Chapter 11: Boss Fight
The Sentinel was massive seven feet tall, with muscles that looked like they'd been inflated to bursting. Its skin was gray and cracked like old leather. Its eyes glowed red with an intelligence that normal zombies didn't have.
And in the corner of the office, standing upright in a display case made of System-generated blue light, was the Stormbreaker sword.
The blade was beautiful about three feet of silver steel with blue lightning crackling along its edge. Even from across the room, I could feel the power radiating from it.
The Sentinel saw me and roared a sound that shook the windows.
[BOSS BATTLE INITIATED]
[SENTINEL - LEVEL 5]
[DEFEAT THE SENTINEL TO CLAIM THE STORMBREAKER SWORD]
It charged.
I dove aside, using my Agility to stay ahead of its massive fist. The punch missed me by inches and cratered the floor where I'd been standing.
Fast. The Boss was fast despite its size.
I rolled, came up with my knife, and slashed at its leg. The blade bit deep, but the Sentinel barely reacted. Its Enhanced Durability was real, this thing could take damage that would kill normal zombies.
It swung again. I ducked, but its backhand caught my shoulder and sent me flying into a desk. Pain exploded through my side.
[HEALTH: 87/120]
One hit had taken 33 HP. Three more hits like that and I was dead.
The Sentinel advanced slowly, like it knew it had won. That confidence was my only advantage ,it wasn't taking me seriously yet.
I activated my Basic Knife Fighting skill, letting the knowledge guide my movements. Weak points: joints, eyes, throat, back of the neck. Areas even Enhanced Durability couldn't fully protect.
I feinted left, then went right, slashing at its ankle. The Achilles tendon cut cleanly, and the Sentinel stumbled.
It roared again and grabbed a desk, throwing it at me like a projectile. I barely dodged, and the desk exploded against the wall behind me.
This wasn't working. I was faster, but it was stronger and tougher. I'd need something more.
Then I remembered: I had 201 points.
I mentally pulled up the System Shop while dodging another attack.
[POWER STRIKE - 150 POINTS]
[PURCHASE?]
I selected YES.
[PURCHASE COMPLETE]
[SKILL LEARNED: POWER STRIKE]
[EFFECT: Your next attack deals 200% damage. Cooldown: 30 seconds]
Power flooded my arms. I felt the skill settling into my muscle memory, ready to use.
The Sentinel charged again. This time, I didn't dodge.
I activated Power Strike and drove my knife upward with all my enhanced strength, aiming for its chin.
The blade punched through the bottom of its jaw, through its mouth, and into its brain.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[POWER STRIKE AMPLIFIED DAMAGE]
The Sentinel staggered. Black blood poured from the wound. But it didn't die.
It grabbed my arm, the one holding the knife and squeezed.
Pain beyond anything I'd felt in either life shot through me. I heard my wrist bones grinding. My knife fell from nerveless fingers.
[HEALTH: 52/120]
[STATUS EFFECT: FRACTURED WRIST - REDUCED COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS]
The door burst open.
"ETHAN!" Maya charged in, bat raised, Lisa right behind her.
Maya swung at the Sentinel's head with Power Strike, cracking its skull. Lisa jabbed her nail-board into its side, screaming with rage and fear.
The Sentinel released me and backhanded Maya across the room. She hit the wall hard and didn't get up immediately.
Lisa kept attacking, tears streaming down her face, her improvised weapon rising and falling. "You don't get to kill anyone else! Not him! Not anyone!"
The Sentinel grabbed her by the throat.
I saw it happening in slow motion. Saw Lisa's feet leave the ground. Saw the Sentinel's hand tightening.
Saw my knife on the floor, three feet away.
I grabbed it with my left hand, my off hand, clumsy and weak ,and threw.
It wasn't a good throw. My technique was garbage. But luck, my terrible, five-point Luck stat somehow made the knife tumble through the air and sink into the Sentinel's eye socket.
The Boss finally dropped.
[BOSS DEFEATED: SENTINEL]
[MASSIVE POINTS AWARDED]
[ETHAN: +500 POINTS]
[MAYA: +300 POINTS]
[LISA: +200 POINTS]
[LEVEL UP!]
[ETHAN: LEVEL 2 → LEVEL 4]
[MAYA: LEVEL 2 → LEVEL 3]
[LISA: LEVEL 1 → LEVEL 2]
The Sentinel's body dissolved into black smoke, leaving behind a small crystallized core that the System absorbed. The display case around the Stormbreaker sword vanished.
I stumbled to Lisa, who was on the floor gasping for air. "You okay?"
She nodded, unable to speak, just held her throat.
Maya pulled herself up from where she'd hit the wall. "That... was way harder than you said."
"I know. I'm sorry." I looked at my fractured wrist. "But we won."
The Stormbreaker sword waited in the corner, lightning still crackling along its blade.
I walked over and grabbed it with my good hand.
[LEGENDARY WEAPON ACQUIRED: STORMBREAKER]
[RANK: B]
[REQUIREMENTS: LEVEL 3 OR HIGHER]
[BONUSES: +15 Strength, +10 Agility, Lightning Damage on Hit]
[SPECIAL ABILITY: CHAIN LIGHTNING - Releases a bolt that jumps between enemies]
Power surged through me as I held it. The sword felt alive, responding to my grip. Lightning arced along the blade, beautiful and deadly.
"We did it," Maya said, staring at the sword. "We actually stole the protagonist's legendary weapon."
"Yeah," I said. "And now we need to get out of here before he shows up."
We looted the Boss's remains , found a skill book called "Enhanced Reflexes" and a few System-generated health potions. Then we started the long climb back down.
My wrist throbbed with every movement. Maya had a concussion, probably. Lisa could barely talk. But we'd succeeded.
As we exited Sentinel Tower at 12:47 PM, I checked the time and distance. If the novel's timeline held, Lucas Reed would arrive here in about an hour.
He'd find the building cleared, the Boss dead, and the Stormbreaker sword gone.
I'd just changed the story in a massive way.
The question was: what would that change?
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