"Goodnight, Mr boss."

Rean was about to use a particular spell—but he stopped himself.

’Damn, that finisher... it’s another spell I can’t really use. It has no ties to this whole agro thing I’ve got going on.’

"Agro Talent, no 101."

"Root Mean Square." Rean chanted.

Description: Root Mean Square is a technique Rean acquired by force-evolving a high-tier monster during a tower training. The technique absorbs damage and stores it; it can then be released by a power of two on the opponent. Not just twice—but the damage is squared from what was stored.

The monster arched back.

It started with a sound that didn’t belong.

Not a roar.

Not a threat.

A scream.

The boss’s entire frame locked mid-motion, its antlers flaring with unstable frost as the hollow glow in its eyes flickered violently. Then it shrieked—a sharp, broken sound that tore through the chamber, laced with something raw.

Pain.

Its body convulsed.

The clean, controlled movements it had shown before shattered instantly. One leg buckled, claws scraping wildly against the ice as it thrashed, slamming its arm into the ground hard enough to fracture it in jagged lines.

Something inside it was breaking.

"Rean—what did you—" Porter started—

No answer.

The boss lurched sideways without warning.

Its arm snapped out—

Toward Porter.

Too fast. Too erratic.

Porter barely had time to react. His body was still recovering, mana low—he raised his arm instinctively, but it wouldn’t have been enough.

The strike never landed.

Michael was already there.

He crashed in from the side, his shoulder slamming into Porter and knocking him clear just as the boss’s claw tore through the space they’d occupied. The impact hit Michael instead—his guard coming up just in time as mana hardened around him.

The blow drove him.

Boots grinding into the ice, carving deep grooves as he was forced back several meters before he finally held it.

The boss didn’t follow up.

It twitched.

Its head jerked sharply to the side, movements snapping, disjointed—like it had lost control over its own body. Its chest heaved, ice cracking along its torso as it staggered backward—

Then turned again.

Zeta.

It lunged.

No buildup. No signal. Just a sudden, violent burst of motion.

Zeta reacted instantly, blades coming up—but the timing was off. The boss’s erratic movement threw everything out of rhythm, its claw descending in a jagged, unpredictable arc.

Michael moved again.

Fast.

But not fast enough.

He reached—

Too far. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Too late.

The claw was already coming down—

And then—

Rean appeared.

No flash.

No warning.

Just there.

His blade intercepted the strike with a sharp, ringing clash, mana flaring at the point of contact as he forced the boss’s arm off course. The redirected blow slammed into the ice beside Zeta instead, detonating the ground in a violent spray of frost.

Rean didn’t stop there.

He stepped in.

Close.

Too close for the boss to recover.

For a brief second, their eyes met—Rean’s steady, the boss’s flickering wildly.

Then Rean moved.

A short, brutal strike—

Enough to break its balance.

He grabbed Zeta’s arm and pulled her back in the same motion, clearing the space as the boss stumbled forward, its body no longer responding the way it should.

It choked.

Actually choked.

A harsh, grinding sound forced its way out of its throat, its hands clawing at its own chest as if trying to tear something out from within. Frost cracked violently along its torso, spreading like fractures through glass.

Its breathing turned ragged.

Uneven.

Then it wailed.

A long, distorted cry that echoed through the entire chamber, rising and breaking like something unraveling at the seams. The sound wasn’t just loud—it was wrong, layered with collapsing structure and failing mana.

The glow in its eyes flickered—

Once.

Twice.

Then—

Gone.

The body went still.

For a single, suspended moment, everything froze.

Then it collapsed inward.

Not falling—

Breaking.

Cracks surged across its entire form in an instant, light leaking through the fractures as the internal structure gave way completely.

"Move!" Rean snapped.

They did.

Just as the body—

Exploded.

Ice and mana erupted outward in a violent detonation, shards blasting across the chamber like shrapnel as a wave of freezing energy tore through the space where it stood. The ground shattered further, pillars cracking under the force as the explosion ripped outward before finally dissipating.

Silence followed.

Where the boss had stood—

Nothing remained.

’I guess that covers that,’ Rean thought.

"Huh... what... what just happened?" Zeta murmured in shock.

"Yeah, Rean, what just happened?" Porter followed up.

The entire chamber started rumbling. The boss was down.

"No time, guys. We have to clear this raid like right now. The boss is done—we should be out of here," Porter said.

"Damn. These four are down. I guess four of us are going to have to carry one each," Michael said.

"I can manage," Charles said. "I’ll struggle, but I’ll be fine."

"Here, let me help you," Zeta said, lending Charles a hand.

"I’ll take Miles. You two handle the other two," Michael said.

They all, with comrades on their backs, made for the gate’s exit.

"Huff... huff... it seems like we hecking made it," Miles exclaimed.

"Wait, you mean you’ve been awake this whole time?" Michael responded, dropping Miles violently.

"Well, it’s not like that—" Miles added.

"Drop it," Michael ended.

’Did he just beat an A-rank boss, unaided?’ Zeta thought.

"Hey, did you just beat an A-rank boss unaided?" Porter asked.

Pacing about, Michael heard nothing. He was just stunned in shock.

’Did that Rean just beat an A-rank boss all by his lonesome... unaided? No—that’s impossible,’ Michael thought. ’That’s not possible.’

"There’s no way in hell!" Michael shouted.

"Here it comes," Zeta said, as if she knew what would follow.

"Did you just beat that A-rank dungeon boss unaided? Like, how the hell did you do that?" Michael said, charging toward Rean, demanding answers.

***************

"The numbers continued to stack. Our hunters are doing very little to slow the savages down.

What do we do Mr. Chairman?"