Chapter 86: One Must Fall
The desert shook.
No,nthe entire Gate trembled.
The Desert Tyrant Worm slowly raised its enormous head toward the crimson sky as black veins spread across every inch of its body. The second mouth that had opened along its neck stretched wider, revealing rows of jagged fangs dripping with thick black saliva.
Its six amber eyes locked onto Reiji.
Then it smiled.
Ding!
[Warning!]
[Anomaly Synchronization Complete.]
[Fusion Rate: 100%.]
[Warning!]
[Boss has gained a unique Anomaly Ability.]
[Predator Domain (B+)]
The instant the notification disappeared...
BOOM!
An invisible pressure erupted from the Boss.
The surrounding sand collapsed. Even the air itself became heavy.
Reiji’s knees bent slightly. "What the...?"
His breathing became difficult. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t killing intent. It felt as though the entire desert had suddenly become heavier.
Every movement required noticeably more effort than before.
Even his mana circulation slowed.
"So that’s your trick..."
The Boss didn’t wait. Its enormous body exploded forward. Faster than before. Much faster.
BOOM!!
Reiji activated Shadow Step instinctively.
His figure disappeared yet the monster’s claw still grazed his side.
RIIIIIP!!
Blood sprayed across the desert.
"Argh!" Reiji stumbled after reappearing nearly twenty meters away.
He looked down.
Three deep claw marks stretched across his ribs.
If he had reacted even a fraction of a second slower...
"...I’d have been split open."
Black-and-amber flames immediately spread across the wound.
[Demonic Essence.]
The flesh slowly knitted together.
Not instantly. Slowly. Too slowly.
"So even my regeneration is being suppressed..."
The Boss gave him no chance to think. It slammed both claws into the desert.
BOOOOOOM!!
The ground shattered.
Hundreds of jagged pillars of black stone burst from beneath the sand, racing toward Reiji like giant spears.
"...Seriously?"
He disappeared again.
[Shadow Step.]
[Shadow Step.]
[Shadow Step.]
Each teleport consumed more mana than usual inside Predator Domain.
By the fifth teleport his breathing had already become uneven.
"This thing is forcing me to waste mana."
The monster understood exactly what it was doing.
It wasn’t charging recklessly anymore.
It was hunting. Like a predator cornering exhausted prey.
The Desert Tyrant Worm suddenly vanished beneath the sand.
Detect Presence immediately activated.
Underground.
It was moving fast. Too fast.
Reiji closed his eyes. He ignored everything else.
The wind. The heat. His own heartbeat.
Only the Boss remained inside his perception.
"...There."
BOOOOM!!
The monster erupted beneath him.
Instead of retreating reiji stepped forward.
His left palm struck directly against the creature’s skull.
[Rupture!]
BOOM!!
An internal explosion echoed through the Boss’s head.
Its massive body lurched sideways.
Before it could recover...
[Wind Cutter!]
Three compressed blades of wind slashed across its exposed neck.
Fresh blood burst into the air.
The Boss roared. Its tail whipped around with unbelievable speed.
CRAAASH!!
Reiji crossed the bone sword before himself.
The impact launched him hundreds of meters through the desert.
He skipped across the sand like a stone before finally crashing into a massive rock formation.
The cliff collapsed around him.
For several seconds nothing moved.
Thenna hand pushed away the rubble.
Reiji slowly climbed out. Blood dripped from his forehead. His left arm hung limply.
"...Dislocated."
He grabbed it.
CRACK!
He forced the shoulder back into place. Pain shot through his entire body.
"...I’ve had worse."
The black-and-amber flames continued repairing his injuries.
But the healing had become noticeably slower.
The Boss watched him calmly from across the battlefield.
It wasn’t attacking. It was waiting.
Waiting for him to exhaust himself.
Reiji let out a slow breath. "...Guess playing safe isn’t an option anymore."
He lowered the bone sword.
Then...
His crimson eyes burned.
[Blood Rage.]
BOOM!
His heartbeat accelerated. Every muscle in his body swelled. The pain faded into the background.
[Strength Of The Overlord.]
A second surge of power flooded through him.
The sand beneath his feet exploded outward.
[Sword Dancer.]
His stance changed. Every unnecessary movement disappeared.
Perfect balance. Perfect control.
Finally je raised the bone sword.
[Demonic Essence.]
[Soul Torture Flame.]
Black mana erupted from his body.
Amber flames intertwined with the darkness, wrapping around his arms, his legs and finally the blade itself.
The Devil’s Ring shone brilliantly.
The surrounding desert darkened beneath the overwhelming demonic aura.
Even the Boss stopped moving.
Its six eyes narrowed.
For the first time since the battle began it hesitated.
Reiji slowly smiled.
"So... you can feel fear too."
He pointed the burning bone sword toward the monster.
"Good. Because I’m just warming up!"
The moment those words left Reiji’s mouth, the desert erupted.
BOOM!
He vanished.
The Desert Tyrant Worm reacted instantly, all six eyes tracking the blur that tore across the battlefield.
Its claws swept through the air.
Nothing. Only an afterimage.
SHING!
A streak of black and amber flashed across its left flank.
Dark blood burst into the air.
The Boss roared in fury and spun its massive body, its tail tearing through the desert like a giant whip.
