Dominion Bond System: The Only Man Left Has A Yandere Girlfriend

Chapter 85: This Fight Isn’t Ending Without One Of Us Dying

The desert fell silent. Not because there were no monsters. But because everything had fled.

The scorching wind swept across the endless dunes, carrying countless grains of sand through the air. Even the sounds of insects had disappeared, leaving behind only an oppressive silence that made the entire region feel abandoned.

Reiji stood motionless.

His crimson eyes remained fixed on the massive wall of sand slowly approaching from the horizon.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Each step shook the desert.

The vibrations grew stronger every second, causing the sand beneath his boots to ripple like water.

"So this is the Boss..."

Reiji slowly exhaled.

His expression wasn’t fearful. It was serious.

The monsters he had fought until now had all been powerful in their own ways, but this...

This was different.

Even Detect Presence couldn’t accurately measure the creature’s strength. The aura coming from within the sandstorm continuously fluctuated as if two completely different beings occupied the same body.

Then the System spoke.

Ding!

[Warning!]

[Anomaly Detected!]

[Boss Monster has fused with an unknown anomaly.]

[Fusion Rate: 94%]

[Boss Classification Updated.]

[Current Threat Level: B+]

[Gate has evolved to B++]

Reiji’s pupils contracted.

"...B plus?"

His grip around the bone sword tightened. That was impossible. This Gate had only evolved into a C+ Rank Gate.

Even if the Boss mutated Jumping an entire Rank made no sense.

Unless...

"The anomaly..."

Reiji looked toward the approaching sandstorm.

"So that’s what’s causing this."

The System remained silent.

Whatever had fused with the Boss wasn’t something it intended to explain.

BOOOOOOM!!

The wall of sand exploded apart.

Something enormous stepped out.

Reiji’s eyes narrowed.

It stood nearly eight meters tall.

At first glance it resembled an ordinary Serpent Worm.

Only...

Nothing else about it was ordinary.

Its body was covered in black scales instead of brown flesh.

Dark crimson veins pulsed beneath those scales like molten lava flowing through its body.

Four enormous claws extended from both sides of its torso, allowing it to move across the desert with terrifying speed despite its massive size.

Its head looked even more horrifying.

Instead of the circular mouth possessed by ordinary Serpent Worms, this creature had developed an elongated skull filled with several rows of jagged teeth.

Four glowing amber eyes stared directly at Reiji.

Then... the creature smiled. A cold chill ran down Reiji’s spine.

"...It has intelligence."

Ordinary monsters acted mostly on instinct.

This thing understood.

Ding!

[Boss Monster: Deserve Tyrant (B+)]

[Warning!!!]

[Survival Probability: Extremely Low.]

The monster slowly lowered its massive body. Its muscles tensed.

Reiji immediately understood.

"It’s coming."

BOOM!!

The Boss disappeared. The desert exploded beneath it.

"So fast..."

Reiji’s eyes widened. Its enormous size should have made it slower.

Instead it was faster than every monster he had fought inside this Gate.

The massive jaws appeared directly before him.

CLANG!!

Reiji barely managed to block with the bone sword. The impact blasted him backwards across the desert.

His boots carved two deep trenches through the sand before he finally stopped.

"...Shit."

His arms trembled slightly.

Just one strike and his entire body felt numb.

The monster hadn’t even used a skill. It had simply bitten him.

Before Reiji could recover the sand beneath his feet suddenly burst open.

Another attack. His instincts screamed.

[Shadow Step.]

His figure vanished.

BOOOOM!!

The Boss erupted from beneath the exact spot where he had been standing moments earlier.

Its jaws snapped shut with enough force to create a shockwave.

"If that landed..."

Reiji didn’t finish the thought. There wouldn’t have been much of him left.

He immediately raised one hand.

"King’s Summon."

Dark amber and black mana exploded outward.

Three magic circles appeared behind him.

Bones rapidly assembled themselves inside the circles.

*Clack!*

*Clack!*

*Clack!*

Three humanoid skeletons slowly stepped forward.

Each carried a weathered sword and battered shield.

Their empty eye sockets suddenly ignited.

Black flames mixed with amber light burned where their eyes should have been.

Ding!

[Three D-Rank Skeleton Soldiers summoned.]

[Current Mana Consumption: Active.]

The three skeletons immediately rushed toward the Boss without hesitation.

The Desert Tyrant Worm merely watched them.

Then it swung one claw.

BOOM!!

The first skeleton exploded into countless bones.

The second tried blocking.

CRACK!!

Its shield shattered instantly before the rest of its body followed.

Only the third reached the monster. Its sword struck the creature’s scales.

CLANG!!

Not even a scratch.

The Boss lowered its head before crushing the skeleton beneath its jaws.

*Crunch!*

Silence returned.

Reiji watched everything calmly. He hadn’t expected them to win. That wasn’t their purpose.

"They’re too durable..."

No. He corrected himself.

"I’m too weak."

King’s Summon scaled with his own strength.

Until he became strongerthe skeletons would remain little more than distractions against opponents like this.

Still those few seconds had allowed him to observe something.

The creature’s movements. Its attack rhythm. Its blind spots.

The corners of Reiji’s lips slowly lifted.

"I can work with this."

The Boss suddenly roared.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

The sound shook the entire desert. Then it charged once again.

The Desert Tyrant Worm lunged forward.

