Chapter 4: The Lonesome Warrior
[RAID BOSS] [INFERNAL LORD, DRAGIX] [LEVEL: 90]
It felt as though an earthquake had overtaken Merdlum, as buildings trembled and people screamed at the sight of the newly-spawned Raid Boss.
"Alright…Go get 'em?" Zero ordered hesitantly as he stood on the ledge of the open room, looking up towards the four-armed colossus.
Without any further prompting, the obsidian-skinned giant waved his arms, conjuring enormous fireballs of a magenta glow.
"Woah, woah, woah!"
"Get back!"
"Are there any tanks here?!"
"Screw that! I'm not trying to defend against something like that!"
Dragix roared out before flinging the fireballs throughout the city streets, causing the burning spheres to crash down like meteors, exploding into fireworks of majestic embers. In droves, players were eliminated, exploding into digital particles that scattered to the wind.
"Run!"
"Teleport! Teleport–anywhere–agh!"
There wasn't anybody that attempted to even fight back against the overwhelming force of the impromptu Raid Boss as the colossus stomped through the city, breathing fire into the streets and thrashing the buildings closest to it.
Even if it was a virtual world, there was no doubt the fear when facing such a calamitous existence was real as it loomed over the under-leveled players as a force of nature.
"Talk about overkill…" Kiwi gulped, standing beside Zero.
He nodded, watching from the wall-less room, "Yeah, I didn't really expect it to go down like this. Well, it's not like Marudawn is where all the hardcore players are."
"Yeah, but still…something like this is the kind of thing you only see in big events. I mean, look around–that thing is destroying the city. Usually wiping out structures and NPCs like this isn't possible," Kiwi observed.
"Should probably count yourself lucky you chose the right side, yeah?" Zero asked with a smile.
"You bet…Glad I'm not on the other side of that monster," Kiwi sighed with a shrug.
Everything felt as real as could be in the virtual world: the rumbles throughout the city that vibrated against their skin, the hot temperature that came with the fireballs descending from the colossus—it felt like a true calamity.
"Well, this is definitely going to be talked about in the forums," Kiwi observed with a sigh.
"You don't seem all that shaken by this," Zero said.
The girl shrugged, looking up towards the gloomy sky as the yells of fearful players scattered through the city, "It all feels real, but it's just a game. Besides, I'm on the winning side, by the looks of it. Speaking of which, got a PH? (Player Home)?"
"Something like that. Why?" He answered before giving a question of his own.
"A boss needs a base of operations," Kiwi smiled.
"Guess so."
Amidst the chaos brewing in the streets, spectated by the two as they now stood on the roof of the inn, something strange happened: a single player stood against the raid boss.
"What the…" Kiwi mumbled.
Zero was taken aback as well, seeing a seemingly fearless player standing in the middle of the street as a flood of others ran away in the opposite direction.
'Who is that? None of the top guilds or players live in Marudawn, so I doubt there's any player capable of taking Dragix on solo. Seriously, what's up with him?' Zero questioned.
The player in question had spiky, blonde hair, built tall and muscular with ivory, draconic armor and a sapphire halberd he wielded in his right hand, ending with a blade that resembled the claw of a dragon.
"Come on!" The lone player yelled out with a fearless smile, "I'll take you on, big guy!"
Somehow or someway, the eccentric man managed to evade the rapid stomps and slams of fist that came from the raid boss, running with a flash of cerulean light left in his wake.
[Sleuth]
Zero was interested, using his information-gathering skill as he watched the player:
[Vangrave Melio] [Level: 80] [Class: Warrior] [Affiliation: N/A]
'A solo player?' Zero thought, taken aback.
Despite the disparity in level, the lone warrior class player managed to evade the attacks of the raid boss, running along the cobblestone street even as fire rained down from above. The entire time, the warrior laughed, seeming to enjoy it.
'At level eighty, a single hit from Dragix would be death, even if you're fully specced into a tank build. As a general rule of thumb, a "Raid Boss" tends to actually have stats ten levels higher than their own,' Zero thought, 'So, why is this guy even trying to fight it?!'
