Alexei thought that if Lady Misfortune really smiled at him, he would have no choice but to rely on his unreliable sprinting skills to escape. But the thing about it was that he knew all efforts would end up futile!
Bosses in Mavria were essentially legendary creatures. Legendary in the sense that they both had the fame and the power to back it up.
These beings owned a realm or a domain. They had extremely high hp in-game, which should mean they held extremely high tenacity and defense in reality.
Their control of the elements was unbelievably extraordinary to the point that unknowing mortals treated them like gods. It resulted in some bosses being worshipped outright by a few communities of people. For example, in the closed nation of the Sovereign of Lightning, there was a mythical mechanical boss worshipped as the 'Sovereign' of Formations.
Mortals had no way to understand them and only regarded them as gods out of fear of their indescribable might.
Usually, people that lived near these bosses had been experiencing periodical environmental dangers and the mythical beasts happened to repel those dangers. These people were no fools. They knew the mythical beasts solved their crises not to defend the inferior beings but to protect their lairs. But, in light of the indirect protection, they willingly subordinated themselves to these mighty creatures and enshrined them as their tribe's holy protector.
Euphemistically speaking this was a mortal's way to show gratitude. But frankly speaking, this was also the helplessness of mortals. This was their coping mechanism when faced with an unfathomable existence that they could not go against.
At the end of the day, nobody would be able to deny that bosses, or in the local terms, 'Potentium' were beings that could hardly be reasoned with.
It had long become a general consensus that only powerful Gift users could challenge them. Yet in fact, some Bosses were so powerful that Sovereigns would sometimes have to take matters into their hands.
Right now, Alexei who had yet to receive a Gift felt like he was suddenly walking on a tightrope. He was far from the mighty warrior that his player counterpart was in the game. His body might have been injected with strengthening substances. However, in the end, he was still but a normal human a bit stronger than normal boys his age.
Deep inside, he did not want his hunch to turn into reality. Who wants to confront a 'Potentium'?
He reckoned that even if a spirit of an Olympic champion possessed him, he would be able to outrun any boss in its natural habitat!
As he dragged his tired body across the marsh, hollow laughter escaped from his mouth. "What are the odds? There should be no need to be so pessimistic, right?"
Above him, the sky showed no change. If this was still Mavria, it meant that there were still a few hours before sunrise. The stars were thankfully very bright. They shone splendidly in that clear night sky, unperturbed and unfettered.
But it seemed that the abundance of the stars above was no indicator of good fortune.
Just when Alexei finally saw the edge of the polluted waters, a weird but gigantic shadow entered his view. The world around him dimmed a lot. The shadow fell onto his body too, making his skin appear a lot darker.
When he tilted his head upward, he finally saw where the shadow came from.
He finally saw another creature in this seemingly deserted place.
But then he wished the encounter never happened.
'... F*ck.'
'I ran into an actual Boss!'
Alexei's eyes widened in shock. He watched the owner of the shadow go bigger and bigger until its gigantic head reached the sky. In his vision, what appeared was an enormous black beetle, or at least the shape was. But then he was proven wrong when it somehow elongated and turned into a serpent-like creature. At the same time, the pressure being emitted by its majestic body pressed on him, making Alexei feel like the air had suddenly become scarce.
'Is this... a flood dragon?' The sound of water rushing down like a waterfall from the massive entity in front was deafening.
The sudden emergence of the large beasts pushed violent waves toward him. They a small tsunami that mercilessly swallowed him and pushed him several hundred meters back. At that time, he felt like he got dragged back to that eerie lab. It was very suffocating and unbearable. The feeling of helplessness was.
When he resurfaced, Alexei coughed nonstop. Some mud waters mixed with unknown soil and substances got into his mouth and it made him also wretch.
However, his eyes filled with horror immediately went back to observing the giant beast in front.
Did it notice him? Did it surface from its lair because it sensed an intruder?
Instead of standing up from the mud-polluted waters that began to calm down, Alexei remained in a crouching position. He was even afraid to stick his head out. His head remained in the waters just enough for his nose to inhale air. For some time, various names of Sovereigns floated in his mind as he prayed for the colossal being to ignore him.
Yes, ignore. The black mud waters were this boss' domain. There was no way it had not sensed him yet.
'Retreat! Retreat! Hurry! Move!' His mind repeatedly shouted the words. However, a weaker being's senses were destined to deteriorate when confronted with the aura of a superior being. His body took several seconds to respond. Yet even then, when he started crawling away, his movements were slow and he could feel that his arms and knees were a little stiff.
The fate of the weak was a tremble in the presence of the strong.
Ever since Alexei came to this world, everything around him had been showing him that this was simply how things should be.
Alexei felt the stares burning into his back and immediately broke into a cold sweat.
'Is it... looking at me?'
Suddenly, he did not dare to move. The place was dead silent and he did not dare to look back to check what the god-like black serpent was doing.
Behind him, the colossal monster silently turned its large head downward. Its big eyes locked onto the only creature moving in the shallow waters.
The monster's red eyes flashed with malice as its giant head silently leaned forward. It bared its fangs, and the sharp edges of the prominent teeth shone coldly under the glimmering starlight.
However, not long after, the enormous serpent stopped in place.
Meanwhile, Alexei finally realized that he could not move. It was no longer the fear that was stopping him, but the terrible being behind him.
"What an audacious mortal."
A few seconds later, violent vibrations echoed for a brief moment before the powerful tail of the giant monster struck his body and flung him in the air.
Alexei let out a pained scream. When his body crashed on the solid ground, he let out another groan, faintly trembling. He really looked miserable as he bathed in his own blood. All his bones seemed to have shattered. When he thought nothing could shock his senses anymore after months of grueling experiences in the Dark Palace, he found himself assaulted by unimaginable pain which was beyond his tolerance limit.
It all happened in just a split second.
'I did... everything I could to survive...'
'...only to fall here?'
He could not move anymore. His mind was deteriorating. When his hazy vision that was already seeing doubles saw a huge pair of red vertical eyes so close to him, a part of him wanted to put up the last struggle. Still, when he understood that there was nothing he could do, he just closed his eyes, waiting.
Would it be an immediate death? Or would he go through another series of pain as he got slowly eaten by the monstrosity before him?
Alexei suddenly did not want to think.
In front of him, the enormous monster's head inched closer slowly as its huge maw opened wide.
Then after that, Alexei's world turned black.
Because he passed out soon, he did not know that the Boss that swallowed him froze in place for some time. Its expression changed as madness in its eyes disappeared in a flash.
The serpent Boss immediately spat out Alexei's body, making him crash on the ground violently again. With its face displaying disgust, it said to the dying human, "Damn, another mortal that can't be eaten."
Losing its interest, the monster's god-like body turned around, promptly vanishing in the dark waters. Strangely, not even the faintest ripple was left. The boss disappeared just like that. It did not spare Alexei another glance and was completely unconcerned whether he died or not.