Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge

What did 1.1 billion health points even mean?

General Gantai, a level 40 leader-class boss, had around 800,000. Overcharged Illyria had more than a thousand times that.

And her damage… was monstrous. Ryan had seen it at the encampment massacre. Even under severe level suppression—damage cut by eighty percent—Fallen Illyria had still killed Elmer's Watch's general in a single strike.

Ryan stood in her path now. Orc-faction players spotted him but they didn't even give him a second glance. They were too busy throwing themselves at Fallen Illyria, dragging her forward with their deaths.

To them, this Paladin wasn't a threat—just another piece of meat in Illyria's path. Not worth wasting time on.

After all, dying to a monster came with a much heavier penalty than dying to another player.

Black bolts of Finger of Death flashed through the battlefield, each one erasing a player the instant they stepped into range. Over five hundred million damage lit up the air again and again. Seeing this scene, Ryan's chest tightened.

With a quick mental math, he could tell that two reflected hits wouldn't be enough to kill her.

He started edging back, earning jeers from the sidelines. A few Orc players broadcast the scene into their party chats, drawing snickers from teammates who were still running back from their corpses.

Ryan ignored them. He slid his most important skills into quick reach. His face hardened.

If he went now, the odds of success were maybe—maybe—ten percent. But for the desperate players behind him, that ten percent was worth it.

He stepped forward—then stopped.

The blue-white lightning orbs surrounding Fallen Illyria winked out. In their place, several new stone-like spheres floated around her.

A skill change.

She'd triggered a higher-tier defensive ability, gained from the endless stream of suicidal Orc players feeding her kills. The new skill completely replaced Lightning Shield.

Lightning Shield wasn't weak, but it wasn't exceptional either. In Fallen Illyria's hands, though, even a middling spell became devastating. Still, her offensive abilities were far more dangerous than her defensive ones.

Stone Shield.

It was an extremely high-tier spell—thirty percent physical damage reduction and ten percent physical reflection. Against most opponents, it was brutal.

Ryan's confidence, strangely, rose. Stone Shield didn't worry him; only her secondary attack did. In his mind, the shield barely mattered.

"One… two… three."

He took a breath, then charged.

"That Paladin's walking to his death," one Orc player jeered over voice chat. The others roared with laughter. On the battlefield, their taunts came out as harsh, guttural snarls Ryan couldn't understand—but their tone made the meaning clear.

As he pushed into their ring, no one stopped him. Their grins told him exactly what they thought of his chances.

Breaking through their loose circle, Ryan felt a surge of relief. The plan might actually work.

The closer he came to Fallen Illyria, the slower his steps became. His gaze locked on hers, watching for the slightest flicker of attention.

The instant her eyes found him, he'd trigger Resilience Armor.

In just a few seconds, Ryan had crossed into Fallen Illyria's combat range. Behind him, Orc-faction players still laughed loudly, even as Illyria cut them down one after another. His palms were slick with sweat.

Then her eyes locked on him.

Ryan's heart jolted. Instinct took over—he triggered Resilience Armor. A burst of blue light flared across his body just as Finger of Death blasted toward him. The spell rebounded instantly.

The sharp crack of the reflected magic told him to move fast. He cast Desperate Healing on himself, then reactivated Resilience Armor.

Desperate Healing restored a Paladin's health to full but drained all mana. Ryan didn't need the healing—he needed the Divine Power point it granted.

Resilience Armor cost five Divine Power to use. A Paladin's Divine Power cap was always nine points, from level one to max level. That meant to trigger the skill twice, he had to find a way to replenish one more point.

He was lucky—Fallen Illyria had no resistance buffs or spell damage reduction active. Both reflected Finger of Death spells slammed into her without mitigation. Over a billion health vanished in an instant, leaving her on the brink of death.

The battlefield froze. Orc players who had been ready to die stared in disbelief. Human-faction players watching from the distant ridges stopped their retreat mid-step.

They'd seen it—a lone Human Paladin breaking through the Orc lines, stepping right up to Fallen Illyria, and then, in two flashes of blue light, bringing the unstoppable Guardian to the verge of collapse.

How?

How had she lost over a billion health instantly? Was that kind of damage even possible for a player?

Every eye stayed fixed on him. Fallen Illyria still had a sliver of life left—around a hundred million health—but could that Paladin finish the job?

Ryan didn't hesitate. The second Resilience Armor flared to life, and he triggered Divine Shield. Golden light poured over him, forming a radiant barrier that rendered every incoming Finger of Death utterly harmless.

He let out a long breath. His back was soaked through, the tension finally catching up to him. Even with his plan in place, facing her directly had tested his nerve.

Divine Shield granted five Divine Power as well. Its ten-minute cooldown was steep, but in this moment it was the edge he needed.

Illyria ignored every other player now, focusing entirely on him. Spell after spell slammed against his golden shield, each one harmlessly dispersing with an immune notification.

Ryan smirked. He triggered Resilience Armor again—then deliberately canceled Divine Shield. Invincibility was useless here; Resilience Armor only worked if the spell actually hit him.

Another streak of black light tore toward him—only to whip back at Illyria, striking her full force.

The system exploded with messages.

—

Congratulations to player "Featherlight" for defeating the Overcharged Guardian, earning the Glorious Achievement [Godslayer].

—

PS: Unlike other monsters, Guardians, like some late-game map bosses, grant loot rights and experience or honor to the team that deals the most damage.