Quest Boss

“Slap! Slap! Slap!”

Crisp, resounding slaps echoed continuously as Bruce delivered a frenzy of slaps to three short, wretched kobolds in front of him.

Every single slap was packed with force, leaving the kobolds' heads ringing as they stood frozen in utter confusion.

They stared with wide, bewildered eyes at this bizarre kin, their minds an absolute blank.

By the time they finally snapped out of it and prepared to strike back in a rage, Momozi beside him delivered a swift Foshan Shadowless Kick—

The three kobolds hit the ground, tumbling into a tangled heap.

“Waaaagh!!!”

They shrieked as they scrambled back up, eyes spewing fire, wishing nothing more than to skin and eat these two offending bastards alive.

“That’s enough, Bruce...” Momozi warned in a low voice, keeping an eye on the frantic kobolds. “If we mess around any longer, they’re really going to fight to the death. Even a cornered dog will jump a wall.”

Bruce nodded and prepared to turn and beat it.

Suddenly, an intensely cold, brutal malice locked dead onto him!

It felt as if a vicious predator was sizing him up, sending a chill down his spine and making every hair on his body stand on end.

Bruce froze mid-motion.

His heart cold, he instinctively turned his head toward a certain direction.

Then he paled in shock.

Standing atop a pile of shattered ruins in the distance was an extraordinarily burly and terrifying figure.

Sharp fangs gleamed with a cold light, thick and grotesque claws were covered in dark scales, and its physique far surpassed that of an ordinary kobold, exuding an immense, suffocating pressure.

A pair of cold, lifeless vertical pupils stared down at him.

Its gaze was bone-chilling, overflowing with murderous intent.

Bruce’s brain short-circuited for a full second.

Having heard no response for a while, Momozi turned his head in confusion. “Bruce, what are you spacing out for?”

Then he saw Bruce standing stiff as a board, pointing a trembling finger off into the distance, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg.

“Holy—crap—?!”

Bruce finally squeezed out a high-pitched, drawn-out cry.

Momozi followed his finger—and froze as well.

“HOLY CRAP?!”

Momozi’s shout was even louder than Bruce’s, causing the nearby trees to shake.

The two exchanged a glance, reading the exact same thought on each other’s shocked faces:

That size, that aura, that sheer intimidation—

“We caught a big fish! We pulled the BOSS!” Bruce’s voice couldn't stop trembling—not out of fear, but sheer, unadulterated excitement. “Quick, message everyone!”

“This BOSS is definitely something else! From the looks of it, it’s at least Bronze Rank!” Momozi was equally thrilled. As he spoke, he used the in-game screenshot feature to take a picture of the boss, then began furiously typing in the public chat channel:

“[Screenshot] BOSS HAS APPEARED!! Level unknown, but I reckon at least level 20+!”

After sending the message, the two didn't hesitate for a single second. True to the principle that discretion is the better part of valor, they spun around and bolted.

High upon the ruins, Black Tooth looked down coldly at the two fleeing “kobolds.” Judging by their reactions just now, they were clearly humans in disguise.

Human adventurers... Hmph. Human adventurers killed by its hands due to carelessness and contempt were as numerous as hair on an ox. Its stronghold held plenty of damaged weapons and armor—trophies won from those slaughtered adventurers.

Furthermore, under Black Tooth's observation, these two humans were far inferior to the ones before. They actually needed to disguise themselves and sneak in just to deal with ordinary kobolds, relying entirely on cheap, petty tricks.

What did that mean? It meant they lacked confidence and were terrified.

At that thought, Black Tooth fixed its glare on their retreating backs as its Bronze Rank aura erupted outward.

A cruel grin curved across its mouth.

“Humans...”

“You kill so many of my kin, and now you want to run?”

With those words, Black Tooth kicked off with its powerful legs, leaping down from the ruins several meters high!

The heavy impact shook the ground, sending loose stones and dust flying everywhere.

Running out in front, Bruce and Momozi both stumbled as they felt the ground shudder behind them, their scalps instantly going numb.

“It’s chasing us!” Bruce cried out in shock.

“No crap! I see it!” Momozi didn't dare look back, running like the wind.

“Can we outrun it?!”

“Even if we can’t, we have to! Head straight for the ambush spot! I refuse to believe over a hundred of us can’t beat one BOSS. We’ll show him what’s what!”

As they spoke, the heavy thudding of footsteps behind them grew steadily closer.

Exchanging a quick look, the two pushed their speed to the absolute limit and sprinted for their lives.

Farther off, the players at the ambush site received the notification, and the chat exploded immediately:

“Holy crap?! A BOSS?!”

