Darkeater Midir

At the same time.

The Firelink Shrine.

Gallagher stood before the stone wall that had once been a dead end, but now opened up into a gap, his brow furrowed.

"I didn't see anything about this entrance on the Nine Provinces Forum. Have any of you encountered it while playing?"

Queenie stood beside him, looking into the deep passageway, and asked a question.

She's been in a deep sleep lately and hasn't actually completed any Dark Souls dungeons.

"No."

Gallagher shook his head slightly. "But someone just rode the elevator and said they heard a dragon's roar, something we didn't encounter while clearing the dungeon. I remember the system announcement said the dungeon would change, and this might be that change."

"Dragon?"

Queenie looked at Gallagher: "So what are you planning to do?"

Gallagher hesitated for a moment, then looked at Finn: "What do you think?"

Finn thought for a moment and said, "Let's go down and take a look. There's a Core Bonfire nearby, it seems to be down here. Since we've decided to use the difference in the number of Core Bonfire Core Bonfire to win, we can't give up on this one. The location report just showed that Lu Xiu has already gone to Oolacile, where there are also two Core Bonfire."

Gallagher nodded. "Then get ready. There will definitely be enemies down there, no doubt about it. Stay alert."

The other core players of Prison Rock drew their weapons and nodded.

Gallagher, seeing everyone was ready, said, "I'll go in first."

He took the lead and stepped into the passage that exuded a mysterious aura.

Finn and the other core players followed closely behind.

The passageway was very dark.

And they hadn't gone very far.

The road ahead ended, Take Their Place by a bottomless, almost vertical, dark slide.

Gallagher stopped at the edge of the slide, looking down at the pitch blackness that seemed to devour everything, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned and gestured to one of the players behind him to go in and scout ahead.

The player took a deep breath and then leaped into the slide.

A few seconds passed.

There were no reports of casualties or loss of health.

"Safety first, keep up!"

Gallagher didn't hesitate any longer and jumped in first.

Seeing this, the other core players of Prison Rock also jumped down.

Call!

The sound of whistling wind came.

The passage was far deeper than anyone had anticipated, as if it were a path leading to an unfathomable abyss.

About two seconds later.

With each splash of water hitting the ground, Gallagher and the others finally found solid ground beneath their feet.

This appears to be a vast cavern located deep underground.

The space was vast, and standing in it, one could clearly feel one's own insignificance. Several huge cracks were present in the extremely high dome, barely letting down a few rays of light.

The faint light cast a murky, leaden gray hue over the large expanse of shallow water beneath their feet.

The sound of the player landing in the Prison Rock echoed far and wide, creating a vast and resounding sound.

Gallagher straightened up and warily surveyed the wide square.

"Gallagher!"

Just then...

The player who had just scouted ahead suddenly shouted, his voice trembling slightly.

Gallagher turned around abruptly.

At the same time.

In the distance, the dark outline of what they had mistaken for a massive mountain range in the dim light suddenly moved.

Then, to the astonishment and disbelief of Gallagher, Finn, and all the other players in the Prison Rock Core...

The mountain range slowly rose to its feet.

No, that's not a mountain range at all.

----That was a dragon!

An ancient dragon whose size defies all logic!

Its entire body was covered in gray-black scales, with deep purplish-black crystals embedded between the scales, making it look as if it were cast from rock.

Splash!

It slowly shook its head, then a huge dragon head lowered down, staring at the uninvited guest who had disturbed it. Its tattered dragon wings, which covered the sky and sun, suddenly spread open, and at the same time let out a roar that seemed to pierce through the soul, causing the entire underground space to tremble violently!

"Roar!!!"

A blast of air surged in.

All the players in the Prison Rock felt a stinging pain in their eardrums.

Before they could even recover...

Immediately afterwards, an extremely grand and tragic background music, carrying Epic and despairing feel, began to play in everyone's ears without warning.

at the same time.

Above the dragon's head, a terrifying health bar, almost filling the entire field of vision, slowly appeared, accompanied by dark gold lettering.

[Limited-Time Boss: Darkeater Midir]!!!

At that moment, everyone, including Gallagher, even forgot to breathe.

no way.

That oppressive force!

That's incredibly powerful!

It's suffocating!

Midir, however, didn't care that the players in the Prison Rock hadn't reacted yet.

Its forelimbs suddenly exerted force, supporting its massive, mountain-like body. Then, its enormous head lowered, and scalding flames began to emanate wildly from its slightly open maw.

Next.

It began to slowly spew out flames that were a mixture of orange-red and purplish-black, as if it were gathering some kind of power.

The flames beneath him grew stronger.

A blinding burst of light suddenly erupted from Midir's mouth!

The destructive power contained within that light distorted the surrounding space, causing it to emit a shriek as if it were about to collapse under its own weight.

