Chapter 185

The full power of a Strengthening Fragment surges through my veins as I fall toward the approaching Stone Armored Floor Boss.

The warm sensation of dense mana fills my chest and starts pumping through my veins to fill my whole body with energy.

I stare down at my opponent with newfound hunger to kill.

Its left arm leaks red aura and its points its glossy dual-sided blade at me. This monster is focused on one thing, and one thing alone.

Catching me, and finishing this fight.

Unfortunately for it, I have other plans...

Over the last 3 seconds, my attack power and charging speed have more than doubled. The full power of a Titan's Domain is at my fingertips. I plan on using every last drop of MP that I can harness.

I've grown a lot since the last time I tried one of these so-called "War Drugs". Now is the perfect moment for me to test one out in full battle mode.

Gritting my teeth, and smiling ear to ear, I leave a ripping heat wave of dark fire residue behind me as I free-fall in at the monster below.

In the blink of an eye, my sword is glowing red and leaking dense black mana, charged up with over 2000MP.

My eyes are locked on the Stone Knight, and I swing my blade across my body as I fall closer and closer to the murder-hungry Floor Boss. The dark crescent of flames erupts from my sword, and I stay close behind pushing the attack forward with my blade.

My glowing weapon collides with its glossy double-sided blade on the monster's arm. I watch its mana shielding crack beneath my sword's pressure on impact and the stone coating around its right arm shatters from the blow.

Mana-infused fog seeps out, and I follow through with my swing thrusting with a heavy downward motion.

I've made it through the first layer of mana shielding and cracked through its armor of stone. I'll slice its real arm below in two in a single strike.

This monster won't know what hit it.

As its armor shatters away, my fiery sword hits something hard....

Too hard...

I grit my teeth and push down with all my might, letting out a yell and fully releasing the 2000MP blade of jet-black advanced fire magic at the monster's unprotected right arm.

It doesn't budge at all....

More red aura seeps out from the broken stone armor and I hear the ear-piercing cry of a wounded beast.

The buzzing twang of mana on mana and the monster's roar both echo throughout the banquet hall. The walls and ceiling shutter as sound waves threaten to bring this entire castle to the floor.

The Monster's right arm begins to move upwards, pushing my blade back up toward me. I Dungeon Walk to its backside the moment it does, releasing another 2000MP strike.

I smirk as I see it make a direct hit.

This one explodes into a fireball and white flash of light as I air-step back. I let out another crescent of mana into the fireball of flames.

There's so much power surging through my body, this fight feels like a certain victory. My speed and attack power is on another level... I'll bring this beast to the floor before it knows what hit it.

As the monster tries to fly out, It's shot down with a point-blank attack in the chest. Its armor shatters, and a white flash triggers another massive ball of flames.

I Dungeon Walk out of the fire's range, then begin flying in circles all around the beast, releasing attack after attack into the massive fireball that fries this monster alive.

I'm burning through thousands of MP a second, using my All-Seeing Eye to pinpoint its exact location within the fire and shooting off flaming crescent after flaming crescent at the Stone Knight.

Over 10 seconds pass and I've launched a dozen attacks into the expanding pit of flames from all sides.

All that's heard is the Floor Boss' murderous roar, getting louder and louder with each strike I land. The room shakes and the grin across my face grows with each successful hit.

I can feel the depths of the Strengthening Fragment in my chest grow stronger and stronger. Usually, I'd feel overwhelmed by its power, but right now I feel invigorated.

As I let out my 15th attack, the ball of flames at the center of the room begins to glow with a deep red color. My flames are much darker than the presence that is making itself known.

I watch with my All-Seeing Eye as the fog from earlier begins to expand, making it harder and harder to sense the beast's exact location within.

I know this trick well, but still have no way to deactivate it. It doesn't matter. I have enough excess power to continue launching attacks even with a blind eye.

It lowers itself to the ground slowly and I follow, Dungeon Walking and air-stepping around in circles while slowly descending to ground level.

I release a barrage of attacks into the growing mist, using nothing but my battle intuition as an aiming mechanism. I'm shooting blind.

Every few hits still land, but my precision isn't as perfect as before. Most of my fiery strikes go flying through the fog and castle wall, gliding silently off into the open dungeon.

The beastly roast of agony finally stops, and the deep voice of the floor boss echoes in my head.

"It seems you're not as incompetent as I first thought..."

The room ripples and I hear a mild buzzing sound as the intensity of mana in the air picks up.

"I'll have to use my true form... I haven't had fun with an opponent in ages. Maybe you're worthy."

With my eyes wide, focusing on the center of the now dissipating red cloud of fog, I see a jet-black Kight standing out in the open of a burning banquet hall floor.

For at least 20 meters in all directions, the fallen tables, abandoned armor sets, and various wooden crates are burnt to ash and smashed to pieces.

The floor doesn't ripple, and the Knight's Stone armor has crumbled to pieces from my barrage of attacks.

Its head is still covered in a cloud of red aura, and its shadowy body has small red slashes all over it. The odd creature leaks mana, confirming my strikes were worth something, but not a lot...

