Santazak, Step into Death

"This one should be in the bag." As Dawn Divine Sword wiped the blood from his greatsword with an Ogre's corpse, Midnight Arcane God suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Oh, that confident? Just because the first two bosses were pushovers?"

"Of course not. Those first two bosses being so weak was indeed a little unexpected. I initially thought it was some kind of trap, that they were misleading us into letting our guard down. But I suddenly figured it out."

Midnight Arcane God raised one finger. "Mo Fei never received any resource support from Starlight Company. I've studied his livestream footage. In every battle, he's always at the front, fighting personally. I thought he just liked showing off, but now I realize it's because he barely has any competent subordinates."

"Isn't he strong, though? He built such a huge reputation all by himself."

Midnight Arcane God nodded. "He is strong, but only outside dungeons. We analyzed this before—his talent points are definitely skewed. His dragon breath and flight abilities far surpass those of ordinary Dragonkind, but he must have flaws in other areas. That's why I put together this lineup to deal with him. He can't fight in close combat, or at least he won't be very strong at it. With you here, his melee ability is completely countered. And my barrier can restrain his dragon breath. What else can he do? Dragon Magic? I've never even seen him use it.

I wouldn't gamble my entire fortune on this. I only came because I had a seventy percent chance of winning—now it's ninety."

Dawn Divine Sword nodded slightly. "A good analysis. But until the very last moment, never let your guard down. Since this guy has survived until now, he must have something special about him."

"Of course. Don't worry. This time, we've brought out all our strength to deal with him. He definitely won't survive tonight—keep moving."

The party crossed Obsidian Hall and arrived before a staircase leading up to a broad platform. Several minor monsters blocking the way offered only token resistance before being shot down. The adventurers quickly charged up the stairs, and a hall covered in bones appeared before them.

This hall appeared to be some sort of ritual site. A sacrificial altar stood in the center, surrounded by the skeletons of various humanoid creatures—Goblins, Kobolds, Ogres, humans, and even Dragonkin.

A massive magic-circle-like pattern was carved into the ground, forming sunken channels coated with black grime formed from dried blood.

The entire hall was gloomy and sinister, making it feel as if they had crossed into a horror survival game. A cold gust swept through, and some of the more timid adventurers were already shivering.

Blazing Sun: "Damn, this game company is incredible."

Decade: "How so?"

Blazing Sun: "How did such terrifying game visuals not get banned? Mommy, I'm so scared!"

Orange Lemon: "Shh, keep it down. Don't wake the boss up."

Following the direction pointed out by a priest in the party, they saw more than a dozen Dragon Worship Cult priests in black robes praying loudly around the altar. An elderly man dressed similarly but far more lavishly stood atop the altar, wearing a dragonbone helmet and spreading his arms as though conducting some mysterious ritual.

Dark Dragon Nest's third boss, Dragon Worship Cult High Priest Santazak.

"Huh, Dragon Worship Cult priests. They actually didn't arrange that young Black Dragon as the gatekeeper boss."

Midnight Arcane God wore an unsurprised expression. "Isn't it obvious? Hildesanks is just a smaller Mo Fei. That guy would never give us such a chance to practice. But it doesn't matter. We rehearsed all of this beforehand."

That was right. Over the past month or so, this team had practiced boss battles against the various bosses under Murphys mentioned in the intelligence reports. Their practice targets had been similar bosses from other dungeons. Because of that, they had already previewed the tactics and abilities of these bosses, which was why they had defeated the first two so easily.

As for Murphys, they had practiced against him as well. However, that time they had faced a Disaster Tier Red Dragon boss, only Disaster Tier second rank. It was considerably weaker than Murphys, but they were both Dragonkind and both breathed fire, so their fighting styles were at least very similar.

That battle had given them plenty of experience.

Dawn Divine Sword shook his head. "I hate priest-type monsters. They're always praying to their gods and pulling some strange stunt. Once the boss fight begins, everyone move fast. Let's kill it as quickly as possible."

With that, he waved his hand. The party formed a fan-shaped formation and advanced toward the boss.

At the same time, Mo Fei was also watching this final boss battle.

[System Prompt: Dragon Worship Cult Priest Santazak has used the combat strategy 'Sacrificial Summoning,' sacrificing the bosses and other allied units already present in the arena to summon a boss of higher rank.]

Mo Fei froze for a moment. If he understood correctly, Santazak was going to sacrifice himself?

Although Santazak was only an NPC, and they were not even particularly familiar with each other, Mo Fei still felt moved.

At that moment, the adventuring party had entered the boss's aggro range.

Santazak suddenly raised his head and looked toward the distant crowd, revealing a bizarre smile. To everyone's surprise, unlike the two foul-mouthed bosses before him, this old boss was rather amiable.

Santazak (Dragon Worship Cult Priest): "Hehehehe, welcome to the Sacrificial Hall, two heroes and brave adventurers. You are fortunate enough to witness a sacred ritual. The god once lost to time shall once again reveal its divine miracle.

Praying for this miracle is no easy matter. It requires tremendous sacrifice and courage. All this time, I was unable to make up my mind to offer such a sacrifice, but your arrival has given me a reason I cannot refuse. Following Lord Murphys's command, I must stop you at any cost. In that case, bear witness!

Blessing from the ancient god—Dragon God Yamahamut, answer the prayers of your humble servant and bring your will into this world! Pour your great power into this decayed body of mine."

As Santazak's tone grew increasingly impassioned, an invisible force lifted him into the air. The Dragon Worship Cult followers kneeling in prayer let out fanatical chants. Their prayers quickly turned into screams as their flesh and blood rapidly withered, turning them into dried corpses. The blood that poured out became crimson energy and gathered toward Santazak.

Dawn Divine Sword instinctively wanted to rush forward and interrupt the ritual, only to discover that he could not move at all. It was not just him—everyone's perspective had shifted into spectator mode.

This thing actually had a cutscene...

That was also one of the benefits of dungeon mode. No matter how impatient the heroes were, they still had to wait for the villain to finish transforming before they could fight.

Before everyone's eyes.

All the crimson energy was absorbed by Santazak. His body began to swell, something writhing beneath his skin. With a wet ripping sound, a dragon wing tore through the skin on his back and extended outward.

With another wet rip, the other dragon wing emerged as well. Most of both wings were bone, with only a small amount of membrane near the torso. His limbs began to mutate too, skin splitting and flesh swelling as though he were an inflating balloon.

In the blink of an eye, he had become a terrifying dragon-like creature.

His flesh was clearly insufficient. Most of his body was made of pale white bones, making him look twisted and incomplete.

Santazak (Dragon Worship Cult Priest): "No, the sacrifices are still insufficient to complete the ritual. I need more sacrifices! Since there is not enough life to complete the magnificent body Yamahamut has granted me, then let death fill this shell instead."

The monstrous dragon spread its wings, and countless wisps of deathly energy surged from the surrounding bones, converging into its body.

The deathly energy fused with the flesh and bones from before, transforming into even more pale bones that filled the gaps in its flesh. By the time everyone finally finished watching the cutscene, what stood before them was a terrifying monster beyond description: a giant dragon made of bones, shrouded in black deathly energy.

'Step into Death' Santazak (Bone Dragon), Level 80: Disaster Tier third rank, HP.