“Bronze Rank?!”

“Quick, quick, quick! Get ready!”

“My broadsword is already thirsty for blood!”

“Finally a BOSS fight? I’m getting hyped!”

“Bruce! Momozi! Hang in there! We’re coming to reinforce you!”

“Wait, you mean, 'BOSS, hang in there! We’re coming to gank you!'”

“Makes sense. Press F to pay respects to the BOSS for three seconds.”

...

“Hmm? A boss?” Iluvia raised her delicate eyebrows slightly, a hint of curiosity flickering in her eyes.

She had been peeping... well, strictly speaking, closely monitoring the players' movements, so their shocked, excited, and goofy conversations naturally hadn't escaped her attention.

“Where did a boss come from?”

Iluvia hadn't thoroughly inspected the kobold stronghold earlier, having only roughly gauged their overall strength.

After all, the probability of the kobold race producing a Class Holder was practically nonexistent, unless they possessed a “Lord”—namely, a dragon.

But now...

Iluvia frowned.

After all, she genuinely hadn't sensed even a single trace of aura left behind by long-term dragon activity nearby.

After a brief thought, her brow smoothed out, and a faint smile even touched the corners of her lips.

“Mm... This main quest happened to be missing a proper boss to anchor the raid.”

To be honest, the original quest design was a bit too plain—just clearing out the kobold nest, without any decent boss-level monster arranged.

If the players simply cleared out the trash mobs and called it a day, it would lack the excitement of thrilling progression and the satisfaction of a raid boss fight.

Now that a boss had popped up out of nowhere, wasn't that just perfect?

Not only did it fill the void in the quest, but it would also allow this energetic bunch of players to experience a full-assembly, epic raid boss beatdown.

A quest with a boss was what you called a real quest.

Otherwise, if the players finished beating small mobs and called it a day, it would always feel like something was missing.

At that thought, Iluvia shifted her focus, immersing her consciousness into the Divine Spark Space.

Within the pale blue Divine Spark Space, two massive light orbs floated quietly—one white, one blue—their radiant streams interweaving in a sacred and magnificent display.

Iluvia approached the relatively smaller blue orb, her eyes softening slightly.

It not only represented Earth but also served as the primary core of the game system she had designed.

Around the blue light orb, two hundred blue light specks were slowly revolving like planets around a star.

They represented individual players, and by establishing a connection with them, Iluvia could completely "possess" a player and see through their first-person perspective.

This was a recent discovery Iluvia had made over the past few days.

However, it did consume a tiny bit of divine power.

Soon, she linked her vision to Bruce.

The moment she connected to his perspective, she heard Bruce screaming at the top of his lungs:

“HOLY CRAP!!! IT’S HUGE!!!”

Bruce was beyond shocked.

As his voice echoed, a massive dark energy ball shot forward from behind at the far edge of his vision, filling almost his entire field of view.

The surface of the dark energy ball surged with an ominous, dark purple sheen, radiating an unholy, frigid presence as it barreled straight toward Bruce and Momozi.

“HOLY SHIT?!”

The two cried out in unison. Without a second’s hesitation, their movements almost synchronized as they dove sideways by the skin of their teeth.

The dark energy ball slammed violently into the surrounding rubble!

A violent explosion erupted, blasting shattered rocks everywhere and sending dust swirling into the air, leaving a crater blasted straight into the ground.

Bruce rolled twice across the dirt and scrambled up messily, immediately noticing that the skin on his arm exposed to the shockwave had turned an eerie dark purple. At the same time, two glaring red debuffs flashed into his character status bar: [Weakened] and [Corroded].

“Gasp?! Getting hit by this skill actually inflicts debuffs?!”

“This BOSS is cheap as hell!”

There was no time for shock or complaints. Looking up, Bruce saw dense, dark magic gathering in the kobold BOSS’s maw once again, a second energy ball primed and ready to fire!

At this sight, Bruce groaned internally.

Not daring to tarry any longer, he resumed running for his life.

Momozi trailed right behind him, cursing as he ran: “What the hell is with this kobold?! It even has ranged skills!”

“This guy’s tough, move it!”

Bickering as they ran, the tall shadow behind them drew closer and closer.

And now, Iluvia finally saw the full appearance of this unexpected boss.

It was indeed a kobold.

However, it was entirely different from ordinary kobolds.

Standing three meters tall with dark green scales covering its body, its muscles bulged heavily. A ferocious grin played across its face, and its eyes held the playful amusement of a cat toying with a mouse.

Bronze Rank... No, it wasn't just a regular Bronze Rank, but had reached High-tier Bronze Rank.

