Morning broke over the battered village.
Daric sat on a barrel, gnawing on a questionable sausage, staring grimly at the notification blinking in front of him:
[Hidden World Boss Awakening: The Feathered King]
[Threat Level: Catastrophic.]
[Survival Tip: Try not to look directly at the majesty.]
Kaelen stood nearby, polishing his frying pan-turned-shield.
"You ready?" he asked.
Daric wiped sausage grease off his mouth and stood.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he muttered.
The villagers gathered behind them, a ragtag army of farmers, bakers, and goats wearing makeshift armor. Children clutched slingshots. The buff goat wore a tiny helmet with a feather sticking out.
The time had come.
—
They marched toward the center of the Waddlelands—a sacred battleground foretold in legends that nobody had bothered reading because the ducks kept honking over the narrators.
An eerie silence enveloped the field.
Then the ground trembled.
Feathers fell from the sky like snow.
And through the mist strode the Feathered King.
An enormous peacock-like creature, resplendent with a crown of pure gold, armor adorned with shimmering feathers, and a cape woven from the finest silk.
He radiated an aura of smugness so powerful that several villagers fainted immediately.
Daric squinted at the system message:
[World Boss: The Feathered King.]
[Level: Insultingly High.]
[Passive Skill: Royal Strut (+100% dodge chance while walking fabulous).]
[Active Skill: Smug Aura (reduces enemy morale by 50%).]
Daric groaned. "I already hate him."
The Feathered King regarded them all with disdain, then—slowly, mockingly—strutted forward.
Every step sparkled with magical fabulousness.
Kaelen muttered, "He's taunting us."
"He's styling on us," Daric corrected bitterly.
—
The battle began when the King snapped his feathers like a fan.
A shockwave of glitter exploded outward.
Daric barely raised his shield in time.
Kaelen was less lucky, getting a full blast of glitter straight to the face.
He coughed. "Tastes like... pompousness."
Villagers launched their attack.
Bread catapults fired.
Children pelted him with pastries.
The buff goat headbutted a duck lieutenant clean into orbit.
Yet the Feathered King evaded every strike with irritating grace, pirouetting through arrows, moonwalking past fireballs.
Daric gritted his teeth.
They needed a new tactic.
"Aim for the ego!" he shouted.
They tried insults:
"Nice tail, Your Highness! Looks like you lost a fight with a rainbow!"
"I've seen fancier birds at a soup kitchen!"
The King's smugness faltered.
Slightly.
Enough.
Kaelen charged with his frying pan.
Daric sprinted alongside him, brandishing the Shovel of Destiny (recently upgraded with duct tape and spite).
They clashed with the King in a ridiculous, glitter-soaked brawl.
Every time the King struck, he left trails of fabulous explosions.
Every time Daric countered, he yelled increasingly dumb battle cries:
"For the glory of breakfast!"
"Down with sparkly dictatorships!"
"I reject your glitter-based monarchy!"
The villagers rallied.
The buff goat led a cavalry charge.
Children unleashed the Secret Weapon: dozens of hyperactive ferrets with bows.
Bit by bit, they pushed the King back.
—
But the King had one final move.
Raising his wings to the heavens, he summoned his ultimate ability:
Featherfall Apocalypse.
The sky darkened.
Thousands of enchanted feathers rained down, exploding on impact, releasing blinding clouds of smugness.
Daric stumbled through the chaos.
Kaelen disappeared into the smoke.
The villagers scattered.
"No!" Daric roared, slamming the Shovel of Destiny into the ground.
[Emergency Skill Unlocked: Anti-Smug Aura]
[You have gained temporary immunity to fabulousness.]
Daric felt a shield of pure, stubborn refusal harden around him.
He charged.
Through the explosions.
Through the glitter.
Straight toward the Feathered King.
The King saw him coming.
They collided in an epic duel—shovel vs. bejeweled scepter.
Sparks flew.
The music swelled (probably in Daric's head).
It ended when Daric, channeling every ounce of rage, embarrassment, and poultry-induced trauma, ducked under the King's last swing and drove his shovel into the crown.
The crown cracked.
The King's eyes widened.
And with a thunderous, fabulous explosion of feathers, he fell.
System messages flooded the sky:
[World Boss Defeated: The Feathered King.]
[Essence Gained: 100,000.]
[Legendary Title Unlocked: Monarch Slayer (and Still a Bit Glittery).]
Cheers erupted.
Villagers wept openly.
The buff goat flexed triumphantly.
Kaelen reappeared, covered in ferrets and glory.
Daric stood atop the fallen King, raising the shattered crown high.
He was victorious.
He was glorious.
He was... still very sparkly.
But he had saved the world.
For now.
Because somewhere, far away, another notification quietly blinked into existence.
[New Threat Awakening: The Egg Emperor.]
Daric sighed, smiled, and hefted his trusty shovel.
"Bring it on," he whispered.