[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl":3,"chapter-started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-20":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Started with a 10,000x Multiplier in a Game World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},1136173,1466,"Chapter 20: The Inferno Behemoth","started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-20",20,"\u003Cp>The ground completely gave way beneath the backline of Vanguard’s Legacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A geyser of liquid fire shot two hundred feet into the violet sky. It instantly vaporized the rearguard of the meticulously organized army of Malric.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system interface above the massive and molten creature flickered and updated. It corrected its initial threat assessment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Zone Boss Spawn: Inferno Behemoth]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Tier: Gold]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Level: 5]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[HP: 150,000 \u002F 150,000]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was only Level 5. But the Gold-tier classification meant its base stats were subjected to a massive and exponential multiplier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hit like a Level 50 raid boss. It had the health pool of a localized natural disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Behemoth dragged a molten warhammer behind it. The weapon radiated a heat so intense it turned the volcanic rock beneath it into bubbling slag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold and professional demeanor of Malric finally broke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked away from Dante. His eyes locked onto the towering monster tearing through his backline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tanks! Pivot and hold the line!\" Malric screamed and completely abandoned his monologue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Healers, focus your output on the frontline! Do not let that thing break the formation!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante didn’t stick around to watch the Enforcer scramble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Malric distracted and the players of Vanguard’s Legacy breaking rank in sheer panic, the suppression scroll was no longer an immediate threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante activated [Blink Step].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t just teleport. He aimed straight up the vertical face of the canyon wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blinked fifty feet into the air and materialized. He dug his iron gauntlets into the hot volcanic rock and instantly triggered the skill again before gravity could pull him down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three rapid teleports later, Dante pulled himself over the edge of a high protruding cliff that overlooked the entire canyon floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He brushed the ash off his knees and walked to the edge of the precipice. He sat down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His legs dangled casually over a two-hundred-foot drop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heat rising from the canyon was intense. But the [Sun-Forged Cuirass] completely neutralized the discomfort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Down below, Vanguard’s Legacy was desperately trying to reestablish control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tanks of Malric had formed a curved shield wall. They took the brunt of the massive hammer swings of the Inferno Behemoth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every time the hammer connected, three or four tanks were launched into the air like ragdolls. Their health bars instantly zeroed out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Syndicate wasn’t the only problem in the canyon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The global and regional chats had been tracking the army of Malric all morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thousands of independent players had followed the massive Vanguard’s Legacy force. They hoped to pick up whatever scraps or loot they left behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the system blasted a regional alert for a Gold-tier World Boss spawn, those independent players completely lost their minds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante watched as human tidal waves poured over the far ridges of the canyon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were hundreds of them. Solo players, small ragtag parties, and opportunistic low-level guilds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t care about tactics. They didn’t care about the environmental fire damage ticking away their health.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All they saw was a Gold-tier loot drop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zerg-rush,\" Dante muttered and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The independent players swarmed the canyon floor. It was absolute and uncoordinated chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t just attack the Inferno Behemoth. They attacked the men of Malric to get to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranged casters lobbed cheap water and ice spells from the ridges. They accidentally froze Vanguard’s Legacy players in the crossfire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hundreds of low-level warriors charged the boss and screamed battle cries. They wildly hacked at the molten ankles of the Behemoth with rusty swords and iron clubs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Get out of the way!\" Malric bellowed and decapitated a random independent player who tried to shove past him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You idiots are going to get us all killed! You cannot tank this!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mob didn’t listen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed in the Zenith Protocol was a fatal disease. A Gold-tier weapon this early in the cycle meant instant wealth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nobody was thinking about the respawn penalty. Everyone believed they were going to be the lucky one to land the final hit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Inferno Behemoth let out a deafening roar that shook the cliff Dante was sitting on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boss didn’t appreciate the swarm of gnats hacking at its legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It raised its molten warhammer high above its head. The weapon burned with a blinding and white-hot intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shields up! Brace for the shockwave!\" Malric ordered and activated his own defensive skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Behemoth didn’t swing the hammer. It slammed it straight down into the center of its own feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The impact triggered the first mechanic of the boss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A massive circular shockwave of jagged obsidian spikes erupted from the ground. It expanded outward in a fifty-yard radius.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The independent players in the frontline were instantly skewered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over eighty players were impaled. Their avatars turned to blue digital ash before they even had time to scream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shield wall of Malric took the brunt of the expanding spike ring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The iron tower shields buckled and warped under the sheer kinetic force. But they held just long enough for the healers to spam their AoE recovery spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Keep the aggro!\" Malric yelled and pointed his sword at the boss. \"Ranged, target the visor!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The independent players didn’t retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing eighty people die instantly didn’t scare them off. It just opened up space for the next wave of players to rush in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The swarm compressed around the boss again. An endless tide of cheap arrows and basic magic bolts rained down on the armored shell of the Behemoth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Up on the cliff, a soft flash of silver light illuminated the rock next to Dante.