Boom! Crash!

"They've sent two elite soldiers from this side!"

"Deathmaster! Go take care of them immediately! Beimerung, support him! Cherni and I will handle the rear monsters!"

"Wooaaah!"

Deathmaster shouted as he charged forward, blocking incoming magic bombs and getting close to the elite soldiers.

Boom! Boom!

Deathmaster easily fended off the attacks of the two elite soldiers, while behind him, the mage Beimerung launched ice arrows and fireballs, steadily reducing their HP.

"Their HP is way too high!"

"Is this really just a trash mob area?"

Chris and Cherni, who were dealing with chimera-like monsters and regular demon soldiers, weren't having an easy time either.

While none of the enemies were particularly threatening on their own, their sheer numbers were overwhelming.

Even after defeating waves of monsters pouring out of the barracks, it seemed like there was no end in sight.

But the experienced vanguard users were not going to fall so easily, not in a regular monster zone.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Hyah!"

As Chris brought down the last monster with her sealing magic, the elite soldiers that Deathmaster and Beimerung were dealing with finally ran out of HP and collapsed to the ground.

"Is that it?"

"For now, it seems."

The 'Chris Raid Party', having successfully fended off the long wave of monsters, finally had a moment to catch their breath.

"Man, this really is a level 30 elite dungeon. The difficulty is on a whole other level compared to the earlier ones."

"Honestly, the level 15 and level 25 elite dungeons felt more like tutorials."

"Yeah, this definitely feels like the real game now."

This dungeon, called the *Demon Army Outpost*, was nothing like the previous ones, which had carefully guided them through the mechanics of virtual reality dungeon gameplay.

Here, they were met with massive waves of monsters as if to mock the foolish users who dared to storm the demon army's base head-on.

Even the elite soldiers' HP stats were reminiscent of the named monsters from earlier dungeons.

This was clearly designed to push the players to their limits.

As Chris glanced around the barracks, she grumbled.

"From the way the barracks are laid out, that large one over there must be the first named boss fight area, but the path is so convoluted."

"Hmm..."

Cherni, listening to Chris, fell into deep thought.

"Hey, do you think there might be a 'shortcut' in this game?"

"A shortcut? What do you mean?"

"You know, like in old-school games, where you'd find hidden paths or ropes that let you skip sections, like in those classic 'soul-like' games?"

"Huh."

Deathmaster nodded thoughtfully.

"A soul-like game, huh? I haven't heard that term in a while. I wonder if any of the vanguard players have tried that."

"I doubt it. Nobody really plays soul-like games anymore. They were popular maybe thirty years ago. The gamers who used to play those are probably grandpas by now."

"I heard that even after virtual reality systems were established, soul-like games were hard to commercialize. They require precise movements since even a glancing hit can be fatal, and synchronization was always an issue."

"That's where games like *Astra Online* are innovative, with its coordinate movement skills and protective gear to assist player actions."

Beimerung chimed in, having been listening to Deathmaster and Cherni's conversation.

"When you enter an instance dungeon and see the main gate right in front of you, how many people would take the time to look for another path? Especially the vanguard players who are in a rush."

"Or maybe, if they were like a special forces assassination squad from one of those hero novels, they'd have scouted out alternate routes from the start."

Chris joked before clapping her hands and rallying the party.

"Anyway, since we've come this far head-on, we have no choice but to keep pushing forward. We're almost at the first named boss area. Don’t worry about what other parties are doing; let’s keep up our own pace."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Magic bombs and Craksas' fists kept coming at me.

Even when using my blocking skill, the precise angle of my sword was critical. I couldn’t just block these continuous attacks head-on.

I had to accurately gauge the direction of each attack and adjust the force accordingly.

Clang!

The impact of the magic bomb slightly shifted my sword's trajectory into the path of Craksas' spinning kick.

Clang!

The powerful shock sent me sliding back a bit, but I used that momentum to launch *Moonlight Slash*.

Slash!

"Hah!"

Thud.

That was the third elite soldier down.

Only one left.

I glanced at the last one.

Seeing my gaze, the final elite soldier, as if out of desperation, fired another magic bomb at me.