A High-tier Bronze Rank kobold?

Wait! No, this was actually a dragon-blooded kobold?!

Iluvia’s heart sank.

Dragon-blooded kobolds usually appeared alongside dragons as high-ranking vassals; they rarely existed independently.

Furthermore, the birth of a dragon-blooded kobold was almost always due to residing near a dragon’s lair over a long period, serving the dragon and becoming tainted by its aura, triggering a bloodline draconic transformation.

Yet the key issue was that she truly hadn't detected even the slightest trace of dragon activity here.

Let alone an actual dragon, she hadn't found a single stray dragon scale or residual dragon breath.

On the continent of Aenoria, whether greedy and evil Chromatic Dragons, righteous and good Metallic Dragons, neutral Gem Dragons, or other specialized dragon breeds, all shared the habit of patrolling their territories daily. If a dragon resided in Starfall Forest... logically, it should patrol its territory. Yet in the nearly full month since Iluvia arrived in this world, she hadn't seen a single sign of one.

This was strange and utterly illogical.

Iluvia stared at the kobold, feeling increasingly certain that something was off.

Moreover, its aura...

How should she put it? There was an indescribable... sense of incongruity, along with an aura that conflicted directly with her own power.

“Strange...”

Iluvia muttered softly, her golden eyes narrowing slightly.

However, she quickly pulled her thoughts back.

No matter how this kobold came to be, now that it had appeared, it was just as well.

Looking at the two fleeing awkwardly in her field of vision, the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly.

“Bruce and Momozi, was it?”

With a single thought, a system announcement broadcasted instantly—

[Ding—]

[Server Announcement: Players "Bruce" and "Momozi" have triggered a hidden quest!]

[Hidden Quest: Kobold Chief (Level 35 / High-tier Bronze Rank)]

[Quest Objective: Slay the Kobold Chief]

[Event Description: Your actions have utterly enraged the chief of the kobolds, and it is currently pursuing you. Defeating it will severely weaken the resistance of the kobold nest.]

[Quest Rewards: Participants in the kill will receive bonus EXP and Merit Points.]

[Quest Hint: This chief is a High-tier Bronze Rank. It is recommended that all players unite and fight cooperatively.]

The announcement instantly set off a frenzy among the players.

“HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP!!!”

“A BOSS! IT REALLY IS A BOSS!”

“High-tier Bronze Rank! Level 35! How many levels will we gain after beating this?!”

“The rewards are so rich!”

Every player at the ambush site boiled with excitement, rubbing their hands and itching to charge out right this instant.

Meanwhile, as the main instigators, Bruce and Momozi were running toward the ambush point with everything they had.

“Almost there!” Bruce said weakly. Due to the debuffs, his voice sounded frail—though he couldn't actually feel any physical weakness—yet his spirit remained thoroughly energized.

Momozi glanced back. The kobold chief was pursuing them at an unhurried pace, less than twenty meters away.

It clearly could have caught up easily, yet it deliberately slowed its steps, as if playing with its prey.

“What the hell?! It’s playing with us!” Momozi grit his teeth. “This BOSS actually has such realistic, intelligent emotions?”

“Let him play! He’ll be crying soon enough!” Bruce kept running. “I refuse to believe over a hundred of us can’t take him down!”

Finally, the two burst into the ambush zone and skidded to a halt.

Behind them, Black Tooth sneered disdainfully. “Ran out of steam?”

It then strode triumphantly into the open clearing.

As if sensing something, it halted and scanned its surroundings.

The forest was eerily silent.

Yet its sharp senses told it that there were many people nearby.

“Let’s see what trickery you’re pulling.”

A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Black Tooth's mouth.

It had realized it long ago.

Along the route those two bugs fled, there were traces of kobold activity everywhere. Most likely, the missing kobolds had passed through here.

Moreover, they ran with such purpose and direction—they clearly had a destination in mind.

They weren't fleeing aimlessly; they were intentionally drawing it somewhere.

So, this was an ambush site, was it?

Sure enough, in the very next second—

“CHARGE!!!”

“For the glory of humanity!!”

“For Her Grace the Goddess!!”

“For the Emperor!!”

“Ura!”

Thundering battle cries suddenly erupted from all directions.

From the bushes and behind the trees, wave after wave of humans emerged alongside exhilarated shouts.

The formation, the momentum—it felt as if a thousand armies were charging down.

Black Tooth froze on the spot.

It had anticipated an ambush, but it had never imagined there would be this many ambushers!

Looking around, the area was crammed with a sea of human heads—at least a hundred of them!

Black Tooth’s brain short-circuited instantly.