It was a long, slippery trudge towards the mountain. The closer he got, the more distinct the faces became: It was as if they were titans frozen in expressions of deep emotional climax. Twisted agony, joyous madness and what else. These.. things.. Guy Fawkes’ on crack. Looks kinda awesome though. ‘Blood Shield.’

  [HP: 19/20], [ST: 15/15], [Shield: 5/5]

  This skill worked like a charm. It did hurt popping blood shield every two minutes, but not nearly to the effect of frostchump. This way, his regen could keep up during prolonged downtime, keeping him topped off before Boss 3 arrived with its own set of hell-forged mechanics.

  As mist thinned he spotted a massive cave entrance at the mountain’s base: A yawning darkness framed in a grotesque display of huge stalactites and stalagmites. Right on que, something emerged from within. It looked absurdly theatrical and Bob almost LOL’ed. A woolly mammoth sized monstrosity lumbered forward, its body covered in matted, reeking fur, that Bob could only imagine stank of rotting wildebeest carcasses left out in the Serengeti sun. Smaller versions of the bloat-flies, dog sized maybe, clung to its frame like leeches buzzing slightly at the jaunts of movement. Aw, dude, hygiene much? Its three serpentine necks swayed hypnotically as it stomped about, each bearing the face of an innocent human child, lips closed but eyes peeled to an extreme, begging for adoration like deerkids in cartoons. One crackled with lightning in its oversize irises, another dripped molten saliva, and the last breathed icy mist from its nostrils. Elemental triad. Classic..

  [System] Something stirs in the dark. Friend or foe?

  Hah! Guess you got bored of waiting, huh? Would this have been some kinda anglerfish scenario, had he not been interrupted by the world exploding around him? Still, Bob had already frozen up. 9.. 10, invisibility check! This cloak is power.

  The Boss, or so he guessed, had been far away, yet clearly moving in his direction. Now, it stopped, faces snarled at each-other in some obscure language, revealing nasty hooklike teeth within their maws. They had lost track of him when out of sight. Seemed like they didn’t track by scent, maybe prevented by their own rotted stench. Then the Boss moved again, a few degrees off course of the direction where he was standing. Yep, that’s the tell. They don’t see me.

  As they came close Bob had to press down the urge to vomit. This thing, it was filth incarnate. Keep it together, wait for your opening. Then, as it circled about in confusion, it eventually came near enough.. Bad move, Manglermoth! ‘Lunch’. Bob had learned already: Joints are weak-point, knees cripple.

  ‘SPLAT!’ Greyish green bile exploded outwards covering him in a sticky substance, forced into every crevice on his frontside. He barely managed to close his eyes and mouth in time, getting a taste of a few droplets of spray.. Sweet.. Almost like honey?

  He wiped the thick layer of goo off his face and the Boss had turned to face him. No more invis I guess. The faces expressed surprise, but the leg was clearly unharmed. One of the bloat-flies had skidded across the fur to intercept his strike, absorbing the full force of the blow. This guy, he’s got a shield.. of sorts.. as well.

  Then the Boss lunged halfheartedly, heads snapping out in coordinated rhythm: The way a cat toyingly paws at its prey before eventual boredom turns into kill-mode. You underestimate me. If I can’t bash your body, let’s try those.. faces. Bob took the chance to play bait, until one came near, then swung his crowbar in response. ‘BAM!’

  The impact smashed through flesh and bone of the fire-drooler, and for a second, triumph surged through his chest.

  .. But reality has a way of gut-punching, doesn’t it?

  From its fatally looking wound, the neck split in half, two new heads rapidly reforming. Then, all the faces made their voices heard, a mix of laughter, crying and screaming. Bob grit his teeth. Right, so we are both taking it seriously now. Good.

  Onslaught came next. The beast started to stomp around, sharding the top layer of ice with its feet, as erratic blasts of lightning, burning spit and breaths of icy mist flooded the battlefield in a tornado of elemental attacks. This is bad!

  He dodge-rolled about like a pro, blood shield soaking a few hits as well. Still his stamina and health would plummet hard if he kept this up, trying to survive the brute force display of power head on. This thing wasn't giving him an out. It kept forcing him to move, so Bob changed tactics: Let’s dodge-herd this thing.. onto thinner ice.. over deeper waters.. Maybe, just maybe, it would simply fall through.

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  Bob used his x2 jump-power to long-roll a few times, until out of reach. The beast trashed about with its trinity-attack, clearly in his general direction, yet they weren’t build for long-range. Now, stay at a distance, goat it, keep your cool.

  It was working. It followed. For a while everything looked good. Right up until..

  .. ‘Slip’. Bob face-planted into ice and the beast's frosty-face stretched out towards him in some instinctually triggered reaction. It spewed a torrent of frigid air straight at his feet. In an instant, his legs were encased in thick blocks of ice, frozen solid, stuck to the sea on which the combatants had danced.

