Fortunately, Yulia had pulled Xiaoyue away in time, avoiding most of the damage.
Plus, Xiaoyue had been at full health—close to 2,000 HP—so even after taking that hit, she was left with a sliver of life.
“Xiaoyue! You—”
Before Yulia could finish, Xu Xiaoyue weakly pointed past her.
“Chance…”
“Huh?”
Yulia followed her gaze and saw an unidentified object rapidly closing in from behind the boss.
A flying sword!
Before rushing over, Xiaoyue had actually set up this backup plan!
Chance—yes! This really is a golden opportunity!
Earlier, Yulia had said that attacking was pointless.
That was because normal attacks dealt too little damage—just a drop in the bucket.
But one move was different.
She just hadn’t had the opportunity to use it.
Now, the opportunity had arrived.
Yulia stood up and caught her sword.
The moment Achlund’s attention was diverted by Xu Xiaoyue’s flying sword, she raised her blade high.
The phantom of a colossal sword began to manifest, accompanied by the faint roar of a dragon.
Back in the Nightmare God fight, she needed to reconstruct the skill, which took a lot of time.
But this time, no preparation was needed.
“Godslaying Slash—!!”
The instant the giant sword fully formed, Yulia swung down with all her might.
Although this strike was far smaller than the one she had used in the Kingdom of Ruins, and its aura was far less overwhelming…
It was still a complete Godslaying Slash, still imbued with anti-god-and-demon properties and extra amplifications!
Achlund’s face remained unreadable, but his tense posture betrayed his seriousness.
He, too, unleashed a full-power strike, hoping to clash head-on with Godslaying Slash.
But that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
The colossal sword shattered his attack, tore through his body, and obliterated everything in its path.
A moment later, Yulia slumped to one knee, using her sword to prop herself up.
Already injured and with her MP completely drained, she was now completely spent after that final blow.
Opposite her, Achlund was also kneeling.
Thick dark mist billowed from his body, rapidly repairing his wounds.
He coughed violently, as if trying to expel something—but everything just turned into more mist.
He wasn’t dead.
Starting from half HP, even after taking a Godslaying Slash, he still had less than 20% left.
Yulia and Xu Xiaoyue helped each other stand.
This time, Yulia had given it her all—but victory was still out of reach.
“Sorry, Xiaoyue.”
Xu Xiaoyue shook her head. “It’s fine. We did our best.”
“Does it hurt?”
Yulia knew exactly how much pain Xu Xiaoyue was in.
Both of them had set the pain sensitivity to full.
Yulia had never experienced death, but she had suffered a lot of severe injuries.
The feeling of being impaled, the numbness of severed nerves—it was like staring into the abyss, triggering a soul-deep shudder.
But unlike Xu Xiaoyue, Yulia was an NPC, a native of this world. She had a different perspective—or rather, she was more accustomed to pain.
She could leap off cliffs without hesitation, face gods and demons without fear.
She bore a soul imprint that shaped her resilience.
But Xu Xiaoyue was just an ordinary player—a college student from the 21st century.
This might very well be her first time experiencing such intense, visceral agony.
Rubbing her arms, Xu Xiaoyue forced a smile. “I’m okay. I’ll get used to it.”
“Sigh…”
Yulia had been too careless, assuming that dungeons would be different from the outside world.
But there was no difference.
Now that she thought about it—was there really any distinction for her between inside and outside a dungeon?
Did death truly come with no consequences?
Hopefully no.
“Stop blaming yourself. I came here on my own.” Xu Xiaoyue ruffled Yulia’s hair. “You feel guilty about letting me get hurt, but seeing you injured makes me sad too.”
To Xu Xiaoyue, Yulia was the one who needed protection—even though she was undeniably stronger than anyone else.
“I guess the gap between your appearance and your strength is just too big. When I saw your weapon get knocked away, I thought you were done for, so I rushed in without thinking. I should be the one apologizing.”
“So let’s just call it even, okay?”
Hearing this, Yulia smiled. “Is that really how it works?”
“Of course!”
“Mm, Okay!”
Yulia nodded firmly, making a silent vow.
Even if this wasn’t the real world—even if it was just an illusion, a dreamlike game—she would fight with everything she had.
Because someone cared about her. Someone would worry if she was hurt, someone would grieve if she cried.
No matter what, going all out was the only way to live without regrets.
“Speaking of which… where’s the boss?” Xu Xiaoyue suddenly asked.
Yulia snapped back to reality.
Right—the boss isn’t dead yet!
They had been chatting for nearly a minute, but the boss hadn’t moved at all.
It’s not like some anime or movie where time stops during dialogue, right? Like, the boss can’t move until we finish talking?
Yulia quickly glanced over.
Achlund was still kneeling in the same position.
And his HP had dropped even further.
Uh… so it’s not just a dialogue freeze? Even after we finished, he still isn’t moving?
And his HP keeps dropping.
Is this… a bug? This game actually have bugs?
After some thought, Yulia decided to investigate.
“Xiaoyue, wait here. I’ll—”
“No. We’ll go together.”
“…” Yulia finally nodded. “Okay.”
The two approached cautiously.
Both were at low HP, out of health potions, and Yulia’s mana bar was completely empty.
If the boss suddenly attacked, they were dead no matter the distance.
But when they reached him… there was still no reaction.
Waving a hand in front of his face—nothing.
Poking him—still nothing.
It was like he had suddenly lost consciousness.
Yet his HP kept falling!
Something was definitely wrong.
This was Yulia’s third encounter with a Divine Shadow, and the previous two had never behaved like this.
Nor had they ever lost HP inexplicably.
“Yulia, what do we do?”
“Leave him. Let him bleed out.”
Attacking now would be pushing their luck—they might wake him up.
So they waited idly.
After about ten minutes, the boss’s HP ticked down from a sliver to zero—and he still hadn’t moved.
Finally, his body dissolved into dark mist, vanishing completely.
Yulia & Xu Xiaoyue: “……”
Ding!
You have successfully defeated the dungeon’s hidden boss—God of War Achlund’s Shadow. Would you like to announce your achievement?
The system notification echoed in both their minds.
They exchanged glances, still baffled.
He really just… died like that?
In unison, they answered:
““No!””
A moment later, the dungeon’s clear leaderboard updated—showing two [**] as the ones who had slain the hidden boss.