A few more dead Gargoyles later, I noticed that the huge statue at the end of the second floor seemed to be an armored warrior holding a really long weapon sealed in stone. I wondered what kind of weapon it was. I knew one thing for sure though. No matter what it was, this boss was in no way inferior to the first floor’s Golden-armored Devil Beetle!

The cogs in my head turned. If I wanted to see the boss’s level and stats, I would have to lure it over. But to do that, I’d have to break open the stone layer on its body. The moment the boss broke out, it would undoubtedly use its attack skill. It’d be ugly if I got instantly one-shot.

I had to leave things like that to a cannon fodder!

My mind made up, I immediately looked behind me. The little skeleton instantly turned away while the Dark Wasp flapped its wings. It looked at me excitedly, like a dog wagging its tail.

I pointed a finger. “You, then. Go, Little White Rabbit!”

My Dark Wasp took off, buzzing, and jabbed the huge stone statue three times with its stinger. Three huge misses flew up. These stupid things were immune to attacks when they were still stone.

Due to the Dark Wasp’s attack, the boss was instantly aggroed. The floor in the hall started trembling and dust fell from overhead. The layer of stone on the boss began to crack and fall off, exposing its pitch-black metal armor. The boss moved its hand, crushing the stone on his weapon into fine powder. It was actually a blood-red hooked spear!

This kind of weapon was cooler than most. It had to have huge attack power, and the hooked part brought along additional utility to it, making it an ace weapon for knight-type classes!

I tightened my grip on the Purgatory Sword but remained calm. If that weapon drops after I kill him, I’ll be rich!

I locked my gaze on the boss, its stats appearing before me 3 seconds later—

Gargoyle King (Dark Gold Rank Boss)

Level: 78

Attack: 850~975

Defense: 800

HP: 165000

Skills: Petrifying Attack, Ironclad Armor, Ghost Formation

Properties: Critical rate increased by 20%

Introduction: The Gargoyle King was once the prince of a small duchy on the Heavenblessed Continent. After experiencing the mayhem of the Night Creatures, the duchy was enslaved. Its brave warriors were killed, refined into stone statues while its pitiful prince was enslaved by an evil undead mage, eventually becoming the Gargoyle King. He, whose soul has been consumed by anger and thoughts of revenge, had become a powerful existence in the Devil Sealing Tower.

……

As expected, his stats really were much higher than the Golden-armored Devil Beetle’s. Especially those skills, each sounded cooler than the last! He even had a 20% critical rate boost. I had to be careful when fighting this boss. Even a single moment of carelessness could spell my doom!

No one would be able to come in if I died. I too would find it hard to go past a horde of Devil Beetles. I’d have to wait for a server maintenance to refresh the spawns before I could come back here again.

The Gargoyle King had a mighty presence. When he saw the light of day again, he waved his hooked spear and yelled, “Damned humans, you dare trespass on my territory? You seek death!”

The spear suddenly shot out and stabbed onto the Dark Wasp’s head with a two hit combo!

1784!

1428!

My poor Dark Wasp only had 2650 HP so it was doomed. I could only hear its cry as it got one-shot!

I raised my Purgatory Sword and growled, “Let’s go, Xinran!”

Ding!

System Notice: “Deterrence” has successfully activated, lowering Gargoyle King’s stats by 15%!

Tsk tsk. Deterrence activated! Very good. The chances of me killing this boss have increased. I love undead monsters!

Swhoosh!

As soon as I buffed myself with Wild Roar I activated Charge, instantly arriving before the Gargoyle King. My stun succeeded, and I began executing my Ice Ray + Slayer Slash combo!

Deterrence’s aura was visible beneath my feet. A dense frost aura formed on the tip of the Purgatory Sword as it heavily struck the boss on the head. The Purgatory Sword then glowed green as a Rank 7 Slayer Slash sliced down! There was almost no pause between my attacks.

2458!

2109!

Fuck, what a letdown! I checked out the boss again and saw that he glowed with a steel sheen. It was actually that Ironclad Armor skill. It could increase its Defense by 17%. No wonder I only deal this little damage even with my spectacular Purgatory Sword. This boss’s Defense was way higher than the Golden-armored Devil Beetle!

But it was still fine since I had broken through its Defense anyway. What tragedy would it be if I dealt double-digit damage, or see just a single digit!

Frost completely covered the Gargoyle King’s body. Its movement speed had been reduced by Icy Ray. Instantly enraged, its spear swept over with the miserable wails of ghosts concentrated on its head. An attack skill!

I reflexively raised my left arm to block it and bent backward like a bow stretched taut, going into the Guard stance!

Ding!

The defensive blue light barrier formed around my body and my Guard was a success!

372!

Not bad, considering the fact that I would've taken at least 1000 damage otherwise.

Before I even had time to feel happy about it, I suddenly realized that I couldn't move my body. Cracking sounds came from my legs as a layer of stone covered them. Petrification?!

Beep!

Combat Log: Gargoyle King used “Petrifying Attack”, dealing 372 damage. You have been petrified, Defense increased by 100% and cannot move for 5 seconds!

