Stronger

Quest

The Enigma of the Dungeon Runes

You found Runes along the walls of an unexplored Dungeon.

Now find who wrote them down.

You completed the Quest!

A Chain Quest follows!

You've received a Quest

The Enigma of the Dungeon Runes

Grade: D+

The Queen of Spiders seems to have Runes. Inspect her body to find out if she has any secrets.

Aim: defeat the Queen of Spiders.

Reward: Runes Study Material.

Do you accept the quest?

Yes I No

There was a very tense atmosphere now inside the Dungeon.

The air was soaked in the energy ripples generated by the Auras of Helial and the Queen of the Spiders. They were so dense they made it difficult to breathe.

Despite the Titan's Shield screening them off, Lulu and Frankenstein were struggling to bear the pressure of such two Auras from that close. Snowflake and Lumia seemed to be doing much better, but they both had a complicated expression on their face.

The body of the Queen of Spiders was sparkling with black and scarlet Runes all over. Their intertwining created weird patterns.

Helial accepted the Quest without the slightest hesitation.

This time, the two opponents spared all the chitchat.

Fwoosh!

Helial rushed forward. His steps cracked the ground open.

A Rune came off of her body and wound up right in front of him.

Skill Activated:

Corrosive Palm

Her Corrosive Palm flew through the gliding Rune. What used to be a translucent, illusory palm blow looked now much denser, as though it had gained body.

Helial hastily let Life and Destruction reflow through his body. Mana began to seethe inside his Meridians.

The palm hit against a punch.

Boom!

This time, nobody seemed to back off. Clearly, the Rune employed by the Queen of Spiders and Helial's new upgrade had brought the match to a dead end.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several up-tempo exchanges of blows made the ground tremble. The floor and the ceiling immediately shattered in a number of spots covered by the Titan's Shield

"Lumia, more Mana!" Helial cried suddenly.

Lumia didn't need to hear that twice. She immediately increased the Mana she was flowing throughout the shield. Her painful expression though betrayed that she could not endure much longer. Having seen Lumia's face, Lulu decided it was time to step in. She began to cast Buffs towards her silvery-haired friend to amplify her Mana regeneration.

Helial had better let the match end as soon as possible. His fixed his gaze at the Boss's sparkling body.

Runes.

The Queen of Spiders knew how to master Runes.

Helial felt a chill run down his spine. Runes allowed users to amply their Skills' and attacks' effect. It was a crazy weapon indeed. They had a weak point though; unlike Formations, that could be reused over and over again for thousands of years, Runes were one-use. One single use was enough to deplete the Mana of a Rune. Each effect would be unique.

This meant the Queen of Spiders couldn't rely on that tactic for long. The mysterious pattern on her seductive body had already several blank spots.

Helial inhaled deeply. He gathered as much Mana as he could in his muscles and threw a punch.

Boom!

The punch was so swift that the air exploded in a whirlwind.

And yet, despite being almost about to be hit by an attack twice as strong as before, the Queen of Spiders curled up her lips in an evil smile.

"I must say this was fun," the Queen of Spiders whispered maliciously.

Suddenly, Helial had the worst feeling about this. He clearly sensed that his life was in danger. Fear clouded his gaze. It was too late to back off though. He could only grin his teeth and envelop his body in Mana as he cast one last punch at his opponent.

This time, five Runes came off of the Queen's body.

Helial understood.

"Fucking shit," he cursed.

His friends' expression changed drastically. They all had understood.

Skill Activated:

Corrosive Palm

Not only was this Corrosive Palm much brighter than before, but it also exuded a terrifying Aura as well as a revolting smell. Its Destructive power wasn't the only thing that had increased. The corrosive properties seemed to have made some headway too.

Helial's punch collided with the Corrosive Palm.

BOOM!

Helial was flung away like a cannonball and crashed against Lumia's barrier.

Thud

Helial fell off on his knees. He threw up an alarming amount of blood. He hit the ground with his fist, extremely dissatisfied with his performance.

You lost 4432 HP!

The Queen of Spiders stared at the boy pitifully as she furrowed her eyebrows. "How can he still be alive? His body must really be as resistant as some divine creature's…"

Helial's eyes were bloodshot. He touched his chest to check it out. He had a few broken ribs. He examined his internal organs through Mana and noticed that many of them were hurt. The blows have severely injured him. However, this wasn't enough to make him pick up Curse of the Demon, or employ Death Mana Pistol.

But why so?

Because Helial had obtained Body of the Qilin by matter of sheer strength.

What about Curse of the Demon and Death Mana Pistol then?

It wasn't like someone had exactly gifted him with those. But it wasn't like he had fought for them either. Truth was, up to that moment, one thought had been torturing Helial and keeping him awake at night.

Without what someone else gave me, would I be strong just the same, would I have become stronger than those around me?

Without his realizing it, this thought had become an obsession. On his Dao of Mana though, Helial could not afford having such shadow burden his heart.

For once, merely once, Helial needed to show to himself that his strength didn't just depend on his helpers. He had deserved Body of the Qilin. And now he needed to prove to himself he could be the strongest even just relying on his own efforts.

There was no reason for him not to benefit from Curse of the Demon or from the deep knowledge he had got in touch with through Hell. But this time, and this time only, he must win alone.

He stood back up pressing his arms heavily on the chest. Meanwhile, Body of the Qilin was healing his wounds at unheard of speed. Helial spat out another mouthful of blood that stained the ground red.

"I need you to rush all of your Mana through this barrier, Lumia. All of it. Don't let any of you get hurt," Helial said solemnly.

His words caused a chill to run down each of their spines.

What was Helial up to?

The Devil hastily sat up on his beach chair. He put aside the coconut he was holding and took his sunglasses off. Two pitch-black eyes appeared. His face showed no amusement now. It looked baffled, almost worried. "Okay, stop. You can't use that tactic now. You just can't develop a Skill like that one. Last time you tried during our training, you almost ended up killed. Your body won't stand it. You're already injured. You also risk harming the others."

"Protect Lumia and the others, Master. Please. I know you wouldn't step in and save their life If I weren't able to do it myself. But I need to try this out. There's a shadow I need to scratch off my heart," Helial whispered to himself.

The Devil didn't reply. His pupil's every fiber was imbued with resolution.

Suddenly, a dark-haired kid appeared behind Lumia without anyone noticing.

"May I." The kid put his hand on Lumia's shoulder. Next moment, the barrier turned slightly metallic. Despite its quite common looks, that barrier could now be considered Ceasar-proof.

Lumia said nothing.

Helial inhaled deeply.

Thump Thump Thump

His heart began to contract violently as blood was plumped impetuously inside his arteries.

"Stronger," Helial wheezed as he approached the Queen of Spiders.

A sardonic expression hung on her face. "So, one attack was not enough, huh. Let's put this on end."

The Aura of the Queen of Spiders grew even fiercer. All of a sudden, twenty Runes came off of her body as she narrowed her eyes to exert the fullest control over her next attack.

Helial gritted his teeth. His Aura was slightly vanishing.

"Stronger!"

The Runes began to give off a blinding light before the Queen.

Skill Activated:

Corrosive Palm:

Helial was now running light-heartedly towards an hopeless plight.

A crazy smile hung on his face as two faint gleams, not even comparable to the dazzling Runes of the Queen of Spiders, appeared on his index fingers.

He reached the imposing Palm. He was looking majestic. A single word boomed out through the cave.

"STRONGEEER!"