Chapter 67: Morven, the Hollow Vanguard

[Cycle Challenge:]

1. Morven, the Hollow Vanguard (Level 85)

2. The Weeping Specters of the Ash (Level 88)

3. Garrick, the Rotting Phalanx (Level 90)

4. The Void-Lich of the First Era (Level 93)

5. The Grave-Titan, Ozymandias (Level 95)

Leon stared at the glowing blue text suspended in the mist. Level 85 to Level 95 Bosses. He felt the heavy, chilling atmosphere of the Gravesite Plain pressing down on his shoulders, a stark contrast to the chaotic swarm of the courtyard.

"A boss rush," Leon said, his eyes scanning the list once again. He then rolled his shoulders, feeling the immense vitality of his Aura of the Undying talent humming beneath his skin.

He then vaulted off Auris, hitting the gray dirt with a heavy thud.

"Wake up!" Leon roared, his voice carrying the tyrannical weight of Sovereign’s Edict.

The earth fifty yards ahead of him violently erupted. It didn’t just break; the ground caved inward, forming a massive sinkhole as centuries of compacted grave-dirt was forcibly displaced.

A massive, skeletal hand bursting with dark purple void energy punched through the dirt, its bony fingers digging deep into the ashen soil. A moment later, Morven, the Hollow Vanguard, hauled himself out of his grave.

The undead giant stood twenty feet tall, wearing the rusted, shattered remnants of ancient plate armor that groaned with every movement. He did not stumble or shamble like a mindless undead. He rose with the rigid posture of a lifelong soldier. In his hands, he wielded a massive, jagged tombstone ripped straight from the earth, using it as a colossal greatsword.

[Boss Encounter 1: Morven, the Hollow Vanguard (Level 85)]

[Innate Talent: Grave-Crusher, Hollow Bones]

Morven didn’t possess vocal cords, but the void energy leaking from his empty eye sockets hissed like escaping steam, forming a sinister, pressurized hum. The giant shifted his footing, dropping his center of gravity. He held the massive slab of rock not like a club, but with the precise, balanced grip of a master swordsman.

Leon narrowed his eyes, immediately appreciating the stance. "You were definitely a professional in your era."

BOOM!

The giant lunged. Morven moved with a speed that entirely defied his massive frame, crossing the fifty yards in a fraction of a second. He brought the obsidian tombstone down in a devastating overhead strike meant to flatten Leon into paste.

"Auris, hold back," Leon commanded telepathically, raising a hand to stall the dragon’s brewing breath attack. "I need to test the sword against a real defense."

Leon didn’t dodge. He planted his boots firmly into the gray dirt, gripping the Blade of the Dragon God with both hands. He channeled his 145 Strength, feeling the 200% aura amplification of the Battlefield Realm supercharging them.

He swung the flaming greatsword upward to meet the descending tombstone.

CLANG!

The collision generated a shockwave that blew the surrounding mist away for a hundred yards, creating a perfect, circular clearing. The ground beneath Leon’s feet cratered violently, spider-webbing fractures spreading across the plain. Leon’s boots dug deep trenches into the earth as he was pushed back half an inch, the sheer weight of the Level 85 boss pressing down on him.

Morven’s Grave-Crusher talent multiplied the weight of his strike exponentially, attempting to shatter Leon’s arms. But Leon’s Obsidian Carapace hummed to life beneath his garb, turning his skin into volcanic glass and absorbing the catastrophic force.

The Blade of the Dragon God didn’t yield an inch. The ethereal golden flames licked hungrily up the obsidian tombstone, melting the ancient stone on contact and neutralizing the corrosive void energy trying to seep down the blade.

"You’ve got incredible raw power," Leon said, his voice strained but steady under the crushing weight. "I can feel the Grave-Crusher talent magnifying your mass. I can respect the technique, Fellow Vanguard."

Morven hissed, violently twisting the tombstone to disengage the weapon lock. The giant didn’t step back; he immediately pivoted, utilizing his Hollow Bones talent. Leon watched in real-time as the giant’s mass seemingly vanished, allowing Morven to swing the multi-ton slab of rock horizontally with the speed and fluidity of a rapier.

Leon triggered Storm-Strider, compressing a pocket of air to glide backward just as the jagged edge of the tombstone swept past his chest. The wind pressure from the miss alone was enough to stagger a lesser player.

"But that’s the trick, isn’t it?" Leon analyzed aloud, parrying a rapid succession of heavy thrusts. Sparks of golden fire and purple void energy rained down upon the graves as their blades clashed. "The Hollow Bones makes you incredibly agile for a giant, letting you bypass the usual speed penalties of your size. And Grave-Crusher ensures your hits still land like falling meteors."

Morven unleashed a flurry of strikes, pressing the offensive. He stepped into Leon’s guard, bringing the heavy pommel of the tombstone down in a brutal smashing motion.

Leon raised his left forearm, catching the pommel directly against his Obsidian Carapace. The impact cracked the ground beneath him again, sending a sharp jolt of pain up his arm.

The Level 85 boss was no joke; even with Leon’s inflated stats, the sheer physical disparity required focus. Aura of the Undying instantly flared, stitching the micro-fractures in his bone back together before the pain could even fully register.

"You call that a Vanguard’s strike?" Leon snarled, locking eyes with the hollow, void-filled sockets of the giant.

He tightened his grip on the greatsword. He had gathered enough energy. He triggered the Kinetic Resonance stored deep within his armor, blasting the massive amount of absorbed kinetic energy directly back out through his arms and into his sword.

The explosion of force blew Morven’s arms backward, throwing the giant’s impeccable stance wide open. The localized shockwave traveled directly into the obsidian tombstone, completely overwhelming its structural integrity. The ancient rock shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving Morven holding nothing but a jagged stump of stone.

The giant stumbled, his massive ribcage fully exposed. Yet, proving his veteran status, Morven didn’t panic. He instantly dropped the useless handle and channeled dense, swirling void energy into his skeletal fists, stepping forward to deliver a desperate, lethal punch directly at Leon’s head.

"You don’t quit," Leon acknowledged, leaning effortlessly out of the path of the massive fist. "Fair enough. Let’s finish this properly."

"Dimensional Severance," Leon whispered.

He stepped forward, stepping cleanly inside the giant’s ruined guard, and swung his greatsword horizontally. The spatial rift tore through the air, carrying the absolute weight of Diamond-Rank magic. The strike completely ignored Morven’s rusted plate armor and the dense void magic protecting his core. The true damage cleaved the giant cleanly in half at the waist, leaving a tear in reality suspended in the air.

As the top half of the skeletal behemoth slid off and hit the dirt with a heavy crash, the lingering dimensional tear aggressively shredded the remaining bone into fine, glowing dust, completely erasing the Vanguard’s core from existence.

Ding!

[You have killed "Morven, the Hollow Vanguard (Level 85, Boss)"]

[Experience Multiplier: 35X Applied. 4,200,000 EXP gained.]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 67!]