Chapter 39: Despair
In the open hall, lined with sculptures of divine mystical beasts, at the very head was an altar steaming and bubbling fresh with crimson. Massive crystal stalactites hung low from the ceiling, emitting subtle brilliance which lit up the entire place.
No matter how one looked at it, one would come to the conclusion that this place definitely showed signs of human touch... but the master of the hall was anything but.
Demonic ashen scales imprinted with eerie, eye-prickling crimson inscriptions. Its width boasted 4 meters — wide enough to stomach a few adult humans with ease — and its length, Roy didn’t dare guess, as its body remained entwined in what seemed to be an endless coil. And worse was its head... or more correctly, its heads.
Six fiendish abyssal reptilian heads swayed slowly, with six pairs of different-colored slits trained on Roy, watching him with what seemed to be interest.
[Warning: Mutant Boss — Six Path Overlord Encountered!]
Roy’s gaze trembled as he stared from notification to abomination. Even his inspection didn’t pick anything — the only info revealed was that he was before a Level 39 Boss!
Roy craned his head sideways... and indeed his teammates remained still, eyes lusterless, expressions inactive. They were already too deep in the brain-shutting illusion. The only one who showed any sign of resistance was Vera, who was emitting a subtle cadence of pink, her expression subtly twitching. She was resisting, but from the look of things, it would take time for her to break free.
His grip around his gun tightened. His gut told him this time the trusted weapon wouldn’t be saving him — for he was all alone!
One had to understand: the higher the level, the greater the level gap. The gap between a Level 1 and a Level 5 is nothing compared to that of a Level 20 and 25.
But now Roy was merely a Level 25 Lord facing a Boss monster of Level 39 — not an ordinary one at that, a mutant at that! He gulped hard, his brain finding it hard to calculate a path to victory.
The monster, on the other hand, stood silent, almost casual, as it gazed at the only sentient prey with surprised amusement. One of its heads, which carried an aura of dreamy purple, seemed to understand that this insect was immune to its illusionary ability. It wasn’t mad — it was interested. Didn’t that mean such a prey would bring good benefits on consumption?
Suddenly, all twelve slits narrowed as it noticed the prey seemed to bring something in its grasp — a golden ancient horn. Its eyes became entranced... this feeling, why did that object give it such a sense of foreboding?
Hisssssss!
All six of its heads hissed threateningly, its neck slowly unraveling from its coil as the sense of danger grew more stifling the moment the prey took the horn closer to its mouth. Due to the absurd cognition of the monster, what Roy appeared to be doing in a flash motion seemed like a crawl before its eyes.
What was that? Why did it feel so scary? The beast’s almost-intelligent mind wondered. But whatever it was, it couldn’t allow that prey to make use of it. It wouldn’t take chances...
Its second head suddenly fumed with a gritty ashen brown hue — its second path awakened the ability of Blocking!
An ability that could place a restriction or ban on anything or everything. It came with limitations, of course — it could only prohibit one thing. And what did it decide to prohibit?
It had been watching humans in this dungeon long since the early comers arrived. It was among the first beasts of this ether realm, and it knew what humans had as an advantage over monsters. Its Lord Sovereign had bestowed it with wisdom, so it knew humans were nothing without items!
Hummmmmm!
The air seemed to buzz in resonance to the creature, as all six heads seemed to display what looked like an attempt at a smile. Roy had to blink twice to confirm. Holy shit, I’m screwed, aren’t I? The edge of his lips twitched as he hurriedly rushed to put his lips around the horn.
His plan was simple. Since his Ether Unit had surpassed 100, he could use the legendary horn’s mind-destabilizing effect to stun the monster, which would deactivate its illusion ability for a bit — releasing the others — and then they could all jump the fucker!
This was a pretty solid plan. Only by the time his lips clamped, they bit air... Huh? Suddenly, a breezy chill swept his spine as his entire being became lighter. W-what the hell? he stuttered inwardly in horror at the realization of what had just happened.
All items on him had vanished!
From his tactical vest to his unassuming holster, even his utility belt and Epic weapons — all gone!
Shit! Shit! Shit! His eyes speedily trailed to Vera and the others, and indeed they weren’t exempt either!
How the hell were they supposed to battle now? How was he meant to release them? He was pretty sure his stats didn’t even come close to the beast. If it landed a good blow, chances are it would be a straight flight to the afterlife!
The only things that gave humans edge over monsters were intelligence and items. And here, intelligence the monster had — items it took away! How was this a fair match?
Grrrt!
The ground groaned laboriously as the reptile increasingly unraveled, rising continuously, drowning Roy and the unconscious few in its titanic shadow. All six heads arced at different angles as though surrounding him from all sides.
The monster’s eyes glinted with sinister wisdom as it gloated visibly. Seeing such helplessness in its prey — of a race destined to be ruler of this ether realm — filled it with immense content. Its different-colored slits flickered with amusement as though taunting Roy: What would you do now?
Roy, meanwhile, tried hard to reach for his inventory — but nothing. Even the system seemed unnaturally dull. This... was he really hopeless?
Finally, the monster seemed bored observing a despairing prey. One of its heads, with a fiery red ambient slit, opened its gaping maw. An encroaching red loomed from its depths, and in a blink, an unending torrent of purgatory-like flames was belched out... it had finally decided to end this farce.