Chapter 71: Killing the Obsidian Golem

The giant spiky ball hurtled towards Stark, its momentum unstoppable. The classifiers watched in amazement as the boy prepared to face the onslaught.

He had already activated [Double Assault], the crimson aura around his body now so powerful they could even sense it from the other side of the canyon, and the feeling of that aura was clear: "Death."

"Haha~ what a weird guy," Stella smiled.

"Y'all think I can beat him in a wrestling match?" Thorn was curious, he didn't want to lose his 'strongest muscles' title to some newbie after all.

"Heh~ I think you beat him, after all there is no way he stops that, he must have some other plan," Max, the assassin of the group, spun his blades while pointing at Stark, "It would be suicide to try and fight it head on like that."

"What's his plan anyway," Jack laughed, "Fucking catch it in this momentum, even I can't see the spikes because of how fast they go!"

And while all of them were indeed saying the truth about the fact anybody else would just try to avoid or deflect the attack...

Stark was crazy enough to actually risk it.

~FWIIIISHHH~

The 20 meters tall ball was now centimeters in front of Stark.

"Focus..." he breathed in and opened his eyes as wide as he could, sensing the movement of the spiky object ahead.

And then...

~CRASH~

Using the momentum and perfect timing... he managed to hold onto one of the spikes while it was spinning.

"-2182!" this allowed the damage to be reduced as much as possible, but there was still the impact.

The ball was still rolling as Stark's sheer strength allowed him to grab onto it.

~SCREECH~

He was being pushed because of the speed, his feet sliding on the rock surface, but he didn't let go.

His feet were being set on fire, and blood was pouring out from his forehead, but Stark didn't stop.

"-3612!" he placed his 'aura barrier' from the level 10 domination skill, which allowed him to endure the damage.

And so after a few seconds of just sliding away...

The golem stopped.

"..." he hadn't let it show, but he was extremely exhausted after such a battle.

Of course, there was the possibility of using the [Max Health Potion] he had been given, but no... he didn't want to, not now.

[HP: 3726/8900]

His HP weren't that low thanks to the necklace, which allowed him to recover a small portion of his health every time he dealt good damage to an enemy, and even more when he killed them.

But Stark knew he couldn't let his guard down just yet.

The battle with the Obsidian Golem and its minions had taken a lot out of him, and he couldn't afford to be vulnerable now.

'If only there was a bonfire... somehow I really miss those...' he sighed.

The harder a rift is, the less bonfires there are, and it was safe to assume that there was none in this secret rift, at least not until at least the boss.

But instead of a bonfire, he found something else, a giant rock in the distance.

'That could do...'

Stark approached it, his movements were slow, and his eyes tired.

And after a few minutes, he arrived, then rested against the rock, his eyes dizzy.

Of course, sleeping in a rift was the worst possible idea anybody could have.

Only a madman would have the guts to do that.

And yet...

"Clone Frenzy!" he summoned one of his clones and gave it two simple instructions:

"Wake me up in exactly five hours, and if anybody else approaches, wake me up," the rest was up to the clone as it understood it would need to defend its original body.

Stark wasn't the type to be tired easily, but using so many skills, and enduring all these attacks while trying to control a power he wasn't used to was very hard.

It was already a miracle he was still standing long enough to reach that rock as his stamina was already depleted.

"..." the clone nodded and positioned itself, it was allowed to use every skill and do anything to protect Stark, so it was ready to battle all night as it was like a bodyguard that could never get tired.

And somehow... Stark put his total trust in it (maybe because it was basically just another him?).

And so, Stark closed his eyes and fell asleep.

That night, Stark had no dreams.