Chapter 17
"Die, horned fucker!"
Using all of his might, Mike leaped into the air and parried each and every of the boss's blow who grew impatient as it is unable to kill the intruder.
"Roar!"
Using its two fist, the boss smashed the ground into pieces while leaping to the air to punch Mike on the face. The latter failed to do so, leaving a huge bruise on his right cheek.
"Damn you!"
Using his ergokinetic skill, he also smashed the ground and thwarted the debris towards the monster.
*You activated the skill, Marksmanship!*
Combined with his own set of volleys, he showered the battlefield like an artillery barraging the enemy with overwhelming shells. It really looks like there is a war.
The boss is indeed powerful. It possessed an unbelievable amount of magic and physical strength. Mike really thinks that it is the most powerful opponent that he's faced so far.
"Even Tud Bulul, was defeated using my strategy yet none of it seem to have been working against this damned monster!"
Mike remembered the first powerful boss that he's faced in the Black Hex, he is really sure that the Wendigo is much stronger compared to that God.
*You activated the skill, Hurdle!*
Running towards the monster at full speed, he summoned Kalis again. He will try to give the close-fight another chance. After all, the boss have received a ton of damage after failing to evade all the projectiles thrown to him.
The boss, however, did not falter, instead, upon seeing the intruder attack it with an overwhelming speed, it immediately compressed both of its fist and punched it towards Mike who were caught on guard by the sudden counter-attack.
What follows is Mike finding himself stuck on the wall, unable to move because of how powerful the impact and his bones' fractured.
*You have activated the skill, Recuperate!*
In parallel, the injuries did not stopped him as they are immediately healed by his recover skill. When the boss attempted to burrow him deeper into the wall, Mike already dodged it and followed by a powerful kick on the monster's face.
"Despite receiving a huge decrease, I'm still able to thwart my opponents to such a distance, the system is really powerful!"
Following with his attack, the spectre dashed towards the monster and successfully impaling him right on the shoulder.
*You have received a damage!*
It was a bite, a big bite on his left shoulder, which made the Spectre tremble in agony.
"You fucking hoe dare to bite me on my shoulder! YOU FOOL!"
He immediately stabbed the boss on the neck, causing it to cry in pain as Mike decided to go on his counter-attack!
*You have activated the skill, Tyranny!*
*Activation failed!*
Mike trembled at the sight of the monster approaching him again, while he is still stuck lifting all the powerful daggers on his hand using the kinetic skill of his.
"Forget it!"
Wielding just the two of Kalis while implanting the other three on the ground beneath him, Mike braced for the incoming attack, readying himself for a powerful blow.
"You damn monster! Just die!"
*You have activated the skill, Dagger Mastery!*
Mike was formerly trained in the assassin corps of the Philippine Military before awakening as a hunter. With his lean body, he could move with agile and speed, making him one of the best fighters in the division, unfortunately, he did not awakened as an assassin-type hunter, instead he gained the spell soldier class, making him unable to continue his work as a militant.
Now, being the Spectre, Mike opened a new possibility in his life-- That is to be a master of all weaponry. Wielding his daggers made him more powerful than before.
Changing his daggers whenever the boss disarm him, and plucking them from the ground like he is pulling grasses, made him more precise on his attacks and movements.
*You have activated the skill, Marksmanship!*
One of the daggers impaled the boss right on the chest, which made it stopped for a second as Mike turned cautious seeing its strange movements.
The boss then summoned his ghost army again to hide.
"Yo-"
Mike was about to reach him but was stopped immediately by the Ghost army, pinning him to the ground and covering him like a blanket to try to suffocate him.
If he could cast a fireball right now. If he could just... This fight is now over...
"Wait!"
Mike then realized something.
"The system only restricted me on using Moon Magic and Ungodly Incantation but doesn't stated that I couldn't cast a basic spell..."
*You have activated the skill, Sandstorm!*
Using the skill that he got from defeating Sula, Mike leaped to the ground and placed himself on a pile of broken wall parts to make a considerable distance.
'If I'm not wrong, I should be able to use a basic magic spell like this!'
He then found himself surprised at the sight of a small fireball generating from both of his palm.
*You learned the skill, Fireball!*
*Your intelligence stat rose by 1%!*
"Quite disappointing that my skills are reset when I changed my class. This is still good though!"
Raising his hands, he poured a large part of his mana points into the Fireball, turning it bigger and fatal.
"Eat this!"