Clang!

But I didn’t go for it. I kept an eye on the magic bomb while focusing on deflecting Craksas' attacks.

Somehow, I felt a sense of familiarity toward that soldier.

His life is my life.

I smiled as I looked at him.

I need you. You can’t die yet.

One elite soldier wasn't too hard to handle alongside Craksas.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

I skillfully dodged between the attacks, and during the delay between heavy strikes, I used *Starlight Slash* from my sword-drawing stance.

[First Named Boss]
[Level 33 Demon Army Lieutenant Craksas]
[HP 2,001,070 / 3,000,000]

Just one more strike to trigger the special phase.

Slash!

As my final *Starlight Slash* brought Craksas’ HP below two-thirds, the special phase began.

Whirrr...

"Kahahahaha!"

Craksas laughed maniacally as he started to float into the air.

Clang!

Even amidst the chaos, my precious elite soldier kept sending attacks my way.

Rumble...

A massive amount of dark energy began to concentrate in Craksas' hand, forming a violet orb.

KABOOM!

The energy sphere shot toward me at high speed.

Tap.

As I activated my backstep skill, my body felt momentarily disconnected from the world.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A massive explosion hit the spot where I had just been, leaving a crater in the ground.

Thanks to my backstep, I took no damage.

But the follow-up attack was coming.

Rumble...

Once again, dark energy gathered in Craksas' hand.

Of course, the second attack was the real problem.

I still had six seconds left on my backstep cooldown.

I had landed close to my precious elite soldier.

He quickly swung his spear at me, but I easily blocked it and transitioned to *Sword Drawing Stance* with *Moonlight Slash*.

Then I looked up at the sky.

A confident smile appeared on my face.

Everything was ready.

The second wide-area magic attack.

This time, I could avoid it.

Craksas pointed his hand toward me.

KABOOM!

The massive violet energy sphere filled my vision in an instant.

I shifted my gaze to the elite soldier.

You're the one I need.

Locking eyes with his panicked expression, I activated my skill.

[Counterattack (D)]
[Usable from *Sword Drawing Stance*]
[Teleports behind the enemy (Cooldown: 8 seconds)]
[(D-Rank) Invincibility during use]

Swoosh.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Aaaaah-!"

The elite soldier was caught directly in the blast, letting out a pained scream as his body was torn apart.

My *Counterattack* skill's invincibility effect kept me unharmed.

"Oh no, my elite soldier!"

I looked at the fallen elite soldier with a disappointed expression.

Wow, that would have been dangerous if I had taken that hit.

Even though I couldn't use my backstep, I'm lucky I dodged enough.

I hadn’t expected a boss's wide-area attack to actually kill the minions too.

I thought they would survive, like in most cases.

Tap.

Craksas, now back on the ground, glared at me, grinding his teeth.

"You dare kill my subordinates!"

Actually, you killed one of them yourself, mister.

I wanted to say that, but Craksas didn’t give me a chance to speak. His eyes glowed violet as he charged at me.

Taptaptaptap!

"Oh."

Once the special phase ended, four more elite soldiers joined the fight.

Looks like the minions respawn.

As I searched for my next "precious" elite soldier, I responded to Craksas' attacks.

Clang! Clang!

This time, I was able to smile as I blocked his strikes.

Special phase cleared!

[First Named Boss]
[Level 33 Demon Army Lieutenant Craksas]
[HP 111,070 / 3,000,000]

"This... this is impossible! To think that I, the great Craksas, would fall to a mere human child!"

My continuous *Starlight Slashes* had left numerous sword marks all over his powerful body.

Slash!

"Graaaah!"

Craksas screamed in agony and turned his back to me. The strength he once exuded now felt pitiful.

I plunged my sword into his back and spoke.

"Hey, mister, don’t forget to drop your loot."

"Guh... what did you just say!?"

I never imagined my first interaction with a named boss would be like this.

In any case, Craksas could no longer respond.

Thud.

Having depleted his HP, his lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

"Whew, that was tough."

I sheathed my sword and wiped the sweat from my

 forehead.

Then I made a victory sign.

First named boss cleared!