Subjugation

In the Helheim world of Yggdrasil.

A tremendous roar rang out as two colossal beings engaged in a fierce battle. Drawing closer, one could see that they were two enormous dragons. The sounds of their collisions echoed continuously through the sky, dazzling magic filled the air, and in the distance, a skeleton could faintly be seen casting spells.

Wings of the End—Nienniels, one of the hidden World Bosses, possessed unparalleled defense and attack power. To subjugate such an existence, a double-digit number of people had to join forces to stand a chance. Even the rarest World Champion classes lacked the ability to take it down alone.

Yet in the final moments before the game called Yggdrasil shut down, this World Boss, who should have been quietly awaiting the end, instead faced two challengers and entered into a fierce battle with them.

"Roar!!"

With a roar, a massive magic circle appeared before Nienniels, and tremendous energy gushed from its mouth. Neither of the two was unfamiliar with this move. As the innate magic of all dragons, Dragon Breath, also known as Roar, was the most common skill used by all Dragon Race bosses.

Purple Dragon Breath shot toward the challenger before it, but he did not dodge. Instead, he opened his gaping maw, and a similar magic circle appeared.

[Roar of the Magic Dragon]

As the magic took shape, an even greater surge of energy erupted from it. The black Dragon Breath collided with the enemy's, and the two immense forces canceled each other out. Just as the stalemate seemed set to continue, the figure in the distance who had been continuously stacking buffs on himself finally made his move.

A dazzling magic circle appeared, the sign of Super-Tier Magic being activated. Though it was called magic, it was more like a special skill. It consumed no MP, and its only limitation was the restricted number of uses per day. To use it again, one could only wait for its cooldown to end.

"Roar!!"

Sensing the activation of Super-Tier Magic, Nienniels immediately stopped breathing fire and charged toward its caster.

Aside from its tremendous power, Super-Tier Magic had a hidden effect. No matter what boss was being subjugated, once someone activated Super-Tier Magic, the boss would treat that person as its highest-priority target.

No amount of taunting could change that primary target. Because of this, Players had once called it the strongest aggro-drawing skill.

The massive figure reached out toward the tiny skeleton before it. Faced with the huge dragon claws overhead, he continued activating his Super-Tier Magic without the slightest movement, as though he had not seen the attack descending upon him.

"Bang!!"

A violent explosion erupted as a blast of Dragon Breath instantly struck Nienniels's dragon body. With his teammate drawing its aggro, the Dragon Breath of the dragon-shaped Player hit it without obstruction.

With a thunderous roar, its Dragon Scales shattered, and precious Dragon Blood splattered everywhere.

As a World Boss, every scale and every drop of blood on its body was valuable material. After killing it, they could be gathered and used for all sorts of things, such as potions, weapons, alchemy, and more.

The boss's health plummeted rapidly, reaching around three percent in the blink of an eye. A few more hits, and the boss before them would soon be slain.

"Momonga, now."

His teammate's voice came through Communication. The magic circle beside the skeletal Player named Momonga immediately blazed with light. As though the sky itself had collapsed, a massive pillar of light directly struck the knocked-back boss.

"Super-Tier Magic: [Fallen Down]"

The chant ended, and the terrifying pillar of light ravaged everything on the map. At its center, Nienniels, the World Boss, let out pained roars.

The health bar above its head also fell rapidly.

"3%"

"2%"

"1%"

"0%"

Under the impact of the magic, as its health continued to drop until it was completely depleted, the giant dragon finally stopped moving.

With the sound of its body hitting the ground, this dragon, one of Yggdrasil's strongest hidden bosses and known as Wings of the End—Nienniels, had finally been subjugated.

The enormous dragon body lay on the ground without disappearing. Players could gather all kinds of materials from it, such as Dragon Scales, Dragon Blood, and even rare Dragon Crystals. The quantity of materials depended on how intact the boss's corpse was.