The small red slashes that cover its body begin to glow brighter and brighter red.

As I watch, the energy in my chest that flows through my veins is building up quickly. The Strengthening Fragment is still expanding and its needs to be released.

I burn through MP by focusing on my perception skill and the boost the flames surrounding my body as well. All of my buffs are active and I glow red and gold. This isn't enough... The only true way to relieve this urge is by letting out attacks from my sword.

It's the quickest and most efficient way for me to use of MP.

My eyes dart back and forth as I begin to Dungeon walk through the fallen tables, watching closely as the cracks in the Black Knight's armor glow brighter and brighter.

The dim glow of red light begins to turn into white-hot energy.

I can sense an immense power within. Just through the cracks, the density of the mana seeping out is overwhelming. The high-pitched buzz rings in my ears.

It's near impossible to sense what's really within, but I'm sure that I'll soon find out...

The beast lets out an ear-shattering cry. It surprisingly knocks rubble loose from the ceiling above. Rocks and fragments of leftover glass begin to fall from the ceiling as I continue to eagerly circle the now fully red and white glowing Black Knight. I'm waiting for a time to strike.

It's been almost 15 seconds since I took the Fragment, and my fingers and feet are starting to tingle.

This is never a good sign...

I need to release this power, and I need to do it fast.

Gritting my teeth, sweat drops down my forehead as I circle the room, faster and faster, just watching the monster glow while I burn through MP on my more passive skills.

If a 1500Mp strike is what it took to break its stone armor, and a 2000MP strike is what it takes to scratch the surface of its Black Armored body, then I'll just have to dig deeper.

I can't take the wait any longer. With this Strengthening Fragment pumping me up with power and the adrenaline of battle flowing through my veins, all I can think of is letting loose and allowing the power to take control.

That isn't how I'll grow... I need to keep my focus...

Clenching my jaw, I blip in toward the red-glowing Knight and swing my blade.

It instantly turns its head to the side, then thrusts its right arm in the way of my attack. An incredibly dense, much darker red mana shielding forms around its black armor, and my 2000MP-charged sword halts mid-strike for a moment.

I grit my teeth and channel more MP into the blade, making it denser and thinner with every millisecond that passes.

Letting out a yell, I squeeze 250 more MP into the attack and shatter its advanced shielding. A bright flash of light shines and the slash explodes into a fiery ball of flames. I air-step back grinning and satisfied with my attack, but watching with an intense gaze, planning my next move.

The tingling in my hands and feet has stopped, but I need to keep this up, or it won't end well. Ember is standing by if need be, but I want to defeat this Boss on my own.

I charge my sword and dive back in the moment the flames die down and I get a clear view of the Knight.

Dungeon Walking to its opposite side, I swing my blade again with perfect precision. While I attack, I glance at its right arm. Another small slash forms on its armor, leaking out more red mana-imbued fog.

I let my second strike fly, it blocks with its left this time.

The Knight isn't attacking, it's only blocking. The monster is focusing straight ahead, not paying me much mind other than producing shielding to lessen the damage of each attack.

Fire expands and the white light shines.

The monster still doesn't budge.

As the flames clear, I see another gash on its left arm, leaking more man-imbued aura.

I smirk, but cautiously continue rushing in with attack after attack. I'll take advantage of an opening, but this feels too good to be true...

Its glowing aura grows denser, but the Floor Boss doesn't retaliate one bit. It just blocks, allowing me to land attack after attack on it.

I Dungeon Walk to and from it, landing more and more blows on the defenseless Boss.

I can tell it's gearing up for something, but there isn't much else for me to do but attack. This is the perfect time to do so, there's no point in running to hide when I'm making such good progress.

The Strengthening Fragment expands even more, as I constantly release more MP. I use up more and more of its power, releasing attack after attack for another 10 seconds straight. I've left another dozen marks on the beast in front of me.

The red gashes line its back, chest, legs, and arms now. The monster drips with red aura, it looks like blood. For some reason, it doesn't seem to care much at all.

Finally, its voice rings out in my head.

"You're finished. The fight ends now."

I stare straight ahead as the red and white glow surrounding its body expands more and more... The gashes in its body begin to crack open even further, letting out more of its ominous aura from within.

My mouth opens up wide as I watch The Knight itself expand with the aura.

Its full body begins to grow....

The dense mana within its armor starts to burst out at the seams and a long white horn starts to jut out from the red mist covering its head.

The Block Knight's arms and legs shatter the dark armor Holding it back and bright red and white glow from beneath shines even bright.

It continues to expand.

The chest plate breaks and a monstrous figure begins to form from within the light.

What was a 3-meter tall Knight moments ago, now makes the ground quiver under its clawed feet. I see tough red skin and bulging muscles peek out from the white light, but its true form is still hidden. It's over 8 meters tall now and still expanding at a steady rate.

I speed up, darting in between tables, and watching from a safe distance as this beast continues to morph and grow.

I can't believe my eyes...

"Is this... why they call it the Behemoth...?"

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