The Dreadmaw Sovereign’s mocking smile spread through the darkness of the hall. Its massive hand still held Lian’s fist inside its grip.
All the power Lian had gathered, all the mana he had spent, all the speed he had gained from stat points, all seemed useless.
The monster did not even frown. Not a scratch had been made on its skin.
The Dreadmaw’s black eyes stayed fixed on Lian’s bloody face. Then slowly, very slowly... it started to squeeze his fist.
CRACK!
The sound of bones crushing echoed in the hall. The veins on Lian’s neck bulged. A savage pain ran from his fingers to his shoulder.
But he did not even scream. He just clenched his teeth. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
The Dreadmaw smiled.
"Did you really think you could wound me?"
And a moment later...
BOOM!
Its hand came down. Lian’s body was slammed to the ground like a red meteor. The stones on the floor exploded, and cracks spread for dozens of meters.
The shockwave shook the entire cave. Blood sprayed from Lian’s mouth. For a few moments, he could not even breathe.
His whole body screamed in pain.
But at that moment, on the other side of the hall, Seris was quietly watching everything that was happening. Seeing that her time was coming, she got ready.
A blue light formed around her body, and a panel appeared in front of her eyes.
[Upgrade Complete]
[King’s Pressure → Tyrant’s Fall (+)]
[Rank: Great]
[Effect: Applies overwhelming pressure to enemies. Reduces resistance. Duration increases against targets with similar levels. Against powerful targets, effect lasts only moments.]
Blue light flowed into the Frostfang sword. She was ready, just waiting for the signal to activate her skill.
In the center of the hall, Lian struggled out of the massive crater. His whole body was covered in blood. His arm was almost destroyed. Of course, the word "almost" was wrong; that arm was no longer usable.
His breathing had become heavy, but he still stood. He still had not fallen. He was still alive. That itself was a miracle—that he had managed to stay alive against such a monster.
Of course, one of the main reasons he was still alive was that the monster was playing with them like toys instead of killing them.
All this time, the monster had not even gotten up from its spot and had not used any skill. But it had almost killed both of them.
The Dreadmaw looked at him and laughed.
A quiet laugh that filled the entire cave. But suddenly, a shout was heard.
"Now!"
Seris raised her sword. All her remaining mana was released. A blue light covered the hall.
"Tyrant’s Fall!"
WHOOOOM!
It was as if the whole world became heavy for a moment. The air around collapsed. The ground shook. The cave walls cracked. For the first time, the Dreadmaw’s smile disappeared.
Its eyes narrowed. Its body stopped for a fraction of a second. Just one second. Just one short moment. But that was enough.
Lian moved. Not toward the key. Not toward the monster’s neck. Not toward the escape route. But straight toward the heart. Aria’s heart.
The heart that was still in the Dreadmaw’s hand. The heart it had been planning for all these years.
The heart that was supposed to be the foundation of its evolution. And at that moment, for the first time, fear appeared on the monster’s face.
"No!" Its roar shook the entire cave.
"Human!" Its red eyes widened.
"Stay away!"
And at that moment, Lian became sure. His guess was right. The monster’s entire plan was built on that heart. Maybe he could not kill this monster.
True, he could not inflict physical damage on this monster. But at least he would make that bastard suffer.
In the middle of his charge, the status panel appeared again.
[Fragments: 71]
Their number was far beyond what he had expected. He had to look at his notifications to understand what was happening.
And then he saw that the reason was killing the Mutated ones. The Mutated were a new race, and for each Mutated he had killed, he had gained 2 Fragments.
This was probably the reward for helping The Will add a completely new race to its data. If he had known this would happen, he would have killed the rest of the Mutated himself.
Lian chose without hesitation.
[Upgrade Storm Tyrant Fang?]
[Required: 16 Fragments]
[Yes / No]
"Yes."
WHOOOOM!
Blue lightning exploded around his body, and a new notification appeared.
[Storm Tyrant Fang → Thunder Calamity]
[Rank: Divine]
[Description: The destructive power of lightning is greatly increased, and each spark can create a massive explosion. Lightning can be summoned to destroy targets. Consumes 0.5 mana per minute.]
New power flowed through his veins. He felt stronger. He could feel that the power of the lightning surrounding his body had at least tripled.
And more importantly, he realized that this was the peak of this skill. It could no longer be upgraded.
But that did not matter. He released all of it.
[Glacial Reaper Claw]
[Thunder Calamity]
Ice and lightning gathered into one fist. Lian’s hand turned into a monster of ice and electricity. The pressure from it caused the surrounding stones to collapse.
Blood was flowing from his mouth. His body was on the verge of collapse, but he moved forward. Faster and faster until his fist hit the heart.
BANG!
A massive explosion occurred.
Blue and white light swallowed the entire hall. The shockwave threw everyone back. The cave cracked. And then... the sound of something breaking was heard.
CRAAAAACK!
Aria’s heart shattered inside the Dreadmaw’s grip. With a little look, it was clear that even the monster’s hand had finally been damaged.
Silence.
For a moment, everything was quiet.
Then a terrible roar came from the monster’s throat. A roar that sounded like nothing else. As if thousands of creatures were screaming at the same time.
The cave shook.
Cracks appeared on the Dreadmaw’s red skin. Black veins appeared on its body. A red light shone from the cracks.
A system notification appeared.
[Warning]
[Dreadmaw Sovereign has entered Berserk State]
Lian lay on the ground. His body could no longer move. On the other side of the hall... Seris barely stood on her feet. She had leaned her sword on the ground to keep from falling.
Alisa was still sitting by the wall. Her eyes were wide with terror. She had lost all hope of surviving.
She knew that today would be the day she died. She looked at her sister’s body, nothing left of her, destroyed during the exchange of blows.
"Sister... I will join you soon."
And in front of them... the Dreadmaw Sovereign slowly raised its head.
Its skin was still cracking. Black blood oozed from the cracks in its body. Its eyes were no longer black. They had become completely red.
Redder than blood. Redder than fire. It looked slowly at Lian, then at Seris.
And finally, a terrifying smile appeared on its face. A smile that opened its mouth almost to its ears.
"I..." The entire cave shook.
"Will..." Stone pillars collapsed one after another.
"Tear you apart."