Black Howler was busy dealing with two hell-slimes on his own when he heard the screams coming from the center of the Meadow. However, he couldn't turn around to see what was happening for to look back now would surely mean his death.
"We all know how imbalanced this game is with its shadow beasts," he recalled the words Ath3na had said before they'd separated, and this caused him to chuckle to himself.
"You're damn right about that," he said just before he brandished his new weapon forward against the two approaching hell-slimes. "But so what… I say bring it, you little f*ckers!"
The hell-slime on the right attacked first. It extended the top half of its body forward and launched itself at Black Howler like an angry red tidal wave.
With its arrival came the stench of burned rubber that would have made someone other than Black Howler gag in reflex.
Holding it like a batter in a baseball game, Black Howler tightened his grip on his claymore that was glowing slightly from the violet arcs of lightning wrapped around it. His muscles tensed up.
"Furious Blow!" he yelled.
With the muscles in his body tensing up to a point where veins began to pop out of his arms, he swung the claymore forward with inhuman speed and slashed at the hell-slime that had come within his range.
The shadow beast's gelatinous body gave way to the obsidian blade, causing it to be cut in half. But while the lower half of the hell-slime dropped to the floor, the top half which contained its core — seemingly unaffected by the weapon's lightning element attribute — resumed its attack on Black Howler.
"The Furious Blow strikes twice!" Black Howler said with gritted teeth.
Black Howler twisted his wrists to the right and sent his claymore's obsidian blade in the opposite direction right where the hell-slime's upper half was currently suspended in the air. The claymore cut deep into the gelatinous form and ripped at the core inside the slime.
The hell-slime exploded into a hundred pieces of shattered glass that coalesced on the ground to form the familiar low-grade soul stone. Beside it was another round sphere that was the color of molten lava.
However, before Black Howler could pick it up, the second slime had already launched its body into the air.
Black Howler howled and activated [Wolf's Howl], causing the hell-slime's upper half to shiver uncontrollably and momentarily stopping it in its tracks.
This was all the hesitation Black Howler needed. He slid his lead foot forward Kendo-style, and with his claymore raised high with both hands, he swung down and slaughtered his tenth hell-slime.
Sadly, no slime core dropped along with the soul stone this time. Black Howler didn't mind though for his attention had been swept away in admiration for his new weapon.
"Damn, this sword is too badass," Black Howler said while he glanced down appreciatively at the claymore in his hands.
The memory of Masamune handing him his purchased product remained clear in his mind's eye even now almost as if it were only yesterday when the smith gave him the long package wrapped in an exquisite silk sheet.
"My finest work this one is, since moving to Adventour," Masamune said while nodding to himself.
Black Howler removed the silk wrapping gingerly and then marvelled at the weapon hidden within. He noticed that it was roughly the same size as his old claymore but was nearly half as light. It was very well-crafted and looked as expensive as it cost him.
[RARE ITEM: [MASAMUNE DARK BLADE] RECEIVED]
"This is worth even more than the four-hundred low-grade soul stones I paid for," Black Howler insisted.
"Indeed, it is," Masamune replied with a chuckle. "Good advertisement, your weapon will be for me."
Black Howler brushed the sword hilt with quivering fingers, and that's when the weapon's status window revealed itself to him.
[MASAMUNE DARK BLADE [ITEM CLASS: B] [TYPE: WEAPON] A greatsword forged by Masamune, the Vampyric Smith of Legend. Its unique shape harkens to the smith's far-eastern crafting style combined with the utility of western claymores. The ferocity of the Chimaera's will resides in the blade. [BENEFITS: ATK +2, STR +2, DEF +1, CHIMAERA'S FIERY BLAST, DEVOUR]. Weapon may grow with continued use.]
"Healers! We need Healers!" Someone screamed, bringing Black Howler's mind back to the present.
He turned around and finally saw what all the fuss was about.
A hell-slime larger than anything Black Howler had ever seen was rampaging in the very center of the meadow. Its gelatinous body reached a height of fifteen feet. Within its thick mass, a giant red sphere floated alongside the withering bodies of players who'd been caught inside it. If that wasn't terrifying enough, the slime spewed blobs of molten blobs that burned the shrubs around it, slowly turning that part of the meadow into a death-trap of smoke and flames.
Without another word, Black Howler raced toward the shadow beast with a grin growing on his face.