Specks of light in various colors appeared all around them. They were the rewards for subjugating a World Boss: weapons, potions, and even, with a small chance, World Items.

"It's finally over."

Looking at the fallen dragon before him, Momonga, the skeletal Player, let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, he had not been completely certain whether his spell could instantly kill this World Boss.

Although he had frantically stacked more than sixty buffs on himself and consumed ten special potions, including rare potions for magic enhancement, armor-piercing enhancement, and Dragon Race slaying, bringing his magic attack to a terrifying level.

But it was still a World Boss, and there was nothing wrong with being cautious. He had already prepared to use a Pay-to-Win Item to hit it with another Fallen Down if this one failed to kill it. If that still did not work, he would fire another one. After all, his friend had given him quite a few Pay-to-Win Items that could shorten the casting time of Super-Tier Magic.

"Nicely done, Momonga. After three hours, we finally killed it."

The giant dragon in the sky slowly descended, its enormous shadow blotting out the sun. Four massive dragon horns grew from its head, three pairs of huge wings flapped behind its back, and its tail, as long as its body, swayed freely.

Its entire body was black. On either side of its chest were dark red spots like gemstones, yet resembling eyes. No feathers covered it; its exposed skin was covered in hard, pitch-black Dragon Scales. Its eyes gleamed with menace, its teeth were razor-sharp, and its dragon claws looked capable of tearing apart everything, striking fear into anyone who saw them.

The Dragon Shadow slowly descended until it transformed into a figure about as tall as the skeleton before him, with dragon horns atop his head. He smiled at the other man and said,

"It really wasn't easy. The two of us actually managed to subjugate a World Boss, and one of the Dragon Race bosses known as the hardest to take down at that."

Momonga, the undead Player, sighed with emotion. This was something he would never have dared to imagine before. If anyone had told him that two people could subjugate a World Boss, he would have thought they were insane—unless, of course, they had used a World Item.

"Naiyuan, this time, it was all thanks to your special skill. Otherwise, I would have been taken out by it long ago."

Looking at his friend before him, Momonga—Suzuki Satoru—said excitedly. This subjugation had depended heavily on the other man's special class, Dragon Slayer. Otherwise, the outcome would have been hard to say.

"If you hadn't buffed me and cast all those interference and curse spells, I wouldn't have been able to hold it back either."

Naiyuan waved his hand. Although it looked as if he and the boss had been evenly matched, that was only on the surface. Without Momonga's buffs and the negative buffs he had placed on the boss, Naiyuan truly would not have been able to defeat it.

Even under those conditions, he had resurrected three times. If he died again, he would have been sent back to the resurrection point. Dragon Slayer was powerful, but it was not omnipotent.

There had never been a precedent for a World Boss of the same level being killed solo. The fact that they had managed to kill it as a pair was already impressive. Of course, if one was fighting a World Boss below one's level, then disregard what he said.

"Special Class: Dragon Slayer"

"As a Dragonoid, you have walked the path opposite to that of dragons. Yet the boy who slays dragons will eventually become one."

"Ability 1: Dragon King Transformation"

"Having bathed in countless dragons' blood, you have undoubtedly gained the ability to transform into a dragon. Upon becoming a giant dragon, your attack power and defense will greatly increase."

"Ability 2: Dragon Blood Sacrifice"

"Bathing in the blood of giant dragons will make you stronger. Go, hunt every pure-blooded giant dragon on the continent. They shall become your strength. (For every certain number of pure-blooded giant dragons you kill, your attributes will increase slightly.)"

"Ability 3: Dragon Soul Resurrection"

"The dragon soul is indestructible. When you die, you can resurrect immediately and remove all negative effects. (Limited to three times per day.)"

"Ability 4: Dragon Dominator"

"Damage dealt to Dragon Race creatures increases by 50%."

"Ability 5: Fallen Dragon Transformation"

Enter a bleeding state, losing 1% of maximum health every 10 seconds to increase damage by 5%.