The sound of the sword sinking into flesh still echoed in the stone hall of the cave.
Blood slowly flowed from Ryan’s body onto the ground and spread into the stone cracks.
Alisa stood in front of him. Her hands were trembling, and her tears were flowing down her face without stopping.
But her eyes no longer looked like they used to. Only hatred was waving in them.
Deep hatred. Hatred that had come from the depths of her broken heart. She pulled the sword out of Ryan’s stomach, and then the sword fell from her hand.
The Dreadmaw Sovereign also watched for a moment, as if watching an entertaining show.
Alisa could not stand anymore. She fell to her knees. The sword slipped from her fingers. She hid her face in her hands, and the sound of her crying echoed in the hall.
"Sister, I avenged you," she whispered to herself, and the look in her eyes calmed down a little.
At that moment, Lian and Seris’s attention moved away from the bodies. The village chief was also dead. Even though he was powerful, he had no chance against Seris from the beginning.
Both of them looked toward the massive stone throne, toward the real monster, toward the creature from which this whole nightmare had started.
The Dreadmaw Sovereign.
The monster sat quietly on the throne, as if it had only been watching a boring show all this time.
Its dark eyes slid over the bodies of Ryan and the village chief.
"I did not expect those two to be so worthless." It then said with indifference.
Its voice made the air around tremble.
"It is not their fault. We are too strong." A crooked smile appeared on its face.
The monster laughed. A heavy, deep laugh. A laugh that seemed to come from several different throats at the same time, and its sound echoed throughout the hall.
"Then why don’t you come yourself?" Lian then added.
Then the monster raised its finger in response. Just one finger. No spell was chanted, no magic circle appeared.
But suddenly, a red light formed at the tip of its finger, and a moment later...
BOOM!
A massive beam of energy split the hall. The ground melted, the stones vaporized, and the terrible pressure of the explosion covered everything.
Lian’s eye widened.
"Alisa!"
Without thinking, he jumped forward, grabbed the girl, and used all his power to dodge. At the same time, Seris also moved out of the attack’s path.
But even this was not enough. The shockwave reached them, and the explosion swallowed the hall.
Blood dripped from Lian’s face. He struggled to get up from the ground. His breathing was heavy. The entire left side of his face was burned.
And worse than everything, his left eye was gone. A bloody hole had taken its place.
His right arm was also hanging, almost useless.
A bit farther away... Seris had landed on one knee. Blood was flowing from her mouth. Her left leg was bent at an unnatural angle.
Several ribs were broken, but she was still alive.
And that was the most terrifying part of it. All this damage had come from just a simple finger gesture. Not from a final skill, not even from a serious attack. Just a finger gesture. For the first time, Lian felt his scalp tingle.
The distance between them and this monster was even greater than he had imagined.
Seris suddenly stood up. Blood was flowing on her chin, but her eyes were still cold.
"Damn it..." She raised the Frostfang sword, and mana erupted around her.
The air split, and an invisible wave moved toward the Dreadmaw. A heavy pressure settled on the monster’s body. But that was not the end.
[King’s Breaker]
All her remaining mana flowed into the sword, and the blade began to tremble. Then...
BOOM!
Seris shot forward like a released arrow. The sword hit the monster’s chest directly, and the sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the hall.
But no scratch was made. The monster did not even lower its head. It just moved its hand, like swatting a fly.
BANG!
Seris was thrown back like a cannonball and finally hit the cave wall with great force. The sound of bones breaking was heard.
She fell like a dead person. When she tried to move her muscles, she felt terrible pain. Pain so terrible that she could barely control her scream.
Lian frowned. This was no longer a fight. This was a one-sided slaughter. He put Alisa on the ground and then opened his status panel.
[Stat Points: 96]
His eyes stayed on the number. He had gotten this number naturally from the monsters he had killed in the village.
But even with all this number, he knew he had no chance of defeating the monster. But maybe he could at least get the key.
A moment later...
[+30 Speed]
[Speed: 66 → 96]
And then he went to the skills.
[Steelhide]
[Storm Tyrant Fang]
Sparks of lightning appeared on his body. And then...
[Fallen Wolf Speed]
Activated. In an instant, he disappeared. Even the air around did not have time to react. Only a trace of lightning and snow remained in the hall.
A moment later, Lian appeared next to the stone throne. He was only a few centimeters away from the golden key. His hand reached forward.
But the monster had been watching him from the beginning, as if it had seen all his movements beforehand. Its massive hand came up and grabbed Lian’s neck.
Tight. Very tight. Lian’s remaining eye widened. He felt that his end had come. Just one more... if this monster applied pressure just a little more, his skull would be crushed, and nothing would remain of him.
"For such a weak insect, you talk too much."
A moment later...
BOOM!
His body was slammed to the ground. The entire floor of the hall collapsed, and blood erupted from his mouth.
"Oh, I think I have damaged my future body a bit too much, haven’t I?" The Dreadmaw’s voice was calm and mocking.
Lian struggled to get up. Every bone in his body hurt. He looked at Seris. Her condition was also terrible.
For the first time, a thought formed in his mind. Maybe they should run.
Maybe the key was not worth it. But if they ran, what then? If this monster evolved, what then? At that time, their chance of getting the key would become absolute zero.
Would it not be better to forget this key and look for another one? But what if the next key was months away?
That would mean they would have to live here for months?
And more importantly... would they even be allowed to run? This monster wanted his body. Under no circumstances would it let him escape.
His eyes narrowed, and then his gaze fell on the status panel.
Fragments, stat points, skills, and suddenly... a crazy idea formed in his mind.
He did not know if it would work, but if it succeeded, they could get the key.
A moment later, he appeared next to Seris. Seris was still on the ground, her whole face bloody.
"Are you okay?" Lian asked.
"What do you think?" Seris said with difficulty.
Lian looked at the monster.
"We have no chance of defeating it."
"Obviously." The girl agreed.
"But maybe we can take the key."
"How?" Seris frowned.
"That skill of yours... the one that puts pressure on monsters." Lian said quietly.
"It does not work on it." Seris said without hesitation. That skill had no effect on this monster. This monster was too powerful.
"Even one second would be enough."
Seris looked at him, but her answer was the same. Not even one second would work.
"Do you have fragments?"
"Yes."
"Then upgrade it. This is our only chance."
A few seconds of silence passed, and then Seris slowly nodded. They were going to die anyway. She had lost all hope of escape.
At least before dying, she would make one last attempt.
Lian turned back to the monster. This time, he gathered all his remaining power, and snow and ice coiled around his left hand.
[Glacial Reaper Claw]
At the same time, blue lightning erupted around his arm.
[Storm Tyrant Fang]
But he knew this was not enough. So with the help of his talent, he made his ice claws even more powerful, and he started consuming mana much faster.
A massive pressure formed in the hall. The ground under his feet cracked, and then he charged forward with all his power.
His fist shot directly toward the monster’s face.
But...
The Dreadmaw Sovereign only smiled.
A calm, mocking smile. Just before impact, its hand came up and caught Lian’s fist. Completely stopped. No explosion happened.
No damage was done. All of Lian’s power was extinguished between the monster’s fingers.
The monster looked at him as if looking at a walking corpse. In its eyes, the game was over. It was time to kill this insect and then use its body as a shell.
"Now!" But Lian suddenly shouted.