Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge-Chapter 45: Pulling Goldtooth Without a Plan

The steel gate groaned as it swung open, its hinges shrieking under the weight. The once dim mine shaft was suddenly flooded with light. As the gate fully parted, a bright glow poured from within, casting long shadows at the entrance.

Ryan and his team stepped cautiously inside. The space beyond the gate had been transformed into a shrine—an eerie, unexpected sanctum buried deep underground. Evelyn and the others instinctively halted, their breath catching in their throats at the sight before them.

Ryan had seen this scene dozens of times. Every time he leveled a new alt, he returned here. And yet—even now—it still struck him with awe.

Yes, awe. Grandeur, even—a word few would ever associate with a mine shaft.

Dozens of Kobold statues lined the chamber. Their faces were frozen in expressions ranging from terror to ecstatic reverence. The hall stretched high above, its wooden beams vanishing into the shadows, the ceiling easily dozens of feet overhead. At the center of the room stood a massive statue, towering and imposing, its surface carved in such detail it seemed alive. A dark, oppressive aura pulsed from it.

Beneath this colossal figure knelt two Kobolds, locked in prayer. Their guttural chants echoed off the stone walls, bouncing unnervingly from every direction.

Of the two, one stood out in ornate ceremonial robes, embroidered in gold thread. This was Goldtooth—the Kobold Priest, and the dungeon’s final boss.

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Goldtooth

Kobold Priest

Leader

Level: 10

Health: 12,110

Type: Humanoid

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Standing beside him was a hulking Kobold in leather-and-bone armor, gripping a jagged axe. Ryan’s eyes flicked across the floating interface above its head, then relaxed slightly.

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Snarlfang

Kobold Warlord

Leader

Level: 10

Health: 6,320

Type: Humanoid

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Nearly 20,000 health between the two. Evelyn let out a sharp breath. The rest of the team exchanged uneasy glances. Even knowing this was a game world, the sheer number still hit hard.

"How are we supposed to burn through that?" Evelyn muttered.

Ryan suppressed a grin. They didn’t know the real reason he looked so calm.

He was lucky this time. The secondary boss was a Warlord—a warrior type. If it had been a healer or a crowd-control caster, they’d be looking at a significantly harder fight. But this setup? Manageable.

He opened his character panel and quickly assigned his three remaining attribute points to Stamina. Thanks to his Protection spec, each point granted an additional eleven health. A satisfying glow confirmed the stat increase—33 bonus health added.

With that, Ryan’s total HP hit 762.

Evelyn caught a glimpse of his health bar and blinked.

"Wait, how the hell do you have that much?" she asked. "I’m not even at four hundred yet."

"I’m built to take hits," Ryan said simply, though he couldn’t help the slight smirk tugging at his lips.

Now wasn’t the time to get cocky, though.

"If anyone has buff items, now’s the time. Let’s pop everything and go for a full burst. The longer this drags out, the worse it gets."

As he spoke, Ryan dug into his inventory and began pulling out consumables—old, dusty items stashed away for emergencies. Some were cheap low-level supplies he’d bought back in Astral City, barely worth keeping—except now, they were perfect.

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Minor Fortitude Potion: +27 Health for 30 minutes

Minor Strength Potion: +3 Strength for 30 minutes

Level 1 Stamina Scroll: +2 Stamina for 15 minutes

Crude Balancing Stone: +2 Blunt Weapon Damage for 30 minutes

---

He’d originally planned to toss most of these. They were leftovers from his many alts leveling up Alchemy—fragments from past builds and half-forgotten experiments. But thankfully, he’d dumped a bunch into the Public Bank Vault just in case.

Turns out, it had been a good call.

He also had a decent stack of Minor Healing Potions—each restoring over 100 HP instantly, with a two-minute cooldown. They weren’t going to carry the fight, but they’d buy him a few precious seconds when it mattered most.