Reiji ducked beneath it.
The tail passed barely inches above his head before shattering a distant rock formation.
Without slowing down, he drove his palm into the monster’s abdomen.
[Rupture!]
BOOM!!
The explosion erupted beneath the scales. This time the Boss actually cried out in pain.
Its body lurched sideways.
Reiji didn’t waste the opening.
[Wind Cutter.]
Five compressed blades of wind screamed through the air.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
The first two carved across its shoulder. The third struck one of its amber eyes. The last two buried themselves into its neck.
The Desert Tyrant Worm let out a deafening roar that shook the entire Gate.
Then...
The desert itself began moving.
Thousands of tons of sand rose into the sky, swirling around the monster like a living storm.
"...You’ve got another trick."
Reiji planted his feet. He couldn’t see.
Detect Presence became his only vision.
Suddenly...
Something wrapped around his ankle.
A tail. The Boss had hidden it beneath the sand.
"Damn it!"
Before he could cut himself free...
BOOOOM!!
The creature hurled him through the desert.
His body skipped across the dunes before crashing into a cliff.
CRAAASH!!
The cliff collapsed. Dust filled the air.
The Boss didn’t stop. It burst through the smoke with its jaws wide open.
Its fangs closed.
CRUNCH!!
Only sand. Reiji had already escaped.
[Shadow Step.]
He appeared directly above the monster.
The bone sword descended.
SHING!!
A long wound opened across its back.
The monster immediately twisted in an impossible direction.
One claw caught Reiji across the chest.
RIIIP!!
Blood sprayed through the air.
He was sent flying once more. This time he landed on one knee.
"...Huff... Huff."
His breathing had become noticeably heavier.
Blood Rage was keeping him moving. Strength of the Overlord was keeping him competitive.
But both consumed stamina rapidly.
At this rate one mistake would decide everything.
Reiji slowly stood. "...Looks like it’s time."
He extended one hand.
[King’s Summon.]
Three circles of black mana appeared behind him.
Bones rapidly gathered together.
*Clack.*
*Clack.*
*Clack.*
Three humanoid skeleton soldiers stepped onto the battlefield.
Black flames mixed with amber light burned inside their empty eye sockets.
Their swords rose immediately. The Boss looked at them.
It remembered what had happened before. It charged anyway.
"Go."
The skeletons obeyed without hesitation. The first rushed forward and raised its shield.
BOOM!!
The Boss crushed both shield and skeleton with a single swipe.
But...
It slowed down.
That single heartbeat was enough. The second skeleton lunged from the side.
Its sword couldn’t pierce the scales, but it buried itself between two plates of armor.
The Boss instinctively turned.
The third skeleton threw itself onto the creature’s back, locking both arms around its neck.
For the first time the monster stopped moving.
"...Now."
Reiji disappeared. He appeared directly in front of the Boss.
His palm pressed against the exposed wound.
[Forbidden Arts...]
Black-and-amber flames gathered around his hand.
The atmosphere changed. Even the desert wind seemed to freeze.
The System spoke.
Ding!
[Forbidden Art.]
[Soul Rapture.]
"Burn to death!!!"
The flames didn’t explode. They quietly entered the Boss’s body.
For a second nothing happened.
Then—
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
The Desert Tyrant Worm screamed.
Not in physical pain. Its soul was burning.
The black-and-amber flames spread through its body from the inside, ignoring flesh, scales and bone.
Its enormous body convulsed violently.
The skeleton clinging to its neck was thrown away and shattered.
The remaining skeleton was crushed beneath a claw.
Only fragments remained. Reiji watched silently.
"...It worked!"
The Boss staggered backward. Its movements became sluggish.
Its six eyes lost focus.
Every few seconds another burst of black-and-amber fire erupted from beneath its scales.
Yet it didn’t die.
Instead it looked at Reiji.
Its remaining eyes filled with madness. The creature abandoned all defense.
It charged. The entire desert shook beneath its weight.
Reiji slowly closed his eyes. He loosened his grip on the bone sword. Then tightened it once more.
"...One strike."
Everything else disappeared.
The wind. The heat. The pain.
Only the sword remained.
His breathing became calm. His heartbeat slowed. The world itself seemed to freeze.
Ding!
[Sword Dancer synchronized.]
[A Thousand Slashes In One.]
Reiji vanished. Not even Shadow Step.
Pure speed.
To anyone watching it looked as though dozens of black-and-amber flashes appeared around the Desert Tyrant Worm simultaneously.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
The sounds merged into one continuous note.
The monster desperately swung its claws.
Nothing connected. Every attack struck empty air.
The flashes continued.
Faster.
Faster.
Until they became impossible to count.
Then...
Silence.
Reiji stood fifty meters behind the Boss.
His back faced the creature.
The bone sword slowly returned to its sheath.
Click.
Nothing happened.
For three long seconds...
The Desert Tyrant Worm remained standing.
Then...
Thin glowing lines spread across its entire body.
Its head slid from its neck. Both forelegs separated.
Its torso split apart into countless pieces. Dark blood erupted like a fountain.
BOOOOOOM!!
The gigantic corpse crashed onto the desert floor, shaking the entire Gate.
The battle was over.
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