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aura floated out of her pet-space. She looked down at the absolute slaughter taking place below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tiny silver fox tilted her head and let out a soft and questioning chime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know,\" Dante said. He did not take his eyes off the fight. \"It is a massacre.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three months ago, during the first week of Aethelgard, Dante would have already been down there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would have used his invulnerability frames to jump in front of that hammer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would have dragged those low-level independent players out of the fire. He would have burned through his own premium consumables to keep them alive and coordinated a massive counter-attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was Vanguard. He was the guy who protected the weak and organized the server.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He watched a group of ten independent players get completely crushed by a backhand swing from the Behemoth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their loot scattered across the ash and was immediately scooped up by other players standing right next to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not anymore,\" Dante said quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled a basic apple out of his infinite inventory and took a bite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system registered it as a minor stamina recovery item, but right now, Dante just wanted a snack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas had cured him of his hero complex. Silas had shown him exactly how much loyalty and noble sacrifice were worth in the Zenith Protocol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Dante jumped down there right now, Vanguard’s Legacy would instantly lock him in suppression chains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the independent players would happily stab him in the back the second the boss dropped to steal the loot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante didn’t owe anyone on this server a damn thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let them fight,\" Dante said and tossed the half-eaten apple over the cliff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Malric brought an army. The server brought a mob. They want the boss? Let them bleed for it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Down below, the health bar of the Inferno Behemoth finally ticked below the seventy percent mark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Inferno Behemoth HP: 104,000 \u002F 150,000]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boss staggered and dropped its massive warhammer. The weapon melted into the volcanic rock and fused with the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We broke its weapon!\" one of the independent players screamed in triumph. \"Push the damage! It is vulnerable!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No!\" Malric yelled. His eyes widened in horror as he recognized the boss mechanic. \"Fall back! Break the perimeter! Get out of the blast zone!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malric didn’t wait for his men to follow orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He triggered a high-tier dash skill and instantly launched himself backward. He abandoned the shield wall entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Inferno Behemoth grabbed the sides of its glowing white visor with its massive obsidian hands. The beast physically tore its own face open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heat inside the core of the boss was completely uncontained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Behemoth leaned forward and unleashed a devastating magma-breath AoE!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t a standard fireball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a torrential river of superheated liquid rock. It was propelled outward at high pressure in a massive and sweeping 180-degree cone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The breath attack washed over the entire front half of the canyon floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no physical impact to block.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tanks of Vanguard’s Legacy raised their shields. But the magma simply flowed over and around the metal. It instantly incinerated the players hiding behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The independent swarm was caught directly in the center of the cone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was absolute and instantaneous annihilation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire canyon lit up with the blinding flash of hundreds of avatars simultaneously deleting!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The screaming stopped entirely. It was replaced by the deafening and roaring sound of the liquid fire burning everything in its path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Inferno Behemoth finally closed its visor and stood back up, the canyon floor was completely unrecognizable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over three hundred players were gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive Vanguard’s Legacy shield wall had been reduced to a dozen scattered survivors cowering behind rocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The independent swarm had been completely wiped off the map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the ranged casters and archers who had stayed back on the far ridges were still alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They stared down at the glowing sea of magma that used to be a battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malric stood at the very edge of the magma pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His dark-gray armor was scorched black. His health bar was hovering at a miserable ten percent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked around at the smoking remains of his Enforcer squad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His overwhelming force had just been vaporized in a single attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante sat on the high cliff. He observed the destruction with cold and unblinking eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled up the system interface and zoomed in on the status of the Inferno Behemoth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Inferno Behemoth HP: 85,000 \u002F 150,000]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Exhausted. Attack speed reduced by 30% for 60 seconds.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The zerg-rush had done its job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had chipped away nearly half of a Gold-tier boss’s massive health pool. They forced it into its second phase and triggered its ultimate attack to leave it locked in a heavy cooldown state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The meat shield had served its purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante slowly stood up and brushed the ash off his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rolled his shoulders and felt the perfectly balanced weight of the [Sun-Forged Cuirass].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aura chimed happily. She floated a tight circle around his head before diving back into her pet-space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright,\" Dante said softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked down at the exhausted and smoking Behemoth and the terrified remnants of the army of Malric.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Show is over.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reached into his infinite inventory to prepare for the drop.\u003C\u002Fp>",1818,"2026-06-03T12:02:18.787Z","2026-06-03T12:02:25.060Z",1,"novelbin.me","40b66d33a3536c7d4f3d0e7797877c9b67235897d6b9eee5c6afcaeafec919fa","started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-21","started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-19",109,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarted-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-cover.jpg"]