The boss, caught on guard was hit by a large beam of fire, incinerating a part of its skin while the ghost soldiers attacked Mike again with their swords.
Knowing that this would happen, Mike engaged them in a close-combat, instantly killing them by stabbing and large AOE fireball hit.
"Die!"
He immediately went to kill the boss but was unable to walk as ghost hands came out from the ground, stopping him immediately from his advance.
"Damn i-"
A ghost soldier suddenly stabbed him in the heart, making him cough a considerable amount of blood. The hands also multiplied, pinning his face sadistically on the hard ground, breaking some of his tooth.
At this point, Mike is ready to die again when a system notice appeared on his screen.
*The skill, Tyranny, gained two levels!*
*You may now lift heavier objects!*
Mike then remembered that he was unable to use Tyranny on his Astras before, now that it raised two levels, he is hopeful that this is now possible.
"Please just make this work!"
He then activated the skill on the legendary daggers and closed his eyes as one ghost soldier, holding a berserker axe, is just a meter away from decapitating him. It's a raise for time...
Not wanting to see his demise again, Mike swung his hands aggressively, half-expecting that he had done something big on the daggers.
"Woosh!"
When he opened his eyes, however, he found all of the ghostly creatures nowhere, weakly standing up from the ground as he recovered from the wound.
*You have activated the skill, Recuperate!*
*You recovered!*
Then after that, the five daggers began swirling around him as he approached the monster. Each of the daggers are exuding so much aura due to the effect of Tyranny's energy.
"That actually scared me for a minute..."
Mike's figure began to walked again towards the monster who finally recovered from its injuries and is now walking with a huge smile plastered on its face.
"Quit playing!"
The daggers' tip then pointed towards the boss as they continued to swirl around the Spectre.
Thousands of daggers, nails, and javelins from the Primordial Box then hurled towards the boss as Mike also went for the kill with his magic spell.
*You activated the skill, Fireball!*
It hit the monster who just dodged it as Mike made a series of attacks using the Kalis.
"I'll fucking destroy you, bastard!"
***
"What do you think about forming this new team?"
Ever since the cooperation agreement between the Sarimbal and the Association, many powerful hunters began to replace the former ones as the Guild began taking over the important tasks such as reconnaissance and escapee extermination in the giant Hex in Bulacan.
For Trace, sending only some hunters who are not even B-rank would be haphazard as the monsters from the gate is powerful enough to kill hundreds of low ranking hunters. Therefore, he decided that sending the leaders of the Guild's Pillars would be more viable than wasting precious manpower.
Now these are the names of the special party for reconnaissance and extermination- Lance Adorado of the Red Berserkers, Janus Zarate of Black Shamans, Raymond La'Rotiere from Vermilion Archers, Nash Santos representing Mad Scientists, and Tesa Dela Cruz for White Crusaders, who insisted on leading the team despite being battered for almost a week now due to the battle with the Crimson Sorceress.
They were tasked to form a powerful team of hunters that would reinforce the defenses within the area of extermination in case a sudden breach happened.
This move from the Sarimbal Guild is smart as this would also ensure that no external authority would dare to enter the area without their permission especially that a powerful resource is hiding within the Hex.
"I would love to work with such ingredient..."
Nash, the powerful leader of the Mad Scientists is ecstatic to see in his hand the possible inventions that he could make using that resource. The same thing that Trace presented to the association just days ago.
"I will make Sarimbal the greatest, huhu!"
Everyone looked at him in dismay as they think Nash is becoming too excited for that resource.
"That is if you can kill one of those..."
Janus, a magician from the Black Shamans reminded him of the possible lethality of the escapees. Although they did not witnessed it first-hand, reports from both the association and their guild signify that the monsters are indeed boss-level.
"I feel sorry for this country. Although we ranked 10th in the overall hunter power in Asia, our technology is not yet developed enough. In fact, a small country like Singapore far surpasses our power in terms of speed and efficiency despite having no S-ranker."
The leader of the Mad Scientist reiterated. For him, their country is really lacking on many aspects causing many parts of it to be labeled as inhabitable.
"Be prepared, everyone! The mana locator detected a powerful presence near the gate! We could have a possible escapee surge again!"
The Saintess, serving as the leader of the group, told them with caution and worry. She drew her staff then turned it into the familiar form of sword.
"I missed smelling the blood of those filths!"
Raymond, the Vermilion Archers' leader, materialized a golden bow to his right hand.
"You're right, I'm thirsty for a kill!"
