After being informed prior to entering the dungeon about the Elk's Unbroken Pride trait, Cohen had immediately gotten the idea to leverage it.
The moment he realized Bobby was proceeding with the backup, he waited for Nox to appear before pulling out his last mana recovery potion from his storage.
This brought his mana to one-eighth of its capacity.
The Greymantle Elk, anchored by its unwavering pride and slowly being sapped by Nox's distant Null Shadow, continued its relentless assault.
It used its massive antlers and crushing hooves, but the attacks, while still immensely powerful, were becoming less precise, its movements betraying a growing, subtle sluggishness.
Cohen, now fully refreshed and sharp with his boosted mana, maintained his tight, suffocating defense.
He moved like a shadow, weaving inside the Elk's guard, his remaining dagger slashing shallow, irritating cuts into the same wounds he had inflicted earlier.
He was the gnat to the Elk's bull, relying purely on his Agility and the enhanced defense of his Null Aura.
It was a slow, painful dance of attrition, and for a moment, the battle reached a fragile stalemate.
The Elk was too slow to land a fatal blow, and Cohen was too weak to inflict a crippling one.
As he dodged a heavy, arcing sweep of the antlers, Cohen's mind flickered back to the Ashbound Hounds fight in the first dungeon.
He remembered the brief, exhilarating moments where his daggers had felt unnaturally sharp, easily cleaving through the Hounds' flesh.
It hadn't been his Strength then; it had been the Null Aura funneled through the blade, creating a transient, overwhelming density that made steel cut like a void.
That sharpness was exactly what he was missing now against the Elk's Uncommon hide.
'Although forsaking defence for offence might be dangerous against this Elk, it'll still be a boon.'
While he tried to will his Null Aura to stop enveloping his body and gather around his dagger, his instincts were still afraid to let go of that defense.
Cohen took a short, sharp breath, the air burning slightly in his lungs.
He tried overriding his survival instinct with sheer, aggressive will. His defense was a psychological barrier he needed to smash through.
The Greymantle Elk, sensing the sudden, aggressive change in his aura, charged, its massive antlers lowering for a full-force thrust.
'A gap!'
Cohen didn't dodge.
He sidestepped the bulk of the attack, moving into the deadly tight space between the antlers, and drove the dagger forward.
This was one of the biggest opportunities he had gotten, and his intent at that moment instructed the Null Aura.
The heavy, silvery-gray light enveloping his body instantly thinned and vanished, pooling instead into the blade of his remaining dagger.
The blade, no longer just enhanced, found its mark, not just cutting but piercing through the resistance of the Elk's thick hide.
It sank deep into the beast's neck, just below the jawline, creating a dark, widening wound that bled instantly.
He felt the raw payoff of pure offense—followed instantly by total vulnerability.
He was completely exposed.
He yanked the dagger back, attempting to follow through, but the Elk's immense neck muscles seized up.
Before Cohen could free the blade, the beast convulsed, letting out a frustrated, thundering bellow.
The movement was a blur of primal force; Cohen felt the dagger handle rip from his grip.
The blade remained buried in the Elk's neck, useless.
Now weaponless, Cohen used the very momentum of his failed attack to spin away, landing with his left shoulder against the Elk's shoulder.
He immediately slammed a fist—now coated in the entirety of his Null Aura—into the beast's ribcage.
The blow felt like slamming into solid rock, but the raw Null energy focused on his hand managed to rattle the bone, buying him a precious second.
His Null Aura expanded once more in that split second, covering his body.
As he sprang clear, his Perception of Grays, suddenly unclouded by defensive panic, hit him with a wave of alarming information.
Below the hill, where Nox and Nyx were fighting, a change was occurring.
The Level 23 Elk, despite the deep neck wound, wasn't slowing; it was strengthening.
Its movements, which had been slowing due to Nox's Null Mark and Bobby's stone attacks, were now regaining their power.
The beast was drinking in the sheer, palpable pride of its prolonged defiance, and the Unbroken Pride trait was overriding the fatigue.
'What in the…'
They coursed through the air toward the outer perimeter and killed several deer. An explosion, with the power of the javelin clash, was released.
The tension in the Obsidian Lynxes line, barely holding back the twenty Hollow Deer, broke.
The Lynxes, having gone longer than expected, were having a harder time now.
