Acute fell to his knees, clenching the handle of his large pair of scissors. His body-sized scalpels stood in the dirt around him, as if trying to form a circle of protection. He tried his best to breathe, but his lungs seemed to have forgotten how to inflate, the knowledge of which most likely knocked out of them in the finishing blows of the Fight.
He looked up at the celebrating group across from him. A Paladin, A Dancer, a White Mage and a Barbarian. Basic four-person party: tank, healer, support, dps. Weapons and Gear were glowing, so enchanted, maybe maxed out stats. He didn't see that too often. Usually going after Enchanted Gear was a long grind the only the most hardcore Adventurers got caught up in. But Acute could tell their victory wasn't just from the Gear. They had certain Abilities that he hadn't seen many use in particular combinations and he could have sworn the Paladin's sword was one of those psuedo-lengendary weapons that took a lot of Save scum....
Wait....
Acute glared. "...Min-Maxers." He stood up, leaning most of his weight on his scissors. Usually, he gave some little speech to play up the act of the Adventurers "destroying" the Final Boss and "saving" the world and yada yada yada, but this loss felt so... disgusting. He couldn't tell if his Boss Monster half or Human half was more pissed off, but his mind swirled with questions he hadn't conjured until this very point: Had these so-called Adventurers even enjoyed their quest to get here? Had any of their trials made them grow closer in their friendships? Had they taken in the sights, made new friends, learned anything about sacrifice and loss? Or was the whole thing just a number games, just a long checklist of skills and strategies, for one more line to add to their epithet?
The very idea that he even cared about any of that made Acute even more pissed off that he just skipped to the plot twist. "I hope you don't think beating me was the end."
The party's cheering stopped short and they only stared back at what they thought had been the last boss of their quest.
The first time around, they never knew; that was a simple cosmic law of the universe.
TRUE FINAL BOSS NOW APPROACHING