The Former Hero's Greatsword
Boss down. Next. I kept cutting down the ghosts pouring in, one after another. The tank still had plenty of health left. The priest looked like he could hold on too, so I sliced through the ghosts in front of me all at once and charged straight at the boss.
“Heh~”
Humming along to the boss’s theme, I hammered the keyboard. Unlike other weapons, this greatsword had no flashy effects—just raw attack power. I’d tried every weapon at least once, but the greatsword was still the most fun. Something about that heavy, crude feel.
“Parry here.”
Clang—!
I raised my sword right on the boss’s attack timing. Another crisp metallic ring echoed across the battlefield, and every ghost’s attention snapped to me.
“Heh.”
I glanced at the chat for a second before focusing back on the game. My lips stayed curled upward, refusing to come down. I weaved between the incoming ghosts, positioning them so they lined up with the boss.
At that single short message, the tank and priest reacted instantly.
The tank’s roar shook the battlefield while the priest’s prayer slammed into my ears. Once the buffs landed, I started unloading combos. Every swing of the greatsword swept away dozens of ghosts and piled damage onto the boss. Ghostly wails, the priest and tank’s attacks, and the boss’s roars filled the field.
“Ultimate here.”
[Huuup—]
My character drew in a short breath and light gathered on the greatsword. A faint glow, barely visible unless you were really paying attention. The light swung forward, warping the space where the ghosts and boss stood.
[Krrgh…!]
The boss staggered, and every ghost vanished.
“Okay, free damage time.”
I raised the greatsword and slammed it down, swung horizontally, then used the momentum for another strike. After a few combos the boss’s stagger ended. Its health was already down to fifty percent.
“Phase two coming up.”
The boss rose, planted its sword in the ground, and began to pray. The goddess granted power to her fallen follower. The boss stood again, pulling out a massive greatsword wreathed in yellow light.
“Kya, this is it.”
Whoosh—!
The battlefield changed. A peaceful, endless meadow. No special mechanics—just a fragment of the boss’s old memories. The boss, now in an environment that favored it, charged straight at me.
“Gotta dodge this one.”
Whoosh—!
The greatsword sliced through empty air and the boss’s stance broke. I spammed keys for the only buff skill available to greatsword users.
[Finally… I can see you.]
With the short line, the world slowed. A white outline appeared around the boss and glowing circular markers showed up—hit those for bonus damage. I dashed around, even jumping when needed, and landed every single one. The moment the skill ended, massive damage exploded onto the boss.
Just like the priest said, that skill had such high difficulty it was basically taboo even among greatsword users. But hey, if you can hit everything, why not?
“You guys are all so weak. Tsk tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and checked the boss’s health. Thirty percent left.
“Almost…”
Before I could finish, the boss used a skill. Two thick walls appeared a short distance away from it.
A red zone appeared beneath my feet—an AoE. Yeah, the same skill that killed me last run. The tank was close to a wall, but the priest was way too far. With his movement speed he’d die right in front of the wall. The priest noticed too and stopped, swearing.
Whatever. The priest was dead, so I ignored him and hid behind the wall opposite the tank.
“Huu…”
Next came the desperate last-phase pattern. Whether the two of us could survive it was the question, but if we did, we could definitely finish the boss. I typed orders to the tank from behind the wall.
Fwoosh—
Flames erupted from the glowing red zone.
[Krrgh… Damn it…]
With the priest’s dying scream, his body turned to ash and scattered. Only the tank and I remained.
A pure white light wrapped around the boss’s greatsword. Getting hit would leave a debuff that neither potions nor the priest’s heals could remove. More ghosts crawled out of the darkness—a Death Knight wielding a massive purple greatsword, an Archer who once pierced the sky, a muscular warrior with a heavy shield and hearty smile, and even a saintess kneeling behind the boss, weeping blood as she prayed.
The moment the boss spoke, the ghosts rushed us. Purple sword energy poured from the Death Knight’s blade. The immovable shield flew toward me like a rooted tree. Arrows shot from the Archer’s bow, tearing holes in the sky from which monsters poured alongside a rain of arrows.
“Hah, the production is actually insane.”
This was why I couldn’t quit this game. I raised my greatsword to deflect the sword energy, twisted to dodge the shield, ignored two ghosts, and dashed toward the praying saintess behind the boss.
Clang—!
Perfect parry. The boss’s greatsword had appeared right in front of me. The brief stun left me unable to dodge.
Clang—!
Then a familiar back appeared in front of me. The tank had stepped in and blocked the boss’s sword. The moment I confirmed it, the stun ended and I sprinted for the saintess. I used my ultimate. After a short charge, space warped.
[Huuup…]
The saintess collapsed without even a proper death cry. Once she was down, I turned straight to the boss. The tank had already fallen back, holding off the Archer, Death Knight, and the other tank. His health was at half. I needed to end this fast before things got dangerous.
Watching the boss’s greatsword fall toward me, I timed my parry perfectly.
Clang—!
I dumped every off-cooldown skill into the staggered boss.
Whoosh, boom, crack, crunch—
Every sound rang out as the boss’s health visibly plummeted. I chained into the next skill.
[Haa… Finally, I can see you.]
The world slowed again. Markers appeared on the boss and every remaining ghost. I hit every boss marker, then tagged a few ghost markers in the remaining time. The last hit landed on the fallen saintess just as the skill ended.
CRACK—!!
Every enemy staggered at once, taking massive damage. The boss’s health dropped to eight percent.
“Time to wrap this up~”
Crunch—!
With a crushing sound, the game ended.
Last run I got flamed, but this time the chat was flooded with praise. I let out a quiet hum.
“Mmm…”
Strangely, the compliments didn’t feel as good as the insults from last run. Not that I was a masochist or anything. It was just… more fun when people got mad.
Thinking that, I checked the boss’s drops.
— Former Saintess’s Talisman
— Relic of the Fallen Shield
— Former Hero’s Greatsword
“Oh!”
The greatsword. It finally dropped. I immediately typed in chat.
Luckily, no one objected. I finished distributing the loot and checked the greatsword now sitting in my inventory.
A greatsword once wielded by a hero. Though it once fell, it awaits the day it will shine again in the hands of the next hero.
Attack Power: 450
Damage Lifesteal: 5% (Cannot be equipped by anyone except the special class ‘Sword Saint’)
“Whoa…”
How many raids had I run just to get this? I immediately mailed it to my alt and closed the game.
“Haaaa… I’m so tired…”
The sun was setting, painting the sky red. A few clouds drifted overhead. I walked to my bed and flopped down. The house was quiet except for faint background noise. Lying there, I stared blankly at the ceiling. My body had suddenly changed, but daily life hadn’t.
“Yeah. That’s enough.”
After tossing and turning for a long while, I finally drifted off to sleep.