Unexpected did not begin to cover it.
We were almost there. The gates of Dwargen were already in sight, stone walls cutting against the horizon, that familiar sense of checkpoint reached settling into my chest.
I was already mentally inventory-checking, planning where to dump loot, what to sell, what to upgrade.
Then I saw her.
My vision tunneled so hard it felt like the world snapped inward.
Standing before the gates, calm and unmoving, was a figure I had buried under weeks of grief in my first life in Zethara.
Black robes fluttering in a wind that didn't exist. Hair like ink spilled down her back. That aura. That suffocating, hateful pressure that made your skin crawl and your bones ache.
The Vengeful Witch.
Rank SS.
The boss who slaughtered half of the players.
The boss we only barely took down by throwing bodies, tears, and desperation at her until the system finally declared victory. A fight I mourned for weeks. A nightmare I never thought I'd see again.
