The Branch of Gaag'Shebla

A choked scream tore from Ping Lei’s throat as he was hurled out of the altar’s boundary.

A single mage, his entire body wrapped in a pitch-black robe, floated thirty centimeters above the ground before slowly descending.

The voice boomed and resonated with an eerie echo. Crimson letters shimmered across the surface of the black robe.

It was the boss monster that only appeared after all eleven altars’ hostages had been freed. Mana from the negative dimension swirled violently around it. The source of the black clouds blanketing the sky was none other than this creature.

“You… son of a bitch!”

Ping Lei, sprawled on the ground, spat out a curse.

The black robe swayed.

Just before a bolt of black lightning could pierce Ping Lei’s skull, Jiyoung reacted instantly and deployed her Vibration Barrier. A single layer wasn’t enough to completely nullify the power. At that critical moment, Ping Lei instinctively circulated his internal energy to shield his body from the lightning.

Had his martial arts been deeper, he might have manifested a protective qi barrier to block it outright. But his level was still too low; the best he could manage was avoiding instant death.

“Heal.”

A soft glow flowed from my hand. It was a skill I’d obtained from the essence of a Kobold Priest, a monster that appeared on the sixteenth floor.

“Cough… Team Leader, you can even use healing magic…?”

“I’ve picked up quite a few tricks.”

Ping Lei stared at me like I was some kind of monster. I rather liked that look in his eyes. All the effort I’d put into “sparring” with him whenever I had the time was finally paying off.

“What’s so scary about a little lightning?”

The thing wearing the black rag—Gaag'Shebla, or whatever—spread both arms wide with a dramatic flourish.

“N-no… ughhhhh!”

“Gurgh! Uuuuugh.”

The remaining dark mages clutched at their own throats or foamed at the mouth before collapsing. It was a skill that absorbed life force and converted it into dark mana. The black-robed bastard poured that power into the chimeras.

The scattered chimera corpses began to twitch violently. With sickening cracks of bone and muscle twisting, they rose to their feet.

Chimera Ghouls.

They had already been hideous, but turning them into undead made them even more grotesque.

“Team Leader, can’t you intercept it with magic like before?” Ping Lei asked, his tone noticeably more obedient.

“That only takes a minute.”

“Damn it. So we have to take down all these ghouls first.”

“What, too hard for you?”

Ping Lei stared at me for a moment, then snorted.

“Hmph! A crisis like this is nothing to a proud warrior of the great Middle Kingdom!”

With that, he began slaughtering the chimera ghouls.

“You really are mischievous.”

“I agree.”

Both Nyx and Jiyoung scolded me.

Come on. All I did was give the guy a little motivation. Why are you two acting like I’m the villain here?

“Jiyoung.”

“Yes. Leave defense to me.”

“Then I shall guard Jiyoung in your stead.”

They were perfectly in sync.

“I’m counting on you two.”

This fight would only grow more favorable for the rag-wearing bastard the longer it dragged on. The ghouls were made from chimeras that possessed regenerative abilities. Even if their heads or hearts were destroyed, as long as dark mana was supplied, they would regenerate—and faster than normal ghouls at that.

These chimeras had been designed from the very beginning with the intention of turning them into undead weapons.

“Both of you, come closer to me.”

Karla and Ping Lei fought their way through the chimera ghouls and retreated to my side.

“Team Leader, what are your next orders?”

“Please give us a plan. At this rate my internal energy will run out first.”

I pointed at the altar.

“From now on, pretend we’re carving a path straight toward that thing.”

“Pretend…?”

“Understood.”

Two completely different reactions. Yet even though their thoughts differed, their movements were perfectly coordinated.

Blazing Sword.

Accelerate.

Internal energy carrying an extremely yang nature erupted from the blade. The scythe trembled violently as it tore apart the chimera ghoul’s body.

The rag scattered dark mana. Normally, a ghoul completely destroyed like that would be impossible to regenerate. But because the base was a chimera specialized in recovery, restoration through dark mana was still possible.

Of course…

As long as there was a corpse left to restore with dark mana, that is.

“Thanks for the meal.”

I grinned.

Originally, there were two standard strategies for dealing with the Branch of Gaag'Shebla. Either burn every single chimera corpse before the boss appeared, or ignore the chimera ghouls entirely and pour all firepower onto the boss monster.

But what would happen if I used Devour to completely erase the very “corpses” needed to create those ghouls?

“The essence tastes pretty sweet.”

I’d even gained the ghoul’s essence. Two birds with one stone.

An intense wave of mana began gathering around the rag. My Magic Eye didn’t miss a single movement of that flow.

Just like with Ping Lei, a black bolt of lightning fell from the sky. Even though the lightning reached its target in an instant, reading the exact timing of the spell’s activation was enough to respond.