Lance of the Red Berserkers hit the ground using the other end of his Axe, ready to make a rampage.
"You guys are too sadistic!"
Black Shamans' leader Janus, revealed his two crystal orbs, which are brimming with an absurd amount of Mana. Contrary to his demeanor, he is excited to see if those escapees truly lives up on their names.
"Can't wait to get my hands on those materials!"
Nash, serving as the support of the party, casted a medium-sized green magic circle that generates a ton of potions and buffs.
"Let's kill them!"
After the Saintess uttered those words, escapees began to pour out from the gate, ready to kill those who stand on their way.
"Slash!"
But just as one of them were about to attack the party, it was already decapitated. It's lifeless body stumbled on the ground while its thorny, spider-like legs are slashed into two.
"I don't have a good memory against the spiders! I hate you!"
The party is now ready to unloose their immense power. Something that those monsters did not anticipate as evident to their faces.
***
*You activated the skill, Fireball!*
Continuing the battle in full might, Mike immediately sent forth a barrage of flaming energy balls towards the boss which deals a significant amount of damage.
"Just like what I thought, you are not that invincible huh?!"
Using the strategy of using the fireballs as a distraction then using the Kalis to deal a significant amount of damage to the boss' minions, he massacred to give his way. He is really becoming a maniac when in a combat.
*You have activated the skill, Tyranny!*
Swirling the daggers all around him to kill every single beast, he uses the opportunity to finally face the boss and take the kill.
"Let's dance to death!"
The two beings then let the insane amount of mana in their body gushed forth, both are trying to take the dominance of the battlefield.
*You have activated the skill, Dagger Mastery!*
He immediately attacked the boss using dagger. Unfortunately, it now became faster, dodging every single of his attack with frightening precision.
"Grrr!"
It suddenly went to his back to try to impale him from their but this time, Mike is already agile enough to react faster.
*You have activated the skill, Tyranny!*
Using the ergokinetic skill, he forcefully thwarted the monster towards a thick wall, shattering it with full power as soon as the powerful monster hit it.
*You have activated the skill, Hurdle!*
*You have activated the skill, Marksmanship!*
While he is approaching the boss with an insane speed, he is also throwing away hundreds of projectiles into it, fortified with his own fireballs, which he let loose.
*Your mana has decreased!*
*Your mana has decreased!*
*Your mana has dec....
This however, introduced another problem-- Mana decrease.
All magic-type attacks, uses an absurd amount of mana. Thanks to his study of magic spells, Mike have a huge knowledge regarding how to use magic efficiently. Yet, he regretted that he did not invested on his MP.
"I need to make sure that by the time that I leave this Hex, my mana points will increase!"
Mike then summoned the daggers again and abruptly went right infront of the monster, stabbing it immediately right on the eye, causing it to howl in pain.
What the spectre has observed ever since he entered the Hex is that the monsters are much more agile and knows how to knowingly attack.
It seems like they possessed some sort of a frightening intelligence and awareness...
The Wendigo, not wanting to give Mike the advantage, inhaled deeply, gathering a powerful mass of air on his mouth.
"What the hell is he doing?"
It's eyes suddenly turned red while it's mouth became blackened because of the powerful energy that it's accumulating.
*You have activated, Fireball!*
Mike then casted a fireball, aiming to stop what the monster is about to do. This however, was nullified by an unknown force.
"Kriek!"
Two giant ghostly hands then ascended from the ground and held him in place.
"I won't let you strangle me again!"
*You have activated the skill, Tyranny!*
Using his skill, he summoned the daggers again and let them slash across the ghostly hands. When they were about to reach the hands, however, smaller versions suddenly revealed themselves and held the daggers, immediately stopping them from attacking.
"Shit!"
Mike then looked at the monster who suddenly smirked before unleashing a powerful beam of death green energy towards him.
*The boss (Wendigo), have activated the skill, Necroblast!*
The energy immediately pierced a part of his chest, close to the heart. It seems like the monster is preserving him.
*The boss (Wendigo), have activated the skill, Frenzy!*
Its eyes suddenly turned fiery purple while its fist were suddenly enveloped by a black fire. After that, It immediately went to attack him in a faster manner, so swift that Mike couldn't react on time.
"So fa-"
It sends Mike flying on the wall, making him cough blood. This is not the end though. The Wendigo also slashed him across the chest, adding to the already fatal wounds that he received earlier from the blast attack.
The monster then immediately went to finish off Mike, who is bowing his head down due to the impact.
