Chapter 136: The Raid Boss: Celestial Smith

For the final slot, Levi opened his spatial inventory and pulled out a heavy, dark-metal helmet. It was the piece of gear he had looted off the Time-Keeper mini-boss an hour ago.

[Aether-Helm of the Time-Keeper]

[Rarity: Platinum]

He dropped the helmet into the fourth slot.

"I’m putting four completely different items from different tiers into this thing," Levi muttered, looking at the UI. "Let’s see if the system actually knows how to build a matched set."

He opened his materials tab, dragged a stack of exactly ten Aether-Sparks out of his inventory, and dropped them into the catalyst slot at the bottom of the screen.

The moment the sparks hit the slot, the blue "FORGE" button lit up violently.

"Here we go," Levi said.

He slammed his hand onto the button.

The World-Forge didn’t just glow. It erupted. A massive pillar of roaring black fire shot up from the crucible, completely engulfing the four floating items. The heavy iron chains holding the mechanical hammers snapped tight with a deafening screech.

The hammers swung down on their own, smashing into the invisible anvil with earth-shaking crashes.

*CLANG.*

Sparks the size of baseballs flew across the plateau, hissing as they bounced off the iron floor. The heat became unbearable. Levi had to take a step back and throw his arm over his face to shield his eyes from the blinding mixture of blue and black light.

*CLANG.*

The VR engine pushed extreme sensory feedback. The platform shook so hard Levi had to widen his stance just to keep his balance.

The hammering stopped after exactly five strikes.

The roaring black fire sucked straight back down into the crucible, vanishing completely.

Hovering perfectly in the center of the UI was a complete set of armor. It looked absolutely terrifying. It was sleek, completely pitch-black obsidian metal lined with glowing, pulsing veins of blue Aether. It didn’t look bulky; it looked streamlined, built for a predator.

The system chimed with a blinding, diamond-white notification.

[Item Set Forged.]

Levi reached out and grabbed the chest plate. The metal was surprisingly cool to the touch despite the massive fire that just forged it.

He tapped the item to pull up the stat block. He needed to see the math.

[Obsidian Paradox Set]

[Rarity: Diamond]

[Effect: +500 to STR, AGI, VIT, INT, LUK.]

[4-Piece Set Bonus 1: Passive Flight enabled.]

[4-Piece Set Bonus 2: Grants 70% Overall Damage Reduction from all sources.]

[4-Piece Set Bonus 3: Complete Immunity to Instant-Kill Mechanics.]

Levi just stared at the holographic text box. His jaw actually dropped.

"Isolde," Levi breathed out, not taking his eyes off the stats. "I think I just broke the game."

He tapped the equip button.

The armor materialized onto his avatar perfectly. The sleek black metal locked into place, the blue Aether veins humming with power. The stat surge hit him like a freight train.

He ran the math in his head instantly as his UI updated.

Plus 500 to every single base stat.

His Strength shot from 3,065 to a massive 3,565.

His Agility spiked from 1,916 to 2,416.

His Vitality jumped from 2,104 to 2,604.

His Intelligence went from 511 to 1,011.

His Luck went from 175 to 675.

He checked his offensive numbers next. 3,565 Strength multiplied by two gave him a base unarmed attack of 7,130. Add the 2,000 Attack from his Diamond scythe, bringing it to 9,130. Apply the 20% Herald class passive.

His new permanent Total Attack locked in at exactly 10,956.

"Nearly eleven thousand attack," Levi laughed.

He looked at his defensive stats. His 2,604 Vitality multiplied by 20 gave him 52,080 base health. Add his new set’s massive health pool merging with Isolde’s base health and the Mythic ring bonus.

His Shared HP shot up to 127,080.

His Mana pool expanded to exactly 15,110.

His base Defense sat at a ridiculous 3,104.

His Speed hit 2,436.

But the raw stats weren’t even the craziest part.

"Seventy percent overall damage reduction," Levi read out loud. "And immunity to instant-kill mechanics. The game literally just gave me a cheat code."

"The mathematical parameters of that armor set negate nearly all standardized threat models," Isolde agreed, looking at the glowing blue veins on his chest plate. "You are functionally invulnerable to anything outside of endgame World Bosses."

Levi grinned. He wanted to test the first set bonus.

He pushed off the ground with his boots. He didn’t use a skill. He just willed his avatar upward.

