The third fell but without pause the fourth emerged.
[Minotaur – Level 60]
The fourth one stepped out and the space itself felt heavier, its hooves grinding slowly against the stone while it rolled its shoulders once and let out a low, guttural growl that deepened into a roar. Its grip around the axe tightened, and this time the energy didn’t sit quietly along the blade; it pulsed, thick and dense, crawling up its arms as if feeding into its body instead of just the weapon.
It didn’t rush like the others but instead walked toward me slowly and when it finally moved, it vanished.
Its body surging forward in a sudden burst that tore through the space between us, something like a compressed dash, heavier than my own Impact Burst, less explosive but far more controlled.
I barely reacted.
The axe was already coming.
I brought mine up instinctively, bracing as the strike crashed into it, and the moment the blades met, the force exploded through my arms, my stance breaking instantly as my feet left the ground. My body was thrown backward, skidding hard across the stone before I forced myself upright again, the shock still running through my grip.
"Fast..." I muttered under my breath.
The Minotaur didn’t stop. It dragged the axe back and slammed it into the ground again, but this time the energy didn’t release outward. It pulled inward into its arms.
The muscles along its shoulders and forearms swelled, visibly expanding as the energy thickened, the axe growing heavier, larger, its edge extending outward as if reinforced by the gathered force. The air around it distorted under the pressure as it raised the weapon slowly above its head.
Then it roared.
And brought it down.
I stepped forward and swung my axe too.
"Annihilator Cleave." The energy along my axe condensed instantly, coating the blade in that dense yellow layer, the pressure building along the edge as I met the strike head-on instead of avoiding it.
The axes collided.
For a moment, everything held. Then the energy detonated.
BOOM!
Mine didn’t spread. It drove forward through the point of contact.
The force pushed into its weapon, through its arms, into its body, tearing past the reinforcement it had built as the pressure overwhelmed it. The expanded form cracked first, the energy around its arms breaking apart before the strike carried into its torso.
It staggered.
The roar cut short as its body bent under the impact.
I stepped in immediately, not giving it space to recover, and swung again, the same condensed force bursting through on contact, driving deeper this time as the resistance broke completely. The Minotaur collapsed under the second strike, its body giving way as the energy faded.
I exhaled and thought it was over but there was another ripple.
[Minotaur – Level 70]
Another one stepped out of the ripple and the space itself seemed to tighten around it, not from any visible pressure but from the way it carried itself, taller than the rest, broader, its frame packed with raw weight that didn’t need to be shown through movement. Two axes rested easily in its hands. Its eyes locked onto me, and instead of charging immediately, its lips pulled back just slightly.
It grinned.
A low growl rolled out of its chest, building into a roar that echoed across the chamber.
Then it moved.
Both axes came in at once, one arcing high toward my head while the other cut low toward my legs, forcing a split reaction before I could fully commit to either. I brought my axe up to meet the upper strike and twisted my body away from the lower, but it didn’t stop there. The moment the first clash connected, it chained the second into a third, then a fourth, the rhythm tightening, each swing forcing me to adjust faster than the last.
The difference was immediate. I gave ground, step by step, deflecting what I could, slipping past what I couldn’t block cleanly, but it kept pressing, its axes never pausing, the glow along them intensifying with each exchange.
I exhaled and let the surge take over.
"Berserk Mode."
The energy flooded through me, sharpening everything at once, my stance tightening as I pushed forward instead of back, my axe colliding with one of its strikes with enough force to hold this time.
For a moment.
Then the second axe came from the side. I barely turned in time, the blade grazing past as I shifted my footing, but it didn’t follow through like I expected.
It vanished.
Just... gone.
My eyes flicked instinctively, trying to track it but it was useless.
The space beside me twisted, and the missing axe reappeared mid-swing, already in motion, its edge biting deep into my side before I could bring my weapon around to defend. The impact drove through muscle instantly, the force carrying through as my body twisted under it, pain flaring sharp and immediate as I was forced a step off balance.
The Minotaur growled, pulling the axe free in the same motion as it pressed forward, not giving me space to recover.
"Trick weapon..." I muttered through clenched teeth, forcing my footing back into place.
It roared again and came in harder.
I didn’t give it time.
"Radiant Slash."
The attack cut forward, the energy tearing through the space between us, but this time it didn’t try to block it cleanly. One axe rose and struck into the arc, cutting through part of the energy while the second followed immediately, deflecting what remained, the two movements chained so tightly that the attack broke apart before reaching its body.
It stepped through the fading energy.
Closing in again.
"Impact Burst."
I launched forward, ignoring the pain in my side as I drove into it, the strike landing solid against its torso, but it didn’t stagger the way the others had. Its body absorbed the impact, its stance holding as it twisted into the hit, one axe coming down toward my shoulder.
I pulled back just in time, the blade slamming into the ground beside me as I reset my stance.
Without pause I used the building energy again.
"Annihilator Cleave."
The energy condensed along my blade instantly, the yellow coating thickening as I stepped in and swung, meeting it head-on again, this time committing fully to the strike.
The axes collided.
The energy detonated.
The force pushed through the point of contact, driving into its weapon, into its arms and stopped.
Its body flared.
A bronze sheen spread across its skin, hardening instantly, the surface taking on a metallic quality as the energy from my strike dispersed across it instead of breaking through. The explosion still hit, the force still carried, but instead of tearing through, it rolled across that reinforced form, cracking the surface slightly without breaking it.
It tanked it.
The grin on its face widened. It pulled both axes back at once, its stance lowering as the energy along the blades thickened and began to spiral.
For a brief second, everything stilled.
Then it roared.