"Kriek!"
It tried to slash him in the head but was stopped when Mike used the five daggers to slashed him across the arm, amputating him again.
"*&##%#^#%##%"
The boss is speaking in an unknown language that even Mike couldn't understand. When he was about to finish it again. He found both of his hands slashed again. He tried to recover it but once again, Recuperate, failed to activate.
*You failed to recover!*
Leaving him with no options he decided to fight the monster using only his legs. Kicking aggressively and deflecting all of the boss's attack using only his legs.
*You learned the skill, Kick!*
*You learned the skill, Resolve!*
Learning some new skills out of desperation, Mike immediately planned all of his attacks. Right at this moment, he remembered the boss named Tud Bulul who almost killed him in the battle.
"You are no match against him!"
Destroying a part of its bodily armor just by kicking, Mike's hopes reach sky-high. In his mind, there is still a chance to win. A chance to kick this boss' ass.
"Overpowering means nothing if I do not have the power in the first place! I just have to be resourceful!"
Then it came the message, which Mike has been waiting for a long time, the message from the system that would help him to win this absurd battle.
*Conceptualization of the target's complete!*
*Processing the information...*
***
"Tsk, leaving all the leaders to deal with the gate while getting us here to serve as a back-up incase they failed? What a shame..."
White wolf has been swearing the whole time that they came on a strategic post alongside the other Templars. They were assigned by Trace to filter out any escapees who managed to slip past the pillars.
Though considered as one of the most skillful members of the Guild, they cannot convince their Guild Master to all them to have fun in the front line. It is too risky, he said.
"At this point, us subordinates, should have been just giving rations to these soldiers... Quite disappointing that we cannot experience the fun..."
Spearhead also agreed with the assassin Templar, who is holding his spear on his right while wiping off the sweat on hid forehead. Just like what the latter thinks, he believed that deploying them outside of the actual combat.
The knights of the White Crusaders are also position in battalion to assist the Templars in the combat. This is the same for the other raiding groups under the Sarimbal who are notified immediately to camp near the Hex.
"I heard the party led by Ria will arrive here later..."
Merlin brought up the news that he overheard from the conversation of the Pillars.
"What's her business here?"
Nephtys asked in a serious manner, hinting her dislike over the fact that another hunter from their rival guild would deploy their men on Sarimbal's turf. What's more, that same hunter who attacked Tesa just days ago.
"I'm pretty sure they wanted to take their own share of credit in case we triumphed!"
Archangel deduced that conclusion. Above others, he is the one who feels the greatest grudge to the Crimson Sorceress who attacked his sister.
'I will not let you to get near my sister!'
While they were talking with another, a soldier informed him that a group of escapees managed to bypass the first line of defense and is headed on their way.
"Thank goodness, I thought we will not have fun..."
Spearhead then thumped his spear on the ground as a wave of energy gushed out to reach the monsters just in time.
"Be prepared!"
***
"Genocide!"
In just a slash of his axe, a large number of escapees have been sliced in half. Janus, the leader of the Red Berserkers, truly lives up on his name.
This is no surprising especially that they were the top-elites of the Sarimbal. To be frank, no one is impressed with what he had just done as everyone is taking their fair share of massacring a large part of the escapees.
"I did not know that they are this many! Are the words of the association, flawed!"
The Saintess, using her floating blades, had bombarded the monsters with an unstoppable momentum while still able to speak with the other Pillars.
"I don't think the association would never go wrong! Pretty sure that this is an abnormality from the Hex!"
Janus of the Black Shamans suddenly rained down black mana arrows from the sky seemingly as if he brought upon a curse to the earth, striking down all the monsters within its area of damage.
"I don't think you're that proficient in wielding those arrows! Haha!"
Raymond of the Vermillion Archers mocked the spell Janus casted, causing the latter to suddenly frowned and felt insulted.
"Show me then!"
He shouted to Raymond, who only smirked and raised his bow, pointing it up to the sky while pulling the string tightly, thereby forming a giant arrow, with a menacing aura.
"Constant Barrage!"
He smiled and freed his pull on the string in style. He brushed his hair upwards, seemingly boasting about his 'pretty face'.
Only when he's done doing his flaunting did the shower of arrows began to rain towards the monsters. They were like comets which are beautiful in the eyes yet deadly when it hit the ground.
"That's how you do it!"
The powerful archer then looked at the Saintess who is busy clearing many escapees from reaching the second line of defense.