He floated. The Aether veins in the armor hummed loudly, and Levi lifted smoothly off the iron plateau. He hovered ten feet in the air, completely defying gravity without needing Isolde to hack the environment.

"Passive flight," Levi said, doing a quick mid-air spin. "No more running up stairs for me."

He floated back down, his boots hitting the iron floor with a heavy thud. He pulled his Diamond-tier Scythe of the Shattered Heavens out of his inventory. The starlight blade matched the glowing Aether of his new armor perfectly.

He was Level 69. He had over a hundred and twenty-seven thousand health, nearly eleven thousand attack, and passive flight.

"Alright," Levi said, spinning the scythe. "Let’s go find the owner of this forge."

***

The iron doors at the very back of the World-Forge plateau didn’t open. They literally melted.

A massive wave of superheated magma washed over the iron floor, quickly cooling into dark, jagged rock. Out of the pooling magma stepped the final boss of the Shattered Heavens raid dungeon.

It was a towering, heavily armored giant. Its body was made of dark, molten stone, and its head was a burning anvil. It wielded a one-handed blacksmith’s hammer that was easily the size of a city bus.

The system threw up the massive, aggressive red nameplate.

[Celestial Smith, Forge-Lord]

[Level: 95 | Raid Boss]

[HP: 500,000,000 | ATK: 120,000 | DEF: 200,000]

Levi floated a few feet off the ground, looking at the stats.

"Five hundred million health," Levi said, shaking his head. "One hundred and twenty thousand attack. Two hundred thousand defense. You really have to feel bad for the fifty-man raid parties that were supposed to fight this guy."

He ran the math in his head out of pure habit.

He was Level 69. The Forge-Lord was Level 95. That was a twenty-six-level gap.

A gap over twenty levels meant the Level Suppression penalty was hard-capped at exactly 100%. The game engine was going to completely wipe out his physical damage output.

"My physical damage is walled," Levi told Isolde, who was standing a few yards back. "But I don’t care. I’m going to melt this guy."

He didn’t cast a shield. He didn’t use an opening skill.

Levi just willed his Obsidian Paradox armor forward. He flew straight toward the massive Raid Boss.

The Celestial Smith let out a booming, metallic roar and swung the bus-sized hammer in a devastating horizontal arc.

Levi didn’t even try to dodge. He just accelerated right into the hammer’s path, swinging his Diamond Scythe of the Shattered Heavens.

The starlight blade connected with the boss’s molten stone chest at the exact same moment the giant hammer smashed into Levi’s side.

The combat math processed in a fraction of a millisecond.

First, Levi’s attack. His physical damage was entirely reduced to 0 by the suppression penalty. But the scythe’s third passive ability triggered instantly.

*Attacks deal True Damage equal to 5% of target’s Max HP.*

The Forge-Lord had a 500,000,000 HP pool. Five percent of five hundred million was exactly 25,000,000.

[-25,000,000 True Damage]

The red number was so massive it completely covered the boss’s torso. The giant staggered backward, letting out an agonizing screech as five percent of its total health was instantly deleted from the server.

Then, the boss’s damage calculated.

The Smith had 120,000 Attack. Levi’s current Defense was 3,104.

120,000 minus 3,104 equaled 116,896 incoming raw damage.

But Levi’s Obsidian Paradox set triggered its Set Bonus. 70% Overall Damage Reduction.

116,896 multiplied by 0.3 equaled exactly 35,068.8 damage taken. The system rounded it down to 35,068.

[-35,068]

Levi’s Shared HP pool dropped from 127,080 down to 92,012.

It was a heavy hit, but Levi didn’t even flinch. Because his Diamond scythe had a 40% Lifesteal passive.

Forty percent of his 25,000,000 True Damage hit was 10,000,000.

[+10,000,000 HP]

The green healing numbers flooded his screen. Ten million health points forcefully injected back into his pool. His Shared HP bar violently slammed from 92,012 straight back to a perfect 127,080. The massive overheal just vanished into the void.

"Is that all you’ve got?" Levi laughed, hovering right in the boss’s face.

He went absolutely wild.

He didn’t bother using evasive maneuvers. He just flew circles around the giant’s head, swinging his scythe in a relentless, high-speed blur.

[-25,000,000] [-25,000,000] [-25,000,000]