As everyone watches the ongoing battle in Pawn City through the massive floating digital screen, Susan's voice cuts through the room.
"The BOAS," she says calmly,
"are the first rebellious group to rise against their noble oppressors."
The screen shifts.
Yunbam raises his arm, his giant spiritual sword blazing behind him, glowing with layered magic and soul energy. He brings his arm down as the sword crashes onto Zion.
A cataclysmic explosion fills the screen.
"They came close to victory," Susan continues,
"closer than anyone before them."
The footage distorts, then sharpens again.
A digital green spear tears through Basil's body.
The screen cuts, as it then shows Kairo inside his giant mecha cockpit, faces Yunbam's towering spirit form. The mecha hurls another massive spear as Yunbam swings his spiritual blade.
The collision blinds the screen in white light.
"But then," Susan says evenly,
"a Gem Noble intervened… and nearly ended everything."
The light fades.
A new scene forms.
Susan appears on the battlefield, her presence overwhelming. Behind her, a colossal digital Leviathan manifests, coiling through the sky.
The screen transitions,
Surviving BOAS members are digitally transported, one by one, into the streets of Black Paradise.
Then moments later B&B Town materializes beside the city, its structures locking into place as Basil arrives.
"Soon," Susan says,
"all remaining BOAS forces regrouped here, ready for the next step."
The screen shifts again.
Now it shows the Star Games.
In the Eastern Village, Boa meditates, his spirit aura forming around him. As his spirit form carries beams of countless souls through space.
Moments later, the souls reaches Planet Isha, pass through Black Paradise's technology, then refract into an energy beam that strikes B&B Town's central tower.
Inside Basil's lab, the souls are guided into battle-robot bodies.
"In the final moments of the Star Games' first stage," Susan explains,
"Boa was able transferred many souls back to Isha."
"That's when Basil gave them vessels."
"A second chance at life."
The screen highlights Vel and Rose, as their battle-robot shell shifting to their human self
"And at the end of the first stage," Susan continues,
"my King also returned to Isha for a short bit."
The footage changes.
An ocean battlefield.
Kelay clashes with Kairo on top of the ocean tides
Suddenly, a portal rips open.
The Prismatic Village emerges, rushes through the hole in the ocean.
Soon Nox appears as he strikes Kairo aside with overwhelming force
Then vanishes before Kelay.
"Most of this," Susan says,
"was set into motion by King Nox."
"If Isha were ever to produced a rebellious group, I was to be its first to make them our allied."
The screen expands, showing the city of Black Paradise, B&B Town, and the Prismatic Village all close together.
"Everything after that," Susan finishes,
"was a blessing."
A figure steps forward.
His skin is marked with shifting rainbow patterns.
"I am Titus," he announces,
"leader of the Prismatic Village."
He bows deeply.
"When Nox came to our Doom Planet, I was only a warrior of the village. He guided us away from our doomed plant."
"When leadership was needed, the people chose me."
"We'll offer everything we have… for King Nox."
Susan nods.
"Take a seat, Titus."
"There is still far more to discuss about."
The atmosphere turns heavy.
Susan slowly turns toward Kairo, still restrained.
"Before we speak of Project Universe," she says,
"we must decide his fate. Depending on what he says, he may become one of our allies or die where he is now."
The blindfold and mouth guard release.
Kairo opens his eyes.
"I underestimated you all," he admits with a crooked smile.
"Events like this are difficult to simulate… or perhaps I was simply overconfident."
He chuckles.
"So this is the Restricted Area. I'll say this much, you will never extract any—"
Susan raises her hand.
Digital beams slam into Kairo's head.
He screams as light floods his skull.
The beams erupt outward, forming floating memory screens but most are clouded and distorted.
Kairo laughs through the pain.
"Precautions were taken," he says.
"If a Gem Noble is to be captured, our minds cannot be fully revealed."
Susan remains calm.
"I anticipated that."
She flicks her wrist.
A small silver digital wolf leaps from her palm.
It sprints across the air and devours the clouds covering a memory screen.
The image sharpens.
Kairo's eyes widen.
"Impossible!"
"No technology in this world can override our Gem Tech!"
"That isn't normal tech, there's only one explanation"
"Correct," Susan replies.
"It is Magic combined with high technology."
Kairo tries to speak " That's still impossible! Our tech-"
Then stops himself.
Susan tilts her head.
"Afraid to finish?"
"No matter. We'll see soon enough."
The memory clears completely.
The screen now shows Kairo's POV
The Gem Digital Realm.
All Gem Nobles are in a circle as they all kneel down.
