Keeeeeek!
Zeke gripped his sword and drew upon the energy of the full power technique.
He summoned the will of defense and manifested it in the form of a massive shield.
The amorphous clone bodies that charged toward Zeke were blocked by the shield he had created.
Kwaduduk!
Zeke then invoked the will of slashing toward the clones halted by his shield.
Kugugugu—
A gigantic greatsword took shape above his blade.
Without hesitation, Zeke swung the manifested greatsword while channeling the will of slashing.
Kwakwakwakwa—
The greatsword form unleashed by Bahamut's sword cleaved through the amorphous clone bodies.
Sruruk—
The full power technique, infused with the power of will, could even slice through formless magical beasts.
The clone bodies let out gurgling cries before they melted into a jelly-like state.
Chiiiiiik!
The clones, now turned into acidic liquid, evaporated with a foul stench.
Zeke realized he could now use the full power technique far more effortlessly than when he had previously drawn upon spiritual power through word magic.
'Spiritual power consumption was too high to use it aggressively in battle... but now the efficiency is much improved.'
Before he met Nigel, Zeke had relied on word magic to activate the full power technique, which had only increased the drain on his spiritual power.
Zeke steadied his grip on his sword and targeted the main body rather than the clones.
When the main magical beast body saw its created clones vanish so easily under Zeke's attacks, it writhed once more.
Kururururu—
New types of legs began to sprout from its form, and soon it crawled across the ground on hundreds of grotesque limbs.
Then its flesh split open to reveal a mouth lined with sharp teeth.
The magical beast charged straight at Zeke.
Keeeeeek—
Its tongue shot out from its maw in an attempt to ensnare him.
Kwachung!
Zeke swung his sword to bat away the tongue, but to his surprise, it clanged like metal.
'What is its body made of?'
It moved with the flexibility of living flesh, yet its hardness surpassed steel.
At that moment, more mouths yawned open across the beast's body, unleashing additional tongues.
Whiiiik!
Dozens of steel-hard tongues whipped toward Zeke like lashes.
When Zeke saw this, he immediately took to the air with dragonʼs wings.
From above, he targeted the tongues with the authority of freezing.
Jjeojeojeok—
The frozen tongues stiffened in place.
Zeke pulled a hammer from his inventory, invoked the will of strength, and swung it at the iced tongues.
Huuuung!
The manifested image of a powerful shattering technique struck true.
Kwadududuk—
The frozen tongues shattered into pieces under the hammer empowered by the will of strength.
Frustrated that its attacks kept failing against Zeke, the beast recoiled in apparent panic. Kkurururuk—
Its flesh twitched erratically, and its eyes blinked.
As Zeke watched the beast, he attached a chain to his hammer and began to whirl it around.
"Now it's my turn."
He infused the chained hammer with the chamber of metal power and the will of strength before he hurled it with swift force.
Huuuuwung!
The hammer hurtled toward the beast at terrifying speed.
The beast tried to retreat using its hundreds of legs, but Zeke's thrown hammer was faster.
Kwaduduk!
The hammer smashed into its flesh, and the sound of bones crunching echoed out. Keeeeeek—
The beast screamed and attempted to burrow into the ground.
But Zeke was not about to let it escape.
Chwaruruk—
The chain wrapped around the beast's body, and Zeke deployed the chamber of metal power before he yanked hard.
The beast, which had tried to dive underground, was dragged back to the surface.
Still holding the chain, Zeke unleashed the sacred radiance technique.
Pajijijijik—
Lightning of light surged along the chain and into the beast's body.
Keeeeeek!
As the sacred radiance technique, which burned away demonic energy, pierced its form, the beast writhed in agony.
Zeke, who observed this, drew Roland with his free hand.
Wuuuung!
Donning both Hercion and the mask of Agamemnon, Zeke gripped Roland and invoked the blade of radiant light skill.