I manifested Polar Night at an angle and redirected the dark lightning. I couldn’t deflect all of the force, but the remaining energy was easily handled by the defensive power of the thorn armor covering my body.

Bright red eyes flashed from within the robe. Its gaze was locked onto me and showed no sign of moving.

“Are you done preparing?”

The black robe fluttered wildly. A massive amount of dark mana began to move.

Looks like I’ve drawn its full aggro.

“Halfway there.”

Swallowing my laughter, I met the rag’s onslaught head-on.

The Branch of Gaag'Shebla was a boss that was extremely difficult to defeat using standard methods.

It sacrificed dark mages to obtain dark mana, commanded an army of chimeras created specifically to be raised as undead, and possessed high magical prowess. For an Iron-rank player, simply enduring its attacks was nearly impossible.

In 2025, it was a boss monster with almost no publicly available information.

However…

The monster that would later be called the Iron Slayer in the future…

It let out a despair-filled scream.

“What’s wrong? Something not going your way?”

The dark mana rapidly rearranged itself.

Ratatatat! Finger-sized magic bullets poured down like gunfire.

“Hah!”

Jiyoung’s shout rang out as a hexagonal barrier formed between me and the rag. The bullets slammed into it. The barrier shattered after only a few moments, but a second and third wall immediately rose behind it.

“I will not allow you to touch my master.”

Lightning flashed within the black clouds. It was the precursor to the rag’s signature skill, Dark Thunder.

Shwaaaaak!

An ice spear, its power amplified by the Blessing of Gluttony, flew straight at the rag. The creature immediately canceled its spell and used a defensive magic to deflect the spear.

“That trick is way too obvious.”

After observing the rag’s magic for a while, I had learned to predict what spell it was preparing just by reading the unique wavelength of its dark mana. Offensive spells were left to Jiyoung. Spells like Dark Thunder that were difficult to react to were preemptively blocked with Ice Spear.

“Is that the only word you know?”

The rag’s spells were blocked at every turn, and the chimera ghouls were steadily falling one by one thanks to my teammates’ efforts.

A passive skill that reduced the body’s stiffening when injured. Since I couldn’t use Rage of the Vengeful Spirit every single time, it was quite a useful essence.

Once most of the chimera ghouls had been eliminated, we began focusing our full strength on the boss.

“Attack from three directions.”

Karla and Ping Lei split to the left and right. The rag’s robe fluttered.

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Bang!

I was sent flying before I could even resist the curse. It had been aiming for me from the very beginning.

I activated both full-speed sprint and Cloud Flow Steps at the same time. While I closed the distance again, the two teammates who had split left and right launched their attacks first.

Spatial Compression.

Thousand Kill.

The moment Karla’s scythe was about to reach the rag, the creature’s red eyes flashed and it stretched out a withered hand. Dark mana condensed at its fingertips. It was the same spell it had used earlier—Black Bullet.

Magic bullets fired at point-blank range. Karla twisted the trajectory using spatial distortion. The attack meant for her heart only grazed her shoulder. Even as she let out a short groan, she swung her scythe.

The robe tore apart. Through the gap, the emaciated body of the Branch of Gaag'Shebla was revealed. Black blood gushed from the wound left by the scythe.

It released all the dark mana it had gathered at once. The massive wave of dark mana pushed Karla out of the altar. She must not have been able to withstand the force after already sustaining an injury.

“You’re ignoring me?!”

Twin blades that sliced through the darkness. Ping Lei, arriving a beat later, swung both swords.

Its fingers turned pitch black. When the Branch of Gaag'Shebla opened its hand, an enlarged dark palm struck away Ping Lei’s twin blades. Blood spurted from Ping Lei’s mouth.

“Who said I was getting pushed back?!”

With both eyes wide open, he endured the Dark Hand.

“Both of you held up well.”

I had already taken position behind the Branch of Gaag'Shebla.

Looks like I ended up taking the final blow by accident. Well, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat this thing without me anyway.

If it hadn’t chosen me as the target of Banish, it would have died much earlier.

My clenched fist pierced straight through the boss’s chest.

Bang!

A gaping hole appeared in the center of its torso. Yet the red glow in the Branch of Gaag'Shebla’s eyes did not fade.

“Shut up.”

I followed up with Sharp Claws, using the reinforced nails to unleash Mountain Lord’s Blue Wave Claw.

Shraaaaaak!

From torso to head. The creature could no longer speak.

The Branch of Gaag'Shebla was a being blessed by Klyphoth. Although it was technically alive, it existed halfway in the realm of death. It was a monster that could only be completely destroyed by annihilating both its torso and head at the same time.

The moment it fell, the altar that had towered over the ground began to collapse.