Seeing this scene...

Gallagher finally snapped out of the suffocating pressure, letting out a furious roar with eyes wide with rage, "Gareth!!! Defense!!!"

At the same time, Midir suddenly stood up!

Boom!!!

Accompanied by a terrifying sonic boom that rips through eardrums.

A dark purple laser beam shot out directly from its massive maw!

Starting from Midir's feet, the laser, like a Abyss blade capable of cleaving the heavens and earth, swept towards the location of Gallagher and the others with a speed that was impossible to react to!

"Ah!"

The two players from the Prison Rock, who were directly facing the laser path, didn't even have time to let out a full scream.

Health points instantly drop to zero.

There was no room for struggle.

The two were instantly vaporized by the terrifying Abyss Laser, turning into two streaks of Bai Guang and disappearing on the spot!

But this is just the beginning!

Midir suddenly swung his head, and the dark purple laser, which seemed capable of destroying everything, drew a semicircle on the ground, like the scythe of death, sweeping towards Gallagher and the others standing to one side!

Boom boom boom!

Where the laser swept, the purplish-black Abyss energy exploded violently, and water and debris were sprayed wildly in all directions during the explosion!

At the critical moment!

Seeing the death ray sweeping towards them with unstoppable force, Gareth, whom Gallagher had mentioned, disregarded everything else and immediately activated his strongest trump card.

"Domain expansion!!!"

Buzz!

The domain rippled instantly, enveloping the remaining Prison Rock players.

Boom!!!

Dark purple lasers, accompanied by a series of violent explosions, slammed into Gallagher and the others.

The entire underground cavern seemed to have been struck by a magnitude 10 earthquake; the deafening roar drowned out everything.

A few seconds later.

The aftershocks of the raging Abyss energy finally began to dissipate.

Even with the barrier of a domain that provides stamina and defense bonuses.

All the surviving players of the Prison Rock Core, including Gallagher, had their previously healthy health bars instantly emptied, turning them a dangerous red!

Just a hair's breadth away!

Even after activating their Domain Skill to withstand the attack, they barely managed to retain a sliver of health, and the entire group instantly fell into a near-death state!

Finn's eyes widened.

Queenie's eyes widened.

All the surviving players of Prison Rock stared wide-eyed in disbelief, looking up at the ancient dragon in the distance that resembled a demon from the Abyss, their faces filled with unprecedented terror.

No!!!

Is this the boss from Dark Souls?

Gallagher and the others were internally screaming with rage.

Even knowing that monster stats and mechanics would be enhanced after dungeons become group battles, this is still too outrageous!

Smough and Ornstein from the Anor Londo have already become suffocatingly powerful, but they are still within the realm of being able to defeat them.

But what is this monster in front of us?!

A single opening laser sweep instantly killed two people and, despite the defensive field, reduced their entire core main force to a sliver of health in an instant?!

This isn't about whether she's a supermodel or not!

This doesn't look like a monster from a Dark Souls dungeon at all!!

"Drink the medicine! Quickly drink the high-level Recovery Item!"

The domain caster Gareth, roared in terror, "That last attack almost destroyed my domain! I won't be able to absorb any more damage!"

Without him even saying anything, the others had already frantically pulled out their Consumable.

However.

Midir gave them absolutely no time to catch their breath or recover.

Boom!

Before they could even bring the potion to their lips, the Abyss Dragon suddenly exerted force with its forelimbs.

Its terrifying body, like a continuous mountain range, carrying a massive shadow that instilled despair, lunged directly at the group of people in Prison Rock!

"Spread!!!"

Finn roared furiously, his eyes wide with rage.

But Midir's attack range is simply too large.

It suddenly lowered its head, and scalding dragon breath ignited in its mouth once more.

Call!

First, it frantically spewed out a fan-shaped burst of flames to the left, then with a flick of its massive head, it spewed out a second terrifying burst of flames to the right!

The flames scorched the air, effectively blocking most of the escape routes for the group from Prison Rock.

But this was merely an appetizer to appetize despair.

Under the cover of the sea of fire.

Midir raised its forelimbs, its huge claws lashing forward with a piercing screech that tore through the air!

One time!

Two!

The enormous claws, accompanied by a whooshing sound, struck with incredible speed, instantly depleting the health of another player in the Prison Rock.

Immediately afterwards.

Its massive body pressed forward with ferocious force, carrying an aura of crushing everything, and then followed up with an extremely fierce lunge.

Rumble!!!

It moved and shifted, attacking relentlessly.

The entire underground area seemed to be trembling violently, as if it would collapse completely at any moment.

"Ah!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream followed.

Another player, already down to the last Prison Rock of health, was caught off guard by Midir's final pounce and instantly turned into Bai Guang because he rolled a fraction too slowly.

