Free Web NovelChapter 33: Demonic Soul Manifestation
’Shit...’
Reiji instantly leapt onto the nearest pillar and wrapped his arms around it tightly.
SHRRIIINNNGG!!!
Sharp spikes erupted upward like a forest of spears and needles, swallowing the entire ground.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The whole chamber trembled violently. Even the massive stone pillars were pierced apart by the countless spikes.
Cracks rapidly spread across the pillar Reiji was clinging onto. freewebnσvel.cѳm
’Shit!’
Reiji immediately kicked himself away just before the pillar exploded into pieces.
BOOM!
Chunks of stone scattered everywhere.
While still mid-air, Reiji twisted his body to avoid several spikes shooting toward him from below.
Slash!
One still sliced across his thigh. Blood splattered through the air. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"Damn it!"
Reiji forcefully landed on another pillar while breathing heavily.
His heart pounded violently against his chest. This wasn’t a normal boss monster. The old ogre wasn’t giving him even a second to breathe.
Below him, the entire ground had transformed into a horrifying field of gigantic spikes.
The old ogre slowly stared up at him. Then it grinned.
"Run... Human..."
It raised its crooked staff and green energy swirled around the head of the staff.
Reiji’s pupils trembled. The pillars were collapsing, even the one he was holding onto, so there was no time before he might end up dead.
Reiji immediately jumped to another pillar, and as it began to fall, he jumped to another and continued like that. The ogre saw this and a satisfied wicked smile played on its lips.
"You’ll have nowhere to run to..."
Reiji’s expression darkened.
If this continued, he would eventually die from exhaustion before even reaching the old ogre.
The entire battlefield had already become the old monster’s territory.
’Then I’ll kill it before that happens.’
Reiji immediately pushed more mana into Strength Of The Overlord. Veins bulged on his arms as his muscles tightened. Reiji screamed as he leapt off the pillar he clung to like a jaguar, his grip tightening unconsciously around the Soul Torture Blade.
The ogre’s pupils shrank involuntarily and before it could react...
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Reiji slashed it multiple times before kicking it away like a ball.
The ogre flew across the room and just as it was about to land on the spikes, its staff glowed a pale green and all the spikes sunk back into the ground as if they never existed.
Reiji saw this and gave a cold snort. He dashed forward and just as the ogre was about to land on its feet...
BAM!
"Blergh..."
The ogre coughed up blood from the sudden force.
Its body propelled backward and crashed straight into the wall, its eyes rolling back.
Dust and debris slowly fell across the chamber.
Reiji landed heavily on the ground while breathing roughly.
His muscles screamed painfully from the strain of Strength Of The Overlord.
But his eyes never left the old ogre.
"...Did I get it?"
"Hahaha..."
A distorted laugh suddenly echoed through the chamber.
Reiji’s expression changed instantly.
The old ogre slowly stood back up from the rubble.
Its twisted wounds were already regenerating at visible speed. Dark green flesh wriggled unnaturally as the deep slashes rapidly closed themselves.
But the slash left by the Soul Torture Blade didn’t heal as fast as the rest.
Reiji smiled as he saw this. There was still hope. Even if the Dungeon Boss was D+++, it was still in the realm of D-Rank after all, and so was his blade.
But the effect of the Soul Torture Blade wasn’t taking full effect on it. It made Reiji confused, but the fact that its regeneration wasn’t able to heal the injury caused by the Soul Torture Blade as fast as normal injuries made Reiji feel that it still had some effect on it.
The ogre also noticed this and was inwardly surprised, but when it saw the smile on Reiji’s face, its expression twisted in rage.
"Grrrrhhh!!!"
It slammed its staff on the ground and a raging green energy erupted like a volcano, wrapping around the ogre.
Not only that, Reiji could feel, or rather smell, that the air was getting cleaner. The previous rotten smell that lingered in the air when he stepped in was slowly fading and somehow turning into streaks of red light flowing into the spores around the ogre.
"Grrrrhh...! You are dead, Human!"
The old ogre slammed its staff against the ground once more.
BOOOOOOM!!!
A massive dark green magic circle suddenly spread across the entire chamber.
Reiji’s pupils shrank.
Black mist slowly rose from the ground.
No.
It wasn’t mist.
They were souls.
Distorted souls of monsters.
"What the hell...."
The air instantly became freezing cold. The old ogre raised both arms toward the ceiling as the countless soul fragments rushed toward its body like starving beasts.
"Demonic Soul Manifestation!"
Its once frail body began bubbling and massive muscles bulged outward so hard that the bone armor it was wearing shredded apart.
It was growing larger.
Its red eyes became even redder, glowing with rage and viciousness like a mad animal.
’This seems to be a skill. I need to do something before it fully transforms. Wait... Demonic Soul Manifestation? Demonic!’
Reiji instantly equipped the Devil’s Ring from his inventory.
[Boost every demonic skill by thirty percent and nullify every demonic attack.]
Ding!
[Demonic skills detected.]
[The Demon King’s Ring has resonated with the Host’s demonic-type skills.]