"Cheer up, loves, I'm here to save the day!" Lyghtning yelled as soon as she saw Black Howler stopping next to her.
"What took you so long?" Ath3na demanded.
Black Howler ignored her question and instead took a look around to survey the situation.
He and his companions were gathered in front of the giant hell-slime, right behind another player who'd been acting as a tank to keep the slime's focus on him. Other players gathered around them were firing arrows and casting long-range spells at the shadow beast, but their attacks didn't seem to be doing much damage to it.
Black Howler also noticed a spiky-haired man sporting a red cape on his right who was shouting out orders to other players while he himself stayed a good distance away from the slime's attack range.
"What an idiot," Black Howler said with a shake of his head. Then he turned his gaze back on the slime who'd just released a dozen tendrils from its main body. "So, why is there a boss monster in the meadows?"
"It's a field boss," Ath3na answered. "Didn't you get the notification?"
"He might have been too far away… I didn't get it either until I got closer," Thorminator commented right before chanting a new spell, "Defend lost souls from evil's might, protect us with your brilliant light… Shield!"
A half-ethereal round shield made of glowing arcane lines appeared in front of the substitute reaper playing the role of a tank. It arrived in the nick of time too as half a dozen slime tendrils whipped fiercely at the tank right afterward. They collided with the shield and shattered it, but left the tank untouched.
The player glanced over his shoulder and yelled, "Thanks, bro!"
"Yeah, that was a one-time thing, sorry," Thorminator replied, and then, with his eyes widening suddenly, he yelled, "Watch out!"
The warning came too late as six more tendrils snaked in the tank's direction, and as he'd been distracted at the time, they easily latched onto him and rendered him immobile. The tendrils continued to wrap around the tank's limbs, forcing him to drop his shield. Then, to no one's surprise, the giant slime proceeded to drag the tank's body into its mass.
Now, while the man screamed for help and others tried but failed to come to his rescue, Black Howler was busy reading the notification that had finally popped up in front of him.
[WARNING! THE DEATH OF TOO MANY HELL-SLIMES HAS AWAKENED THE MATRON HELL-SLIME… QUEST DIFFICULTY HAS INCREASED TO D+… FAILING TO DEFEAT THE FIELD BOSS WILL RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC QUEST FAIL FOR ALL PLAYERS WITHIN THE WEEPING MEADOWS.]
"This game is really imbalanced against players," Black Howler chuckled. "I like it."
"Hey, laugh out loud later," Ath3na chided.
She'd just expended another barrage of spiritual blasts at the slime using [Soul Pulse].
"You're an evolved like me… don't you have a class skill you can use here," she reasoned.
Black Howler raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you?"
"Mine's not usable in this scenario," Ath3na answered. "But I think I know how to stop this thing…"
Each of her teammates turned to look at her.
"I need you guys to cut open a path in the matron slime's body. Just enough so I can slip in with Spectral Cloak and attack the core inside," she explained. "Its mass is too thick for me to penetrate all the way to the center before the enzymes inside it counteract my ability… That's my assumption."
"You want to go inside that?" Lyghtning pointed the tip of one of her shortswords at the matron hell-slime. "You're nutters, Ath3na… Let's do it!"
Although he wasn't as enthusiastic about it as Lyghtning certainly was, Black Howler thought Ath3na's plan had merit.
"You want us to cut a deep enough gash in it, huh?" Black Howler asked. "I think I've got just the thing…"
He glanced down at his claymore once more and remembered one of the abilities it had that he could activate once a day.
"I'll devour its body," he said as he tightened his grip on his weapon. Then he glanced over at Thorminator and Lyghtning. "You two back me up with your strongest abilities."
"Whatever we're planning to do, we best do it quickly," Lyghtning said. "That blighter's coming our way."
"I can buff you both…" Thorminator raised his Thunder Rod forward. "Increase your attack output."
"Do it after I make my move…" Black Howler nodded to him. Then he glanced over at Ath3na and said, "I'm about to show you mine… you better show me yours later."
Ath3na rolled her eyes at him. "Just do it already…"
Suddenly, four red tendrils snaked toward all four of them, but they each managed to dodge the matron hell-slime's attack in time.
The others moved to the side, but Black Howler stayed right in front of the matron hell-slime, and each eyed the other like to gunslingers readying to fire.
"Do it!" Ath3na yelled from behind Black Howler.
In response, Black Howler roared, "Berserker!"