Blood still dripped slowly from Kael's knives.
The air inside the abyss smelled of iron, dust, and open flesh. Pieces of shattered rock continued falling from above after the brutal clash against the Minotaur King, but Kael barely paid attention to any of it.
Because he was smiling.
A twisted smile.
Dangerous.
Almost sickening.
His dark red eyes shone with savage emotion as he watched the monster's blood sliding along the black blade of one of the knives.
And then…
Slowly, he stuck out his tongue.
Licking the blade.
Tasting the red blood of the Minotaur King.
—Hahahaha… I love this…
His breathing sounded restless.
As if he had just awakened from a dream that had lasted far too long.
—It's time to slice a little more meat.
The Minotaur King watched that for a few seconds.
And then…
It let out a monstrous laugh that made the entire cave tremble.
—HAHAHAHAHA!! YOU'RE A DAMN SICKO, HUMAN!!
The monster began laughing even louder while blood continued pouring from its amputated arm.
—I'M STARTING TO LIKE YOU!!
Kael slowly spun one of his knives between his fingers.
—Everyone says the same thing.
He slowly raised his gaze.
—Though normally they say it before dying.
The Minotaur smiled, showing its enormous fangs.
—THEN LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN REALLY KEEP ENTERTAINING ME.
Kael slightly tilted his head.
—And can you keep up with me, big guy?
Those words made the monster's smile grow even wider.
And then it roared.
A roar so brutal that the entire ground began trembling violently.
BOOOOOM.
The walls of the abyss cracked.
The rocks began to fall.
And in the distance…
Thousands of footsteps began to be heard.
Kael slowly raised his gaze.
The vibration increased every second.
Something was coming.
No.
Many things.
Too many.
The Minotaur King extended its only remaining arm while laughing wildly.
—THEN I'LL NEED HELP!! WUUUAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!
And at that instant—
One of the gigantic rock walls exploded from the outside.
Stone shot in every direction while a cloud of dust covered part of the place.
And from the enormous hole…
The monsters began to enter.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Deformed creatures of different sizes and shapes advanced toward the cavern like a monstrous tide born from darkness itself.
Goblins armed with rusted blades.
Giant orcs carrying enormous logs.
Four-legged beasts covered in scars.
Spiders the size of carriages.
And among all of them…
A massive slime slowly dragged itself toward Kael.
Its gelatinous body left behind a thick greenish slime across the white stone floor. At the center of that transparent mass, a reddish core could be seen pulsating slowly as if it were a heart.
Kael observed the entire scene.
And began to laugh.
Not a normal laugh.
It was a low laugh.
Uncontrolled.
As if all that madness was truly making him happy.
(—You look way too excited, don't you?)
Elyndra's amused voice echoed inside his mind.
Kael smiled while tightly gripping both knives.
(—A little excited?)
His eyes gleamed.
(—No… honestly, I feel like I'm going to explode from happiness.)
His breathing became heavy.
(—It's been a very long time since I felt this much adrenaline.)
The slime roared grotesquely.
And launched a massive amount of acidic slime toward Kael.
But Kael was no longer there.
The monster completely missed.
Because barely four seconds before the attack was launched…
Kael had already leaped upward.
The acid struck the ground, instantly melting part of the rock.
Kael descended from the air directly toward the slime's core with both knives ready to pierce through it.
But then—
A massive log came flying toward him.
An orc.
The monster had thrown its gigantic weapon trying to crush him midair.
Kael smiled.
—Perfect.
He drove both knives into the enormous log while violently spinning through the air. He used the impact to propel himself again, completely changing his trajectory.
And then he descended upon a goblin.
CRACK.
The knives pierced the creature's skull instantly.
The monster's body disintegrated like black sand seconds after dying, leaving behind only a small blue mana stone floating above the ground.
Kael landed crouched.
And slowly raised his gaze.
Now he was surrounded.
Completely surrounded.
The monsters formed a gigantic circle around him while growling and showing their rusted weapons.
And in the distance…
The Minotaur King watched everything while sitting atop a huge shattered rock.
Smiling.
Waiting.
Kael let out a small sigh.
And then slowly opened his arms while holding both knives.
—Come on…
A twisted smile appeared on his face.
—Today I'll play with all of you.
The monsters roared at the same time.
And the wave began.
---
The first creature to approach lost its head before it could even understand what had happened.
Kael appeared in front of it like a black shadow.
The knives sliced cleanly through the monster's neck.
Green blood exploded through the air.
Then he vanished once again.
An orc tried to crush him from above.
Kael spun around himself, cutting through both of its ankles.
CRACK.
The monster fell to its knees roaring in pain.
And a second later Kael completely ripped open its stomach.
Another goblin leaped toward him.
Kael grabbed it by the face.
And drove one of the knives directly into its eye, piercing through its brain.
The battle quickly turned into an absolute slaughter.
Opened throats.
Severed arms.
Legs falling to the ground.
Pierced eyes.
Broken jaws.
Blood began completely covering the place.
Red.
Green.
Black.
The corpses disappeared seconds after dying, leaving behind only mana stones scattered everywhere.
But Kael did not stop.
Every one of his movements was fast.
Precise.
Brutal.
He seemed to dance among the monsters while tearing bodies apart without even looking back.
And the more he killed…
The more he smiled.
The white stone floor had already completely vanished beneath layers of blood and monstrous remains.
Mountains of corpses surrounded Kael.
And even so…
He still remained standing.
Alone.
In the middle of that wave of death.
In the distance, the Minotaur King watched the scene in complete silence.
And slowly began to laugh.
—HAHAHAHA…
The laughter kept growing louder.
—YOU ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
The monster slowly stood up.
Its enormous black eyes shone filled with savage excitement.
—I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY ARE.
It grabbed its gigantic axe once again with its only remaining hand.
—I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU.
A monstrous aura exploded around it.
—BUT THE GAME IS OVER NOW, HUMAN.
BOOOOM.
The Minotaur King disappeared from where it stood.
And appeared in front of Kael in an instant.
Its enormous fist shot toward him like a monstrous projectile capable of destroying mountains.
But Kael…
Did not move.
His eyes remained completely calm.
And just before the impact—
He moved both knives.
SHIIIIING.
A single movement.
Clean.
Perfect.
The Minotaur's entire arm split apart from the closed fist all the way to the elbow.
The flesh completely opened in two.
Blood exploded violently.
And the enormous monster fell to its knees.
Its eyes widened filled with despair.
Confusion.
Fear.
Kael slowly walked toward it.
Without hurry.
While slowly spinning one of his knives between his fingers.
The Minotaur tried to stand up.
But it was already too late.
Kael stopped in front of it.
And smiled.
—I had quite a lot of fun.
The monster slowly raised its gaze.
And for the first time…
It felt terror.
—Thanks for welcoming me so warmly.
Kael raised one of the knives.
—Minotaur King.
And in the next instant—
The monster's head went flying through the air.
The gigantic body remained motionless for a few seconds before slowly beginning to disintegrate like ashes carried away by the wind.
Silence.
Everything fell silent.
The dead monsters disappeared one after another, leaving behind only hundreds of mana stones faintly glowing around the battlefield.
And in the middle of that mountain of blood and corpses…
Kael remained standing.