When the beast sensed the immense purifying power, it thrashed desperately to break free of the chains.
Zeke felt that this beast possessed strength similar to the nine-headed dragon he had faced before.
'Compared to that time, it's much easier to handle.'
As time had passed, Zeke himself had grown stronger, which allowed him to deal with it far more leisurely now.
But then, an odd reaction stirred within the beast.
Geureureureuk—
The beast's body shuddered violently as holes formed in its flesh.
Black steam began to pour from those openings.
Chiiiiiik—
The black steam from the beast coalesced in the air.
'What is that?'
The steam gathered into a sphere, and a red eye formed at its center.
Once it was complete, the flesh Zeke had restrained collapsed in an instant.
Kwarururuk—
The flesh poured out like melting sludge, spilling forth remnants of countless magical beasts.
'What is this?'
Half-digested magical beasts, body parts, or intact monster corpses—all entangled in viscous fluid—sprawled across the ground.
Chiiiiiik—
The accompanying liquid seeped into every crevice and dissolved the beasts and monsters.
The basin floor soon turned slick with the melted remains.
When Zeke realized the flesh he had been fighting was not the true body, he turned his gaze to the black orb floating in the air, its red eye staring back.
'Is that the real body?' At that moment.
Jiiiiiing—
Light flashed from the beast's red eye, unleashing a barrage of red compressed bolts toward Zeke.
Zeke hurriedly summoned the will of defense to block them.
But astonishingly, the compressed bolts pierced right through the will of defense and hurtled toward him.
Kwakwakwakwa—
Though momentarily startled, Zeke trusted in Hercion and met the compressed bolts head-on.
Kwang!
A powerful explosion erupted and sent Zeke reeling backward.
Chiiiiiik—
The section of his armor that took the hit glowed red-hot, but fortunately, there were no other issues.
Still, Zeke found himself puzzled by the nature of the compressed bolts the beast had fired.
'It doesn't seem like a mana cannon... what is it, then?'
Since they had penetrated the full power technique, they were not ordinary attacks.
Then the black sphere rippled.
Kkurururuk—
Black tentacles extended from the sphere in all directions and lashed toward Zeke.
Whiiiik!
Zeke soared into the air using the dragonʼs wings skill.
The black tentacles from the beast pursued him.
He slashed at them fiercely with the blade of radiant light.
Tststst—
But like mist, only parts of the severed tentacles vanished, only for steam to rise and reform the missing sections.
'No matter how much I cut, it's useless.'
The beast was grotesque—it lacked a solid form yet exerted physical force in its attacks.
Deciding not to waste time on the tentacles, Zeke aimed straight for the main body.
He wheeled around in midair and pointed the blade of radiant light at the beast.
Wuuuung!
His sword vibrated as he prepared to cleave the beast in one stroke.
But in that instant, the beast's body dispersed like mist.
Chwaaaak—
Though Zeke unleashed the blade of radiant light, he could not slice through the entirety of the spreading fog.
Tststst—
Immediately after, the steam regrouped behind Zeke and reformed into the beast's original shape.
'Damn...'
The beast's mist-dispersal ability had neutralized the blade of radiant light.
'I need to purify it in one go, or it'll keep regenerating.'
At that moment, more haze rose from the beast's body.
The haze coalesced and formed clone bodies identical to the beast.
In an instant, the beast produced multiple smaller clones, each with the same red eye.
The clones slowly maneuvered and encircled Zeke.
As Zeke assessed them, the clones' eyes flashed and fired compressed bolts at him.
Kwakwakwakwa!
Compressed bolts rained from all sides, but Zeke calmly swung his sword to deflect them.
Kwaching!
While he fended off the relentless barrage, Zeke pondered how to counter the beast.
Dealing with a formless foe proved quite tricky.
Then, something clicked in Zeke's mind.
'This might work to pin it down.'
Zeke raised his sword and invoked the chamber of wind power.
Huuuung!