"Heavenly Casting, 6th Circle-- Authority!"
"Multiply!"
The halberds impaled the monsters without any flaws in precision. More of them succumbed to the death with the Saintess' free move attacks.
"She is really not that biblical when killing the monsters..."
Janus thought that the brutality shown by Tesa is a bit too much for such a kill before crushing a monster, who is charging towards him, using his earth compression skill.
"There's nothing biblical about these escapees! Haha!"
Lance, swinging his Axe wildly while jumping to the air before landing on the ground with a quake, reasoned out.
"Poor souls..."
Nash, wept away his fake tears before materializing a giant chalice full of lethal poison, pouring out its contents to those escapees who dare to go near him. He feels responsible for eradicating all of them
Despite the surge of escapees, the fending is stable. This is because the team is now composed of Sarimbal Elites. In addition to this, a reinforcement coming from the Minokawa will arrive shortly after as part of the temporary armistice between the major guilds in response to the imminent threat of the giant Hex.
"I will not allow any of you to bypass me!"
Lance suddenly turned his eyes red as he transformed into a powerful mechanized cyborg, holding a much bigger axe on his right arm while a hammer on his left.
"Damn, this is sick!"
Everyone watch in awe to the mechanized form of Lance, who is smirking, confident now on the success of their defense.
"Genocide!"
His powerful skill became even more tremendous with the passive effect, "Walking Fortress", activating as soon as he became mechanized.
Half of the battle ground suddenly became empty before revealing the butchered body of the escapees on it. Most of them spilled a fountain of blood, staining the very land they were standing on.
While the massacre is happening, some lower-ranking hunters started to stand back as they found something menacing coming out of the Hex.
"Thump!"
The ground started shaking violently, producing a powerful magnitude of earthquake that generated cracks on the ground. This is not just all-- The elite hunters, including the Saintess have also detected a strong presence, almost as if there is a group of boss-level monsters coming their way.
"What a strong presence!"
Nash, still producing a lot of potions, said in a panicked tone.
"Eye of Illumination!"
The leader of the Black Shamans casted a light spell that destroys any invisibility in the surroundings. At first, it revealed nothing but when it reached some distance, it showed a towering figure who are masked by his own shadow.
"ᜁᜐᜅ᜔ ᜈᜃᜃᜋᜅ᜔ᜑᜅ᜔ ᜋᜑᜒᜃ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜁᜌᜓᜅ᜔ ᜄᜒᜈᜄᜋᜒᜆ᜔!"
It suddenly spoke in an ancient language while walking towards them. Each time his feet landed on the ground, it turns the soil beneath him withered and desolate, almost as if he is a curse by himself.
"ᜁᜈᜒᜁᜐᜒᜉ᜔ ᜃᜓ ᜃᜓᜅ᜔ ᜀᜈᜓ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜋᜅ᜔ᜌᜌᜍᜒ ᜃᜓᜅ᜔ ᜃᜌᜓ'ᜐ᜔ ᜋᜄᜒᜄᜒᜅ᜔ ᜉᜍ᜔ᜆᜒ ᜅ᜔ ᜀᜃᜒᜅ᜔ ᜃᜆᜏᜈ᜔!"
A pale skin then gradually unravels from the shadows. While five red eyes glowed creepily in the Darkness.
"What kind of monstrosity is that!"
Many low-ranking hunters began to vomit blood as the absurd amount of corrupted mana entered their nose. They are trembling in fear because the boss had showed up too early.
"Damn it! I thought we will only handle the weaker ones!"
Lance began to shrink in worry. The mana of the boss far surpasses his own and any other hunter present in the area.
"Call the Guildmaster..."
The Saintess instructed a group of hunters who immediately left the area to call their Boss.
"You guys should also go! You'll only get in my way!"
She then commanded the other Pillars to leave the place now that the boss has revealed itself.
"Haha! Just because you are an S-rank doesn't mean you can solo all the glory!"
The voice came from Lance, still in his mecha form while putting his giant axe on his giant shoulder.
"He's right, I don't mean to offend you, Tesa, but I don't want to be placed before you! I'm sick of being downgraded..."
Janus then destroyed the smaller monsters in an instant with his black fire.
The same things also goes for Nash and Raymond, who are having fun while massacring the lower monsters with their poison and arrows.
"You guys are really stubborn!"
The Saintess remarked before smirking as she casted a blast spell towards a hurl of spider-like monsters.
"Let's kill it, then!"