Alex stared down at the letter from the Hatred Sect, its edges glowing faintly in his hand.
The official seal of the sect, an ominous emblem of a blood-red demon claw, made it clear this wasn't just some random note.
He recognized the crest instantly from his past life, a sect that shouldn't have surfaced for at least another year.
His face turned cold as he scanned the contents.
[Old man, you've already received the instructions, right?
We need you to kill the boss of the 'Undead Temple' quickly before the players arrive. We need one of the items the boss drops to continue the ritual.
Failure will result in death. We believe in you. Do not deceive us. If you are about to die, destroy this letter.
Sacrifice your life for the Hatred Demon, for he is our lord and will rise above all.]
Alex's grip tightened on the letter, "So that's why he was here" he muttered, glancing at the now-dead old man slumped on the ground.
The old man had clearly been trying to complete the sect's mission but had failed, likely ambushed after attempting to flee from the boss room.
Alex turned the letter over, his eyes narrowing as he read the last part scrawled on the back.
[The summoning is 30% complete. If we want to speed it up, we'll need more sacrifices. The 'players' should be enough to make up for that. If needed, we'll unleash an attack on their novice villages to secure lower-ranking ones.]
Of course, if Alex assumed that this letter and old man were also present in his past life, then it wouldn't change anything as to how the flow of events occured.
But even then; Alex had a bad feeling.
Could his actions change the future that much to begin with?
The opening of the city happened on the second day instead of the third, that is true, but this is only because Daniel's EGO was hurt, meaning this was a small matter.
But could his future actions change the entire course of the game?
He didn't know, maybe he would soon.
He attempted to store the letter in his inventory, but before he could, it started glowing dangerously.
Reflexively, Alex threw it away just as it exploded into flames.
[Letter host has died. Erasing evidence.]
[You have served your purpose. What a failure to the great Hatred Lord.]
The flames quickly consumed the letter, leaving only ash in its wake.
Alice tilted her head in confusion, "What just happened?"
"Doesn't matter" Alex said coldly, his eyes narrowing as he turned back to the massive door, "Let's go"
Without hesitation, Alex pushed the ancient door open.
Beyond it lay the boss chamber, vast and ominous, illuminated only by flickering blue flames.
The air was thick with the stench of rot, and in the center stood the final obstacle, a towering, skeletal figure clad in obsidian armor, its eyes burning with malevolent energy.
[Boss: Death Revenant – Level 40]
[Rank: Epic]
[HP: 15,000]
The Death Revenant King raised a massive sword with one skeletal hand, pointing it toward Alex and Alice, a hollow growl echoing through the chamber.
"…" Alex already knew of the boss's stats, so there was no need to pretend to be shocked.
Though you could note that it was from the [Epic] rank, meaning one rank above [Elite]!
With no hesitation in his movements, Alex readied his spells.
"Stay back" Alex instructed, glancing at Alice.
She gave a curt nod and backed away, understanding that the first strike was crucial in a fight like this.
The moment the Death Revenant moved, Alex sprang into action, "Grand Fireball!" he roared, launching a massive orb of flames straight at the boss.
-2498!
The fireball hit its mark, igniting the Revenant King's decaying armor.
But it was far from enough to bring the creature down.
The boss retaliated swiftly, raising its sword high before slamming it into the ground.
BOOM!
Shockwaves rippled through the ground, cracking the floor and sending debris flying toward Alex.
He dodged, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the attack.
"Boulder Smash!" Alex conjured a massive rock and hurled it at the boss. The boulder smashed into the Revenant King's chest, staggering it for a brief moment.
-2000!
The Revenant growled and closed the distance, swinging its sword at Alex, the blade slicing through the air with deadly precision.
Alex barely evaded the strike, his movements swift and fluid.
As the sword came down again, Alex cast another spell.
"Crimson Shard!"
A shimmering red crystal shot forward, piercing through the Revenant King's arm.
-1000!
The battle was fierce, with the Revenant King relentlessly attacking while Alex dodged, countering with spells and strikes.
Alice, from a distance, shot arrows whenever she could, each one adding a small but critical amount of damage to the boss's dwindling health.
"Strike!" at some point, Alex decided to grab his [Bear Poison Dagger] and dash toward the boss, wanting to attack it in a close combat match.
He kept avoiding the very slow swings of its sword, while he himself retaliated with his own strikes!
-556! 556! 556!
And after a few strikes, a panel he had never seen appeared before him.
['Poison' caused to boss!]
[Deals 20 damage per second for 10 seconds!]
It was the weakest poison you could apply, but it was still good enough for him.
Finally, after a grueling back-and-forth, Alex saw an opening.
"Grand Fireball!" he used the skeleton's body as a jumping pad to jump up, then he sent the massive fireball toward it, his expression just as neutral.
The Revenant raised its sword in defense, but the fireball was too strong.
It exploded against the monster's chest, engulfing it in flames.
BOOM!
The Death Revenant's health bar dropped to zero, and with a final, blood-curdling scream, the boss collapsed into a pile of bones.
[You have slain 'Death Revenant', gained 647 experience points!]
[Strike has leveled up to level 2… 3!]
[Strike Level 3; Deals 300 of damage to target + 100% of strength to target, no cooldown.]
Ding!
[Choose something to extract!]
Alex focused ahead as the familiar prompt appeared.
And so he stared at the options.
[Vial of Undead Blood (Legendary)]
His heart skipped a beat.
The Vial of Undead Blood was undoubtedly what the Hatred Sect had wanted, the key to accelerating the summoning of their dreaded demon.
Taking it would delay their plans.
But the second option was far more interesting to him.
[Cursed Awakener's Set (Legendary)]
The 1% chance drop set had appeared (though it became 100% with his talent)!
Alex had to make a choice: the vial or awakener's set.
In the end, it took him only thirty seconds to make his choice.
Ding!
[You have extracted the 'Cursed Awakener's Set' from Death Revenant]
"Who even cares about the hatred demon," Alex muttered, his eyes gleaming, "If I get strong enough, I'll smash it to bits with a fireball!"
Just like that, Alex acquired what he needed, essentially completing his task.
[Go back to Tolkien to finish your quest!]
The road back up was easier since most of the monsters were dead, and those that weren't didn't even dare show themselves in front of him.
Following the [World Map], he left the [Undead Temple] and arrived back at [Dawn City].