The Fifth Floor of Nazarick.
Across the vast snowfield, two mighty beings were locked in a breathtaking battle.
Gales howled and snowflakes swirled, shrouding the world in a boundless haze of white.
Their figures crossed again and again within the blizzard, every attack carrying fearsome force.
The massive, light-blue Insectoid stood two and a half meters tall. His movements were lithe and swift as a cheetah's, and each of his four hands wielded a different weapon that gleamed with a chilling light. Every swing sent wind and snow surging around him.
Viscous darkness formed a feathered mantle around the pitch-black Dragon Lord's entire body. He thrashed his enormous draconic form without restraint, displaying his tremendous power.
The clash of blades and claws echoed across the snowfield, scattering snow into the air like exploding fireworks.
"Cough... What's going on?"
"How can he be so much stronger than before?!"
After another violent collision, the two combatants broke apart.
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord swallowed the blood in his mouth and looked down at his massive body. A huge wound had been carved across his abdomen.
No blood flowed from it. The brutal cold had already frozen the blood around the wound into dark-red ice.
As he stared at the familiar opponent in the distance, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord was filled with confusion and fury.
He had been prepared for the possibility that infiltrating the Filth's stronghold would eventually expose him.
But why was he the one being overwhelmed?
He knew this NPC's strength very well. They had fought before, after all.
Even with the advantage of fighting on his own territory, this NPC should not have been his match without the aid of a World-Class Item.
Could it be because of those unusual inscriptions on his weapons?
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord remained vigilant as he gathered the magical power within his body. Behind him, a figure gradually appeared.
It was the Vampiric Dragon Lord, who was still "working hard" to decipher the teleportation array.
He had to buy him more time.
"Die!"
Cocytus exhaled a breath of icy mist and raised all four arms, looking like a war god descending upon the battlefield.
He was now fully armed.
Resplendent golden gauntlets and bracers covered his four arms. A disc-shaped golden necklace hung before his chest, and a pair of silver anklets adorned his legs.
The God Slaying Emperor Blade, the Decapitation Fang, the Spiked Warhammer, and the Silver Lance.
They were four entirely different weapons, yet wielding them together did not look incongruous. Instead, they gave him a uniquely imposing presence.
Much like his class, [Asura], the sight of him inspired fear.
"Perhaps we could talk..."
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord's eyes shifted as he attempted to stall for time.
The situation was extremely unfavorable to him. For some unknown reason, this NPC had become far stronger than during their previous battle.
The bone-piercing cold around him was also seeping into his wounds, inflicting continuous frostbite damage and further slowing his movements.
Worse still, he had no idea when the rest of the Filth would return.
So much time had already passed. The Swordmaster was probably locked in a difficult battle as well, doing everything possible to delay the enemy.
Although he had reached an agreement with the Filth from the Theocracy, who had promised to provide covert assistance, that aid was unlikely to last much longer.
The timing, the terrain, and his available support were all against him.
Even so, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord remained perfectly calm, without the slightest trace of anxiety or unease.
"Hmph... Despicable ambusher. All you need to do now is fight me with everything you have."
The frigid declaration rang out like thunder, carrying overwhelming pressure.
A fierce winter gale was Cocytus's only response.
The colossal Insect King ignored everything around him and charged directly at the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord with unstoppable force.
As he advanced, a domain of frigid air with a radius of one hundred meters rapidly expanded around him, spreading outward like an enormous net of ice.
This was [Frost Aura], the unique skill of the high-tier class [Knight of Niflheim].
Its intensity and range automatically adjusted according to the speed of Cocytus's charge, releasing freezing air and crushing wind pressure in every direction.
[Acalanātha Strike: Fudo Kensaku]
Four weapons tore through the air and descended upon the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord.
This was one of Cocytus's most powerful techniques. It reduced the evasion of targets with negative Karma, with the degree of reduction determined by the target's Karma value.
"So fast!"
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord tried to evade, only to realize that it was already too late.
The four weapon trails formed diagonal slashes aimed from his shoulder toward his lower body. They came at him like four blazing meteors, carrying tremendous force.
Blocking with his Dragon Scales was impossible.
He might be cut in half.
Dodging was equally impossible.
The slowing effect of the environment, combined with the reduction to his evasion caused by his negative Karma, left him without a single safe direction to escape.
The Vampiric Dragon Lord was also directly behind him. He had to make sure the other Dragon Lord was not interrupted.
Was a head-on clash his only choice?
[Wild Magic: Undercurrent Burial]
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord swept his right hand through the air, pulling forth a thin curtain of black light. It flowed like a raging current as it moved to intercept Cocytus's attack.
Whoosh—
"Cough! Damn it!"
The merciless strikes shattered the curtain of light. The Dragon Scales along his arm were torn upward and driven deep into his flesh, the pain like fangs ripping through him.
At the same time, the tremendous impact shattered the bones in his arm.
Suppressing the agony, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord lashed out with his slender tail like a whip, seizing the opportunity to knock Cocytus away.
A tremendous roar shook the battlefield as the ice below shattered completely. Countless corpses were hurled into the air, revealing the dark water beneath.
"Vampiric Dragon Lord, are you finished yet?!"
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord glanced behind him and received an affirmative response.
"It's ready. Let's go!"
Upon seeing the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord's miserable condition, the Vampiric Dragon Lord finally dropped the act and hurriedly called out.
Prey tasted better after exercise.
The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord's current condition undoubtedly met his standards. He was ready to proceed to the next stage.
Waves rippled across the dark surface of the water.
By the time Cocytus emerged, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord had already vanished from the Fifth Floor.
"They escaped?"
Cocytus looked at the destroyed teleportation magic array and shook his head. He had no intention of pursuing them.
He brushed away the snow with one hand, revealing a carapace densely covered in Rune Characters.
"Hmm. My defense has reached the level of a Divine-class Item, and my other attributes have also improved slightly."
Cocytus silently examined the Rune Characters covering his body, studying them with the calm precision of an analyst.
Ever since his previous battle with the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord, he had been searching for a way to defeat him.
It was during that time that an unusual idea came to him.
If Rune Characters could enhance the properties of weapons, could they produce the same effect on physical armor?
Because of his race, Cocytus could not equip armor or similar protective gear.
In exchange, his exoskeleton, the carapace covering his body, served as his own unique defensive equipment. It was a form of physical armor.
Besides possessing an innate high-tier resistance to fire, it could be reinforced by embedding data crystals into it, just like ordinary equipment.
Although its defensive strength normally could not reach the level of a Divine-class Item, it had the advantage of being repairable through healing magic.
Not long ago, Cocytus had followed this line of thought and attempted to treat his own body as a sharpened weapon.
By engraving Rune Characters onto himself, he hoped to increase his strength.
The result was obvious.
He had succeeded.
The Rune Characters raised the limits of his physical armor.
By continuously embedding data crystals, he ultimately raised its defensive strength to a level comparable to a Divine-class Item, successfully compensating for his previous weakness in defense.
With both his weapons and his body reinforced, he had even managed to overpower the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord in close combat.
[Message]
"Naohara-sama, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord has proceeded to the Sixth Floor."
Cocytus activated [Message] and delivered his report.
"Mm, I saw it. You did well, Cocytus. Continue exploring the latent power of the Rune Characters."
"We will need that power in the near future."
"As you command!"