Each Other's Purpose...

"You!" 

The guild masters roared in unison. They readied their knife and gauntlet respectively, attacking the goblin on sight. 

But when the goblin vanished in a poof of dark mist, a wall of unavoidable flames consumed the mist. Raykahl had bolted straight for them in a rampage of impunity. 

Following in Rizz's footsteps, the rogue guild master vanished in a shroud of dark mist.

And the brawler tried to evade with a sliding dash. However, that only bought the brawler a couple more seconds. He quickly ran out of mobility skills, stuck with all of them on cool down. Sadly, even one second of waiting was too much for the leading brawler. 

The flaming wall collided with him as the rogue guild master tried to use his skill as cautiously as possible in pursuit of his retreating comrades. 

What was formerly a peaceful, flowery meadow had been transformed into a field scorched by the dark red flames of the sun. None of the players who had been lying in wait could've ever expected such a thing to happen. No one one would've ever suspected such a peculiar person to step out of the mystery world gate. Especially not a non-NPC character with abilities more broken than the last two world bosses combined. 

Even Rizz, the resident pot goblin couldn't have predicted such a thing. But Rizz did know how to adapt and take advantage of a good situation. 

Back where the battle had begun, there used to be plenty of corpses to pick from. Most of them had already been burned or respawned elsewhere. But what remained in that burned clearing were dozens of dropped goods. 

One by one, those fallen items were picked up before vanishing from sight completely. 

Had anyone been nearby, they would have heard someone whistling teasingly and playfully while picking and choosing what items to stuff into their inventory. It didn't take long for the invisible person to rush to where the brawler guild master had burned to death. 

This time, the goblin became visible again as he dropped to his knees, raised his arms, and kowtowed in front of the incredible drops. "Thank you for your generosity! I will treasure my new goods until they've served their purpose." 

What Rizz was truly doing was far more petty. In case of the guild master choosing to not respawn, his viewpoint would linger there for a while longer to witness what was happening at the scene of his death. And Riss loved to rub in his success. It was like a scoop of ice cream topping off a freshly baked pie. Irresistible. 

The next moment, Rizz took all of the guild masters dropped gear without a second thought. He decided to look at it from inside his inventory to make sure there were no chances of losing his newest prizes. 

"... Have you finally had your fill, Menace of Trodar?" 

Rizz's eyes almost popped out of the flower pot when he heard that inhumanly low voice. The goblin spun around to see the one and only Solar Sentinel standing only twenty meters away. With no barrier. And no active flames. 

But Rizz kept his cool, saying, "How does such a big guy sneak around so quietly?"

"Do you not think cats are silent hunters?" retorted Raykahl. "I have merely returned to finish our fight. I've played into your antics enough. Now, you are alone. And we can finish this with all seriousness." 

The pot goblin wasn't exactly enthused to hear that. "... Are you saying this whole thing was to get to me? Is that what's going on? Even the devs are afraid of me beating their game, so they try some kind of trick–"

"I am no dev, whatever that is. Nor am I a punishment," Raykahl calmly declared. "I am but a challenge. And you are but a challenger. You fulfill my purpose. And I fulfill yours. So let us both find purpose together with a battle to the death, Rizz." 

Fwoosh!

The flaming barrier expanded once more, trapping Rizz inside without dealing the goblin any damage. 

Rizz took that moment to chug a health, mana, and skill potion like they were a course of shots at the local tavern. He had them between his fingers to chug back to back, while he retrieved two more daggers with his other hand. 

"I'll have you know. I don't give two boogers for stuff like honor," Rizz cackled as he returned to full health. 

The catkin man wasn't shaken. "That is fine. Nor do I." 

Suddenly, a tower shield appeared in Raykahl's other hand. It bore the silver face of a lion with a flaming red mane and eyes. He banged his huge, flaming greatsword against the heavy shield with ease. "Come, Menace of Trodar. Bring me to my knees and give me purpose." 

Rizz stared at the shield, feeling a bit deflated. "Oh, so now you're going all out? Am I that easy to squish? If so, I dare you not to heal yourself like you did with your last health bar." 

Raykahl smiled and shook his head, regaining that fiery, demonic glint in his eyes. "That is not what occurred earlier. But I will agree. I have no need to heal myself. Not at this time." 

Inhaling slowly… and exhaling slowly, Rizz changed his stance over and over. It was like he was cycling through a beginner's guide to player versus player (PvP) matches, using the VR aspect of the game to mess with his opponent's head. 

When the flaming guardian proved unfazed, Rizz heaved a droning sigh. "Fiiine… I guess I won't run away this time. Even though I totally could if I wanted to."

"You have proven more capable than anyone else I've fought," Raykahl remarked. "For someone of your low level, your skill and ambition is grand."

"Low level? I'm maxed out here! What level are you supposed to be, Mr. Fake Boss?" Rizz barked back at the lion man. 

"None of that matters at the moment. All you must do is kill me. And all I must do is kill you. A simple task," stated Raykahl, shifting his footing to an aggressive stance. "But who shall complete their task first? … That is what I wish to learn."