Part-Time BOSS

PTB Ch.15 – Santazak Walks Into Death

“This one should be easy.” Looking at Dawn Excalibur who was wiping the blood on his sword with the ogre’s corpse, Midnight Dharma God suddenly spoke quietly.

“Oh, so confident? Just because the first two bosses went well?”

“Of course not.
It’s really unexpected that the first two bosses were so easy.
I thought it was some kind of trap where the other party was misleading us and making us careless.
But I figured it out just now.”

Midnight Dharma God stretched out a finger, “Morpheus didn’t get any resources from Xingyao Group at all.
I thought playing solo was because he liked to show off, but now I realize that it’s because he hardly has any decent subordinates.”

“Then isn’t he very strong, to make a huge reputation by himself?”

Midnight Dharma God clicked his tongue.
“He is indeed very strong, but only outside the instance.
We have analyzed before that his talent spread is absolutely crooked.
The dragon’s breath and flying ability are far superior to ordinary dragons, but there are definitely flaws in other aspects, so we formed such a lineup to deal with that.
He can’t fight hand-to-hand, at least not very well.
With you here, that’s enough to overcome his melee ability, and my enchantment can restrain his dragon’s breath, so what’s left for him to do? Dragon language magic? I haven’t ever seen him use it.

I’m not here to wildly with all my wealth.
I came here because I was at least 70% sure I could win – now it’s closer to 90%.”

Dawn slightly nodded.
“The analysis sounds good, but don’t be careless until the last moment.
Since this guy can live up to now, he must have his specialties.”

“Of course, don’t worry, this time we’ve brought out all our strength to deal with it.
He will definitely not survive tonight — now let’s go.”

’

The team proceeded through Obsidian Hall and arrived at a spacious platform with a staircase.
As they rushed to the top, they were greeted by a hall filled with bones.

  It appeared to be some kind of worship site, with an altar in the center surrounded by skeletons of various humanoids, goblins, kobolds, ogres, humans, and even draconians.

  On the ground was a huge array-like structure, which had been carved out and formed a sunken ditch covered with black dirt made of dried blood.

  The entire hall was dimly lit, causing the adventurers to feel as if they had entered a horror survival game.
A gust of wind blew through the hall, causing even the most timid adventurers to shiver in fear.

Chi Yang: “Damn, this game company is awesome.”

Decade: “What makes you say that?”

Chi Yang: “Even the government can’t censor such horrifying game scenes, I’m so scared!”

Orange Lemon: “Shhh, keep your voice down, don’t bring the BOSS back to life.”

Following the directions given by a priest within the team, they discovered more than a dozen Dragon Worship priests wearing black cloaks, loudly praying around the altar.
An elderly man, adorned with an ornate keel helmet, stood upon the altar with open hands, seemingly performing some kind of mysterious ceremony.

  It was Dragon Cult High Priest Santazak, the No.
3 boss of Dark Dragon Nest.

’

  ”Hey, it’s the Dragon Cult’s priest.
Morpheus didn’t even bother to assign the young black dragon as the guard boss.”

  Midnight Dharma God showed an unexpected expression.
“Isn’t it obvious that Hildeshanks is an alt? Morpheus would never give us the opportunity to practice against him.
But it doesn’t matter, we have practiced before.”

Indeed, in the previous month or so, this team had specifically targeted Morpheus and several BOSSes under his command.
They had conducted BOSS battle rehearsals respectively, practicing against similar BOSSes found in other dungeons.
Because of this, they were able to preview the tactics and abilities of these BOSSes, making it easy for them to defeat the first two bosses.

  Regarding Murphys, they had also practiced beforehand, but at that time, they had dealt with a disaster-level red dragon BOSS that was only of the second level.
Although much weaker than Murphys in terms of strength, they were both dragons and could breathe fire, making their fighting style very similar.

  That battle provided them with a lot of valuable experience.

Dawn Excalibur shook his head, “I hate these priest monsters, they always pray to their gods and come up with some strange tricks.
Let’s enter the boss battle and try to kill them quickly.” After speaking, he waved his hand.

The team formed a fan formation and approached the boss.

  Meanwhile, Murphy was also paying close attention to the previous boss battle.

  [System prompt: Dragon Cult High Priest Santazak has used the combat strategy ‘Sacrificial Call’ to sacrifice the existing boss and other friendly units on the field and summon a higher-level boss.]

’

  Murphy was momentarily stunned.
If he understood correctly, was Santazak sacrificing himself?

  Although Santazak was just an NPC and they weren’t particularly familiar with each other, it still touched him.

  At this moment, the adventuring group entered the boss’s aggro range.

  Santazak suddenly raised his head and looked towards the people in the distance, revealing a strange smile.
To everyone’s surprise, this old boss was quite amicable, unlike the two belligerent bosses they had encountered earlier.

“Hehehe, welcome to the Hall of Sacrifice, brave adventurers.
You are fortunate to witness a sacred ceremony, in which the lost gods will reveal their miracles once more.

  However, it is not easy to pray for this miracle.
It requires great sacrifice and courage.
As per the master’s orders, I will stop you at any cost.
Since that’s the case, bear witness!

  May the ancient gods bestow their blessings upon us.
Oh Dragon God Yamahamut, heed the prayers of your humble servant and bring your will to this world! Infuse your great strength into my rotting corpse.”

The intensity of Santazak’s tone increased as an invisible force lifted him into the air.
The Dragon Worship believers who were kneeling and praying started to scream fervently, and their flesh and blood quickly dried up, turning them into mummies.
The blood gushed out and transformed into red energy that gathered towards Santazak.

Dawn Excalibur had the impulse to rush forward to interrupt the ceremony, but he found himself completely immobile, and everyone’s perspective had turned into that of a bystander.

’

This boss even has a cutscene…

This is also one of the benefits of the dungeon mode.
No matter how impatient the hero is, he has to wait for the villain to complete his transformation.

Only when he is fully ready can the fight begin.

Right before everyone’s eyes, all the blood energy had been absorbed by Santazak.
The beast’s body started to expand, and something wriggled beneath its skin.
With a puff, a dragon wing emerged from its back, piercing the skin and stretching outward.

Another puff, and a second dragon wing emerged, both wings mostly comprised of bone, with only a slight membrane near the torso.
Its limbs too began to mutate, skin tearing, flesh and blood swelling, and expanding like a blown-up balloon.

In an instant, the creature transformed into a horrifying dragon-like being, its body twisted and incomplete, most of it made up of pallid white bones, clearly indicating that its flesh and blood were insufficient.

Santazak: “No, the sacrifices were not enough to complete the ceremony, I need more sacrifices! Since life is not enough to complete this great body that Yamahamut has given me, let death fill it instead.”

The great dragon unfolded its wings, and an endless stream of deathly breath spewed out from the surrounding bones, coalescing towards the beast’s form.

The breath of death merged with the previously scattered flesh and bones, transmuting into more pallid bones, filling the gaps in flesh and blood.
Once the cutscene had concluded, a monstrous sight befell the onlookers, beyond words to describe.
A colossal dragon, constructed entirely of bones, enshrouded in a black haze of death.

“Death’s Doorstep” Santazak (Bone Dragon), level 80: Disaster Level 3, HP 195,000.