MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 175: The Sea Demon Soul

While Marcus was launching his follow-up strike, the Blood-Fiend Flower Demon had already moved ahead of him in the invisible chess match unfolding between them.

Just as Marcus prepared to hurl Desperate Strike again, the two Frost Golems flickered and vanished. In the next instant, they reappeared directly between him and their master, their translucent bodies forming a solid wall of ice-blue light. The movement was seamless, almost contemptuous in its precision.

At once, Pebble and Goldie stiffened.

Their aggression shifted.

The golems’ Taunt flared, its influence sweeping outward like a cold tide. Pebble’s hostility snapped toward the Frost Golems, overriding Marcus’s command to focus the demon. Goldie let out a sharp cry and banked midair, talons angling toward the icy giants instead of the Flower Demon.

Marcus felt the break in synchronization immediately.

Deprived of Pebble’s coordinated strike, he was forced to launch Desperate Strike alone.

The Flower Demon did not remain idle.

Having already experienced the force of Marcus’s ambush, it showed no intention of absorbing another clean hit. The moment the blade left his hand, the demon’s branch-like limbs brushed the ground.

"Earth-Shift."

Its body blurred.

Marcus did not panic. Desperate Strike had never failed him. The skill carried a guaranteed hit mechanic. No matter where the target blinked within range, the strike should correct its trajectory and lock on.

At least, that was how it had always worked.

The result stunned him.

His weapon did not pierce the demon. Instead, it slammed violently into one of the Frost Golems, ice fracturing across its surface. The Flower Demon stood several meters away, untouched.

Marcus’s jaw tightened, ’So that is how it works.’

The golems were not merely Taunt machines. They were mobile shields. The demon had positioned them deliberately, forcing his guaranteed strike to connect with a different valid target within its path.

This was no longer a quick execution.

"Freeze."

"Dancing Blood-Petals."

The Flower Demon seized the momentum instantly. With the golems screening its position, it began casting in rapid succession. A surge of frost spread across the ground, biting at Marcus’s boots. At the same time, another storm of blood-red petals filled the air, shrieking past him like a thousand blades.

Marcus did not retreat.

He drank a Large Health Potion and refreshed his buffs, focusing on maintaining stability rather than scrambling. The Adamant Shield pulsed faintly around him, its Divine-tier defense absorbing the brunt of the barrage. The petals sliced, the frost snapped, but none of it pierced his core defenses.

It was chaotic, but not dangerous.

Gritting his teeth, Marcus turned away from the demon and charged toward Pebble instead.

He could not reach the Flower Demon while the golems stood intact. Every ranged strike would be intercepted. Every advance would be stalled. If he wanted the demon exposed, he had to dismantle its guardians first.

"Dragon-Roar Critical Strike!"

-2,200!

-1,800!

THUD. THUD.

Marcus, Pebble, and Goldie converged on the nearest Frost Golem. Though Pebble was still under the lingering influence of Taunt and unable to redirect his hostility toward the demon, he was more than willing to vent his frustration on the icy construct in front of him.

The golem barely flinched.

Even with the triple-damage modifier from Dragon-Roar, Marcus’s output was noticeably lower than expected. Curious, and slightly unsettled, he activated Insight again.

What appeared in his vision made his pulse quicken.

—

Sea Demon Soul 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Description:

Originally Blue Bubble Orbs, guardian pets of Princess Sea-Soul, the most beautiful woman of the Dreamland Continent. They were Grade 9 High-tier guardian companions residing within her Sea Soul Crystal Jade Necklace and could only be summoned by the princess. For unknown reasons, the necklace fell into the Demon Clan’s hands and was corrupted into a Demonic Artifact known as the Sea Soul Demonic Jade Necklace. The Bubble Orbs mutated and evolved into Sea Demon Souls, now bound to whoever wears the necklace.

Attributes:

Health: Double that of the necklace’s wearer.

Mana, Defense, Speed: Identical to the wearer.

Attack: Absolute Attack, dealing a fixed 1 damage to any enemy.

Immunities: Immune to Water, Light, Dark, and Fire-element attacks.

Special: Capable of flight; unhindered movement in water.

Skills:

Frosty Mockery, passive: Taunts all monsters within five meters. One hundred percent success rate against normal monsters. Success rate against Bosses depends on the wearer’s level and stats.

