ch58- Unyielding Resolve

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As Alex stood over the remains of the massive scythe creature, a wave of disgust washed over him. He had been closest to the beast, and now he could see the ten centimeters of flesh around the cut that had been entirely vaporized by his attack. Though it appeared to be neatly sliced in half, there was no chance of piecing it back together. 

The sheer violence of his attack wasn't lost on him. That morning, Alex had realized the incredible destructive power of his strikes, especially when his damage output reached tens of thousands. Against normal blue or purple monsters, a single swing would tear them apart, literally reducing them to fragments—true "fragments."

Because of this, Alex had avoided using the power of his blade, *Phantom Edge*, too frequently, opting instead to wield a more mundane purple scythe. But upon spotting this giant monster, worried that a normal strike might not be enough, he had unleashed *Phantom Edge* once again.

After killing the massive scythe monster, Alex confirmed that it was only an *elite* monster and not the Boss of the nest. 

Thinking about the nine more of these giant creatures that lay ahead, even Alex felt a flicker of hesitation. For him, they weren't much of a challenge—one strike was enough to kill them. But for his companions, they might as well be Bosses themselves. Defeating them would come at a great cost in lives.

However, knowing the city now had a revival pool, Alex decided to push forward. After killing two more elite monsters, he finally reached the heart of the nest, and that's when he saw it—a truly terrifying creature.

It was a dark purple monstrosity, far larger than the elite monsters he had just slain. What stood out even more was that this creature had *two heads* and wielded *six scythes*. It was just one head short of being the fabled three-headed, six-armed demon of legend.

As the monster, undoubtedly the Boss—*Belos Lord*—noticed Alex, both heads let out a furious roar. With its four legs stomping the ground, it began thundering toward him, the ground shaking beneath its massive weight. Unlike the smaller monsters, the Boss's face had clear expressions of anger and malice, a grotesque contrast to the usual emotionless appearances of other scythe creatures.

Alex barely gave the creature time to close in. With a quick burst of power, he activated *Phantom Edge*, doubling his speed in an instant. In a flash of violet, Alex vanished from the Boss's sight. The beast's twin heads screeched in panic, trying to retreat, but it was too late. Alex was already beneath it.

A glowing purple slash erupted through the air, slicing cleanly through one of the beast's legs. With a pained roar, the creature toppled to the ground, its massive form crashing down. Before it could react further, another swift slash ended its life.

Alex watched the Boss fall, feeling a sense of accomplishment. Killing this monster had taken two strikes, a rare occurrence for him. He didn't believe it had an absurdly high health pool; instead, he suspected his attacks hadn't fully landed due to the creature's enormous size. When hitting only limbs or tails instead of the main body, even his attacks were somewhat limited in their effectiveness.

With the Boss slain, the rest of the monsters in the nest went berserk, charging at Alex from all directions. Though they could only slow him down, their numbers were a nuisance. Alex ignored them, dodging and weaving as he searched for the nest's core crystal. Soon, he spotted it—a massive black crystal wall, towering two stories high and shining with a smooth, reflective surface.

Despite its intimidating appearance, Alex's enhanced strength made short work of it. With one strike, the black crystal shattered.

As the *Belos Crystal* was destroyed, a wave of energy swept through the nest, instantly dispelling the ominous aura that had filled the area. The once-agitated monsters seemed to lose their enhanced strength and speed, returning to their normal state. Clearly, the crystal had been boosting the monsters' power while it was intact.

With the crystal gone, the original resource point beneath it was revealed—a stone table that marked the core of the resource point. However, since the nest's monsters hadn't been completely cleared out yet, the control center couldn't be activated, and they couldn't claim the resource point just yet.

Relieved after defeating the Boss and destroying the crystal, Alex realized that monster nests were more challenging to reclaim than resource points, but for him, the difficulty was about the same. Of course, this was largely because the nest hadn't fully recovered; if the monsters had reached full strength and numbers, even his formidable power wouldn't have been enough on its own.

After swiftly eliminating the remaining elite monsters, the rest of the battle was left to the group. Despite being outnumbered and facing stronger monsters, the team's organized approach allowed them to slowly chip away at the enemies. After nearly two hours of fighting, they finally wiped out the remaining monsters.

However, the battle had taken a heavy toll. Nearly half of their group—over four hundred people—had fallen during the fight. Fortunately, the rewards for reclaiming the monster nest were substantial.

The monster nest's resource point was reclaimed quicker than usual due to its previous takeover by monsters. After guarding the area for less than two hours, the resource point was officially absorbed into East Sea City, and they were teleported back to the city.

The survivors from the *New Hope Factory Outpost* had also arrived at the resource point and were now transported into East Sea City along with the others. Seeing the bustling, thriving city and the welcoming crowd, many of them wept tears of joy. After all their hardships, they finally felt hope again.

As Megan watched the previously hopeless faces of her companions light up with new hope, a deep realization hit her. Her earlier decisions had been right; she simply hadn't been strong enough to protect them all. If she had been stronger, she might have been able to provide them with the safety they so desperately needed.

Turning her gaze toward Alex, the boy whom everyone seemed to trust completely, Megan's resolve hardened. 

"If I can become as strong as him," she thought, "I can bring peace and safety to the people I care about too."