Seeing Mysterious charge forward, Melodic Moon instinctively moved to follow. But as if he had eyes on his back, Mysterious didn’t even turn his head. His voice cut through the air, stopping her in her tracks.
"Hold back for now."
At that exact moment, Mysterious closed in on the Bull Boss. Just like handling an ordinary water buffalo, he nimbly sidestepped its charge, his sword flashing across its flank.
[-9]
As a boss-level monster, this red-eyed Bull Boss naturally had far higher defense than regular red-eyed water buffaloes. Mysterious’s strike barely scratched double digits in damage.
"1,800 HP." The moment his blade connected, Mysterious called out the boss’s health.
He only announced the HP because attack and defense stats meant nothing to Melodic Moon and the others under level suppression. No need to clutter the call.
After dodging the charge, Mysterious instantly spun and gave chase—the Bull Boss might attempt another charge if given space. Getting hit wasn’t the worry; it was the hassle of chasing a rampaging monster.
Compared to regular water buffaloes, the Bull Boss excelled in every stat except agility. Just like before, Mysterious seized the moment it turned, darting in to slash twice across its rump.
The damage was low, but it enraged the beast. Whirling around, the Bull Boss locked onto Mysterious with murderous intent, launching a frenzied assault.
Yet its clumsy attacks never landed. Instead, Mysterious slipped in to carve several more cuts across its face.
"Time to join in," Mysterious called. "Stay clear of its front."
His strikes carried more taunt than damage. Red-eyed water buffaloes were hotheads—a little provocation, and they’d fixate solely on him. Unless someone deliberately messed up, aggro wouldn’t shift.
"...Ah, got it." Melodic Moon and the others had been frozen, watching in awe. Only now did they snap to attention.
It wasn’t lack of focus. Mysterious’s performance was staggering—dodging attacks while countering with surgical precision, toying with the Bull Boss like a plaything. It put their near-death struggle to shame.
If they knew he was holding back—his true solo-clear speed was thirty percent faster—they’d question their life choices.
He held back for their sake.
He’d accepted Melodic Moon’s invitation because of her aura. But strangers? He wouldn’t carry dead weight. He didn’t demand heroics—just genuine effort.
Empty promises wouldn’t sway him. If he sensed half-heartedness, he’d leave without a word.
"Nameless One, can you lead?" Melodic Moon stayed put, calling out. "If you can command, take charge. We’ll support you."
Anyone could see Mysterious dancing on a knife’s edge—tanking aggro while dealing damage. One misstep meant disaster. Melodic Moon dared not disrupt his rhythm.
(Truth was, his "knife’s edge" act was pure laziness. To him, it was effortless. To them, his minimal movements looked like desperate, frame-perfect dodges.)
"Command? Fine." Mysterious kept weaving as he spoke. "Just follow and deal damage. Stay out of its frontal cone—it won’t target you."
Bulls fixated on moving objects in their sightline. Especially things that taunted them.
Mysterious danced before the Bull Boss, blade flashing—a grave insult. Its unnatural rage made it want to crush him into paste.
Its hatred for Mysterious was absolute. Which meant its awareness of everything else plummeted.
As long as Mysterious kept dodging and striking from its blind spot, the boss wouldn’t notice others—even if they dealt massive damage, it’d blame him.
But the level 6 Bull Boss shrugged off attacks from Melodic Moon’s level 5 party. Only Mysterious, level 7, could pierce its defense. And stuck at its front, he couldn’t land lethal blows.
Going all-out meant trading hits. Against a strength-based monster, his measly 6 STR would lose badly.
After minutes of fighting, they’d barely scraped off 500 HP—less than a third. And that was with perfect aggro control letting the three ranged DPS unleash freely.
But mana pools ran dry. Dreaming Alice and Undying Song were out of spells. Silent Sword’s arrows were nearly gone. Mages could sit to recover; arrows couldn’t be conjured.
The melee fighters fared worse. Melodic Moon and Misty Cloud struggled to position while attacking. Matching Mysterious’s erratic dodges and the boss’s wild swings was exhausting.
In *EndlessHorizon*, fatigue was real. For new players, this intensity was brutal.
Misty Cloud was fraying at the edges.
Mysterious noticed. "Fall back. Stand still. Or sit. Just don’t move."
He’d judged them. Not exceptional, but... adequate.
Time to step up.
"Eh? Fall back?" Melodic Moon blinked.
"Back. Stay still." Mysterious repeated, still dancing with death while chatting.
As they retreated, Mysterious’s movements sharpened—not faster, but lethal. He slipped past the horns, lunged behind the beast, and slashed its rump. Dodging a kick, he struck the same spot again.
Two precise cuts opened a shallow wound.
The Bull Boss tried to pivot, but Mysterious clung to its blind spot like a shadow, blade never pausing.
"Your turn." He finally signaled.
The boss’s lower body was now a tapestry of gashes—silent testimony to his brutality.
"Holy hell... Is this even human?!" Misty Cloud choked out.
"I’m starting to think I’m playing a bootleg version," Silent Sword muttered.
"Snap out of it! Move!" Melodic Moon barked at her team, then turned to Mysterious, concern in her voice. "Nameless One, let me pull aggro. You rest."
After carving the wounds, Mysterious returned to his lazy dance—what he considered half-effort looked like berserk fury to others. She thought he was spent after that burst.
"No rest. Finish it fast." Mysterious parried a horn. "Melee—aim for the wounds. Damage will spike."
Their attacks couldn’t pierce its hide. But if he broke its defense first...
Hitting moving wounds on a thrashing rump was near-impossible. Most strikes still glanced off. But when one landed—a lucky hit for 12 damage—Melodic Moon and Misty Cloud’s eyes lit up. Focus sharpened.
Repeated strikes on the wounds finally drew a pained bellow. The instant the Bull Boss opened its mouth, Mysterious’s blade darted in, stabbing its tongue for 30 damage.
"Nameless One..." Silent Sword stared. "Are you a professional bullfighter IRL?"
"Since when do bullfighters pull *this* off?" Dreaming Alice shot back.
"Okay, okay... Bullfighter Hero?"
Silent Sword thought for a moment, then rephrased it.
...
