Part-time Boss

"This one should be in the bag," murmured the Midnight Mage, watching as Dawn Divine Sword wiped the blood from the ogre's corpse off his huge sword.

"Oh, so confident? Just because the first two bosses were weak?"

"Of course not. The fact that the previous two bosses were so weak did come as a surprise. I thought it was some kind of trap, that the enemy was misleading us, making us careless. But I've suddenly realized the truth."

Midnight Mage held up a finger, "Morphis never received preferential resources from Starshine Company. I've studied his live streams; he's always at the forefront of every battle, relying on himself. I used to think he was just showing off, but now I realize it's because he barely has any decent subordinates."

"Then isn't he very strong? He gained such great fame all by himself."

Midnight Mage nodded, "He is indeed strong, but that's only outside the instance. As we've analyzed before, his talent points are definitely skewed. His Dragon Breath and flight abilities far surpass those of ordinary dragon race members, but he must have flaws in other areas. That's why I assembled this lineup to deal with him. He can't engage in close combat, at least he won't be strong in it. With you here, we can completely overpower his melee abilities, and my barrier can counter his Dragon Breath. What else can he do? Dragon Language magic? I have never seen him use that.

"I wouldn't bet everything on a single gamble. I came here only because I was seven parts certain we could win—now it's nine parts."

Dawn Divine Sword nodded slightly, "Good analysis, but never let your guard down until the very end. If this guy has survived until now, he must have something unique about him."

"Of course, don't worry. This time we've brought out all our strength to deal with him. He won't survive tonight—let's keep moving."

The team moved through the Obsidian Hall to a spacious staircase leading to a platform. Several minor monsters put up a symbolic fight before being swiftly shot down. The adventurers quickly rushed up the stairs, and a hall littered with skeletons came into view.

It seemed to be some sort of ceremonial site, with an altar in the center surrounded by skeletons of various humanoid creatures: goblins, kobolds, ogres, humans, and even dragonkin.

A large magical circle etched into the ground formed depressed grooves, filled with dried black grime from blood.

The whole hall was eerie and grim, making one wonder if they had stepped into some horror survival game. A cold wind blew, causing the faint-hearted adventurers to shiver.

Blazing Sun: "Damn, this game company is amazing."

decade: "How so?"

Blazing Sun: "To think such a terrifying game scene isn't banned. Mom, I'm scared!"

Orange Lemon: "Shh, keep it down, don't wake up the boss."

Following the direction pointed by a priest in the team, around the altar, a dozen priests from the Dragon Worship Cult dressed in black cloaks were loudly praying for something. An elder in similar but more ornate garb stood atop the altar, wearing a dragon bone helmet, arms outstretched as if conducting some mysterious ritual.

Black Dragon Nest Boss No.3, Dragon Worship Cult High Priest Santana Zack.

"Eh, it's a Dragon Worship Cult priest. They didn't set up that young black dragon as the dungeon boss."

Midnight Mage displayed an unsurprised expression, "Isn't that obvious? Hilde Sankes is just Morphis using a smurf account. That guy would never give us an easy training opportunity like that. But it doesn't matter. We've rehearsed everything beforehand."

Indeed, for the past month, this team had been practicing boss fights based on intelligence they gathered about Morphis and his subordinates, with similar bosses from other instances as their training targets. Because of these rehearsals, they had an idea of the tactics and abilities of the first two bosses, which is why they eliminated them so effortlessly.

As for Morphis, they had also rehearsed for him, although their practice target was a disastrous red dragon boss of only second rank, significantly weaker than Morphis, but since it was also from the Dragon Race and breathed fire, their combat styles were very similar.

That battle had given them a lot of experience.

Dawn Divine Sword shook his head, "I hate these priest freaks, always praying to their gods at every turn, always stirring up some strange phenomenon. We need to speed up once the BOSS battle starts, and strive for a quick kill."

After speaking, he gestured with his hand, and the team formed a fan-shaped formation, approaching the BOSS.

At the same time, Mo Fei was also paying attention to this final BOSS battle.

[System Notification: Dragon Worship Cult Priest Santazack has used the battle strategy 'Sacrificial Summoning,' sacrificing the existing BOSS and other friendly units on the field to summon a higher-ranked BOSS.]

Mo Fei was startled for a moment. If he hadn't misunderstood, was Santazack planning to sacrifice himself?

Although Santazack was just an NPC, and they were not even very familiar with each other, it still touched him.

At this moment, the adventurers' party had already entered the BOSS's aggro range.

Santazack suddenly looked up at the distant group, revealing a strange smile that, to everyone's surprise, was rather amiable compared to the foul-mouthed BOSSes they had encountered before.

Santazack (Dragon Worship Cult Priest): "Hehehe, welcome to the Sacrificial Hall, you two heroes and brave adventurers. You are fortunate to witness a sacred ritual, where the once lost deity will once again display its miracles.

Praying for this miracle is no easy task; it requires great sacrifice and courage. I have been unable to make such a sacrifice, but your arrival has given me an undeniable reason. Following Lord Morphis's command, I must stop you at any cost. Therefore, please bear witness!

The blessing from the ancient deity, Dragon God Yamahamut, answer the prayers of your humble servant, and bring your will to this world! Infuse your great power into this decaying body of mine."

As Santazack's voice grew more impassioned, an invisible force lifted him into the air, while the kneeling Dragon Worship Cult followers began to pray fervently. The prayers quickly turned into screams as their flesh rapidly withered away, turning into mummified corpses, and the gushing blood transformed into red energy, converging towards Santazack.

Dawn Divine Sword instinctively wanted to rush and interrupt the ritual, but found that he couldn't move at all. Not just him, everyone's perspective had changed to that of a spectator's.

This thing actually has a cutscene...

That's one of the advantages of dungeon mode; no matter how impatient the heroes are, they have to wait for the villain to complete his transformation before the fight can start.

In front of everyone's eyes.

All the blood-colored energy was absorbed by Santazack. His body began to swell, with something wriggling under his skin. With a splat, one dragon wing burst through the skin on his back, extending out,

Splat, another wing emerged, and most parts of both wings were skeletal, with only a little bit of membrane near the torso. His limbs began to mutate as well, the skin tearing apart as the flesh expanded, growing large as if inflating.

Within the blink of an eye, he transformed into a terrifying dragon-like creature.

His flesh was clearly insufficient, with most of his body consisting of ghastly white bones, which made him appear twisted and incomplete.

Santazack (Dragon Worship Cult Priest): "No, the offerings are not enough to complete the ritual. I need more sacrifices! Since life is not sufficient to finalize the grand body bestowed upon me by Yamahamut, let death fill this shell instead."

The bizarre dragon spread its wings, and countless essences of death emerged from the surrounding skeletons, converging into the bizarre dragon's body.

The essences of death merged with the previous flesh and bones, turning into more ghastly white bones that filled in the gaps of flesh. By the time everyone finally finished watching the cutscene, what appeared before them was an indescribable monster, a skeletal dragon enveloped in a black aura of death.

'Step Into Death' Santazack (Skeletal Dragon) Level 80: Catastrophic Tier 3, Health Points 195,000.