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[Supreme Ghast]

[Race: Ethereal Dark]

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[■■■■■■■■...]

The Black Clouds with red mists then began to form bodies, similar to that of a human. The red mists served as its eyes and mouth, and also became a part of its core at the center of its body.

The accursed creatures looked like a man engulfed in flames; its entire humanoid form covered in black inferno, as if it was burning their entire being, with its facial expression mirroring the torment it endured; They looked like a man screaming in pain and agony, from their souls being set ablaze, as they resonated unsettling cries everywhere.

[Minion Ghast]

[Race: Mundane Dark]

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[Stats]

Strength: Ø

Agility: 180

Recharge Time (Stamina): 105

Intelligence: 304

Mana: 220

[Abilities: Black Fireball & Red Lance]

[Info: A creature bred of curse and darkness, cannot be damaged by physical attacks and is weak to the holy element.]

The other black clouds too changed into a similar humanoid form, although they don't have a face and a core, they all just looked shrouded in dark mists.

[Inferior Ghast]

[Race: Mundane Dark]

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[Stats]

Strength: Ø

Agility: 140

Recharge Time (Stamina): 97

Intelligence: 248

Mana: 160

[Abilities: Black Smoke]

[Info: A creature bred from little curse and darkness, cannot be damaged by physical attacks and is weak to the holy element.]

As the monsters and humans grew stronger over time, these types of Ghasts had become a common encounter. So, the Minion Ghasts and Inferior Ghasts, together, had came to be categorized as Weakly Ghasts.

"Imbue your gears and weapons with mana! —Begin expanding!", As Jane activated her link to her clones to send out her message.

The armored clones then unpinned their guns and started blasting, with each bullet exploding and extinguishing the Ghasts. They were indeed strapped and ready. Meanwhile the Ghasts that would come too close would be stabbed by their short swords, imbued with both energy and mana.

Jane and her 68th clone on the other hand both wore goggles, that further enhanced their visions, allowing them to have a 360° vision and reach deadly accurate sight characteristics, and now together they can provide cover fire using their guns despite their long distances to the clones.

Pew! Pew!

Sizzle! Sizzle!

...

After a while of thinning out their numbers, the clones then picked back up their shields implanted into the ground and had started to expand their radius outward.

During their objective of expansion. They would just either parry or tank the black fireballs and black smokes shot out by the Ghasts, by either shooting out their bullets or slicing it into the middle, causing it to evaporate.

Pew! Pew! Rustle! Rustle!

Swish-Rustle!

Swish-Rustle!

However, the red lances shot out by the Minion Ghasts couldn't be parried, and getting hit by it would cause fatal damage into their battle suits. So, they had to drop their heavy shields and duck behind it for cover every ten seconds. They did this routine until they had reached the maximum radius that they could expand.

...

At last, the clones had reached their destinations, one by one they dropped their shields.

Thud! Thud! Thud!...

THUD!

The final shield dropped, marking the space as their territory. Then the shields automatically activated, creating a circular barrier around them; It stopped the Ghasts from both spawning and infiltrating inside their base.

However, this was definitely not the end, as a huge storm was brewing outside their base-

...

The clones held their position, continuously shooting the Ghasts outside the perimeter of their base. So that they don't overpopulate and over ran them, before the boss spawns.

Although they didn't want to wait until the boss finished its transformation before facing it, they were forced to do so as Jane had already tried to shoot it with a powerful blast from her RTG-V7 sniper. It was a powerful retrograde version of her gun that she had further enhanced. However, it didn't work because the bullets turned into arcane runes mid-flight.

There was an impenetrable barrier blocking the boss from receiving damage before it fully transforms; It was as if the system itself was blocking it. Because while it is true that the system had helped humanity from surviving up against the apocalypse, it isn't to say that it is completely beneficial to humans, rather it was neutral as it also had helped the monsters get stronger over time, one can only guess whether there is a hidden agenda behind these actions. 