Ethereal Form, passive: Thirty percent chance to ignore incoming attacks.

Enfeeble, passive: Absolute Attack reduces target’s Attack and Defense by twenty percent.

Taunting Light, active: Fires a chilling blue orb, dealing 1 Absolute Damage and forcibly pulling aggro from one to twenty meters. Stronger than Frosty Mockery.

Soul Shield, active: Instantly shields the summoner, absorbing all incoming damage intended for the master. Cooldown: one minute.

—

Marcus’s eyes sharpened.

Sea Demon Souls. Sea Soul Demonic Jade Necklace. A Demonic Artifact.

The implications hit him harder than any spell.

This necklace stood on the same tier as his Divine item. Two summons at once. Each with double the wearer’s health. Built-in taunt control, partial invulnerability, and interception mechanics.

His earlier competitive fire transformed instantly into something far more primal.

Greed.

He wanted that necklace, he needed it.

"Pebble, harder!" he barked.

Marcus stopped holding back. Ignoring the barrage of spells raining down from the Flower Demon, he rotated through his highest-damage abilities without pause. Dragon-Roar into Desperate Strike, timing cooldowns perfectly, weaving in basic attacks between bursts. Goldie raked from above whenever openings appeared.

Even with twenty thousand health and the constant twenty percent debuff from Enfeeble weakening him, the Sea Demon Souls could not endure Marcus’s sustained output. Ethereal Form triggered occasionally, nullifying a strike here and there, but not often enough to matter.

Within five relentless minutes, the two golems shattered under combined pressure, their icy bodies collapsing into melting slush that evaporated into mist.

Marcus turned back toward the Flower Demon.

For the entire duration, it had not stopped casting. Elemental bolts, petal storms, life-drain effects. The demon had used Bloodlust to siphon back the health it had lost in the initial ambush.

Its health bar was full again.

Marcus checked his own.

His Adamant Shield had carried him through five uninterrupted minutes of magical punishment. Large Health Potions had bridged the gaps. Even so, his health now hovered around 1,500.

Another five minutes like that, and his potions would not keep up.

But the battlefield had changed, the shields were now gone.

"Attack!" Marcus roared.

Goldie dove first, lightning gathering around its wings before exploding downward in a Dark Thunder Flash. Pebble spurred forward, blade raised high, launching a Dragon-Roar Critical Strike even before Marcus reached striking distance.

"Blood-Fiend Wreath!"

The crimson bud bloomed again. The floral barrier burst outward, repelling Pebble just before his strike connected.

Marcus had anticipated this, so he had sent Pebble in first deliberately.

The instant the Blood-Fiend Wreath expanded and began to dissipate, Marcus surged forward, exploiting the brief recovery window that followed the defensive burst.

"Dragon-Roar Critical Strike!"

-4,300!

His blade crashed into the demon’s core, triggering a critical hit that tore away nearly half its remaining health in one brutal exchange.

The Flower Demon shrieked. Marcus pressed forward.

"Dragon-Roar Critical Strike!"

"Blood-Fiend Wreath!"

The response was instantaneous. The floral barrier bloomed again, faster than seemed reasonable, blasting Marcus backward before he could complete the follow-up.

He hit the ground hard, but Pebble was already moving.

"Dragon-Roar Critical Strike!"

-3,000!

Just as Marcus had exploited the first opening, Pebble exploited the second. The moment the barrier dissipated from repelling Marcus, the guardian stepped in and drove his blade home. The critical strike landed cleanly.

Goldie’s claws raked from above, lightning flashing in sharp bursts.

In mere seconds, coordinated aggression shredded the demon’s health bar. The ten thousand health that had once seemed imposing collapsed under layered critical hits and relentless pressure.

The Blood-Fiend Flower Demon dropped below one thousand HP.

Marcus felt clarity settle over him.

Though the demon’s raw stats exceeded his own, ten thousand health to his three thousand six hundred, the scaling between monsters and players was not linear. In Dominion, a Boss with double a player’s numbers was often only equal in actual combat effectiveness.

Numbers alone did not decide a fight.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

The Flower Demon’s elegant composure finally fractured. It emitted sharp, frantic shrieks that no longer sounded controlled or dignified. Whether it was fury, pain, or outrage at his relentless tactics, Marcus could not tell.

He only knew one thing.

The Demonic Prodigy was on the brink.