……

Fuck, I got petrified. So OP!

I hurriedly gave an order, "Fall back, Xinran. Let me take the aggro!"

Xinran lifted its head and looked at me. With a slide of its feet, the little skeleton retreated a few dozen yards away. Damn, it sure was quick when running away!

With Xinran so far away, I was the only one who could aggro the boss now. The gargoyle was whaling on my petrified self, its spear trembling, continuously pumping out damage numbers.

109!

102!

110!

……

Hahaha, good. Being petrified increased my Defense by 100% and with Ghost Deity Armor and Enhanced Bones, my Defense should probably be above 2000 now. As a result, even this powerful Level 78 Dark Gold Rank boss could not break through. My Defense was downright scary, so scary that even Gui Guzi's jaw would drop to the floor if he saw this!

The petrification CC only lasted 5 seconds, so I was soon able to move. The instant the stone on my body crumbled I seized that chance to execute Pardon and Desperate Gambit to the boss’s neck!

MISS!

4231!

Very good. Pardon's might was unavoidable but it was even more impressive paired with the Rank 7 Desperate Gambit.

The boss roared in anger and the spear struck like a poisonous snake. This time, his aim was true.

745!

A heavy blow, but still within my limits. I moved with the Purgatory Sword and slammed the boss on the neck a few times. Almost every hit struck a weak point. Xinran also charged up at this time. She thrust her weapon out, Soul Devouring Spear directly taking away 4000 HP!

“Gulp!”

I downed a Rank 6 Health Potion and“+1500” appeared above my head. This short scuffle was enough for me to understand my enemy. The Gargoyle King’s Attack was amazing but he was pretty slow. Especially its turn rate. He turned really slowly and his attack range was only 180 degrees to its front. Its weakness was instantly revealed when I ran behind it. I could completely control the rhythm and make him dance in the palm of my hand!

Clang clang clang!

I went all out and the Purgatory Sword struck out damage numbers above 2000. After taking consecutive hits from the boss, Xinran now stood at a distance and waited for a chance to deal a sneak attack!

Bang!

The Paralysis Ring on my armored finger suddenly glowed, proccing its effect!

The Gargoyle King instantly froze in place, paralyzed for 3 seconds. Haha, this ring was phenomenal!

I launched several lightning-fast chain attacks, all aimed at its weak points and then slid behind the boss. I slashed, ruthlessly piercing his cape and dealing 2245 with the back attack.

By the time he recovered from the CC, a huge chunk of his HP had disappeared. He tried to pierce me with his spear but then realized that I was continuously circling around him, sticking closely to his back. Of course, this kind of action required a really high level of judgement and reaction time. Even I didn’t have 100% success rate.

Clang!

Eventually, I made an error, the boss activating Petrifying Attack the moment it spotted me. I instantly assumed the defensive stance. Although a large portion of the damage had been dispersed by Guard, I was still petrified.

The Gargoyle King was furious. A series of attacks still couldn’t vent his anger so he pointed his spear at the sky and yelled, “Oh great laws of purgatory, please grant me the power to destroy everything. I, Surari the Third, seek the Ghost Formation!”

The big move is here!

I was still in the petrified state. I felt like dying. Ghost Formation. The name itself was cool as hell so wouldn’t I die if I was directly hit?

Ghost Formation had a channel time and I still had 2 seconds on my petrified state. I was so close to the boss that by the time my CC wore off, Ghost Formation would activate. Dammit, I’m actually going to get hit by a delayed attack, so disgraceful!

Papah!

Right when the petrification wore off, the ground began to tremble. Countless blood-red ghosts combined into multiple bloody sword beams that broke out from the ground. They shot into the sky and indiscriminately attacked the surroundings!

Pain tore through my body as my HP plummeted—

1202!

1183!

1104!

……

Fuck, my HP had almost reached rock bottom in the blink of an eye!

I ran as if my life depended on it. While leaving the effective range of the Ghost Formation, I took out a Rank 8 Health Potion, chugged it and used Tenacity of the Dead at the same time.

+2500!

+1012!

Very good, I was almost restored to full, though I was still being hit by the ghostly energy attack coming out of the ground. When I got out of its range, I only had about one-third of my HP left. That was way too close!

Ghost Formation was too overpowered. It lasted for 60 full seconds, but since I happened to have a recovery skill myself, my HP was now past the halfway mark. The instant Ghost Formation was over, I rushed in with Xinran, opening with Charge and hacking away a good amount of the boss’s HP.

It was relatively safe this time around. I did my best to delay the boss’s attack pattern to avoid unnecessary damage and barely managed to finish him off without losing any HP!

Swhoosh!

Light suddenly glowed. The Purgatory Sword’s Outstanding skill activated again on the Gargoyle King. The Purgatory Sword directly slashed down from above!

3765!

The power of this strike shook the Gargoyle King, forcing him to let out a miserable howl. His huge body loudly collapsed as the last vestiges of its HP disappeared. It’s finally dead!