Far in the distance, a massive digital door opens, flooding the realm with blinding light.
A figure with white hair steps through.
Meanwhile in the Star Games, the transition begins.
Gaia takes a deep breath as she and her team step forward together, diving into the massive magic bubble that looms over the mist region.
At the same moment
In another shattered land, Kayle rises and plunges into her own massive bubble.
Deep within the cave region, Lars rushes forward, vanishing into his own entry.
In the jungle, Boa, Crank, Ignis, Tobias, and the rest of the BOAS leap into their bubble as one.
Elsewhere, in a darkened region, Nox and his team enter theirs.
In the goblin lands, Jayden, Pax, and their party walks through their own bubble entry.
And finally, in the desert, Gilga, Khaos, Baron, and the rest of the Pawn team step into their bubble together as an army.
As they all enter Central Circle Region almost at the same time.
Nox's group emerges into a vast dead-grass plain.
The plants are brittle, brown, and barely alive. The air feels heavy, and stale.
Corvex looks around and asks,
"Hans… is this place listed in the book?"
Hans flips through the pages, scanning rapidly.
"No," he says.
"This book only covers Bosses forty-three through forty-six. None of their regions look like this."
Voytek frowns.
"Then we shouldn't take the risk. Let's head back."
He turns as there is no exit back.
Nox exhales calmly.
"It was already a risk the moment we crossed into the Central Circle."
"Let's explore more. There may be loot, clues, or information about this region's boss."
Corvex straightens proudly, chest out.
"As our King commands, we march forward!"
She steps ahead.
Voytek sighs, then follows. Hans pats his back reassuringly and smiles.
They move deeper into the dead forest.
The silence stretches unnaturally long.
Only the crack of dried leaves underfoot breaks it.
Eventually, another massive magic bubble portal comes into view.
Corvex eyes widens.
"That looks like another entry to another region in the central circle."
Hans nods.
"Each Central Circle region has two side entries connecting to other regions and one main entry that leads toward the Inner Circle."
Voytek considers this.
"Then let's stay here for now. There's no enemies here so far. We should search for the Inner Circle entrance."
Nox nods.
"Agreed. But stay sharp."
"If there's an Inner Circle gate here, a boss must be guarding it."
They change direction, pushing deeper into the forest.
The trees thin, revealing giant dead flowers and twisted thorns.
As they squeeze through a narrow opening
Hans steps too close.
A thorn slices his arm.
He steps free, staring at the blood.
Voytek immediately pulls out a bandage, wrapping it around Hans's arm. The wound seals, restoring his HP to full.
Nox turns to see Hans's blood drips from the thorn, splattering onto the soil.
The ground pulses.
The dead flower trembles then erupts upward, transforming into a giant black rose.
Everyone snaps into combat stances but the flower suddenly sinks back underground, slithering past them beneath the soil.
travel into the far distant as a THUMP echoes.
Then the entire forest shakes violently.
Dead trees ahead slide apart, forming a long, clear path.
At the end of it lies a massive black tree.
They move cautiously down the path.
"Stay sharp," Nox warns.
As they approach, the tree splits open, revealing a vast inner garden.
Dark plants glow faintly in twisted colors.
At the far end of it there is another massive magic bubble entry.
Hans gasps.
"That's it! The Inner Circle entrance!"
He rushes forward but Nox grabs his shoulder.
"Wait."
The ground tears open.
A woman-shaped monster, covered in dark flowers, rises from below the garden. Her eyes glow hollow and alive.
She points directly at Hans.
"More…"
"Give me more."
Voytek throws a magic scroll.
It explodes into a scan spell.
A status screen appears:
Boss: Dark Garden
Level: 50
Elemental Weakness: None
Lore / Desire / Win Condition: ???
Nox speaks quickly.
"Voytek, cast a higher scan spell. So we can see the rest."
Voytek pulls out a massive scroll and begins chanting.
"Buy me some time. This will take a while!"
Corvex steps back slightly.
"She has no visible weak points."
Dark Garden steps out of the tree opening as he continues to point at Hans.
"Give me more!"
Thorny vines launch from her arm toward Hans.
Hans releases smoke magic, vanishing as the vines tear through empty space.
Nox readies his sword.
"Then we fight until weak point shows up."
Corvex slaps her cheeks.
"He's right! I won't hesitate, especially when the love of my life is leading!"
Nox charges from the smoke, shield raised.
The shield blocks the vines as his sword slices them apart.
Corvex vaults over him, weapon shifting into a giant scythe, cleaving more vines
Suddenly wooden spikes erupt from the ground, impaling both of them but then their bodies explode into smoke with illusions thanks to Hans magic.
