Final Boss (2)

**WARNING: Mentions of blood and gore**

Zaen didn't know if it was his luck or if the smartphone had different plans for him, either way, he wasn't going to complain about this new development. As long as he was standing on his feet, he'd keep fighting like he was now.

The group of 25 minions had surrounded him. Making it next to impossible for Zaen to even try and kill the Frenzied Ghoul while it was hibernating to recover its lost health.

There was only one way to kill the boss, kill its minions first and fast. The longer Zaen took, the more health Frenzied Ghoul would regain. Having no other choice, he had discarded the idea of defending himself and hoped his armour would hold against the vicious attacks of the minions. His mind was focused solely on killing the minions as soon as possible.

At first, Zaen thought maybe his mask of secrecy would hide his presence from the minions as unlike the Frenzied Ghoul, they weren't boss level monsters. Sadly, they could see right through the mask because they were 'elite' enemies summoned by a boss level monster. Obviously, Zaen didn't know about it until he got a notification from the smartphone.

[Frenzied minion bit you. HP -80]

[Frenzied minion bit you. HP -67]

[Frenzied minion bit you. HP -90]

[Remaining HP: 1963/2200]

[You have used a bandage. HP +286]

[Remaining HP: 2200/2200]

[30 bandages remaining]

From a distance, it looked like a ferocious mob was beating the living hell out of a poor soul. But when you looked closely, the beating wasn't one-sided. Sure, Zaen was taking hits but he was dealing them too. Quite viciously so. He took a soul whenever he swung his dagger.

[Frenzied Minion killed! Exp +60]

[Frenzied Minion killed! Exp +60]

[Frenzied Minion killed! Exp +60]

[Frenzied Minion killed! Exp +60]

[Total Exp: 250/900]

"If you touch a dead, your soul goes to hell. I wonder where I'll go after killing over two dozen undead? MOTHERFCK-" Zaen cursed out loud while slashing his dagger at the minion who just bit him.

[Frenzied Minion killed! Exp +60]

[Total Exp: 310/900]

Back when Zaen was fighting against the ghouls outside the park, even the hunter ghouls could only deal 30-40 damage to him. And they were the strongest foe he had to face as they were like their name suggested, hunters. They never attacked Zaen head-on but always tried to outsmart him and then try to kill him. Also, as they dealt more damage, their attacks were more painful. Runner ghouls on the other hand were fast but lacked the strength or the brain to deal much damage to him.

These elite Frenzied minions, however, had all of the qualities the other ghouls possessed. They were smart enough to perfectly coordinated their attacks to deal maximum damage to Zaen. Also, they were agile and always retreated quickly after biting into Zaen's flesh. They were successful in getting away most of the time, as well as the bites, were much stronger than any other usual type of ghoul. All in all, they were like a pack of witty hyenas, and he was a lone wolf. Because of these reasons, he had only managed to kill five minions when a notification flashed before his eyes.

[Frenzied Ghoul has recovered 200 HP. Total HP: 683/--]

[You're doing better than expected. But you should do even better. Kill the minions faster.]

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Cursed angrily at the notification while slashing the beasts nonstop.

[Frenzied Minion killed! Exp +60]

[Total Exp: 370/900]

The game of death tag between him and the minions continued when another minute passed and Zaen killed 5 more minions.

[Frenzied Ghoul has recovered 150 HP. Total HP: 833/--]

The crowd of minions was thinning, but their attacks got more vicious with every passing minute. Not only the minions were dealing more damage, killing them was getting more and more troublesome. Zaen could no longer one-shot them. In the end, he abandoned the idea of using only his dagger to kill them. He grabbed one of the minions by the head and slammed it on the ground so hard that its head exploded, smearing him with rotten, gooey flesh and blood. Zaen might not have been the smartest man alive, but he wouldn't let any dead minion outshine him.

He was continuously punching, slashing and kicking the minions but as time progressed Zaen started to tire out. His arms had gone heavy from all the slashing and punching he had been doing. Now, even lifting his arms felt like a Herculean task. He could feel the pain from bites and cramps all over his body. The bandages helped, but the relief was temporary. Yet he kept going, kept fighting and slashing until all of the minions were slaughtered. Another notification flashed before Zaen's eyes.

[You have killed all of the minions. Frenzied Ghoul can't regenerate anymore. Total HP: 1083/1083]

Frenzied ghoul finally moved from its spot to face Zaen. Everything about the Ghouls physique remained as Zaen remembered. The only difference was that the ghoul now had eyes. Terrifying black eyes, no whites, just horrifyingly plain black eyes.

Even though the minions caused him a lot of trouble. Regardless of that, Zaen wanted to thank the minions. After all, he had received a lot of benefits from killing them.

[You've levelled up! Current level: 9]

[HP has increased by 50 points. Current HP: 2250]

[Your HP has been fully restored. Your wounds have been healed.]

[Total Exp: 610/1000]

Zaen could feel the fatigue leave his body as if his body had rejuvenated. But the surprises didn't stop there. Zaen didn't know it, but the more he used his abilities, the quicker they levelled up. And thanks to the minions he had been swinging his dagger and taking a lot of hits, because of which a few of his abilities levelled up.

[Ability: Tough Love has levelled up. Stamina and Agility have been increased by 10 points.]

[Ability: Novice Slasher has levelled up. Damage dealt while using dagger increased to 10%]

[Ability: Powerhouse has levelled up. Attacks against Elite monsters and boss monsters now deal 10% more damage.]

Zaen smiled and fearlessly took a step to confront the boss a final time. He did what he could to abuse the second chance he got. He no longer had any doubt in his mind that the ghoul was stronger than before. But so was he. Because of the Frenzied Ghoul, he was able to level up twice within half an hour.

He had more than twice the amount of HP the boss had. He was more agile than before. His damage against the ghoul had also increased by 25% and he still had 17 bandages to heal him in case he got hit by his enemy. These reasons were enough to wipe out any fear of losing, Zaen had in his mind. He wouldn't allow a measly third-grade boss to stop him from reuniting with Aeron anymore.

The only problem was, his gears had lost a ton of durability. Hooligan's Armour set now had only 100 durability left, and so did his dagger while the mask of secrecy and the necklace of vitality each had 150 points of durability left. But it was enough for Zaen to take care of the ghoul for the last time.

"I'm telling you for the last time, JUST DIE ALREADY!"