  .. [HP: 15/20] Frozen Debuff acquired: Immobilized

  He thought of swinging down with his crowbar, desperate to break hold. Might bust my leg too.. Before he could do anything, the elemental fury had halted, and the boss was already looming above him, necks twisting and arching together like performers taking an eerie bow. The faces then leaned in, triumphant, ready for the kill, mouths snapping open, screeching in unholy harmony.

  No! He had one last play, one last gamble. Please let this work..

  [Blood Shield] He drained all but one of his remaining HP to fuel the biggest shield possible.

  [HP: 1/20], [Shield: 70/70]

  Then hammered his crowbar against the ice beside him. The tool was build for the inanimate, and its damaging blow sent loud cracks through the surrounding ice, soundwaves reverberating in the vast terrain. However, the force was not nearly enough to break it. Please.. Hear the dinner bell’s ring.

  Bosses' turn now: The necks snapped back then lunged in a sharp hiss. Teeth of the four faces lashing onto his left arm, blasting through ice to grab his right leg as well. It raised him into the air, pulling hard at his joint. His blood shield struggled to keep up and Bob felt the pain seeping through a pinhole, to explode throughout his entire being: savage and overwhelming.

  [System] Devour special effect. Two heads latch onto the same limb, devouring it instantly.

  ‘Snap. Tear.’ x2. An arm and a leg were torn free with brutal efficiency, allowing the rest of him to drop against the frozen floor. "ARRRRGHHHF!" His HP was still at a single mocking digit of one. His blood shield down to six points.

  It would be second before a bleed ticked and he’d be gone for good. Through the blinding pain, he willed his inventory open and quick-equipped the insectile jade amulet. He felt the artifact clamp onto him, burning into his soul. The bleeding halted, wounds cauterized shut by invisible force, agonizingly stitching flesh together as Bob howled through clenched teeth.

  [Echuu] Okay, officially concerned here, Bob! Are you dying theatrically to honor the vibe of this place, or are you just being overly dramatic here?

  Bob, despite the agony, just laughed weakly. He could already feel the tremors beneath him. Yup, here it comes. Everyone, even god-kings, loved a proper dessert.

  Ice sheets shuddered and cracked violently, massive fragments tilting and splitting apart as a massive thing blasted into view nearby. “Dinner time.” Bob grinned, laying flat on the ground, unmoving.

  The four-faced beast turned as a gargantuan tentacle stuck onto its back, yanking it backwards towards a portal to the pitch-black world below. Boss 3’s faces screeched in futile protest at being man-handled into meeting an inevitable end, so close to triumph. A moment later, near silence swept across the arena, with a white-noisish backdrop of cracking ice.

  [System] Boss defeated. Updating progress: 3/7. Victory achieved. Rewards pending..

  [System] Tier 5 Vault Accessible. Claim your rewards, and may you bear them well.

  Rewards, hah.. Bob wasn’t gone. Not yet. But damn, if he wasn’t staring at death’s door: raw, searing agony pulsing within, a torn-off arm and leg. The world was a fractured blur and his breath came in gasps, each inhalation pulling the stench of blood and bloated filth deeper into his lungs. The mountain of faces still loomed, indifferent of what had just transpired, as its grotesque carvings were locked in silent wail of witness.

  [System] Status Effect: Critical Injury, Limb-loss: right leg, left arm.

  A fresh wave of agony surged up his side, nerves screaming at the sudden absence of, well, literal parts of himself. He choked out a laugh. “Well. That went fucking great.”

  [Echuu] Technically you won. But also, technically you lost a bunch of vital real estate. Ever consider downsizing, Bob?

  He barely had the energy to thought-flip the little bastard off. His remaining fingers dug into frost-covered ice, each movement sending shards of pain lancing through his core. His blood had already begun to clot unnaturally, his amulet’s sinister influence keeping him from keeling over. The Green-Warden’s Mandi-bling, now his new best friend and, maybe, worst mistake, pulsed like a living thing around his neck. It wanted to keep him alive.. But for what price?

  He had heard something tectonic shift beneath the mountain after the victory-announcement. The vault, and his way out of this place, it was.. all the way over there. Right, suck it up. Dragging himself forward like a corpse refusing to rest, he had one recurring thought: If this is how the devs escalate, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE BOSS 4!

  Still.. This part did suck balls. Regen 1 HP, pop blood shield. Drag on a bit. Suffer a lot. Repeat.

  [Echuu] Sooo, no pressure, but you really need a healer. Like, yesterday. Otherwise, we’re looking at a limited Bob-time for the viewers.

  “No shit, Blob-lock.” he half-frowned, half acknowledged.