]
[Rewards will be distributed shortly.]
I barely had time to process the notifications before my legs gave out.
The exhaustion finally crashed into me like a tidal wave, and I fell to my knees, panting. My entire body ached, my vision swimming from the sheer overuse of my skills.
Darkness clawed at the edges of my vision. My breath came in ragged gasps, my body refusing to move. Every muscle screamed in protest, drained beyond its limits. I was spent.
The battlefield blurred around me—bloodied stone, shattered weapons, and the lifeless bodies of Roth, Dane and Vance. I tried to reach out, but my fingers barely twitched.
I couldn't save them.
A sharp pain flared in my chest, but whether it was from my injuries or the weight of failure, I couldn't tell. The ground beneath me felt unsteady, as if the entire dungeon was collapsing in on itself. Or maybe it was just me.
A bitter taste filled my mouth: Blood.
I tried to hold on, to fight against the overwhelming pull of unconsciousness.
I exhaled one last shaky breath, and everything went black.