Whirr–
As soon as I arrived in the cave, I kicked the floor to stop my momentum and quickly looked around.
No matter how wise the Lizardman seemed, his drooling chase made it hard to trust him.
‘Looks like there are no traps…’
My senses reported no suspicious areas.
Inside the cave was filled with numerous stone pillars, and there was nothing that looked like a mechanism to take him down.
‘What the heck? It’s just an ordinary cave?’
Tap-tap—
I lightly tapped on a pillar.
It looked sturdy enough to break if I hit it hard enough, and it was big enough to cover my body.
How long must it have taken for these pillars to become this thick?
‘Was I supposed to use the terrain? I’m not sure.’
My thoughts soon came to a halt.
Boom—
The red-hot Lizardman shoved his body into the cave.
– [Mismatched Fury] is activated.
– Damage dealt to [Fragment of the Seeker Corrupted by Chaos] increases by 3.5 times.
‘3.5 times? Hyeon Woo-seok was 3 times, how does that even make sense?’
Hyeon Woo-seok is considered a talent that exceeds the mid-tier even among A-ranks.
Then, that means this monster is at least close to the top tier in A-rank…
‘Rank’ doesn’t just mean combat power, but that message alone is enough to raise my tension.
“Chururururu!!”
The terrible sound he let out filled the cave like it was tearing it apart.
‘Finally speaking in familiar sounds. Ugh?!’
Chaaaaang!!
Without hesitation, he charged at me.
I activated [Chain of Flame] and barely managed to block the monster’s rush with my great sword.
Flaargh—
Along with the flame energy, I wildly wrapped the flames shaped like ropes around his body.
His body ignited, and a thick smoke rose.
“Grraaaah- Krrhkhkh-”
‘Am I lacking?’
Even with the bindings properly applied, he didn’t lose his composure.
Grrrr—
Then he flicked his elbows side to side and easily broke free from the bindings.
‘Damn it… You’re telling me you’re breaking free from that so easily? How much have my skills improved for this?’
Boom—
He got out of the bindings, but because I was pushing him with my great sword, he lost his balance for a moment.
As I watched him bite onto the great sword and topple over, I quickly put the sword into my space.
He then grabbed my arm to keep from falling, and we inadvertently started a palm-to-palm struggle.
‘I guess our strengths aren’t that different…’
Considering the stability when we first met, it felt like his strength was lacking compared to the speed with which he chased after me.
‘Could it be, he’s holding back?’
I thought that for a moment.
He swung his thick and heavy tail, and I responded by unsheathing my [Toxic Scale] tail.
Thud! Grgrgr-
The two thick tails clashed heavily, then coiled and twisted violently against each other.
For a moment, we continued in a standoff, but I released dozens of bone thorns from my body and stabbed into his torso.
Tatata-tung!
‘Crazy… How is his outer skin this tough? No, it’s not skin. There’s some invisible armor!’
Was he wearing a transparent armor, or was he definitely wearing armor?
Having just recently changed my job, I was feeling quite overwhelmed by the wall that appeared before me.
“Krrhuh-”
The corners of his mouth twisted into a wicked grin.
‘What are you laughing at!’
A tense battle of strength.
We were using every part of our bodies we could attack with, but I still had plenty more weapons to pull out.
While wrestling with strength, I activated all my skills.
I particularly rapid-fired [Thunderhorn], but despite being scorched by the bolts of lightning, he didn’t give up on our strength contest.
‘Please just back off… you bloodsucker-‘
Receiving the attacks nonchalantly and flicking his tongue seemed to indicate he was enjoying it.
‘Damn…!’
Finally, I switched to combat type with my Flame Armor and turned my attention to his face.
At that moment, I unleashed both [Skeleton Bomb] and [Special Strong Acid].
Boom──! Bwa-bwa-bwa-bwa-bwang!!
“Kwack?! Kweeek!!”
With flames suddenly leaping up over his face and a massive explosion, the Lizardman jumped back in shock, widening the distance between us.
No matter how he was, it seemed impossible for him to not be surprised by an attack that activated without any warning.
The flames quickly dissipated, but part of his face was melting from the strong acid.
‘I seem to be dealing more damage than I thought? The effect of [Mismatched Fury] is significant. Including the 7% damage from the poison rune, I must have taken about 25% of his health?’
Considering the number of skills I had used during our struggle, it was only 25%, which felt low.
Moreover, green energy was undulating from his body, rapidly healing the damage he’d taken.
‘If I could shoot bone daggers from my space right away, I might have been able to stack some marks.’
If I awakened my psychokinesis, such attacks might become possible.
Of course, the same goes for the Skeleton Bomb.
‘To deal significant damage, I need to blow it up from the inside. Just like the residue of chaos.’
Ultimately, only the [Flame Explosion] bursting out from the interior could inflict meaningful damage.
I pressure the Lizardman using [Thunderhorn] and [Chain of Flame], which were the most advantageous against him.
While I couldn’t inflict damage, there was an effect of momentarily paralyzing his movements.
But it was hard to find an opportunity to stack marks with [Flame Cut].
I couldn’t tell how high his resistance was; he quickly broke free from paralysis.
Grrruuurrrng— Kwa-jeejijik—
While the lightning massaged him, his health gradually depleted.
