Chapter 41: Shock
A faint smile formed beneath the Butcher’s Mask.
"Congratulations."
The giant ape froze.
Amon raised his sword.
"You’ve successfully angered me."
The moment those words fell, the entire battlefield became silent.
The raging magma.
The collapsing cliffs.
Even the howling winds.
Everything seemed to freeze.
An eerie yellow radiance spread outward from Amon’s body.
It was beautiful.
Yet for some reason, every creature present felt a chill crawl through their souls.
The giant ape’s instincts screamed.
Run.
Run!
RUN!
For the first time since becoming the ruler of this dungeon, the creature felt genuine terror.
Without hesitation, it turned around.
Then fled.
BOOOOM!!!
Its colossal body exploded forward.
The earth shattered beneath its feet.
Magma erupted into the sky.
The Dungeon Lord abandoned all dignity and attempted to escape.
Amon merely watched.
A trace of amusement appeared in his eyes.
"Too late."
The Winter Frost Blade slowly rose.
A cold darkness began gathering around the blade.
Not mana.
Not elemental energy.
Something else.
Something deeper.
Something that felt as though it originated from the abyss itself.
The surrounding shadows began stretching unnaturally.
The sunlight dimmed.
The temperature plummeted.
Even the magma rivers seemed to lose their brilliance.
Amon’s voice echoed softly across the battlefield.
"Abyssal Soul Requiem Sword Art."
The fifth form of the Elegant Netherblade Sword Technique.
The world seemed to darken.
An enormous phantom moon appeared high above the battlefield.
Its pale light illuminated everything below.
For a brief moment.
The giant ape saw something.
Countless figures.
Countless shadows.
Countless dead souls standing beneath that moon.
Watching.
Waiting.
The creature’s body trembled violently.
Its soul instinctively sensed what was coming.
Amon swung his sword.
Swish.
The movement was unbelievably simple.
A casual slash.
Nothing more.
Yet the moment the blade moved, a black crescent silently emerged.
It drifted forward.
Slowly.
Almost gently.
The giant ape roared.
Every ounce of power within its body erupted.
Its magma surged.
Its fists smashed forward.
The surrounding earth exploded.
The attack collided with the black crescent.
And passed through it.
The creature froze.
It felt nothing.
No pain.
No impact.
No wound.
The black crescent continued forward before quietly disappearing into its chest.
Silence.
Several seconds passed.
The giant ape lowered its head.
Confusion appeared in its burning eyes.
Nothing happened.
Then...
A black flame ignited deep within its chest.
The creature roared.
BOOOOOM!!!
Another flame appeared.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
The black flames spread throughout its entire body.
The magma flowing through its cracks rapidly dimmed.
Its movements slowed.
Its vitality weakened.
The giant ape’s expression gradually shifted from confusion to terror.
Because it could feel it.
Its soul was burning.
Not its body.
Its soul.
The black flames consumed everything they touched.
Memories.
Instincts.
Life force.
Existence itself.
The giant ape slammed its fists into its own chest.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Trying desperately to extinguish the flames.
Nothing worked.
The flames only spread further.
Amon stood silently.
Watching.
The creature’s roars gradually weakened.
Its enormous body trembled.
Then collapsed to its knees.
Boom.
The entire canyon shook.
The giant ape stared at Amon.
Its eyes filled with fear.
Despair.
And finally...
Acceptance.
The black flames reached its head.
The burning crimson light within its eyes vanished.
Its body remained intact.
Yet something essential was gone.
The next instant...
The colossal corpse collapsed forward.
BOOOOOM!!!
The canyon trembled violently.
Silence followed.
No explosion.
No spectacular destruction.
Just death.
Absolute death.
The black flames continued burning for several moments before finally fading away.
Then the gigantic corpse dissolved into countless particles of white light.
A brilliant dungeon core dropped onto the scorched earth.
[Ding! Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
Amon lowered his sword.
The yellow radiance surrounding him slowly disappeared, and his eyes flickered with surprise.
He’d used the fifth form before; however, it hadn’t been this terrifying.
It seemed that with the increase in his level, the explosiveness and terror of the divine sword technique had risen to another level entirely.
Amon’s eyes flashed with a curious glint.
Now he had enough mana to use the sixth form, so he was curious.
Just how terrifying was it?
He shook his head and pushed the thought aside.
Initially, he thought that the Elegant Netherworld Blade Technique seemed a little weak for their level. However, he didn’t expect that it wasn’t the technique that was weak, but rather that he had been the weaker one.
The same thing applied to the divine sword and his divine physique.
He’d realized that as he grew stronger, they began displaying their equally terrifying might.
The sword could now instinctively appear in its master’s hand without Amon calling it, as though it possessed a measure of intelligence.
His strength was explosive and could rival that of B-rank beasts despite being only C-rank.
Besides, his physique was strong enough to handle the explosive backlash of using the divine sword techniques.
Amon was also curious about just how terrifying his healing capabilities had become.
A wry smile appeared at the corner of Amon’s lips.
’I just need to get stronger. At S-rank, the techniques should be able to destroy worlds, right?’
A cold glint appeared in Amon’s eyes.
The day was far from over.
Because after stepping into S-rank, it was time to clear the Divine Infant Organization.
He turned to Moon.
The clone had finished dealing with the remaining creatures that had been paralyzed by the aura of his battle with the Dungeon Lord.
With the dungeon cleared, Amon turned to Moon calmly.
"Let’s head to the next dungeon."
He placed a hand on Moon’s shoulder, and they both vanished completely.
The dungeon rumbled incessantly for a few seconds before collapsing.
In the outside world, the men were still standing nervously, waiting for the Butcher and the Monarch of Death to come out.
It had been more than thirty minutes since they’d entered.
Earlier, they’d discussed the matter and ultimately decided to go ahead with the plan to call the higher authorities.
A car had long since arrived.
Joy stood outside with her arms folded.
Her eyes stared coldly at the gate.
Her C-rank pressure blasted outward.
She was finally going to encounter the Butcher again. Her excitement couldn’t be contained.
Beside her...
A young man wearing dark glasses stood.
He was from Center City and had been given orders by the Human Alliance to come and help the Cold Moon District deal with their B-rank dungeon.
However, after telling him about the dangers of the Butcher and the Monarch of Death, Joy had been able to obtain his help, and they were finally about to deal with the Butcher.
Just then, the spiraling dungeon gate shook slightly.
Bang!
The next instant, it exploded into fragments.
Everyone’s eyes widened in alarm.
Cleared?
The dungeon had been cleared?!
In barely thirty minutes?
Joy remained frozen in shock until the man beside her drew her attention.
"I thought you said they were inside the dungeon?" He turned to stare at her, slight anger visible in his eyes. "A dungeon can only be closed when everyone inside is either dead or has already left. What a waste of time."
He snorted and entered the car.
"Take me out of here."
Hearing his words, Joy was dumbfounded.
She stared at the gate, her face filled with confusion.
It was impossible for the Butcher to have died.
She didn’t know why she thought that.
She just didn’t believe the Butcher could die!!!
Suddenly, her phone rang...
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Joy furrowed her brows and picked it up after noticing it was her emergency contact.
She was only called through that line whenever there was an emergency.
Suddenly, a stupefied expression appeared on Joy’s face.
"You mean, the Butcher has been spotted at another C-rank dungeon?"
