Felicia was exasperated. Although she was stubborn, she knew Faye was right.
Because of this, Felicia had ultimately agreed to her disciple's request... which is why the two of them were now in this carriage heading toward the location of the third Netherworld Water.
At that moment, Faye was communicating with her ancestor in an otherworldly space. Suddenly, a commotion erupted nearby.
"What's going on? Get out of the way!"
"How can there be... a BOSS?"
"What's happening? A Boss that ambushes??"
"No, stay away, don't kill me!"
...
Screams filled the air.
Faye immediately took on a combat-ready stance.
She had mingled with a group of players. Although her strength had skyrocketed after absorbing the Netherworld Water, the sudden surge in attributes due to her promotion to an S-class profession and S-class talent made it challenging for her to control her body.
By joining the player group, she had used her exposed double-A rank combat power to earn a spot in a carriage, allowing her to train and adapt to her enhanced attributes while traveling.
However, as a trade-off, Faye had to intervene whenever the player group faced danger.
Despite hearing numerous cries for help and knowing that a high-difficulty boss awaited outside, the idea of breaking her promise never crossed Faye's mind.
But as soon as she stepped out of the carriage, she was stunned!
Within the convoy of players' carriages, a giant beast with dark green fur and a wolf's head, standing over ten meters tall, was roaring!
Its claws were already stained with fresh blood.
The corpses of several players lay scattered around.
The player group's formation had completely disintegrated. Everyone was fighting for themselves.
Faye felt a chill run down her spine. Bosses were already beyond what players of the same level could handle. The only way to win was for the front line to hold the boss while the backline healed and dealt damage.
With the formation broken, there was no point in even attempting to fight. The outcome was certain death!
The only option now was to run!
"Run! It's a level 100 BOSS!"
"And it has the world's will boost! You can't save anyone." Felicia said anxiously in the mental space.
With the boss's ambush, a third of the player group was dead or injured. The remaining members were scattered and fleeing in all directions. Felicia feared her foolish disciple would charge in.
Thankfully, Faye had her wits about her. She immediately turned and activated her staff, using the stored skill [Water Shadow Leap].
Her form flickered, transforming into a stream of liquid, and she reappeared a hundred meters away at the edge of a pond.
She had managed to distance herself from the boss.
But the next second, the boss's eyes, as large as bronze bells, locked onto Faye!
"The scent of the origin..."
It muttered in a strange language. Since it was a boss unit, the [Transcendence] system did not provide a translation. No one present could understand it, except for Felicia, who had learned some of the Netherworld languages long ago and was now terrified in the mental space!
She understood!
This level 100 BOSS was after Faye. She had absorbed the Netherworld Water but hadn't fully refined it, causing her to emit its aura! The world's will was driving the boss to reclaim the Netherworld Water!
Boom!!!
The giant wolf-headed BOSS lunged frantically, tearing through the mountainside, rocks, and trees in its path. The fierce wind whipped around, sending the severely injured players flying into the air.
The players had survived the ordeal.
But... they were utterly bewildered! It felt completely surreal!
Because such a powerful BOSS would typically require even a top-tier expert to battle it for 300 rounds, with the sky and earth changing colors, before achieving a hard-fought victory, right?
But nothing happened. The BOSS simply dropped dead.
The players couldn't even dream of such an outcome!
Some even suspected that Faye had insta-killed the BOSS.
But the girl just showed an innocent expression: "Do I look like I have that kind of explosive power?"
The other players nodded in agreement without any suspicion.
In a corner where no one could see, however, Faye couldn't help but show a sly smile.
She hadn't expected that, in her most dangerous moment, that person would come to her rescue again...
Even in the sea of consciousness, Felicia had a drained expression, looking at the now-vanished blood-red shadow in the sky, her eyes flickering with emotion.
"That guy is pretty cool."
"Ugh! Trying to steal my disciple, he's no good!"
Felicia instinctively said and then quickly corrected herself.
Meanwhile, Faye opened her panel and, as expected, received a private message.
"I've taken care of the Dark Moon Alliance's Restriction. Let's talk more after we leave the Netherworld."
Surprisingly, the usually aloof David had taken the initiative to message her.
Instantly, Faye's eyes sparkled even brighter!
After thinking for a moment, she typed a message and sent it.
"Okay! Mr. David, it seems you were in a hurry. You didn't pick up the boss's loot. I'll collect it for you."
"After we leave the Netherworld, I'll hand it over to you."
While saying this, Faye sent a team request to Sterl. Upon receiving approval, she stepped forward to collect the boss's loot. For the record, the loot collection rules in [Transcendence] are simple: as long as you deal more than 10% damage to a monster, you can pick up the loot.
Therefore, in the wild, it's common for players to fight over boss drops.
However, the Blood Wolf Demon was entirely insta-killed by Sterl using Shadow Stealth combined with the Star Point Finger enhanced by stardust.
This BOSS had an extremely robust life force, given its massive size. But Sterl's Shadow Stealth is a legendary ability that triples the output of all enhanced skills! With stardust enhancement tripling the power of the Star Point Finger, and Shadow Stealth multiplying it ninefold!
Not to mention, Sterl also activated abilities like divine descent and Life Ignite to boost his base attributes.
Thus, the Star Point Finger insta-killed it!
Consequently, the [Blood Wolf Demon Kill Contribution Chart] showed Sterl accounting for 99.84% of the damage, while other players, caught off guard by the boss's sudden attack, barely dealt any damage.
Now, Faye could only collect the loot for Sterl after teaming up.
She later noticed in the private chat that David had responded with a concise "Okay."
"So cool! Such a strong presence!" Faye couldn't help but think.
David's image in her mind instantly elevated, resembling the aloof male protagonists in novels!
At this moment, the bewildered players hesitantly approached, starting to ask what exactly had happened...
...
Meanwhile, having flown a great distance, Sterl looked at the private chat screen and finally felt relieved.
Earlier, while heading towards the location of the Netherworld Water, he had suddenly sensed the iron piece given to Faye heating up. So, he decided to take a look. Upon spotting the Blood Wolf Demon from afar, Sterl thought of testing the effect of Shadow Stealth.