Still, the fact that my attack power exceeded his health regeneration was a positive sign.
The Lizardman wasn’t moving as fast as when he first chased after me; if I had enough time, I might be able to suppress him this way.
If I were given a hundred years or so, that is.
‘It’s more manageable than I thought aside from not dealing damage. And that’s why it’s unsettling. That guy must have something up his sleeve.’
Just as I thought that, he disappeared from my field of vision with a faint smile.
─?!
He literally vanished from my sensory range.
As if he had used [Blink].
Swoooosh──!
‘Huh…?’
Suddenly, everything flipped upside down, and my view spun 360 degrees.
Thud—
The Lizardman, far away, held my torso upside-down and wildly waved his arms as if dancing, like a puppet.
He was clearly mocking me.
‘…My head is cut off. What the heck was that? Was it a skill? No, there were no signs of that at all—’
“Krahahaha!!”
The Lizardman, holding my torso, bounced through the cave like a spring.
‘Wow…’
Even though he had just harmed me, I couldn’t help but admire his incredible movements.
It was hard to comprehend that a living being could move like that.
He was a true monster.
In his hand was a semi-transparent crescent-shaped weapon about 30 cm long.
‘Is that… the invisible armor he was wearing?’
A piece of equipment that could even transform into a weapon; how was I supposed to know something like that in advance?
‘…That bastard was hiding his strength all along.’
His insane movement speed far exceeded my reaction time, and the absurd performance of his gear became clear now.
Only then did I realize what the Lizardman had said when he was fully conscious.
“Luring me there is your only way to defeat me. Though, this time the order is reversed.”
‘The order… I get it.’
Then, as I thought about it deeply, the number he mentioned, 58, also made sense.
’58 refers to the number of traits and skills I have. He could see the abilities of others.’
And when he said to use this cave, it wasn’t for nothing.
‘It was to lure me here and set things up in advance.’
If I could fill the cave with [Corrupted Breath] and turn it entirely into my domain, I could create a favorable situation.
But that alone wouldn’t be enough.
Would that Lizardman even step into such a space?
He was rough in his actions, but he wasn’t a fool.
‘Even if his mind isn’t right, he wouldn’t… be sure of it.’
But since it was something the Lizardman himself said, it was worth a try.
‘Putting everything else aside, our stat differences are significant. Too fast. I think there might be limits to controlling his movements while binding him…’
Even while my head rolled on the ground in a pathetic state, I kept thinking.
However, the crazy Lizardman seemed to lose interest in my torso and threw me away, casually approaching me.
“Krrhuh-”
‘Just you wait.’
Although it was an unpleasant experience being crushed to death under a giant foot, it was far less than being pierced through by Jo Gi-man’s gaze.
‘Next time for sure…’
Thud──!
My skull shattered into pieces, and the core was obliterated.
And soon darkness engulfed me.
A familiar feeling of loss and emptiness washed over me.
– Black Flame Sorcerer Il-wol has been broken.
– Trait [94 Lives] is activated.
“Krrhuh-”
As Il-wol’s core shattered, the intense presence he had emanated vanished in an instant.
“Chop-chop-”
The Lizardman, known as the Fragment of the Seeker, felt a strange emptiness within himself.
He quietly watched the armor of the shattered one dissolve into smoke and the bones weather away into nothingness.
The smoke billowed up like a haze, gathering in the air.
The Lizardman’s eyes flickered as he blankly gazed at it.
“Krrrr?!”
– [Trace of Existence] is activated.
– A ‘trace’ containing the potential of Black Flame Sorcerer Il-wol emerges.
“Chururururu!!”
The enemy he thought he had killed was resurrecting.
“Krrr?”
No, the energy felt subtly different. It was clearly a different being.
For some reason, the Lizardman felt excited.
It was a fascinating toy that piqued his interest more and more.
The smoke formed into clouds, and the clouds began to materialize.
Grrrroooo—
From the dark clouds, small lightning bolts shot down.
The Lizardman, at some point, unearthed a weapon resembling the moon he had been with all along.
But it was merely habitual, as if he was simply trying to explore something out of curiosity.
As lightning struck the ground, flames soared to the cave’s ceiling.
The combined energies of fire and lightning whirled together, creating a cloud of dust, and at the same time, the silhouette that had briefly been visible disappeared from view.
Pip—
“Krrruk?!”
Something sharp grazed the Lizardman’s hand. He instinctively dodged but couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
The Lizardman stared at his half-cut finger in astonishment.
The cut was impeccably smooth.
It was a wound made by a well-honed blade.
“Kruuaaar!!”
Now, he finally grasped the situation and gathered all his abilities, activating his senses.
He sensed a small being, resembling a human skull, swiftly crawling towards the ceiling of the cave.
Swoosh—
Though his half-cut finger quickly regenerated, he could not fathom this situation.
How could a being once much weaker than him summon a skull capable of slicing his finger so quickly and powerfully?
As the skull approached above the Lizardman’s head, it began to fall straight down.
Though it was quick, it lacked strength.
The operation to make up for its insufficient strength was to jump from above.
This one was clearly different from the one he had fought earlier.
It was far bolder and more direct.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
