With all eyes on the boss standing there menacingly in the distance, the group was left momentarily speechless. "H-Hey... Did I hear you right, Shinto?" Jerome muttered out. "That's Black Fang? The boss of this dungeon? Are you for real?"

"N-No way! You found Black Fang?!" Shouting out in shock, Frey turned towards Jerome. "Uh... Wait, what's a Black Fang?"

"Tch. Keep it down will you?!" Ractron hushed the brawler beside him. "Do you want to draw his aggro on us?!"

"Ah, whoops! My bad..." Frey yelped. "A-Anyways... Are we gonna fight that big wolf?"

"Well... We do have a proper party to tackle the boss," Kris thought to herself. "If possible, why not, right? I mean, I've heard that a lot of players would kill to fight this boss. And it just so happens that we're the first to discover his location."

Within normal dungeons like this one, the competition to defeat the dungeon's boss and obtain its loot was fierce. This was because, in each dungeon, there was only a single boss that would spawn at a time.

"Duh. We're obviously going to fight him!" Ractron stated. "So, all of you get ready. At my signal, Jerome and that brawler girl will draw his attention. Then, you and that supporter will support us from behind. You guys got that?"

"Uh... You know that we're low on stamina, right?" Jerome uttered out. "So rushing in like that would..."

"Hey, you. Didn't you hear what your friend just said? Players would kill to fight against this boss! Do you want to let go of this opportunity?!" he frowned. "You should know that time is of the essence!"

"But still... With our remaining stamina, we'd—" Attempting to refute back against Ractron, Jerome was immediately interrupted.

"Haven't I told you before? I've defeated plenty of bosses left and right!" he boasted. "How many of you here have even defeated a single boss? No one, yeah? So just follow my lead!"

"..." Listening in on the conversation, Shinto slightly sighed as his eyes glanced over to the expressions of his party members, noting that they seemingly had a discomforting look on them. "Hmm... Although we have low stamina... I've heard that fighting Black Fang doesn't take too long. So as long as we end it as fast as possible, it'll be just fine."

"See! At least someone in our group has some brains to understand!" Ractron scoffed. "Now on my signal, you two get the boss' attention."

"Hmph..." Jerome grumbled. "Fine... If you say so."

...

Cautiously walking in an open field, Black Fang could be seen roaming around as he searched for prey. There, two players approached the big wolf from behind, wanting to strike at an opportune time.

"Frey, on a count of three, we'll strike and—" Whispering over to Frey's ears, Jerome held up his sword in the air, preparing to attack. However, as if his words went in and out of Frey's ear, she struck at the boss without hesitation.

"—Frey?" In shock, Jerome could only abruptly follow up with Frey's attack.

"Hey, big wolf! Come at me!" Frey taunted.

"Grrr..." Getting his attention in almost an instant from her preemptive strike, the giant wolf swiftly swiped his claws at Frey. At that moment, Jerome intercepted his attack with a counter.

"Kris, Ractron, Shinto!" Calling out to the three at the back, a notification soon appeared before them.

[ System Announcement: (Black Fang) has been found. ]

[ A barrier has been made to prevent intruders. ]

"We're right behind you!" Replying to Jerome, Kris began pulling the strings of her bow, aiming it toward the wolf. In the next moment, an arrow was shot out.

"All of you, make sure to remember the plan! Get his health down!" Ractron commanded as he swung his dagger over to the boss. Following up with that, Shinto sent out a blinding light from behind.

[ Shadow Diviner - Hallowed Crest ]

"Awoooo!" Howling in anger at the barrage of attacks he was receiving, the wolf began to counter-attack by stomping on the ground—causing the area around the three melee players to shake.

"A-Ack!" Upon taking the full blast from the attack, Frey nearly stumbled down to the ground. "E-Eek! That attack took out half of my health?!"

"Frey, be careful!" Kris shouted out as she shot out an arrow over towards Black Fang's paw, where he was about to swipe his claws at Frey. "Don't just stand there! Dodge it!"

"My bad, my bad!" Apologizing in the next instance, Frey began swinging her fists at the wolf once again. While she was doing so, her health gradually recovered thanks to the help of Shinto's skill: [ Mark of Umbra ].

"Alright, if we keep at this pace, then we'll be able to defeat him," Shinto calmly said whilst healing Frey. "The only thing we have to worry about is when he enters into rage mode."

"Got it!" Frey nodded her head, continuing with her barrage of attacks. "But wait... What's rage mode?"

"Nothing we can't handle! Don't mind it!" Ractron shrugged it off as he followed up with Frey's attacks. "The boss is almost dead, we can do this!"

"Come on! If we delay it any longer, our stamina will deplete!" Jerome confidently shouted out as his sword slashed deep into the flesh of the big wolf. "Charge forward!" As the boss' HP continued to go down, the wolf could only attack and roar into the night as retaliation.

"What? If we ignore the boss' rage mode then—" Shinto frowned at Ractron's uncaring demeanour. With a glance at the boss' health bar, he clicked his tongue. "Frey, Jerome! Retreat back this instant!" At the moment he shouted out his cues, the giant wolf began shaking violently.

"Eh...?! What's going on?!" Frey shouted out in confusion.

"Tch... Hurry! Get back!"

"Haha..." As Shinto's voice rang out into the open air, a small chuckle could be heard by the sidelines. In the next moment, a sudden white smoke protruded out into the area, blinding the big wolf but, also blinding both Frey and Jerome at the same time.

"H-Huh...!? What's going on!?" Jerome coughed at the sudden appearance of the smoke, unable to see anything. "Dammit...! Where's the boss... Ack...!"

"Smoke bomb?" Shinto's eyes widened in shock at the scene before him. However, he was unable to do anything as in the next instance, he received a notification alert.

[ Black Fang has entered into rage mode! ]

[ Strength and Attack Power have drastically increased by 100%! ]

"Tch. Jerome, Frey!" Unable to react in time, he could only helplessly witness Jerome's body flying out of the white smoke, in turn colliding against a tree. "Dammit... I'm already too late."

[ Player (Jerome) has fallen. ]

"E-Eh...? J-Jerome died?!" Frey cried out in shock as she soon took notice that the attention of the wolf was now on herself. The big pupils of the wolf turned into that of a bloodthirsty one. "E-Eek... We're in big trouble... Big, big trouble!"

"Frey! Calm down!" Kris' voice roared out as she continued to shoot out her arrows toward the wolf. "The boss is almost dead, so just continue fighting and—" Whilst barraging the boss with her arrows, Shinto's voice quickly interrupted Kris.

"Hey, Kris! Watch out!" he stated.

"...?!" Upon hearing his voice, Kris' eyes widened in shock at the next moment. The wolf's attention wasn't on Frey, but on Kris, who he was charging at. Thus, belatedly noticing that fact, Kris helplessly took the full blow from the enraged wolf.

[ Player (Kris) has fallen. ]

With one fell swoop of his sharp claws, Kris instantly turned into grey ash, shocking Frey. "Eek! Kris is down too! Aaa! What do we do?!"

"Haha! You fools!" Ractron, who was silently laughing at the deaths of both Jerome and Kris, turned towards Frey. "You thought I'd let you get the reward? Think again!"

"Ack... Why you... You... You betrayer!" Frey frowned.

"Hey, supporter! Take a look at her expression!" Ractron scoffed. "The sorrows of a newbie player, hahaha!"

"Hah... Was this what you've been planning the entire time?" Shinto raised his brow in suspicion at Ractron, whilst shaking his head in disappointment.