But Midir had no intention of stopping.

The next second.

It flapped its giant wings and took flight! It then began breathing fire at Gallagher and the others who had escaped unscathed!

fear.

despair.

These two emotions spread wildly in the hearts of the players who had narrowly escaped Prison Rock.

As Gallagher ran frantically to avoid the flames, he watched Midir fly up and breathe fire, feeling a chill run through his body.

He finally understood.

Why is it that the people of Nine Provinces —knowing full well that there's Core Bonfire at the Firelink Shrine —don't see a single person come?

To obtain the Core Bonfire of the Firelink Shrine, it is clear that this dragon must be killed.

But kill this dragon?!

That's simply impossible!

In just one exchange! If it weren't for the distance and the activation of their domains, half of Prison Rock's core members would have been wiped out!

Considering that Lu Xiu was the Architect of the entire instance, the system could not have automatically generated such a BOSS.

Furthermore, players from Nine Provinces don't come to the Firelink Shrine.

Thinking of this----

Gallagher finally understood everything and couldn't help but roar with heart-wrenching fury, "Lu Xiu!!!!!!!"

Such a boss could only have come from her hands!!

"Leave!"

Finn, realizing his mistake, yelled at Gallagher, "Otherwise, we'll be wiped out!"

They haven't even touched a single scale of the dragon since the fight started!

"Find a way! Run!"

Gallagher gritted his teeth. "Find a way out! Run!!!"

", accompanied by a series of destructive dragon breaths as Midir spiraled down from mid-air.

The cave was like purgatory.

In the main live stream room, the viewers watching the split screen on the right even forgot to send comments.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

Just as the split screen on the right side was descending into chaos.

The Painted World.

The art style here is completely different from the violent and destructive scene beneath the Firelink Shrine.

In the wind and snow.

Zane, leading another main force of Prison Rock, is advancing rapidly.

Compared to the suspenseful situation in Gallagher, the progress in the Painted World is exceptionally smooth.

After all, in the previous speedrun, the core players of the Prison Rock faction had already used countless lives to thoroughly understand the terrain and monster distribution of the Painted World.

They knew exactly where the monsters lurked and how to get to the final boss.

Although a church has been added next to the tower where the final boss is located.

But this did not slow them down.

soon.

They advanced to the vicinity of the tower.

At this point, they can choose to go in two directions.

Go directly to the tower to fight the dragon girl, or go to the church next door.

Where to go?

Tessa looked at Zane: "We haven't seen a single Core Bonfire yet. I guess one is in the tower and the other is in the church next door."

Zane stopped, squinted, and looked at the magnificent Gothic cathedral in the distance.

The greyish-white spires pierce the leaden-grey sky, and the stained glass windows exude beauty in the wind and snow. Everything seems so abrupt, yet it also seems to blend perfectly with this Painted World.

"Let's go to church first."

Zane hesitated for a moment, then gripped his spear tightly. "That's probably what the rules of group combat refer to as the unknown variable—"

We were familiar with the tower, but this newly appeared church was completely new to us. This was our first day and our first group activity, so we had to explore it.

If we, the first-tier players, don't explore, then we can't expect the second-tier players to explore.

"Then let's go."

Tessa understood Zane's meaning, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

It's definitely necessary to scout out the path for players in other tiers.

Even if others have opinions.

At this moment, faced with the greater good, it's best not to say anything.

Don't be careless.

Zane gave one last piece of advice. "Prepare for battle—there will likely be a combat segment. Since it's the Core Bonfire, it won't be easy to obtain. Also, although Fan Lixin from Nine Provinces didn't enter the Painted World, we still need to leave someone behind to prevent a sneak attack."

All the other players in the Prison Rock area nodded in agreement.

They started walking towards the church.

soon.

We arrived just in time.

They didn't encounter any enemies along the way.

Zane and Tessa exchanged a glance and slowly pushed open the heavy wooden door of the church.

Squeak!

A teeth-grinding scraping sound echoed through the wind and snow.

The interior of the church was now laid out before everyone.

There were no hordes of monsters as I had imagined, nor any deafening traps or mechanisms.

The main hall was unusually empty and dimly lit.

Only the icy chill flowed slowly across the smooth stone floor.

The candlelight burning on both sides flickered and cast eerie shadows in the cold wind.

At the far end of the church, a Father, enormous as a hill and shaped like a deformed crow, sat.

He seemed to be bound to the chair, his withered hands cradling a golden Lordvessel resembling a brazier.

The Father bowed his head, almost burying it in the Lordvessel, and kept whimpering in pain, as if he was suppressing something.

Zane and the others were initially nervous when they saw the enormous Father, but then they breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that his health bar didn't immediately reappear.