From the center of the ruined city came a great flash of green light, which was rather plain and clear to see from the rooftops, honestly. If I had to guess, then it was probably located in some kind of huge open area, because that was where all boss fights happened in games – big area, not a lot of cover, and maybe a bunch of zombies coming at me alongside this Rotgut Maggotskin, because that's exactly what I'd do if I was a game developer. After all, this was just a tutorial dungeon, not a level 100 dungeon with traps and pitfalls and all sorts of annoying shenanigans to test a player's ability to not break their own PC apart in anger.

I had to wonder, however, how this was supposed to play out, because I had a sniper rifle and the boss was probably just a zombie that was larger than normal. Then again, I had no idea what a Plaguebearer was supposed to be; the name itself offered a lot of clues, however, and it was probably the sort of foe that used a horde of flies as a means of defense and offense, and dealt low damage over the course of a long period of time using plagues and stuff. The boss would also be a damage sponge, because it'd end too quickly otherwise. But, then again, that was just the theory.

And, since I wasn't the type to fuck around and find out, I had no intention of actually getting up close with the boss. Why would I? I had a goddamn alien sniper rifle at my disposal.

I made my way across the rooftops, leaping from one to the next. The buildings were tightly packed, their jagged, ruined facades just close enough for me to keep up a decent speed without needing to pause too often. Each jump was a satisfying burst of kinetic power, and each landing was cushioned by the absurd physical prowess I'd been blessed with in this world. I barely had to think about it - my body just moved, and the world obeyed. This was what Captain America must've felt like all the time; after all, I was probably as close to him, in terms of physical stats, as I was to any other comic book character, just above humanity, but not so far above the human norm as to be superman.

After a few minutes of roof-hopping, I stopped. There it was. The arena.

It was a massive courtyard, half sunken into the surrounding ruins, with crumbled stone steps leading down into what must've once been a market or plaza. Now, it was a festering pit, filled with Nurglite Zombies shuffling around aimlessly, their bloated, rotting bodies forming a grotesque carpet of decay. At the center of it all stood the boss: a Plaguebearer.

The thing was... hideous. Its body was swollen and diseased, covered in boils and pustules that oozed foul liquids. Its single, cyclopean eye glared out from its misshapen face, and a massive rusted blade hung limply in its hand. Flies buzzed around it in thick, choking clouds, like a living, breathing smog of filth and death. It didn't look like it'd once been human, despite its humanoid form; it looked more akin to a supernatural entity, something demonic, which it probably was.

It didn't know where I was, because it seemed to be looking around, searching for something, but couldn't find it.

I set myself into position, lying flat on the rooftop, rifle out. From this distance, I could see everything - every shambling zombie, every twitch of the Plaguebearer's grotesque form. The [Tau Rail Rifle] lacked a scope to bring every closer, but the Plaguebearer stood out enough that taking aim by just looking down the barrel was enough; plus I could almost smell the rot from here and so, really, the damn thing stood like a sore thumb.

As I settled the barrel on its torso, I felt a brief moment of sympathy for the thing. Brief. And almost nonexistent.

"Sorry, pal," I muttered. "But you're not even going to get a chance to monologue."

The Tau Rail Rifle hummed softly in my hands as it powered up, the power coils within it charging the round with immense energy. I aimed carefully, lined up the shot, and then... squeezed the trigger.

There was no loud bang, no dramatic recoil. Just a sharp, almost imperceptible crack, and then the boss's torso exploded. Literally. One moment it was standing there, all bloated and menacing, and the next, it was missing a good chunk of its midsection, black ichor spraying everywhere as its body collapsed into a pile of rotting meat. The closest Nurglite Zombies exploded with it, their bodies torn asunder by the explosion of flesh and bone.

One-shot. Just as I thought. After all, the Plaguebearer was not that much bigger or bulkier than a particularly large man. At most, it was probably seven or eight feet tall. The [Tau Rail Rifle] was powerful enough to punch through several buildings at once. That guy stood no chance.

The entire horde of Nurglite Zombies seemed to freeze for a second, as if they couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened. Then, predictably, they all started shambling toward the now-empty center of the courtyard, mindless as ever. Looking back, I hadn't really killed all of them. There were too many. The conditions for the boss battle, I figured, were just that I kill enough Nurglite Zombies to trigger it.

I smirked, starting to pack up the rifle. Too easy.

[Ding!]

A system prompt flashed into my vision, halting me mid-motion.

Boss Defeated! Plaguebearer Exitus.

Well, that was quick. Almost disappointing, honestly. Then again, just what exactly was I expecting? At the very least, I now had confirmation that the [Tau Rail Rifle] definitely wasn't a weapon to scoff at.

But the prompt wasn't done yet.

Bonus Challenge Unlocked: Would you like to face the Bonus Boss? Rewards will be significantly increased.

