The [Iron Maiden] loomed over the ruined square.
A towering construct of iron and steel, it stood nearly ten meters tall, its hulking frame covered in jagged plates that groaned with each movement.
From its massive shoulders extended two grotesquely long arms, each ending in pendulum-shaped blades that gleamed in the dim light.
Instead of legs, it rolled forward on a single iron sphere, the wheel beneath it grinding against the broken pavement.
But the most terrifying part wasn’t its size.
It was the way it rotated.
When its torso twisted, the pendulum arms swung outward with devastating reach, cutting through buildings like paper, sweeping streets clean of fleeing civilians.
Every rotation was a storm of destruction.
Walls crumbled, and screams were silenced in an instant.
This was why these bosses were feared more than anything else.
Not because you needed to hide from them, but because they made hiding impossible.
Even the ones who thought staying indoors, quiet and unseen, would save them... died when creatures like this rolled through, leveling everything.
And right now, it was Stark’s turn to face it.
He raised his staff, expression calm.
Blazing Meteor! Sharp Bone Spikes! Vines of Fate!
The sky cracked with fire, the ground erupted with jagged ivory spikes, and black-green vines whipped forward, all striking at once.
-130,500! -135,000! -74,700!
The [Iron Maiden] shuddered as the spells smashed into its chest plate.
Like the infamous [Man of Steel], this monster carried a passive ability: its iron body cut incoming damage in half.
Even so, Stark’s barrage ripped through more than half of its HP, leaving visible cracks in the armor.
The boss froze mid-swing, its head tilting unnaturally.
Red light burst to life in its eye sockets. Google seaʀᴄh novel·fıre·net
Then, with a metallic screech, the wheel beneath it spun and propelled it forward.
It had found him.
Fwish! SLAM!
The [Iron Maiden] rotated at full speed, its pendulum blades lashing out with horrifying momentum.
The sheer force split buildings down the middle, shockwaves rattling the earth.
One blade whistled for Stark’s legs, he vaulted over it, landing smoothly.
The next swept horizontally at head height, he dropped low, rolling beneath it.
His agility saved him.
Where an ordinary player would have been butchered in seconds, Stark’s movements were sharp, precise.
His face stayed blank, his breathing calm.
These monsters were distractions. Dangerous, yes.
But the true threat, the mythical-rank boss, was still to come.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
Blazing Meteor!
-130,500!
Another explosion lit the square, slamming into the [Iron Maiden]’s torso.
Its health plummeted once more, its body shaking from the impact.
The response was immediate.
The pendulums swung faster, almost a blur.
The boss’s rage made every movement more violent, as though its iron body was trying to grind Stark into the dirt.
But it didn’t matter. His spells came off cooldown again.
Sharp Bone Spikes! Vines of Fate!
-135,000! -74,700!
The ground split with bone and thorn.
The construct froze mid-spin. Its health bar crashing to zero.
The red glow in its eyes flickered. Its wheel scraped to a halt.
The pendulum arms slowed, then dropped limp.
The massive body tilted forward, then went still.
Ding!
[You have gained 7 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 78 Lives!]
"Hand of Avarice!"
[You have gained 6 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 7 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 80 Lives!]
[You have gained 74 Lives!]
"Good."
The effect triggered twice, doubling his gains.
Stark exhaled, pleased. Even better, the boss dropped loot.
One pendulum blade, still glowing faintly with energy, clanged onto the cracked pavement.
He stooped, grabbed it, and stored it immediately.
---
[Pandulum Blade (Legendary): Assassin/Warrior-type weapon, +660 Strength, Attack Speed +13%. Requirement: Level 25.]
[Rotating Slash (Active Skill): Rotate in place to swing your blade, hitting for more damage the faster you are.]
---
A solid weapon. Strong, fast, with a built-in skill.
But Stark couldn’t use it. Not his class.
He straightened and scanned the area. The square was ruined.
Entire blocks were flattened, and the sky above was darker now, the vortex pulling deeper into reality.
