The two continued forward along a path paved with broken stone slabs. Strange marks began to appear on the ruined houses flanking them—deep gouges that looked like scratches from some large creature's claws, standing out starkly in the dim light of their magic crystals.
“Looks like there's a big guy nearby.”
Greg silently raised his guard.
After turning a corner, a relatively wide clearing came into view.
Standing in the center of the clearing was a relatively intact building.
It looked like a small ritual hall. Most of the roof had collapsed, but the walls were still standing strong. A large hourglass design was carved onto the doorframe, with both the top and bottom of the hourglass wrapped in vine-like patterns.
Just as Greg was about to step toward the ritual hall, a slight tremor suddenly vibrated through the ground beneath his feet.
He immediately stopped and raised a hand, signaling Allie to halt.
Their eyes scanned the surrounding shadows.
The tremors grew increasingly distinct.
Then, two dark red lights flared to life within the doorframe of the ritual hall—a pair of eyes.
Soon after, a massive beast slowly emerged from the shadows of the hall.
Standing nearly three meters tall, its body resembled a fusion of a giant pangolin and some sort of crustacean insect. It was covered in a thick shell of dark purple crystals that gleamed with a cold, eerie luster in the dim light, looking incredibly hard.
Its head resembled a crystal-encased skull, with two clumps of dark red fire burning in its eye sockets, staring intently at the two uninvited guests who had trespassed into its territory.
A system notification popped up in Greg's mind:
[Crystal-Spine Beast LV55 Elite]
“As expected of an elite monster.”
Greg had encountered this type of monster before in the surface world. It possessed extremely high physical defense and even had a certain damage-reflection capability.
For Victoria, who possessed the Divine Protection of [Demon-Breaking Sharpness], this monster would be quite easy to deal with. But for someone who relied purely on brute force, the matchup disadvantage made it rather troublesome to deal with.
“Be careful. Ordinary attacks probably won't do much against it!”
Allie refused to believe it. Taking a swift stride forward, she lunged. The longsword in her hand slashed toward the Crystal-Spine Beast's neck with a sharp, whistling wind.
“Clang—!”
The blade struck the dark purple crystal shell, producing a crisp metallic ring. Sparks flew, but only a faint white scratch was left on the crystal. Allie's hand, gripping the hilt, throbbed with pain.
The Crystal-Spine Beast let out a low roar, violently swinging its head, the crystal pillars atop its head slamming down toward Allie like a giant warhammer.
Allie tapped her toes against the ground and leaped backward. The crystal pillars crashed into the spot she had occupied a moment ago, smashing the stone slabs into a crater nearly half a meter wide and sending stone fragments flying in all directions.
“Yeah, it really is tough.”
After landing, Allie shook her aching hand, a hint of seriousness creeping into her tone.
Greg observed the Crystal-Spine Beast's attack patterns, his mind rapidly calculating his options.
Although he could have Allie use her embryonic form of a Domain to forcefully slay this elite monster, they were already in the deep section. If they ventured any further, they would likely encounter the Floor Boss of this layer before long.
There was absolutely no need to waste too much stamina on an elite monster. Besides, Victoria wasn't the only one who countered this beast—it seemed he matched up pretty well against it too.
Greg quickly made his decision. “Allie, cover me! I'll take care of it!”
Allie didn't doubt Greg's proposal for a second. Knowing her young master possessed the strength to back up his words, she immediately shifted her tactics.
She stopped trying to forcefully attack the Crystal-Spine Beast's main body. Instead, she darted around it with nimble footwork, her sword flashing continuously. She feinted toward its eyes one moment and harassed its hind legs the next, successfully drawing all of its attention.
Irritated by her constant harassment, the Crystal-Spine Beast repeatedly turned to pursue her. Yet every time its attacks were about to land, Allie would dodge at an incredibly tricky angle, causing its strikes to hit nothing but air.
This was one of Allie's greatest strengths. Even if she encountered a difficult foe, as long as she wasn't focused on killing them, the enemy would highly likely have no way of touching her.
The moment the Crystal-Spine Beast missed once more and briefly lost its balance, Greg seized the opening.
He raised his right hand, a ball of pitch-black fire condensing in his palm. Aiming at the Crystal-Spine Beast's flank, he violently hurled the World-Devouring Black Flame.
Sensing Greg's sneak attack, the Crystal-Spine Beast immediately condensed a purple, circular scale shield on its flank, intending to block and reflect the incoming strike.
To its utter shock, however, its Violet-Gold Thorn Shield failed to activate—or rather, it couldn't.
The instant the Violet-Gold Thorn Shield touched the black flames, the beast felt its connection to the skill abruptly severed.
In the blink of an eye, the black flames devoured the skill it took so much pride in. The fire immediately spread across its entire body, and the beast could feel its mana draining away at an alarming rate.
[Target afflicted with "Mana Attrition"!]
[Target afflicted with "Mana Drain"!]
[Target afflicted with "Mana Disorder"!]
[Target afflicted with "Mana Depletion"!]
“Roar—!!”
The Crystal-Spine Beast let out a shrill, agonizing shriek, its body convulsing violently. But the black flames showed no mercy.
Soon, the dark purple crystal shell began to rapidly crack and disintegrate, centering on the point of impact. The black fire spread along the fissures, seeping deep into its body.
Right after, a barrage of system notifications flashed in Greg's mind:
[Target afflicted with "Weakness"!]
[Target afflicted with "Blindness"!]
[Target afflicted with "Confusion"!]
[Target afflicted with "Fear"!]
[Target afflicted with "Life Drain"!]
[Target afflicted with "Sensory Deprivation"!]
[Target afflicted with "Limb Paralysis"!]
[Target afflicted with "Mental Breakdown"!]
[Target subjected to "Instant Death Check"!]
Ever since he swallowed the Mother of Fragmentation's severed finger, Greg's dark mana had undoubtedly grown much stronger.
The oppressive aura radiating from the Crystal-Spine Beast weakened rapidly. The dark purple glow on its body dimmed, and the crystal pillars began to lose their luster, turning a fragile, dusty gray.
Finally, the dark red fire in its eye sockets flickered twice before completely dying out.
Its massive frame crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
In Greg's mind, the notifications chimed once more:
[Successfully killed the Crystal-Spine Beast. Level increased to LV43.]
[Obtained Skill Drop: Violet-Gold Thorn Shield LV1]
[Violet-Gold Thorn Shield LV1 Effect: Grants complete immunity to direct damage from a single frontal attack. If activated at the perfect moment, it reflects the damage back to the attacker.]
Rate on N.U.
