[Wasteland] 2
Seven hours after arriving in the wasteland, Aldrich found himself in the midst of it, kilometers away from the protective walls.
The density of the attacking monster increased steadily.
There were 200 B-rank dog-type monsters and 100 A-rank demon.
The A-rank demon, shrouded in dark mist, was humanoid with a single eye that emitted occasional laser beams.
[Aldrich]
[Strength: 250 + 25]
[Stamina: 250 + 12]
[Magical Power: 250 + 15]
[Skill(s): (Necromancy), (Holy Shield - 20), (Predator's Gaze - 9), (Aura of Death - 8), (Small Illusion - 2)]
[Mana: 30,000/30,000]
He had reached peak A-rank Super status. Bone soldiers, each composed of 100 undead bones, advanced toward the enemy.
Armed with extremely sharp and durable bone blades and shields, the bone soldiers' arm thickness surpassed the combined arm thickness of ten individuals.
Thousands of bone soldiers overwhelmed a mere 300 monsters, attacking them from all directions.
Boom!
Explosions reverberated as flying undead hurled bones at areas with fewer bone soldiers, causing injury to the monsters upon impact.
The demon moved swiftly, each attack shattering bone soldiers' bones. However, as they targeted one, others struck from behind.
"It's time to finish this."
Click!
He snapped his fingers, causing all the bone soldiers to disappear.
Weak undead emerged beside him and charged at the monsters, easily broken by their onslaught.
Despite being easily broken, thousands charged, intermingling with the monster crowd without engaging in direct combat.
"Boom!" He mimicked the explosion sound as he snapped his fingers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted from every direction, accompanied by ear-deafening noise.
A massive crater formed, emitting smoke. Despite the deadly explosion, some injured A-rank monsters still survived.
Bone giants emerged and crushed the surviving A-rank monsters under their feet.
Various colored cores twinkled in the craters, while small bone minions, hand-length, scurried around carrying them.
Rattle! Rattle! Rattle!
"It's a good harvest," he smiled.
After walking for a while, he encountered something unusual.
A portal stood in the middle of the wasteland, its bright red color deep and unlike the ones in the city.
"A dungeon…" There were indeed dungeons in the wasteland, but none had been explored.
"Even if someone entered these dungeons, they would never return."
He cracked his fingers, making all his undead disappear.
"Let's see if I'll return or not," he muttered, entering the dungeon with a sense of excitement.
…
"What's with this dungeon?" Aldrich opened his eyes to find himself standing in a corner of a medium-sized room, where it would take almost two minutes to walk from one corner to another.
The room had no doors or windows. In the center, a bright hexagonal prism emitted blue light as it rotated.
Apart from the hexagonal prism floating in the room's center, there was nothing else.
The white walls seemed sturdy and almost indestructible, with a smooth and pleasant texture.
Aldrich felt the wall and approached the prism, but suddenly, tremendous pressure weighed down on his head, almost forcing him to kneel.
Sweat dripped from his forehead, soaking his body and making him feel uncomfortable.
A white mass floated in front of him, expanding to reveal two legs and arms. Its oval head featured two hollow eye sockets, and its body was nearly five times larger than Aldrich.
Despite its cute appearance, the pressure it emitted made Aldrich feel as if a mountain were crushing him.
"No wonder Supers don't return after entering the dungeon in the wasteland. If there are monsters like this, even an army of S-ranks may not be enough to defeat it," Aldrich muttered, stepping back against the wall.
A black vortex emerged beside him, from which bones flew out. A gigantic bone giant, 25 meters tall and more than 15 times larger than the white giant, stood before Aldrich.
More bones stacked on it, nearly depleting all the bones he had stored in his shelter.
The bone giant shrank, becoming denser with each part of its body.
Its arms were denser than a whole apartment building, yet its size reduced to 10 meters. Still, it dwarfed the white mass.
Perhaps due to the presence of the bone giant, the pressure lifted.
The white giant's black-hole-like eyes expanded.
Swish!
It disappeared.
"Shit!" Aldrich cursed, immediately activating Electric Rush.
Leaving a trail of electricity, Aldrich appeared between the legs of the bone giant.
The bone giant knelt, extending its huge palm toward Aldrich, who climbed onto it. The ground beneath him crumbled, forming a 2-meter-deep crater, and a 10-meter-long crack appeared on the wall.
If Aldrich had delayed even a second, he would have been turned into a meat paste.
No, perhaps a metallic meat paste.
He panted heavily, grabbing some bones to form dense bone soldiers for protection. The bone soldiers covered him and landed far from the bone giant and the white giant, which stared at them.
The bone giant punched the white mass, and the white giant punched back.
Suuuuuuuu!
Shockwaves emanated from them, creating a deep crack in the bone giant's fist.
The white giant's fist also showed some dents, but they were repaired immediately.
From the bone giant's soldiers, a huge mass of bone dropped toward the white mass.
The white giant didn't bother to move and let the bone mass crush it.
Immediately, the bone giant disintegrated into countless bones and reappeared before Aldrich.
The white giant turned flat, but it slipped from the bone mass and reappeared in front of it, looking at Aldrich.
Boom!
The bone mass exploded, causing cracks in the walls and forming another large crater in the floor.
The white giant splattered all over the walls and floors.
However, the mass moved toward each other and mixed again.
"Shit!" Aldrich cursed again, looking at the prism.
He thought of an idea and suddenly emerged countless bone masses, surrounding the prism.
Seeing that, the white giant's eyes widened till it covered the whole face as it disappeared.
But it was too late.
Click!
The bone masses exploded simultaneously, covering the whole room. Even Aldrich wasn't spared.
A 10-meter-deep crater formed in the ground as the walls crumbled.
The white giant's arms were near Aldrich's face. A second's delay and his whole head would have exploded.
The white mass turned into liquid and evaporated within seconds.
The light in the room disappeared as the prism broke into countless pieces.
Aldrich's metallic armor was completely broken, his helmet blown away, with only some metal parts covering his legs and chest remaining.
Even the robe he wore inside the armor burned into nothingness.
Some parts of his body burnt, and a large chunk of meat on his stomach melted.
Even blood evaporated.
"Gah…" His bone warrior also turned into nothingness. Not a single undead remained on him.
Meaning, he was alone now, critically injured.
He breathed heavily, gritting his teeth, and took out a potion from his storage ring, gulping it down.
The potion mixed with the blood entered his stomach.
But it only had a slight effect. His injuries weren't recovering!
"I... messed up…" Blood trailed from his lips.
His face paled. He felt weak... His consciousness wavered…
After a second, he fell unconscious.
_____
In a void, countless screens flickered. Observing them, a being let out a sigh.
"That brat... I knew he was going to die sooner or later," the being muttered, shaking their head.
Their eyes focused on Aldrich, who was in a critical situation, his body floating in the void.
His condition was dire; if he wasn't treated within 10 minutes, he would die.
"I... have to use half of my energy this time…" the being murmured, resigned to the necessity.