And it had only been an hour since the [First Calamity] began.
An hour, and the world already looked like it was ending.
Still, he’d stopped the [Iron Maiden].
A monster that would’ve slaughtered thousands.
He moved on without hesitation.
’Alright. Gotta look for more.’
Every boss down meant fewer casualties.
Every kill meant more Lives and Evolution Points for him.
He dashed through broken streets, ignoring the screams, the collapsing buildings, the blood.
Not because he didn’t hear them, he simply didn’t have the luxury of stopping for everything.
On his left, a man with a handgun stood his ground against a [Calamity Goblin].
"DIE, YOU FUCKS!"
Bang!
-1!
The bullet pinged uselessly off the goblin’s thickened skin.
"..."
Stark didn’t even need to comment.
Firearms were relics now. The rules had changed.
The goblin lunged, cutting the man across the chest.
His body disintegrated instantly, he hadn’t had enough Lives to survive even a single blow.
Stark arrived too late to save him, but he erased the monsters nearby in seconds, reducing them to ash and bone fragments.
Casualties were already climbing into the tens of millions across the globe.
And it had barely begun.
Only those who had taken [Eternal Soul] seriously, who had trained, leveled, collected Lives, could survive.
Even so, Stark spotted pockets of resistance.
Small teams of players had gathered, fighting side by side.
Some focused on goblins, others on the [Calamity Wolves].
They fought cautiously, choosing their battles carefully.
Not strong enough to face bosses, but smart enough to stay alive.
Meanwhile, Stark searched for the strongest monsters he could find.
And after another half-hour of relentless hunting, he found one.
---
[Calamity Wolves Leader (Level 25)]
[Rank: Epic (Special Boss)]
[HP: 400,000]
---
Dozens of wolves circled the leader, their eyes glowing faint white, their claws tearing into civilians.
Screams echoed as they crushed throats and ripped through bone.
Stark spun his staff in hand. "Here we go."
He didn’t hesitate.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city.
Slash! Ding!
["Instant Kill" has triggered.]
Ghost’s blade carved clean through a massive [Calamity Ogre].
The hulking monster dissolved into light before it could even roar.
The people nearby gasped, they had been seconds from death.
Ghost barely looked at them.
"Let’s move. We can’t stay in one spot too long."
"Alright." Grace glanced around at the destruction. Her voice was quieter. "I wonder why our world is like this..."
"There’s no answer to your question," Ghost’s tone was flat. "It just is. Accept it and adjust."
Grace bit her lip, then nodded.
She already knew. Still, she raised her staff.
Star Healing!
Golden light bathed the survivors nearby, knitting wounds and mending bruises.
But the moment she finished, she followed after Ghost without lingering.
They worked well together.
Ghost was the spear, the one dealing impossible damage.
Grace was the shield, providing healing, buffs, and barriers.
[Strength Buff], [Immunity Shield], [Star Healing], they made Ghost unstoppable.
And Ghost had her own terrifying edge: her talent.
A passive that gave her a chance to instantly kill any monster if she struck its weakness.
Like the ogre she had just decapitated in one blow.
The change had been too fast for most of the world to adapt.
But Ghost didn’t care. She had no one close to her.
Grace didn’t complain either.
Together, they were alive. That was enough.
As they prepared to move, voices cried out behind them.
"W-Why can’t we log into [Eternal Soul] anymore?! It’s safer there than here!"
"Damn it... we’re trapped!"
They weren’t wrong.
During the [First Calamity], no one could log in.
Everyone had been forcibly kicked out. There was no refuge.
Ghost decided to test it anyway.
Ding!
[Do you wish to enter "Eternal Soul"?]
[Yes] [No]
"Yes."
Beep!
[You cannot escape your fate, human.]
[It is better to make a difference now than when you face what cannot be beaten.]
Ghost lowered her hand, "...Figures."
She turned, her face unreadable. "Let’s go."
Grace glanced back at the survivors, then at Ghost, and quickly followed.
There was no choice.
Only forward, only killing. Only surviving.