The smoke thickens.
Dark Garden roars in fury, unleashing a massive gust of wind from her flower arm that clears the battlefield.
Hans, Nox, and Corvex stand revealed.
Nox slams his sword into the ground.
"Flame Floor!"
The ground around the battlefield ignites with controlled magical fire.
"No more surprise underground attacks from her for ten minutes."
Corvex narrows her eyes.
"I saw it. Her weak point appears only when she opens her flower arm."
Nox grimaces.
"This will take time. Her HP is enormous."
Hans stares at the bar.
"It's over one million…"
"A true boss monster really is on another level!"
Corvex spins her weapon and plants her feet.
"Hans, you're the MVP here!"
"Two or three hits from her and we're dead."
"We're going to need as much illusions as possible!"
Hans raises his hands, magic surging.
"I've got you."
Four clones of Nox appear.
Four clones of Corvex form beside him.
All of them charge Dark Garden at once.
The Dark Garden's other arm twists and reshapes, hardening into a wooden spear covered in jagged spikes.
She lunges forward.
One by one, she cuts down the clones of Corvex and Nox, each body bursting into smoke as they are only illusions caused by Hans's magic.
Suddenly Corvex bursts from the smoke, scythe flashing as she slashes across the boss's back.
At the same instant, Nox emerges above them, sword blazing.
"Inferno Smite!"
He brings the blade down.
Dark Garden raises her spear arm to block—
The moment of impact causes a massive fire explosion erupts.
The shockwave throws Nox and Corvex backward as they skid across the ground.
Nox steadies himself and shouts,
"Did you see any weak point?!"
Corvex grits her teeth.
"No, there's none so far. We're barely damaging her."
From within the fading flames, thorny spikes erupt outward.
Nox raises his shield, blocking the barrage.
Corvex spins her scythe, deflecting spike after spike but one slips through, cutting her cheek.
Blood runs down her face.
A single drop falls to the ground.
The fire suddenly dies out as the Dark Garden smiles.
Her flower-petal face widens unnaturally.
"More blood… please."
The sky darkens as heavy rain pours down, instantly extinguishing the flame-covered ground.
Nox shouts,
"She canceled my spell, watch for underground attacks!"
Dark Garden opens her mouth and fires a green beam into the sky.
The clouds turn sickly green.
Acid rain begins to fall.
Nox hurls his shield upward.
It detonates midair, unfolding into a protective barrier that blankets the battlefield. Acid droplets hiss as they strike it, slowly corroding the surface.
Suddenly, Hans appears directly in front of Dark Garden.
He releases a burst of thick purple smoke into her face.
The boss staggers.
Her vision splits. The world blurs.
She lashes out wildly, attacking shadows.
Hans ducks and weaves between strikes.
Corvex smiles.
"Nice work, kid!"
Nox's eyes sharpen.
"The time is now!"
Nox and Corvex blitz forward, carving into Dark Garden again and again, narrowly dodging her confused counterattacks and erupting underground spikes.
Hans watches the Boss's HP bar ticks down to three-quarters remaining.
Then he notices Corvex's wound on her face.
Blood continues to drip from her cheek.
Each drop hits the ground
And suddenly, tons of flowers burst from Dark Garden's body.
They glow blindingly bright.
Everyone shields their eyes.
The acid rain fades.
The clouds disperse.
The sun shines directly overhead.
Dark Garden raises her flower arm.
It opens wide.
A beam of sunlight descends from the sky, pouring into the flower arm.
In an instant, a massive sword of pure light forms in her grasp.
Hans's confusion spell collapses.
Dark Garden's vision clears.
She smiles again.
"Give me your blood… so I may blossom!"
As Nox summons back his shield as everyone takes cover behind him.
Dark Garden swings the light sword downward.
As it touches the ground a cataclysmic explosion of light tears across the battlefield.
Nox, Corvex, and Hans barely withstands the core of it but the shockwave still hurls them through the air.
They crash in front of Voytek, as their HP bars flashes red as all of their HP is around 30%.
Voytek finishes chanting his higher level scan spell.
"It's done!"
He throws the massive magic scroll into the air as it detonates, revealing the rest of the Boss's info.
Everyone freezes.
The numbers update.
Boss Level: 68
Nox immediately casts a healing spell, restoring the team.
Hans swallows hard, fear creeping into his eyes.
Voytek places a steady hand on his shoulder.
"Don't let fear consume you."
"We can still win this."
The Desire Box becomes clear.
Desire:
The Dark Garden must consume the blood of pure-hearted Stars to gain immense power.