Kiwi sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "Oh, man, what a bummer. That guy is letting his hard work go to waste for nothing–he'll die, surely."
Though as Zero watched the solo player sprint around the sprint, ducking-and-rolling, using pure skill to evade the raid boss' attacks while countering–though dealing infinitesimal damage–he had an idea of his own.
"Wait here a sec," Zero said, hopping from the roof.
"Huh–?" Kiwi responded in surprise.
Amidst the chaotic event transpiring in the city, the solo warrior howled with excited laughter as he sprinted around, evading attacks as he combated the raid boss.
"Hell yeah! This is what I'm here for!" The spiky-haired, youthful man shouted.
–Though it was clear that, no matter how fearless and persistent one was, such a mountainous difference in stats was simply impenetrable. All of the attacks that the warrior landed did next to no damage, and after enough running around, the player found himself looking up to an unavoidably large fireball being summoned.
"Ah, this looks bad, ha-ha…" The dragon-armored man chuckled, sweating as heat flooded the now abandoned area of the city.
It was certain death: the colossus stood tall like a mountain, holding up a fireball that resembled the grandeur of the sun itself.
Yet, before it could crash down in a fiery blaze of glory—
"Dragix, standby."
By some miracle in the eyes of the warrior, the commanding words that echoed caused the obsidian-skinned, demonic colossus to withhold from tossing the fiery sphere down.
"...Hah?" The warrior let out, perplexed by the stoppage.
Zero stepped in front of the solo player, having the colossal raid boss standing behind him like a looming statue, waiting for any order to be given.
Vangrave smirked, pointing his halberd at Zero, "Well, well, well, if it ain't the man of the hour himself! You're the strongest, right?"
"That's right," Zero answered.
The fiery warrior held his unwavering smile, keeping the tip of his halberd mere inches from the man's face, "Then let's fight!"
"Why?" Zero asked with a raised eyebrow, "You know you won't win, right? Look at the difference in our levels."
"Doesn't matter one bit! Raw stats don't dictate a battle! It's skill! Skill n' guts!" Vangrave insisted.
It seemed that pure logic wasn't enough to convince the warrior, which wasn't very surprising to Zero considering the antics the player was up to moments prior.
"Is that so? Well, let's place some stakes on it," Zero offered.
"Sure! Add 'em!" Vangrave welcomed.
He continued speaking, "If you beat me, well, that one million dollars is yours. That's about as good of a wager as it gets, right?"
"No complaints here. Though I'm not in it for the dough," Vangrave smirked, still holding his weapon up.
"—?" Zero raised an eyebrow.
During their exchange, the city remained ablaze from the destruction laid by the obsidian colossus, who stood still, breathing out light smoke from his maw as he watched from above.
Vangrave proclaimed with a smile, "I'm playing this game to prove I'm the best in the world! That means I want to fight the best, too!"
It was a childish dream from the lips of the warrior, though one that wasn't foreign to the heart of the man who stood before him.
A small smile appeared on Zero's lips, "I see. Then you challenged the right person—I'm the strongest."
"Oh yeah? Hold on, what about your conditions? If you win, I mean," Vangrave asked.
Zero adjusted his gloves, tightening them as he squeezed his fists shut a few times before answering, "My condition is that you'll join my group. Just two of us, currently."
"Huh? Like a guild? Never cared for those," Vangrave scoffed.
"Not quite. You said you want to prove yourself, yeah? To fight the strongest? You sound like the kind of guy that relishes a real challenge," Zero said, "Not the sort of player who relies on 'aim assist' or turns the difficulty down when it gets tough."
It seemed he hit the nail on his head with his assessment as the grin on Vangrave's lips extended: it was nothing malignant—the opposite, really. That genuine, awkward smile from the warrior was nothing more than childlike excitement towards the concepts spoken to him.
'I need someone like him if I'm going to win this challenge. This isn't about being a solo player now—it's about overcoming the greatest challenge in the history of the gaming world,' Zero thought.
"Alright, then! Let's do this!" Vangrave accepted the challenge.
"Sure," Zero nodded.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone