Chapter 106 – The Monarch's Tower (４)

The Chimera kept pressing Gijun.

Gijun kept striking back, but the Chimera showed no sign of tiring.

If anything, it was bearing down on him harder with each passing moment.

Kaaah!

The moment it opened its maw and roared, a Magi Breath erupted from its throat.

Gijun dodged it while simultaneously casting and unleashing another volley of Fireballs.

The Fireballs pierced its body without fail, but Gijun knew.

He knew these Fireballs were nearly meaningless now.

‘Pouring water into a bottomless jar.’

The Chimera’s assault pressed on as Gijun clicked his tongue and set his feet moving again.

Crack!

The moment its forelegs slammed down, a wave of Magi surged up from the floor.

Gijun conjured a barrier with Strong Wind, deflecting the Magi’s shockwave.

I have to find it fast.

Even as he moved, his eyes darted frantically across the chamber.

He was searching for the source—the thing that fed the Chimera an endless stream of Magi.

But he saw nothing.

This place was a hollow, utterly empty; a cavern with no features at all.

No ornamentation, no protruding structures, nothing.

Flooding the space with Mana and scouring every inch changed nothing.

There wasn’t a single hidden mechanism in sight.

What the hell is going on?

That last certainty Gijun had clung to—

the conviction that something somewhere was funneling Magi into the beast—was starting to crack.

Which meant the creature truly was immortal.

If it really couldn’t die, how was he supposed to win this fight?

Its body had been torn and severed dozens of times already, yet there it stood, hale and whole.

This wasn’t a problem with Gijun’s offensive power.

Even if his stats were ten times higher, he doubted it would make a difference.

Damn it.

He spat a curse under his breath, then gritted his teeth.

But do you think I’ll just roll over and die?

He’d come this far—how could he possibly back down?

He hadn’t before, and now, even just out of spite, he couldn’t afford to retreat.

Let’s see this through to the end.

Gijun made up his mind.

He’d come this far; he’d see it all the way through.

No way that thing is actually immortal.

There was no way a Quest that absurd could exist.

It’ll die eventually.

That was what he chose to believe.

Even if it wasn’t true, it didn’t matter.

He just needed to believe it.

That the creature had to die, sooner or later.

So—

I’m going again.

Gijun recast Fireball.

He poured it into the Chimera as it charged him.

And he kept pouring, again and again.

Kyaaaaah!

The Chimera lunged at him once more.

A breath weapon erupted from its jaws.

Gijun dodged, and in the same motion, cast Fireball.

Kwah-kwah-kwah-BOOM!

An explosion ripped through the air.

Then another.

Just as the creature lunged to crush him, Gijun cast Strong Wind.

Arms, legs, tail, head—all of it was severed.

He shaped the wind into blades and carved the falling chunks of flesh again.

Then he poured another Strong Wind over the carnage.

Chwa-chwa-chwa-chwa!

The creature’s body was cut and cut and cut again.

That colossal Chimera was shredded into pieces no bigger than a finger, scattering through the air.

And still, it regenerated.

He was sick of it.

Sick enough to go mad—but Gijun gritted his teeth and pressed on.

He cast Strong Wind again.

Again and again….

A rapid series of shush-shush-shush-shush-shush!

Then, at that moment.

‘…!’

Gijun’s eyes flew wide.

‘No way…?’

Instinctively, Gijun sensed something was wrong.

‘It was nothing more than Magi itself.’

That was what he had realized.

The Chimera he had been endlessly attacking—

—this thing was just Magi.

In simpler terms, it had only form, not substance.

Which meant he had been striking at an illusion that didn’t actually exist.

‘So that’s why it never ended.’

He’d been beating on a phantom scarecrow.

‘The real one is somewhere else.’

Which meant the real thing was hiding elsewhere.

Not the fake that kept reviving no matter how many times he hit it,

but the real one.

‘Can’t see the forest for the trees, huh.’

A classic case of being too close to see.

Gijun’s gaze swept the cavern.

He pushed his hyperdeveloped senses to the limit, scanning every corner of the cavern.

At that moment, the corner of his mouth curled up.

‘I see.’

Gijun found another anomaly.

Even though the Chimera’s body was scattering into empty air,

there was still something holding its shape.

‘It was right here.’

Literally.

The source of the creature’s Magi was right under Gijun’s nose.

It was the shadow.

Crack!

Gijun stomped his foot down, slamming it into the ground.

At that moment,

Keeeeeeeek—!

A piercing scream tore through the air, threatening to rupture eardrums.

Gijun narrowed his eyes and looked down at his feet.

‘This shadow was the real one.’

Magi had been streaming from this shadow, continuously regenerating the phantom Chimera.

His guess was right on the mark.

The instant Gijun crushed the shadow, the Chimera stopped regenerating.

‘I can’t believe it hid its true body here.’

He never could have imagined it.

‘It was already so dark I could barely see the shadow.’

It had been completely hidden in the darkness.

So thoroughly concealed that even Gijun only managed to spot it now, with his senses dialed to the absolute max.

‘Seriously…, there’s no end to its dirty tricks.’

Gijun clicked his tongue.

On top of that, the shadow had been plastered to the Chimera the whole time, making it impossible to notice the separate Magi flowing from the other direction.

But that was fine now.

Because he’d found the key.

Kririririk!

The shadow thrashed desperately, trying to escape Gijun.

But he wasn’t about to let it go.

Gijun cast Fireball.

Then he flowed into combination and form-shaping.

A moment later, a sword formed in Gijun’s hand.

A blazing blade radiating intense light.

Whoooosh-Craaack!

Gijun drove it straight down into the ground.

KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAA![!WARNING]

The moment the Fireball-turned-sword pierced the ground, another scream tore through the air.

And with it—

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. CRASH![!WARNING]

Something erupted from beneath the earth.

A shapeless black darkness.

[Lv. 515 Grimtus]

Crawk— Crawk-crawk![!WARNING]

Level 515 Grimtus.

That meant the bastard was the Chimera’s true body.

Right now, with its body impaled, it was howling in agony.

The sword Gijun had driven in hadn’t vanished—it was still burning through the creature’s flesh.

Fwoooosh![!WARNING]

The moment he pulled the sword free, the wound began to heal.

Gijun swung the blade again.

Slish![!WARNING]

The creature’s arm was severed.

The wound regenerated once more.

But Gijun was smiling.

‘It’s shrinking.’

Grimtus.

Because the bastard’s Magi was starting to dwindle.

‘Alright, round two.’

Gijun stretched the corners of his mouth into a long, sharp grin and began casting Fireball again.

Ten blade-shaped Fireballs materialized.

And in the same instant, they rained down on Grimtus with ferocious speed.

K-KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAA—![!WARNING]

The moment the Fireballs pierced through the creature’s body, it let out another terrible shriek.

*

[You have defeated the Gatekeeper of the Tower!]

[Achievement unlocked!]

[You have acquired Grimtus’s Thorn Gauntlet!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

.

.

.

The promised rewards were given.

A massive amount of Experience—and an Item.

[Name: Jun]

[Class: Flame Seeker]

[Title]

-Dragon Slayer

>Grade: Legendary

>Attack +100%

>Magic Attack +100%

>HP Recovery +50%

>MP Recovery +50%

>Max HP +300%

>Max MP +300%

>All Stats +20

[Level: 261]

[Strength: 1+391]

[Agility: 1+391]

[Stamina: 1+401]

[Magic Power: 1029+825]

[Special Stats]

-Fire Affinity: 295

Before he knew it, his Level was 261.

At this rate, he’d definitely push past Level 300 soon.

At Level 300, a player could at least say they’d put some serious time into the game.

And it was a milestone that actually meant something.

‘Didn’t they say you could change classes at 300?’

Put simply, Level 300 was the threshold for the second class advancement.

Which meant the moment he hit that level, his combat power would leap to a whole new dimension.

‘And the item…’

Gijun checked the details of his new equipment.

[Grimtus’s Thorn Gauntlet]

-Equip Requirement: Level 250

-Grade: Legendary

-Defense +300

-Resistance +200

-All Stats +10

-Physical Attack Power +110%

-Magical Attack Power +80%

-Additional Damage +20%

-Reflect Damage +7% (When hit: 15% damage returned)

The reward was, of course, exceptional.

A Legendary-grade gauntlet with a Level 250 requirement.

True to its name as a thorn gauntlet, it massively boosted offensive power.

It even came with Additional Damage.

And on top of that, it had Reflect Damage.

Reflect Damage meant that a portion of an enemy’s attack would be sent right back at them.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen Reflect Damage.’

It was an option Gijun had never held in any of his equipment until now.

A 7% reflect rate was far from negligible.

After all, the stronger the opponent’s attack, the more damage ricocheted right back at them.

On top of that, getting hit triggered a 15% damage return to the enemy.

‘Though it’s not like I’ll be taking hits very often.’

Of course, Gijun rarely allowed himself to be struck by enemy attacks outright.

As a Magician-class, he had little reason to let himself get hit in the first place.

‘Alright.’

Right there on the spot, Gijun equipped the new gauntlet.

In that instant, another message flashed before him.

[Resistance of the Monarch of the Underworld, Liberta, has decreased!]

The final reward from the Achievement.

With the effect reducing the Monarch’s Resistance now applied,

‘Now then.’

Gijun lifted his gaze.

Toward the door leading to the final Monarch’s chamber.

And then.

Thud—thud, thudthudthud!

The door began to shake violently.

Clang! Clang!

The thick iron bars locking the door rattled.

The tremors grew stronger and stronger.

The Magi seeping out from beyond the door was immensely powerful too.

‘Huuu…’

Even Gijun couldn’t help but tense up at this moment.

‘Last time, I couldn’t even dare meet its eyes.’

Before completing the Sain-geom, the Monarch he’d briefly encountered had frozen him solid with just a single glance.

Recalling that memory made his body tremble uncontrollably.

But Gijun steeled his resolve.

‘I’m a lot different from back then.’

Though not much time had passed, hadn’t he become incomparably stronger than he was that day?

‘Nothing to be afraid of.’

If that was the case, he could win.

No matter how formidable the Monarch was, he’d already whittled down its health through two Achievements and reduced its Resistance.

And on top of that, the Monarch had expended its Authority and still couldn’t fully recover its original power.

So Gijun saw no reason he couldn’t defeat the Monarch.

[Now I too shall lend you my strength.]

Libre said.

She would draw upon the power she had hoarded and conserved for so long, she declared.

That was when it happened.

CRASH-BOOM-CRACK!

The thick iron door shuddered, then burst apart.

“…!”

A long corridor was revealed.

A corridor so impossibly long its end was lost to sight.