So, Jane has come to the conclusion that the main mission for this world–'it is to survive for a certain period of time, until the boss monster spawns so that we can kill it and clear this world!'

...

Half a day had passed, and their surroundings had finally cleared, even though it was always dark. Jane breathed a sigh of relief. However just as things were finally calming down—When suddenly the Ghasts showed a weird behavior; They were all in a frozen solid state. So, Jane couldn't help but only think of one thing—She quickly averted her focus and shifted it into horizon where the supposed boss of this world was...

The monstrosity had almost finished transforming; Its colossal humanoid body, stood at a towering height of forty meters tall, and when its final feet had formed and landed onto the ground. It gave out a sinister smile on its purple misted face, sending out shivering cold aura as strong as a tornado.

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

As the air grazed past the weakly Ghasts, their red flames had been reignited into purple mists, and their facial reactions changed from agony to anger.

[Supreme Ghast]

[Race: Ethereal Dark]

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[Stats]

Strength: Ø

Agility: 23

Recharge Time (Stamina): 1267

Intelligence: 1038

Mana: ∞

[Abilities: Accursed Death, Heavy Black Flames, Fear, & Charm of the Wrath]

[Info: A creature bred from the purest of curses and darkness, cannot be damaged by physical attacks and is weak to the holy element.]

Everyone got cold feet, the primal instinct of survival took over for a second. But the clones had already been lobotomized, numbed. So, they withstood the first attack.

The barrier around their base also got affected, so through the link in the system Jane screamed, "Focus Fire!!!"

In turn all of the clones turned to the direction of the Supreme Ghast and started raining down bullets on it. Completely ignoring their defenses.

Then the Mundane Ghasts as if they had finally gained a leader, a relentless one. It instantly took advantage of their newly found weakness and the weakly Ghasts came rushing down on them, rapidly exploding like bombs, as if they had gone mad with anger. But it wasn't even the least effective on their already damaged barrier.

Whooosh! Whooosh! Whooooosh!!

Meanwhile, the bullets that they shot at the boss monster did little to no damage, seeing as it just kept on walking.

And once the Supreme Ghast had gotten close enough, it began shooting out black flames, causing punctures around the barrier protecting them. However, it was still manageable, as the clones had managed to dodge them.

Whooosh! Whoosh! Whoooosh!

Swishhhhh! Swishhhhh! Swisssshhh!!

Seeing this, Jane took out another trump card, her RTG-V6, a retrograde version of her double-barrel shotgun. In a time where she only cared about the gun's plasma strength and output but did not care about its lifespan or durability.

The plasma shotgun that she connected to Percival's Rod then began charging up with energy.

zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

She then started blasting the Supreme Ghast with blue rays of energy and mana. She could not care less about the accuracy because of how big and tall the monster was.

Though it did noticeable damage to the Boss Monster, creating holes on some parts of its body. The ragged wounds were being quickly mended back, its fast regeneration abilities proved to be a pain in the ass.

[SFX: Plasma Noises!]

***

Amidst the chaos, as the Weakly Ghasts had breached their base. The Boss Monster continued its relentless onslaught, spewing forth torrents of black flames. Unbeknownst to everyone, hidden inside the swirling darkness were sinister whispers of purple curses, woven seamlessly into the camouflage of the black inferno.

In a flash, one unfortunate clone fell victim to the malevolent wishes of the Ethereal Ghast. Ordinarily, the sturdy armor would've withstood the black flames. Yet, the subtle purple aura bypassed the defenses of the black metals, penetrating deep into the very core of the clone's being.

Whooooosh! Sizzle! Whoooosh!!!

With an agonizing expression, its eyes and mouth illuminated purple, burning its guts and bones from the inside until it had been reduced to a charred husk. When the attack was done, the armor just fell, and the helmet rolled off, revealing a grotesque carcass with the only recognizable thing being a tiny flab of skin.

It could be said that in this withering world where the Ethereal Ghast was the absolute ruler of life and death that it had truly died of an accursed death, all in accordance with the wishes of those who dwell here.