The scrolls had been picked up during his last run back from Astral City to Stormhold Fortress. The local scroll shop sold Level 1 to 4 attribute boosts—limited stock, first come, first served. Ryan had cleaned out their Level 1 inventory for Level 10 use.

He activated each buff methodically. One by one, the consumables applied their effects, a series of soft glows washing over his armor as stats ticked upward. When he was done, he felt solid—ready.

He was at his peak.

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Race: Human

Class: Paladin (Protection)

Level: 10

Health: 821

Mana: 409

Divine Power: 0/9

Strength: 28

Stamina: 29

Agility: 21

Intellect: 15

Spirit: 19

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No attribute or talent points remained. All resistances sat at zero.

Satisfied, Ryan skimmed through his stats once more, then turned his attention to something more critical: Heavyblade Vina’s mana pool. In the battle ahead, their healer’s resources would make or break the fight. If she ran dry halfway through, a wipe was guaranteed—and frustratingly so.

Her mana showed a solid 763 points.

Ryan nodded to himself. She was wearing cloth Intellect gear—definitely not her main set, probably collected just for this fight. Smart.

He checked the others. Evelyn had clearly swapped gear too, her armor now mismatched but stat-optimized. The team had equipped themselves with the best Uncommon (Green) items they could afford or find, prioritizing function over aesthetics.

Pulling two Minor Agility Potions from his bag, Ryan handed one each to Evelyn and Faded Leaf Kitten.

"Here. +2 Agility for 30 minutes," he said, tossing the bottles to them.

He turned to Vina and Mia next, apologetic. "Sorry. No Int potions in stock. Didn’t have time to buy any."

Vina raised an eyebrow. "Where’d you even get attribute potions like this? They’re not even on the market yet."

Ryan shrugged, keeping it casual. "Old stash."

That answer seemed to satisfy no one, but the extra stats spoke louder than any suspicion. Evelyn gave a half-nod and turned her focus back to preparation, murmuring potential strategies to the group.

Ryan cut her off.

"No need for long planning. This game doesn’t wait. One death and you’ll see all their abilities firsthand."

And with that, he surged forward.

"Wait, what?!" Evelyn blurted behind him. "You can’t just—"

But it was too late. Ryan was already sprinting toward the bosses, just a few steps short of pulling aggro.

"I wish we could fight smart for once," Evelyn muttered. "We could actually study their moves, y’know? Counter them properly instead of dying to figure it out."

Still, as she saw Ryan ready his shield, she sighed and rallied the others.

"Positions! Let’s go!"

Of course, Ryan couldn’t tell her the truth: that he already knew the encounter inside and out. Goldtooth paired with a warrior-type secondary boss was the most forgiving combination possible. If it had been a rogue or a hunter, then maybe he’d have stopped to plan.

Everyone got into place.

Ryan grinned, lifted his shield, and initiated the charge.

A flash of golden energy leapt from his hand—Judgment—striking Goldtooth clean in the chest and drawing its immediate aggro. A heartbeat later, Snarlfang charged straight into Ryan, the impact rattling his bones.

The stun hit hard.

Before he could react, Snarlfang followed up with a vicious cleave—200 damage—and then applied Rend, which would bleed him for 11 damage every 3 seconds over the next 12 seconds.

Ryan’s health dropped fast, but not dangerously so. He still had over 600 HP left—plenty of breathing room.

He ignored Snarlfang entirely and raised his weapon. A quick incantation and his blade shimmered with radiant energy. The Radiant Light effect was reapplied, bathing the weapon in soft gold.

From the corner of his vision, Ryan saw Goldtooth scurry into position. The little Kobold Priest raised one stubby hand, green smoke swirling ominously in its palm.

’Spell incoming.’

Ryan reacted instantly.

He bashed forward—Shield Slam, and his enchanted shield struck Goldtooth square in the torso.

Wham!

A burst of holy energy erupted on impact. 320 Holy damage flashed over Goldtooth’s head. The slam ricocheted, cracking into Snarlfang as well—170 Holy damage.

The fight had begun in earnest.

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