Chapter 336
After being defeated a few more times, and even managing to land a few regular mana hits on the monster to gauge its strength further at the cost of valuable positioning that resulted in being defeated moments later, I've come to a conclusion.
I stand outside the rift with my hands on my hips in my true form, not bothering to make another body double just yet. I've finished every quest and have all the item dropped stored away in my item storage, and the only thing left to do is clear this rift. I recall the events of my last few battles to Ember, then let out a sigh.
"I won't be able to beat this monster in my doubled form if I want to take it out by sunrise. I'm not fast enough, nor strong enough, and don't have the means to defeat it with this nerfed strength."
My eyes wander down to my dagger stuck in the dungeon floor, and I hear a reply.
"Based on what you've told me so far, it seems like you just need a little boost. Your base form is much stronger and has access to the Red Hydra's buff. It may be a tougher battle, but I see you winning it, no question. I'll even join you inside the rift now that we know exactly what we're working with."
I nod while bending down to grip the black dagger.
"Are you sure the buff won't react in the same way mana crystals did when I absorbed them? This is the only part of all this that I'm hesitant on."
"Soul Energy cannot be destroyed by Demonic Energy. Whatever skills were safe before will be safe while using the buff as well. Plus, like I said, I'll come along and help if you need. We'll call this battle the grand finale of your training session today. I think you're going to be surprised at how far you've come."
I twirl the black dagger through my fingers, then make a body double before walking through the rift.
"I'll need all the help I can get. I want to see what reward I'll receive for winning a final boss match like this."
After this, I'm transported into the Demonic Realm with a body double on my left side and Ember on my right.
We begin venturing through the cave to face the final boss. Maybe ever since this labyrinth run, I've been too dependent on my body double. It is a great tool to use for information gathering and help with some leveling and item farming in the future, but there are some opponents that need my full strength.
I take my walk through the cave and down the mountain a bit slower this time around, and for the first time, properly channel demonic energy into my real body.
The sensation feels exhilarating. Unlike my double, this body allows me to hold over 55 units in my core. I can already feel the difference.
As we get down to the bottom of the mountain, and away from the dense clouds of raw energy, I begin to focus my own into just my left side like in training. With the rest of my body, I activate the full force of my buffs and perception skills as the sound of the Minotaur's roars fills our ears.
Ember flaps his wide black scaled wings, flying in the direction of our enemy, while my double charges forward to be a distraction.
My eyes stay locked on the beast as it comes forward.
Even now, with a small boost in stats, its movements don't look as unbeatable as they once were.
I take a deep breath in and out, then whisper under my breath. 𝚏r𝐞𝗲𝚠eb𝚗o𝐯el.com
"I only have one chance this time, so I have to make every strike count."
As these words leave my lips, a black wave of fire leaves Ember's mouth, and I watch him send a ball of black Demonic Energy from his right front claws.
I grin and activate my Red Hydra's Rage Buff, then run forward at the towering monster that begins throwing an energy attack at my body double.
The glowing purple crescent of charged Demonic Energy cuts through the air, but as the crimson power of my buff envelops my entire body, it seems like everything around me has slowed down almost by three times.
The blade soaring toward my double seems easy to dodge, but my copy releases an immense amount of MP to blast out of the way.
As soon as this happens, the wave of fire from the dragon in the sky rains down on the Minotaur, burning off a layer of its flesh with sparks and the Demonic Energy attacks that follow do a bit of damage too.
Ember's attacks from the sky do a similar amount of damage as my body double's self-destruct move. Strong, but it would still take over a dozen of them consecutively to put this beast in bad condition.
Seeing this, I run forward. The Demonic Minotaur does the same, bursting through a wall of black flames and sparks. It has disregarded the small amount of damage from the flames to focus on the real enemy before it.
Its glowing purple swords are both swung toward me, but it's now even a challenge for me to dodge. I easily change my trajectory with a side step and use a small amount of air magic to twist out of its way.
In doing this, I see the monster's blind spot for a split second and release a wave of mana-imbued fire wrapped in the Red Hydra's Aura straight toward the beast's back.
It slices through the air without a sound and cuts cleanly through the monster's hide without a single spark.
My eyebrows raise in confusion, then the explosion of flesh, flames, and sparks that follow exhilarate me more.
The soul energy covering the blade didn't react with the Demonic Energy one bit, slicing through the monster's flesh without causing a reaction at all, but once inside the energies escaped and an eruption of its full power could not be held within.
Another murderous roar from the beast shakes the very floor we stand on, but my body double has already sent a few more attacks in as a distraction for the monster to easily block with its purple blades.
As the residue clears, the creature turns to me. The look in its eyes tells me it won't underestimate me again. However, the Demonic Energy attempting to heal its wounded back will not be enough to heal it in time like our previous brawls. The attack it just took head-on expelled over 25% of the energy in its body.
If the boss is anything like the previous few, that means 3 more hits like this will end the fight.
I grip my dagger in my left hand and flaming sword in my right and run forward again, releasing a wave of flames straight at it.
Even with my stat buff advantage, at this distance, the monster has more than enough time to dodge and throw a counter, but that's exactly what I'm hoping for.
A blade of its own energy comes my way, but I jump high in the air and move to the right side as I see Ember coming up behind it on my left.
The dragon in the sky releases a wall of flames behind the beast so that when I come in close and dodge its next incoming swings, the creature has nowhere to hide.
I land another perfect slash on its blind spot.
However, this time around it pushes through the pain and throws around a counter with its swords alone at me.
I could burn through MP to air-step away, but I can sense its strength and decide to take it head-on.
Raising my Dagger in the air, I've had it charged to full saturation this entire time ready for a moment like this.
I hold the jet-black blade covered in a veil of red light above my head to block both of the enormous purple swords coming down toward me.
The pulsing light from the key around its neck and its two blades are strong. Musch stronger than my own dagger, but with my vision tinted red by the buff covering my body, I let out a yell of my own to match its roar while pushing through and overpowering its slash. Raw strength, and the positioning of my blade out maneuvers its counter. The beast stumbles backward, and I take this opportunity to release a mana-based attack at its front side.
A black blade of flames covered in an ominous red aura enters its chest and disappears entirely for a fraction of a second.
Next, a golden glow comes from within, lighting up the slash mark like a crack in the earth and the rapid explosion of mana and demonic energy follows outward.
I air-step back while sending out more attacks straight toward the source, adding to the intense flames, sparks, and growing cloud of red aura residue. Despite this barrage, the faint purple glow of its charged blades at the explosion's center still remains.
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