Chapter 19: Boss monster
Noah's breath was ragged. His vision blurred. Blood trickled down his leg, staining the ground beneath him.
A black wolf—a B-rank beast—stood before him from a distance, its piercing red eyes locked onto his.
A chill ran down his spine.
This is insane.
He shifted his stance, trying to ignore the searing pain in his wounded leg. His body screamed at him to run. But he couldn't.
A D-rank facing a B-rank.
The gap between them was enormous—raw strength, mana purity, existence itself. He shouldn't stand a chance. And after everything he had endured in this dungeon, he was battered, barely holding on.
Yet, he held the wolf's gaze.
The beast didn't attack immediately. It simply stood there, watching. Calculating.
Then—suddenly—
The wolf's ears twitched. Its head snapped toward the distance.
Noah followed its gaze.
The ice barrier.
His stomach dropped.
Ester.
Noah's hands clenched. That's why the bastard isn't attacking me.
It wasn't hesitating. It was assessing.
The dungeon was only meant to accommodate beings up to B-rank—the same rank as the boss monster. Ester was B-rank when she entered, but inside that ice cocoon, she was evolving. Ranking up.
And the boss felt it.
If he lets this continue… he dies.
So the wolf moved.
Noah reacted.
Lightning surged. His body flared with arcs of purple and silver, crackling wildly as he forced himself forward. Pain burned through him, but he pushed.
He vanished. A streak of light.
But—
Not fast enough.
The wolf blurred past him, a black streak of death.
Noah gritted his teeth. No!
The moment the beast lunged for the ice, Noah struck.
A bolt of lightning slammed into the wolf's side.
CRACK!
The monster stiffened. Only for an instant. But it was enough.
Noah closed the distance.
His bloodied hand rose. Frost gathered. With a roar, he slammed a freezing blast into the beast's back.
BAAAM!
The wolf howled.
Furious, it whipped around—jaws snapping.
But Noah was already gone.
Now, he stood between it and the ice.
His body trembled. His wounds screamed. But he didn't move.
The wolf's red eyes burned with rage.
It knew.
Noah was protecting the barrier.
That realization pushed the beast over the edge.
A blur of black fur and fangs shot toward him.
A gust of wind sliced across Noah's face—
Blood splattered.
His eyes widened.
Wind affinity? Seriously? Fucking hell.
Things had just gone from bad to worse.
But he didn't complain much.
He raised his arms. One hand crackled with lightning. The other, shrouded in ice.
His lips curled into a bloodied grin.
"Alright, then… taste this."
He clapped his hands together.
BOOOOOMM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted as unstable energies collided. The shockwave hurled the wolf backward, its body battered with frostbite and electric burns.
Noah staggered. Blood poured from his torn hands.
He couldn't keep this up.
His vision swayed.
Shit… how much longer do I have to stall?
He glanced at the ice barrier. Still intact. Still pulsing.
His chest heaved. His body begged to give out.
But the wolf wasn't finished.
The air shifted. Wind howled again.
A whirlwind formed, spiraling toward him.
Noah threw up an ice barrier.
It shattered instantly.
Razor-sharp wind carved into his flesh. Blood splattered the ground.
His knees buckled. Darkness crept at the edges of his mind.
He was losing too much blood.
His lips curled into a smirk.
"Damn… really planning to kill me, huh?"
He wobbled but forced himself to stand. His silver eyes, tainted with blood, never wavered.
He exhaled.
Then—
He grinned. A mad, reckless grin.
"Fine. Let's die together."
"I have already tasted death once. Twice shouldn't be that different, right ?
His voice was a whisper, but the mana around him screamed.
Lightning roared. Frost howled.
He let go.
He stopped holding back fearing his body might break.
The mana in the air bent to his will with his child of mana bloodline, raw and chaotic. It coiled around him, forming a storm of silver and purple.
His arms trembled.
In his left hand—an ice dagger.
In his right—a lightning dagger.
He exhaled.
Then—
BOOM!
He vanished.
Only deep footprints, coated in ice and crackling with lightning, remained where he once stood.
The wolf barely had time to react before—
SLASH!
Twin daggers carved deep into its side.
A step—
Jagged ice spikes erupted from the ground, impaling the monster's stomach.
It roared in agony.
Noah didn't waste the opening.
His ice dagger plunged into its chest.
STAB!
A monstrous howl ripped through the dungeon.
Its eyes burned red—berserk rage.
A claw slashed—
Noah was already gone. But,
In a blink—
He reappeared again. Inches away from the monster.
The lightning dagger drove into the beast's throat.
STAB!
He kicked off, flipping back just as blood erupted from the wound.
The wolf staggered.
It tried to move—tried to fight—
But it was too late.
The ice dagger buried in its heart had begun to freeze its blood.
Its heartbeat slowed.
Its breathing hitched.
A few seconds later—
The beast collapsed.
Lifeless.
A B-rank boss monster.
Killed by a D-rank.
Noah fell to his knees. His mana finally settled.
His body? Broken.
Blood poured from his ears, his nose, his mouth—even his eyes.
Ah… fuck.
The moment he cursed—
CRACK!
The ice barrier shattered.
A figure stepped forward.
Ester.
Her aura was different. Stronger. Denser. But also…shrouded. It was hard to even see her clearly through it.
Her eyes locked onto him.
And her heart—
BADUM.
Skipped a beat.
Noah chuckled weakly.
Then, finally—
He let himself black out.
But not before one last thought—
"Waking up just after I finished killing the boss? What a fucking cliché."
—End of chapter 19—