[Strength Of The Overlord has been enhanced by 30%.]
[Soul Torture Flame has been enhanced by 30%.]
Reiji was a bit dumbstruck. He wasn’t surprised that Soul Torture Flame was a demonic skill, but he didn’t expect Strength Of The Overlord to be a demonic skill too.
But if he was getting a boost, he wasn’t going to complain.
’Now.’
BOOM!!!
The ground beneath his feet exploded apart as Reiji shot forward at full speed.
"Grrhh!"
The old ogre roared and swung its massive claw toward him.
Reiji instantly ducked beneath the attack. The violent wind pressure still tore apart several strands of his hair.
The monster was now twelve feet tall and still growing. And it was fast. Too fast.
It seemed it was... breaking through.
Reiji didn’t stop. He even sped up and leapt upward, going for the creature’s blind spot.
"Soul Torture Flame."
VOOM!
Dark amber flames instantly wrapped around the Soul Torture Blade.
The old ogre’s eyes widened as it sensed the incoming danger, but it was already too late.
Reiji twisted his body and slashed upward with everything he had.
*SLAAASH!*
The burning blade tore straight through the ogre’s chest.
"GGRRRAAAHHHH!"
The old ogre screamed horribly. Dark flames instantly spread across its body. Its regeneration suddenly slowed drastically.
Reiji’s eyes flashed coldly.
As his blade slid down the ogre’s back and was about to reach its lower body, Reiji removed the blade and jumped upward, reaching for the head of the ogre.
"Die already."
BAM!!!
Using Strength Of The Overlord, Reiji kicked the head of the now giant ogre hard, making it stumble sideways.
Before the ogre could recover, Reiji, still in the air, channeled every last bit of his mana into Soul Torture Flame and threw the blade with terrifying force.
SWOOSH!
The blade flew like a bullet as it headed straight for the ogre’s head.
STAB!
The Soul Torture Blade pierced directly through its skull. The old ogre’s body froze.
Its glowing red eyes trembled violently. Then slowly, the light inside them faded.
BOOM!
Its body swayed and it fell face-first to the ground. Blood seeped out of its busted skull, soaking its body.
Reiji fell to the floor on his back, breathing heavily.
"That was such a long battle," Reiji muttered as he tried to catch his breath.
Though the fight wasn’t as life-threatening as the anomaly he fought previously, it was still somehow exhausting. Maybe even tougher.
If he really thought about it, if the boss monster had been a combat fighter instead of a mage-class, he would have probably been dead by now.
A D++ boss monster was no joke.
He was only lucky that the monster was a mage-class fighter. It would have pressured him far greater than the anomaly.
"If I’m taking count, this is the second dungeon boss I have faced so far."
Reiji remembered the Silk Weaver Tarantula he fought. It wasn’t as tough as this one.
It was clear that despite the spider being strong, most adventurers or awakeners would struggle with it. But Reiji didn’t really struggle much because of the Soul Torture Blade he had with him.
That was one of his biggest advantages.
But after meeting this monster and the anomaly, he felt a strong urge to become stronger.
There were many gates out there. Many awakened were D-Rank and above. Some were even stronger than their peers. If he stayed weak, who knew what might happen.
He let out a long breath.
Ding!
The system suddenly chimed in.
[Host has killed the Dungeon Boss: Tribe Leader Ogre (D+++)]
[+80 EXP]
Ding!
[Dungeon Core detected. Do you wish to harvest it? [Y/N]]
"Yes."
Ding!
[Error. Dungeon Core is currently merged with the monster’s core. It is now corrupted. You can only absorb it. Do you wish to absorb it? [Y/N]]
Reiji stared at the system notification for a while.
"Does it have any side effects?"
Ding!
[There is no side effect, Host.]
"Okay. Absorb."
Ding!
[Host has successfully absorbed the merged cores.]
Ding!
[Host has gained skill: Mana Manipulation (E), skill: Shadow Step (D), skill: Detect Presence (D).]
Reiji was surprised. "Wow..." He didn’t expect to receive skills. "So that’s what Monster Cores do."
He suddenly remembered all the monsters he had killed, especially the anomaly, and felt like slapping himself in the face.
"System, why didn’t you tell me about monster cores?"
Ding!
[Not every monster possesses a Monster Core.]
[Higher-ranked monsters possess a greater probability of developing one.]
[Dungeon Bosses have a guaranteed chance of possessing both a Monster Core and Dungeon Core. And this Dungeon Boss merge both.]
"Oh..."
Reiji finally understood.
No wonder the system never mentioned it before. Most of the creatures he killed earlier probably never even had cores to begin with.
Then Reiji suddenly froze.
A strange sensation suddenly spread through his mind. It felt as though invisible waves were expanding outward from his body.
Ding!
[Skill: Detect Presence has been automatically activated.]
Reiji’s pupils shrank slightly.
He could sense it.
Small dark presences being devoured by larger, clearer ones. And those presences were far stronger than the Dungeon Boss.
And they were heading this way.
’Awakeners...’
