Chapter 114

Chapter 114

I look around the boss room until my teammates come into view.

Arie is running circles around the mutant slashing its weak points as the others work in perfect unison to distract the beast.

Abby continues to heal Bruce as he takes hits from the monster’s sword. Most are blocked by his hammer, but the occasional stray hit slips through.

Maria and Nessa look much more comfortable working as a team with a direct goal in mind. They keep its shield busy while Arie gets to work.

I smile and cross my arms watching the tan-skinned dagger wielder zip across the battlefield. Now that I think about it, I should ask him for a few tips later, I’m sure my blade skills would get significantly better if he helped me train.

About six precise dagger slashes later, the final mutant falls to its knees at Arie’s mercy.

It’s over.

The massive King’s corpse begins to dissolve and I hear the faint sound of metal hitting the hard rock floor. I turn to see a massive pink mana crystal beside a golden ring with a dark red jewel embedded in its face. I use appraisal.

[High Ogre King’s Ring] +60% Mental Strength

I pick up both the loot items and spin them around in my right hand as I hold both my daggers in the left.

“All yours, you earned it.”

I look up to see Arie wiping his blades clean on his cloak while the other four team members follow close behind smiling wide.

With a sigh, I take off the first ring I ever got from a boss battle, the mutant werewolf’s ring. It only has a 20% metal strength boost, arguably my worst percent boosting item. All my slots are full for now, so I have to make a switch if I want to try out this new drop. I throw it in my item storage along with the mana crystal and place the new High Ogre King’s ring on my finger, the difference is instantly noticeable.

As I admire my new jewelry, a flash of white light appears between my group and me. Maria was about to call out but was rudely interrupted by a red-suited examiner.

Rodrigo appears and looks me in the eyes with a crooked grin, then his gaze slowly moves to the others.

“Congratulations, it looks like all 6 of you have passed the exam.”

He turns back to me, staring intently with his dull white eyes.

“I’d like to offer you a position at the Hunters Association.”

I gulp.

He turns to the others.

“This goes for all of you, you’ve passed one of the hardest C-Class exams ever given. The Association is looking for hunters with abilities just like yours.”

Rodrigo turns back to me.

“This offer is optional for everyone here, except you.”

I clench my jaw and stare back at him without saying another word.

Arie’s voice rings out from behind the examiner.

“I accept. I’d like to join the Association.”

Rodrigo slowly nods.

“Very well-“

The white light of the dungeon’s transfer magic begins to activate and my vision goes blank. Moments later, we’re all stood close together in a rather narrow tunnel...

It’s very dark. The floor, walls, and ceiling are all made of hard black stone, and about 20m in front of us is another light grey spinning mass of energy. There’s the normal return portal behind, but... there’s two in such close vicinity. I whisper to myself.

“Is... that another portal...?”

Again, I hear Rodrigo’s voice.

“It is. That portal leads to the final labyrinth boss. I’ll get to that in a moment, I’d like to get to the point I was making before being cut off by the transfer magic.”

[100m]

[Lv. 445]

Active Items:

[Greater Demon’s Sword] +70% Strength

[Greater Demon’s Armor] +70% Defense

[Greater Demon’s Core] +50% All Stats

Active Skills:

Dungeon Walker

Telepathy [Legendary Grade]

Buffs:

[Greater Demon’s Curse] Hidden Ability

An impossibly fast blur of dark matter rockets toward me. All I see is a 4m tall demonic entity with white eyes and two curling red horns.

It has a humanoid body, and the skillset seems oddly familiar to another creature I fought before this exam in the High Orc dungeon, but I have no time to make comparisons.

I activate stealth and dart away to my left to make as much distance as possible from this monster hoping to formulate a plan.

I grip my swords and glow bright increasing my buffs to their max potential while letting out a yell of frustration.

Then, a swirling black portal opens no more than 5m in front of me... It used Dungeon Walker...

I gulp as the black palm of the demon stretches outwards followed by the rest of its body. The monster’s white eyes lock on mine. I see the Greater Demon in all its glory.

Rippling muscles head to toe, shining silver armor covering its vitals, long dark tribal-looking tattoos across its chest and arms. Its skin is very dark, but these mysterious tattoo-like lines are darker than any abyss.

It shows me a toothy grin while lunging at me with an outstretched palm.

There’s nothing I can do... It’s too fast, and caught me completely off guard....

I hear a deep voice ring out in my head.

“DEMONS CURSE!”

My eyes open wide as its huge black hand slams into my chest and I feel a horrible dark energy invade my body.

I’m thrown backward over 20m and skid across the ground for 20 more. I cough up blood and hear a ticking sound in my inner ear.

Every time it ticks I’m hit with a surge of inescapable pain, it’s hot and sharp, covering my entire body and soul. It occurs every second on the second.... The breath was knocked out of me on impact. I gasp for air as I open my status. My vision is blurry and all my senses are dulled.

I have too many debuffs to count and every time I hear a tick my HP lowers by 100 points. I cough up more blood while putting away my dagger and scrambling to grab an HP potion. Finally, I find one and chug it down.

The Greater Demon slowly walks toward me as I struggle to keep my balance. My health is back to full, but it’s dropping fast again as the ticks continue...

The monster keeps inching closer as my vision blurs more and more. I grab another HP potion 10 seconds later and regain my health, but it doesn’t help at all.

I’m seeing stars, my vision is practically all black. The creature inches closer and closer, curiously watching me struggle.

My breathing becomes erratic and I manage to chug another HP potion down before falling to my knees. This is a horrible sensation, all the muscles in my body are contracting harder than I can bear. All my systems are shutting down and there’s nothing I can do.

I can barely grasp the 4th HP potion in my hand.

As my vision turns completely black, the potion falls through my fingers down to the floor.

My HP hits 0 with a final tick as it breaks into shards of glass.