I paused, staring at the message. Bonus boss, huh? That could mean anything. Probably something bigger, nastier, with way more health, because that's how these things went. But the rewards… they were tempting.

Besides, I wasn't done with this little adventure just yet.

I selected "Yes."

The Plaguebearer's remains twitched.

I blinked, watching as its body began to bubble, the ichor rising and swirling like it was being sucked into some invisible vortex. Then the ground itself started to tremble, and the air around me grew thick with the stench of rot. Something was coming. Something much, much worse.

The Plaguebearer's mangled form suddenly expanded, swelling far beyond its original size. The vortex drew in the Nurglite Zombies, ripping them apart in a storm of flesh and bone and blood and guts and sinew. The storm coalesced, but in place of the small, grotesque zombie creature stood something... far larger. Its skin, now a sickly green, stretched taut over massive muscles and rolls of bloated flesh. Its belly protruded, its engorged guts hang low and lashing out like serpents. Its wide mouth split into a gruesome grin, teeth yellowed and cracked, and a rancid, booming laugh echoed through the city. It stood almost twenty feet tall, at a glance. Twin antlers extended from its bulbous head.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I muttered, my eyes widening as the [Great Unclean One], which was what the system called it, fully emerged, towering above the rotting trees. Its massive frame dwarfed everything around it, and in one bloated, diseased hand, it wielded a rusted sword as long as a bus. The other hand? A bulging, pulsing mass of putrid flesh, covered in open sores that dripped with toxic sludge, shaped kind of like a bell.

The system prompt helpfully popped up again.

Bonus Boss: Kaagrazath the Bloated, Great Unclean One.

Good luck!

I stared at it for a moment, then sighed, pulling the rifle back up and taking aim. The one advantage I had was that the damn thing was so big I didn't need to put up much effort into aiming.

"Right. Let's do this, then." I muttered under my breath just as I took yet another shot, this one piercing right through the [Great Unclean One] and out the other side, carving a large hole through its corpulent bulk, right at the center of its belly. Instead of dying, however, the big fat daemonic thing just started laughing. And I watched as the hole I'd made started closing. My eyes narrowed. Regeneration. The fat ass demon had regeneration.

As the [Great Unclean One] laughed, scores of tiny, green-skinned creatures climbed out of its skin, leaving quivering holes that oozed pus and other filthy fluids that I'd really rather not think about. The little creatures emitted annoying sounds as they all charged right towards me, which was funny because I was like thirty storeys high and they weren't that fast. Kaagrazath turned to me, laughing like there was no tomorrow – as though we weren't here to do battle. "What the fuck."

So, like any rational being, I started blasting.

I didn't bother much with the smaller... demonic things- ah, they were apparently called Nurglings. I didn't bother with them at all, simply because they didn't pose a threat, being down there, while I was up here. I had a rifle. They carried knives of some kind. Not a threat. Instead, I focused on Kaagrazath, firing again and again, blasting holes all over the entity's bulk. But it just wouldn't go down. And when it raised its sword right at me, every instinct in my body told me to run. And so I did. I leapt back around six meters when a sickly green projectile landed right where I'd been standing, melting concrete and metal as soon as it made contact, the ground itself screaming.

"Shit!" Okay. The enemy could cast spells and shit. Good to know. I leapt to the rooftop of a nearby building, firing yet another shot at the [Great Unclean One]. This time, however, the shot blasted right through its left wrist, which severed its left hand from its forearm. And, as a result, it dropped the bell-shaped thing it'd been carrying earlier, cracking the ground and releasing a wave of fumes. That, I noted, must not have been amusing because its laughter stopped all of a sudden. And its eyes, once filled with joy, narrowed.

Right, I realized. I'd forgotten the number one rule for dealing with damage sponges: hit em where it hurt.

I took aim once more and fired a single shot, right before it could throw another spell at me. The shot blasted through its right ankle, severing its right foot and forcing the entity down, even as the stump began regenerating. It roared in anger as it flailed on the ground. And, as it did, the [Great Unclean One] unleashed a swarm of buzzing flies – so numerous they formed a dark green cloud that rapidly flew towards me.

Yeah, I wasn't escaping this one. And so, I summoned Crentist.

The [Culexus Assassin] appeared right beside me, ready to kick ass. His sudden appearance, I immediately noted, brought with it a strange aura that burned away the greenish tint that enveloped just about everything in this dungeon. And the cloud of flies that I definitely would not have been able to outrun turned to dust before it could ever reach me. I just stood there until the cloud disappeared entirely. "Phew, that was close."

Once again, Crentist was gonna clutch this whole thing, because I currently didn't have anything strong enough to bust apart that big fucking demon. The Nurglings closed in around us, having climbed up the building earlier. I had no idea how his aura would affect them. But I didn't want to take any chances. We were surrounded and outnumbered. Luckily, I had one last card I could pull.

Grinning, I summoned the three [Drukhari Incubi] and the two [Ork Nobz] I'd been keeping in my Inventory.