Final Boss (1)

[Total damage dealt: 220]

[Charred Ghoul (Phase 2 of 3) HP: 743/3000]

"Not so fast now, are we?" Zaen taunted the Ghoul while sliding through the opening between the Ghoul's legs before thrusting his dagger into the back of the Ghoul's right knee.

The Ghoul couldn't react in time and fell on its knees. In its first phase, the charred ghoul had been quite agile but didn't have many brain cells, as Zaen had mentioned. But in its second form, it had gained some form of intelligence along with those chunky arms. But thanks to the excess weight of the hands, its agility had dropped considerably. So much so, that Zaen was feeling quite confident in taking the monster down now. At least till it's in its second form.

However, that being said, it wasn't as if the ghoul didn't get a hit on him now and then. It was only thanks to the absurd amount of bandages Zaen had that he was still in fighting condition. Even now, he was bleeding through his abdomen where the ghoul had managed to kick him. But the bandages healed him enough to keep fighting.

[Remaining HP: 1610/2150]

[37 Bandages remaining]

Even after being hit and acquiring the bleed effect, Zaen was dominating the ghoul. The ghoul was getting agitated as well, trying its best to squash Zaen like an ant, but Zaen wasn't like any other foe it had faced till now. Never had the Ghoul's HP dropped below the thousand mark before. Nor anyone who had walked inside the park had ever walked out. But Zaen... he was different.

Zaen thought when Ghoul's HP dropped below 1000, it'll enter into its final phase just like it activated the second phase when its HP got below 2000. However, nothing happened. The ghoul was still stuck in its second phase. But Zaen could now infer, why the ghoul attacked him using his tongue unlike when it was in its first form. It was because the ghoul didn't want Zaen getting anywhere near it as it no longer had the agility it did before. Hence, making it difficult for it to actively defend itself.

Moreover, attacks from a distance, such as from a throwing knife, wouldn't have worked on the ghoul anymore. As it could easily stop the attacks which it could sense using its arms. Thus, even if Zaen had some knives left with him, they'd have proven to be useless. Zaen knew it because he had tried to gauge the Ghoul's reaction by throwing stones and pebbles at it. Not once did a stone managed to hit the Ghoul anywhere other than its hands which he used to block the stone.

It didn't matter to Zaen though. He was already in the mood to engage the ghoul in close combat as he was confident in his skills thanks to his military training. But unlike before, Zaen was being cautious of the ghoul's every move. The ghoul had his undivided attention.

Whenever Zaen got hit by the ghoul, he acquired the bleed debuff. Hence, he'd wait till it died down before healing himself and clashing his dagger with the ghoul again. During this 10-seconds timeframe, however, the Ghoul would change its stance from being defensive to being aggressive. Because the only way for the ghoul to kill Zaen was to continuously hit his prey five times. No matter how many bandages Zaen had, once he got hit five times, and got the full stacks of bleed, no amount of bandages could save him as the HP loss per second would be much more than the amount Zaen could recover by using bandages.

Just like before the Ghoul snarled and charged towards Zaen. But its wound hadn't healed yet thus the ghoul collapsed back on his knees. Even though Zaen was bleeding, he saw the opportunity rushed into the monstrosity without a second thought. This sudden change in manoeuvre, confused the Ghoul but it couldn't move, its leg just wouldn't allow it. But Zaen was within the range of its claws to crush him. The Ghoul swung both of its arms at Zaen, wanting to inflict twice the damage in one hit. Zaen, however, managed to duck before jumping up, using the ghoul's arms as a platform and smashing its mutated face with his knee.

[Total damage dealt: 40]

[Charred Ghoul (Phase 2 of 3) HP: 703/3000]

The Ghoul couldn't keep his balance anymore and fell on its back. But Zaen wasn't done yet. He grabbed his dagger with both hands and slammed it down hard into the ghoul's head. Rotten blood splashed all over Zaen as the Ghoul screamed in agony.

[Total damage dealt: 220]

[Charred Ghoul (Phase 2 of 3) HP: 483/3000]

[Charred Ghoul has lost all sense of self due to the unbearable pain. The Ghoul is transforming into its final form.]

The ghoul started wailing again and Zaen quickly covered his ears before the ghoul smacked him off of itself. Zaen couldn't afford to make the same mistake of closing his eyes again, no matter how much he wanted to. Who knows what would the ghoul do this time if he didn't keep his eyes on it? He got lucky the last time, he might not be so lucky again. Thus even against the will of his body, Zaen forced his eyes open, but his vision had gone blurry.

[Remaining HP: 1110/2150]

He wasn't in any position to think why, but he had failed to notice that multiple blood vessels in his eyes had popped. Coupled with the wound he had just received when the ghoul punched him off of itself, made it a bit difficult for Zaen to watch the ghoul.

Through his blurry vision, Zaen watched as the ghoul's body twisted and turned in pain and agony. Soon its body began to change once again. Two bony wings ruptured through its back along with an equally obnoxious looking tail. Slowly, the ghoul got back to its feet. Giving Zaen a soul-draining stare, as if it was telling Zaen, his time was up.

[Final boss: Frenzied Ghoul has appeared]

Right when Zaen thought it couldn't get any worse, he was forced to realise that his troubles had only just begun.

[Frenzied Ghoul is using the skill, Call of the purgatory. All dead within the boundary of the park has now been brought back from the dead as Ghoul's minions.]

To Zaen's horror, the mountain of corpses he had seen earlier seemingly came back to life. All of them were now standing between him and the weakened ghoul, like a meat shield.

[Frenzied Ghoul's soldiers are offering their blood to their master. The Ghoul is regenerating its lost HP at a rate of 250 HP every minute.]

[Kill the minions of Frenzied Ghoul to stop it from regenerating before it's too late! Killing one minion reduces the rate of regeneration by 10 HP.]

[Minion ghouls killed: 0/25]

For the first time since starting this weird quest, Zaen felt defeated. Even in his prime condition, it took him ten minutes to kill 20 ghouls. And now that he was injured and could barely see, he had to deal with 25 ghouls and the boss? Even if he could see properly, by the time he would've dealt with the minions, the frenzied ghoul would've healed completely. And only God knows how overpowered it would become by then.

Just moments ago he was waiting for the Ghoul to trigger his third form so that he could kill it and take Aeron back home. But now... he felt cheated. How the hell was he supposed to deal with such an overpowered boss while being low levelled? Was there even any sense to keep fighting anymore? What should he do now? Give up?

"No... I can't give up now." Zaen mumbled forcing himself back to his feet, "I will take Aeron back home with me or die trying!"

He raised his dagger as the minions charged at him. He used 3 bandages while waiting for the minion ghouls to get within his reach when an unexpected notification popped in front of him.

[You're the first champion to witness the final form of the Charred Ghoul. Additional Exp will be provided. Exp +800]

[You've levelled up! Current level: 8]

[HP has increased by 50 points. Current HP: 2200]

[Your HP has been fully restored. Your wounds have been healed.]

[Total Exp: 10/900]

As soon as the text appeared, Zaen's vision got back as it had been before. All of his opened wounds were also sealed. But more importantly... he was given a chance to fight back. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Gotta take these minions down, ASAP!"