As it turned out, Twilight really was a professional villainous faction. Their professionalism was top-notch. They'd promised to give Gherman Bonechewer a vial of immortality potion, and the stuff really did have some sort of strange "immortality."
After taking a direct hit from a Supernova Burn fired by the Creator's handmade prototype of the Annihilator, then getting struck squarely in a vital spot by a warhammer wrapped in the Omega Program, the Bonechewer chieftain had entered his "second phase." Now he stood there with the imposing air of someone who was "completely unharmed," his neck bent at a ninety-degree angle, staring at Murphy with his vertically aligned eyes.
A strange yet familiar light flickered in his black pupils.
Through that faint black glow, Murphy seemed to be back in the scattered visions he'd glimpsed when he first entered the swamp exclusion zone for identity verification, catching a fleeting sight of some shadow in the Warp.
"So you're the one personally logging in."
Murphy spoke softly:
"Your Excellency, Original Sin. How's the battle in the Warp going today?"
"Creator's dog!"
Faced with Murphy's polite "neighborly greeting," the tasteless, ill-mannered Warp shadow answered with a local Warp insult. It didn't speak aloud, but instead projected its meaning directly into Murphy's mind.
The instant this big shot "spoke," everyone at the heart of the battlefield except Murphy, protected by the Omega Program, and Penny, now a mechanical mind, had their Sanity hit rock bottom. They disconnected on the spot, while the psychic energy that made up their bodies was crudely torn apart and reassembled. They became bizarre, twisted abominations that howled as they pounced on the nearby players still staring in bewilderment.
"So that's what the second phase is like! The main quest NPC tanks the boss, and we fight the mobs! Charge!