Solomon spent the next five minutes fighting purely for his life. He utilized every movement skill in his arsenal to survive the Paladin’s relentless onslaught. When the boss swung low, Solomon slid across the rough stone floor, dodging right beneath the blade. He used his parkour skills to vault off shattered pillars and falling debris.

At one point, he managed to scramble up the Paladin’s arm by hooking his legs around the heavy steel pauldron. He grabbed the hilt of the executioner’s sword with both hands, using his entire body weight to try and force the monster to drop its weapon.

The Paladin simply flexed its arm and hurled Solomon across the room.

He crashed hard, accumulating fresh bruises and deep scrapes along his ribs. Despite his best efforts, he still couldn’t manage to land a single scratch on the pristine white armor.

Across the arena, the runes on Lune’s Mythril rapier reached their peak brightness. She opened her eyes and exhaled softly. Her charge was finally complete.

She looked up and watched Solomon holding his ground. He dodged another vertical strike by a hair’s breadth. Lune’s gaze traced the brutal map of scars covering his chest and back. Then, she noticed his face.

A wild, adrenaline-fueled grin stretched from ear to ear. Solomon actively reveled in the fight. A single misstep meant instant death, yet he smiled genuinely through the pain and exhaustion. He thrived on the extreme danger.

’He is a complete battle maniac,’ Lune thought, her grip tightening on her rapier. ’A normal person would be paralyzed by fear right now. He is actually enjoying this.’

[GamerGuy: look at his face!]

[Skeptic: why is he smiling?! he is one hit away from getting crushed!]

[BloodKnight: the grin of a man who truly understands combat. beautiful.]

[LazyCat: Solo Man is officially crazy.]

[User12: bro is fighting a raid boss and having the time of his life.]

"Hey!" Lune called out over the echoing clash of steel. "Have you managed to make it bleed yet?"

Solomon ducked a horizontal sweep and slid backward. He kept his rusted greatsword raised and breathed heavily. "I honestly think this thing is incapable of bleeding! The armor is way too thick!"

Lune adjusted her stance. "Keep it busy for a few more seconds! I will rush in and inflict the cut myself!"

"Stand back!" Solomon yelled immediately. He wiped a streak of sweat from his forehead. "Let me handle the blood!"

Lune frowned. "Why? You are clearly struggling!"

"Because my stamina is completely drained!" Solomon argued, parrying a glancing blow that sent a painful shockwave through his boots. "If you step in to draw blood now, you will interrupt your sequence! You will have to retreat and charge your sword all over again! I cannot survive another five-minute charging phase!"

Lune paused. She analyzed his logic and realized he was entirely correct. Her S-Rank talent required a strict sequential flow. Using her fully charged blade for a basic slash would expend the mana she needed for the final Pierce strike.

"Understood!" Lune shouted back, staying firmly planted near the exit. "You need to crack that armor right now!"

However, after looking at the grin on his face again, she thought, ’He just wants to fight the paladin himself, doesn’t he?’

Solomon chained Basic Parkour with his heavy swings, bouncing off a crumbling pillar to gain altitude. He brought his rusted greatsword crashing down directly onto the Paladin’s shoulder guard. The impact jarred his teeth.

A chunk of the white steel plating finally snapped off and spun across the floor.

Solomon grinned, hoping to see exposed flesh underneath. He saw only the dull gray of the defensive under-mesh. He shifted his weight mid-air to deliver the follow-up strike, desperately hoping to pierce the exposed under-mesh and finally draw blood.

However, before his blade could connect, the Paladin abruptly halted its own weapon and pulled its free hand back.

A tiny particle of golden light ignited within its armored palm, expanding in a fraction of a second into a blinding sphere of condensed mana.

Solomon stared at the glowing orb in pure shock.

Their entire theory crumbled to dust in that exact moment. The S-Rank boss fully retained its ability to cast high-tier magic.

"Get back!" Lune screamed, abandoning her post near the exit to sprint across the arena.

Because Solomon was still suspended in the air from his jump and already mid-strike, he possessed zero leverage to dodge or change his downward trajectory. The towering monster thrust its glowing gauntlet forward, unleashing a massive beam of corrupted energy that tore straight toward him.

Just as the golden light consumed his vision, Lune tackled him hard in the ribs. She violently shoved him out of the blast zone, taking the full brunt of the magic attack herself as Solomon tumbled helplessly across the rough floor.

The detonation deafened him entirely. The magical explosion vaporized the cobblestones and completely obliterated half of the boss chamber, sending a violent shockwave through the room that threw Solomon against the far wall.

The entire labyrinth trembled while a thick cloud of pulverized rock and smoke swallowed the arena.

[GamerGuy: IT HAS MAGIC?! WE ARE DOOMED!]

[LazyCat: THE PRINCESS JUST TOOK THE ENTIRE HIT!]

[User12: NO WAY LUNE!] [BloodKnight: Solo Man get up right now!]

[Skeptic: half the room just evaporated. this is an actual wipe.]

[GoonLord: MY QUEEN PLEASE BE ALIVE!]

[NewbHunter: I cannot watch this...]

Solomon coughed violently as the thick dust coated his lungs. His ears rang with a high-pitched whine, completely drowning out the sound of the collapsing ceiling. He forced himself onto his hands and knees, frantically scanning the ruined half of the chamber through the settling smoke to find any trace of the Princess.

But instead, all he was was whiteness.

At first, he assumed the magic attack had blinded him for a time being. But when nothing changed even after a few seconds, he thought he was permanently blind.

"I shouldn’t be seeing white if I have gone blind. What’s going on?" he glanced around.

He couldn’t see the owl or anything. Just whiteness spread endlessly.

"Don’t tell me I died... that would be a pathetic way to die. I cannot die like that! I will die the way I want! Not like this!"