...

Dodging the self-detonating Weakly Ghasts, the black flames, and the hidden purple mists, had made things much more difficult and complicated. So, Jane decided that she just can't save her best weapon anymore.

So, she took out her RTG-V1, she just named it Plasma Gun, because it embodied the very definition of a plasma gun. Appearance wise it looked like a white Gatling Gun. However, its usage was totally different, as she connected it to Percival's Rod.

FWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!

With the demand for a copious amount of power, the Percival's Rod quickly absorbed the energy and life force surrounding it. The intensity of the energies gathering up and being purified was strong enough to create a visible torrent of pristine blue whirlwind, affecting the wind on its path. The absorption rate was so powerful that the plants in its territory aged rapidly and withered, all of this to fuel just a single gun.

However, as she was charging up a powerful attack, the Boss monster was closing in on them, and if it manages to breach through their territory, they will definitely lose, so there was only a single command to give.

Jane without hesitation ordered her clones, "The other half in front facing the boss! Grab your shields! and stall for time! HURRY!!"

-And immediately the clones hastily ran into the direction of the boss, meanwhile the 68th clone right next to her provided cover fire into the now newly opened side of their base...

The clones were drawn to their fates like moths to a flame, both literally and figuratively, their armors and skins slowly melting, gradually being burnt to a crisp. But what else could they do? They no longer had free will, they were mere puppets in a cruel charade.

Simultaneously the boss monster understood what they were trying to accomplish, so it focused all of its long-range attack to Jane, by raising its hand and firing a concentrated wave of black flame, as it inched closer towards her. 

However, acting as a last line of defense the 68th clone dropped its guns and took out a similar looking shield to block the continuous wave.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!

The shield then deflected the heavy black wave forcing its concentration to spread outwards, "SWISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

But alas Jane had already finished charging up her gun, and without hesitation fired it off while her clone was still in front of her.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!

And immediately her clone was disintegrated along with his shield, and now the battle had turned into who can push the wave of the other; the one who can produce the most potent wave will be the victor.

The battle was like a fight between light and darkness, but both were dead even, stuck into the midpoint of the line. However, Jane cranked her gun to max and had pushed the black flame wave back.

But then the supreme ghast from the center of its core of purple mists, made the purple aura slowly travel from its chest to its arm then to the wave, increasing the maximum output that it could produce.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!

In spite of that, it was just not enough to overpower the pristine blue wave from Jane, as it promptly pushed its wave back onto its arms, crystallizing it. Then spreading the energy outwards, gradually solidifying the Supreme Ghast as it let out its final battle cry.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was forever stuck in place, preserved in a translucent blue color...

[&#*$($■0~║≤32☺@*(#%]

[0!≈♠N`§@()!**#)@$AOi¼Ñ9░#$#^&&##]

[Stage of Ha-♪≤32☺@*(#%]

[Stage of Hades Cleared]

[Looking for award...]

[Awarding Ring of Hades]

"Info"

[Ring of Hades]

[Info:

Allows you to absorb powers of the dark and curse attribute.

The amount that you can absorb depends on how high your mana stat is compared to the monster's overall power.

Warning! Ones you wore the ring you can never take it off.]

[Awarding Complete!]

[Supreme Ghast]

[Amount possible: 50%]

[ Yes | No ]

...

[Next Stage unlocked!]

[Warning! if you don't proceed after clearing the first stage, your rewards upon clearing the second stage will be halved.]

[Would you like to proceed?]

[ Yes | No ]

Jane then spoke in a tired voice, "No"

Although Jane was greedy, she was a seasoned combatant with a lot of experience. She knew when the risk was just too high and might eventually lead to her death. That is how she was able to climb into a top ranker; after all, she values her life more than anything else.

How could she enjoy the riches that she had stored when she's dead?

She was smart. She knew what she needed the most, and that was to recuperate and prepare for the next time.

[Resetting Dimensional Crack timer...]

[00:00:00:00:00]

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