Its enormous body plowed through the desert like a tidal wave, kicking up a wall of sand behind it. Every step cracked the hardened earth beneath the dunes, leaving behind deep trenches.

Reiji narrowed his eyes.

[Sword Dancer.]

A warm current spread through his body.

His muscles relaxed while his senses sharpened. The bone sword felt lighter in his hand, almost as if it had become an extension of his own arm.

The Boss arrived.

CLANG!

Steel met claw.

The impact blasted Reiji backward once again, but this time he twisted his body in midair, landing lightly on the sand before immediately disappearing.

[Shadow Step.]

He reappeared beside the monster’s neck.

SHING!

The bone sword sliced downward.

Sparks flew.

"...What?"

The blade only left behind a shallow white line before bouncing away.

Those scales they were tougher than he expected.

The monster’s amber eyes shifted toward him.

Without warning, its massive tail whipped around.

BOOM!

Reiji crossed his sword in front of himself.

The impact felt like being struck by a speeding truck.

His body shot through three towering dunes before crashing into a rocky cliff.

CRACK!

The rocks shattered.

"Cough!" Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"...That hurt."

He slowly stood up, rolling his shoulder. Nothing broken. Not yet at least.

The Boss didn’t give him time to recover. It opened its mouth. The crimson veins beneath its scales suddenly lit up.

"...Not good."

A sphere of black fire rapidly condensed between its jaws.

The surrounding air distorted.

Even from dozens of meters away, Reiji could feel the terrifying heat.

BOOOOOOM!

The beam erupted.

A pillar of black flames tore across the desert, vaporizing everything in its path.

[Shadow Step!]

Reiji vanished.

The beam barely missed him, swallowing the cliff behind him instead.

The entire mountain exploded. Molten rock rained across the desert. Reiji appeared above the monster.

[Demonic Essence.]

Dark mana surged through his body.

Black energy mixed with flickering amber flames wrapped around his arms, legs and sword.

His crimson eyes glowed brighter. Even the bone sword changed.

Thin black patterns spread across the blade while faint amber flames danced along its edge.

The Devil’s Ring reacted immediately.

The demonic aura surrounding him doubled. His wounds slowly began closing.

"...Let’s see if this works."

He swung.

SHING!

This time the blade bit into the creature’s neck.

Dark blood sprayed into the air. The wound wasn’t deep. But it was enough.

The Boss roared in fury.

RAAAAAAAAAAH!!

Its claws slammed downward.

Reiji stepped aside. The claws carved a crater nearly twenty meters wide.

He immediately placed his palm against one of the monster’s forelegs.

[Rupture.]

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted beneath the scales. The enormous limb jerked violently.

Several scales shattered apart.

The Boss staggered.

Reiji smiled. "So internal attacks work."

Without wasting the opening...

[Wind Cutter.]

Three crescent-shaped blades of compressed wind shot toward the exposed flesh.

SHING!

SHING!

SHING!

Fresh wounds opened across the monster’s shoulder.

The Desert Tyrant Worm suddenly disappeared beneath the sand.

"...Underground."

Detect Presence immediately expanded. His expression changed.

"It’s coming from below."

No not one direction from several directions.

The mana signature split apart throughout the desert as if the creature were moving beneath every grain of sand simultaneously.

"Impossible..."

The ground exploded.

BOOOOM!

A gigantic claw erupted beneath him.

Reiji escaped with Shadow Step. Another explosion. Then another.

The monster chased him beneath the desert, bursting out repeatedly from impossible angles.

Every dodge consumed mana.

Every teleport shortened the distance before exhaustion.

"I can’t keep doing this..."

The Boss erupted directly behind him.

Its jaws closed.

CRUNCH!

Reiji barely managed to shove the bone sword between its teeth.

The pressure nearly crushed his arms.

Its breath was scorching.

Those four amber eyes stared directly into his own.

For a brief moment either moved.

Then Reiji grinned.

"You’re not the only one with Strength."

[Strength Of The Overlord.]

Power flooded every muscle in his body. His veins bulged beneath his skin.

With a roar, Reiji forced the jaws apart.

The Boss actually stumbled backward.

"...Now we’re talking."

His feet exploded against the sand.

BOOM!

Instead of retreating he charged. The bone sword became a blur.

SHING!

SHING!

SHING!

Dozens of strikes rained across the monster’s body.

Sword Dancer flowed perfectly together with Demonic Essence, each slash carrying black-and-amber mana that slowly chipped away at the seemingly indestructible scales.

The Boss retaliated.

It claws, tail and bite. Every attack was fast enough to kill an ordinary C-Rank several times over.

Reiji avoided most of them.

The few he couldn’t avoid... he blocked.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Shockwaves rolled across the desert as monster and human exchanged blows.

Neither side retreated. Neither side yielded.

Then something changed.

The crimson veins covering the Boss suddenly turned completely black.

Its four amber eyes became six.

A second mouth slowly split open along the side of its neck.

Reiji’s smile disappeared. "...It evolved?"

The System answered immediately.

Ding!

[Warning.]

[Anomaly Synchronization Increasing.]

[Fusion Rate: 97%.]

The pressure erupting from the monster doubled. Even the surrounding desert began trembling.

The Boss slowly lowered its massive body once again.

This time Reiji felt genuine danger.

His instincts screamed louder than ever before.

"...So you’ve been holding back too."

He tightened his grip around the bone sword. The black-and-amber flames surrounding him burned even brighter.

"This fight... isn’t ending without one of us dying."