A fierce wind whipped up, swept the ground, and kicked up clouds of dust.
Kugugugugu!
Zeke concealed himself within the dust storm.
The beast responded by creating even more clones to press the attack.
But then, the beast's clones hidden in the dust began to vanish one by one.
When the beast noticed this, it let out a roar.
Goooooo!
As if it were a command, the clones tried to escape the dust and return to the main body.
Yet at some point, the moving clones froze completely.
No matter how the main body commanded, the clones refused to budge.
Soon, a massive shadow rippled across the ground and rose to engulf the clones.
Zeke had devoured them using the absorption skill.
Tstststst—
Bewildered as its clones were consumed by the shadow, the beast blinked its red eye in confusion.
As the dust cleared, Zeke emerged from the shadows with his sword aimed at the beast.
When the beast spotted Zeke, it extended its tentacles for another assault.
Just as the tentacles hurtled toward him to ensnare his body—
Kugugugu—
They halted midair, unable to advance.
Panicking as not only its tentacles but its entire body refused to move, the beast struggled.
Zeke extended his hand toward it.
"Authority: shadow domination."
Tststst—
The beast, composed of black haze, could not escape Zeke's shadow domination authority.
Just as restrained entities could not move within shadows, the beast—made of dark essence—was fully bound.
Zeke's shadow domination, enhanced by the title ruler of sunset, now held even greater binding power.
With the beast immobilized by shadow domination, Zeke slowly approached with Roland gripped and infused with the blade of radiant light.
Kiiiiiii!
An eerie wail emanated from the beast.
Zeke, holding the blade of radiant light, addressed it.
"You put up a good fight, but this ends now."
Without hesitation, he plunged the blade into the beast's eye.
Kiaaaaaa!
Bound by shadow and unable to disperse into mist, the beast writhed in torment as the blade of radiant light struck.
Tststst—
Under the purifying power, the beast spewed black smoke and gradually dissolved.
Zeke withdrew Roland at a certain point and stepped back, activating absorption on the suffering beast.
Tstststst—
The shadow surged forth and enveloped it.
Keeeeeek!
The beast wailed as it was slowly drawn into the shadow.
It sank completely into the endless black swamp created by Zeke's shadow.
At the same moment, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[You have devoured a completely corrupted outsider species eroded by demonic energy.]
[Your depleted stamina, mental strength, and mana are replenished.]
[Absorbing the outsider species' abilities evolves the skill clone (Grade A) into shadow clone (Grade A+).]
[Absorbing the outsider species' abilities increases stealth skill proficiency.]
[Absorbing the outsider species' abilities increases curse-lifting treatment skill proficiency.]
[As a reward, 2,000 karma points are granted.]
[As a reward, one special random box is granted.]
'Outsider species?'
He had heard of ancient variants and aberrations, but this was his first encounter with an outsider species magical beast.
It felt different from typical beasts, but he had not anticipated it being an entirely separate category.
'I'll ask Master about it.'
Deciding to inquire upon returning to the forest house, Zeke approached the withered, dried-up tree that stood alone in the basin's center.
'It's enormous.'
Had it not withered, it might have grown as massive as the tree in the naga city.
Zeke placed his hand on the rough surface of the dried trunk.
'System, search for any secure zones containing a sealed body.'
[Searching for secure zones per administrator command.]
[No designated secure zones exist in this area.]
'What?'
He had assumed the earth god was sealed here, but the absence of a secure zone left Zeke stunned.
'Is it not here, but somewhere else?'
Pondering this, Zeke decided to search the surroundings more thoroughly.
He scanned around the withered tree, looking for any entrance he could access.
'There must be something.'
As he tapped the tree's surface, his senses caught something.
'There's an empty space here.'
When Zeke knocked harder, cracks formed in the bark, and flakes of dried wood crumbled away.
"This is...?"
Surprisingly, within the hole left by the fallen bark was a staircase descending downward.