Cohen sensed the line splinter, and four Level 12 Hollow Deer burst through the gap, making a beeline for the exhausted, injured Rams and Bobby.
The subtle gamble had become an outright, catastrophic collapse.
Everything was unraveling at once.
The enemy was regaining its strength, his core support was under attack, and he was standing unarmed before a Level 25 Uncommon monster.
"Alright…" Cohen gasped, wiping blood from his lip. His voice was cold, laced with dangerous exhilaration. "No more games. We end this now."
To the Lynxes at the outer perimeters, "No playing it safe anymore. I want a full on attack now, just don't die!"
He called out to the Brother rams who were slowly taking down the Bear. "Follow my instructions and support the rare. This is my will!"
The vibe changed. All consideration of having an army of active beasts afterwards was gone.
They all fought without restraint now, exchanging offense for defense.
[You have obtained skill "Stellar Javelin"]
Two thin spears of burning sunlight formed in his hands. With no hesitation, he tossed it at the Elk.
The blazing aura of cosmic heat caused the Prideful Beast to retreat slightly.
That moment of gap, Cohen formed four more Javelins in quick successions, burning through his mana.
They coursed through the air, towards the outer perimeter and killed some deers.
Feeling his burning intent, the Null Aura on his body finally switched to a state where offence was enhanced more than defence.
He felt his attack power increase, preparing a full-force, suicidal charge. He was going to use raw, boosted stats to fight like the brute he secretly was.
"You think I'd lose a fight I chose?"
Fueled by his new, aggressive stance and the raw energy of the Null Aura, Cohen met the Elk's subsequent attacks with a suicidal abandon.
He didn't dodge the massive antlers but shifted his body just enough for the glancing blow to hit his battered defence.
There was a dull thud accompanied by the crunch of stressed armor and the flash of pain.
He wove Stellar Javelins into his assault, hurling two more at the Elk's legs before moving in to strike with a Null-boosted punch.
Each retaliatory strike–a punch to the jaw, a kick to the knee–created a raw, internal shockwave in the monster.
The Elk, already drained by the Null Shadow and riddled with small, eroding wounds, was finally breaking.
Simultaneously, the wider battlefield shifted.
The ferocity of the newly operational Rams and Lynxes began systematically dismantling their opponents.
Cohen felt a surge of energy as the notifications chimed, confirming the rapid wave of kills and his own leveling.
[You have reached Level 12!]
[You have obtained 8 stat points!]
Without breaking eye contact with the staggering Elk, he allocated all 8 points to Intelligence, feeling his depleted Mana reserves rise to the quantity of the increased stats.
Feeling the pain coursing through his body and expecting Bobby and Nox arrival, he smirked.
He then planted his feet, projecting the entirety of his overwhelming pressure—the crushing, absolute authority of "I Am Null"—knowing his allies would arrive any second.
The Greymantle Elk, however, refused to be cowed.
It met the oppressive wave of Null energy with a frustrated, desperate bellow, choosing to challenge Cohen's dominance head-on.
Cohen felt a thrill.
"You are this prideful? Hahahaha! Let's do this! I also believed this was the true purpose of this skill!"
The Elk's head was being forced down, but its gaze showed it did not intend to submit.
"You can't beat me. Even the pride you're so proud of, I have already crushed it. After all, you can't beat a mere human half a level below you."
He extended a hand, the reverie of the moment getting to him.
"Elk, I offer you a higher form, one truly worthy of being prideful in.
"You just have to bow to me and accept your fate!"
At that moment, Cohen began Baptising the beast.
A wave of Null Points flowed into the Elk that still tried to resist.
The Null Points flowed into the Elk like it usually did, but at some point, the link cut off.
[Baptism failed.]
[-350 NP!]
Cohen frowned.
He tried again, but with more bitter will into forcing the conversion.
[Baptism failed.]
[-460 NP]
"You won't go down easily, huh?"
Cohen, for some reason, felt like if this next Baptism failed, he wouldn't be able to convert it.
Stretching his two hands at the monster, the entirety of Cohen's beast felt his raw anger and excitement.
They all momentarily froze above the corpses of their enemies, turning to face the Priest of Primordial.
"Bow to the Primordial. The Gray amongst white and black. The Null of the World."
The Elk's front legs became weak, falling to its knees.
Its crowned horns covered its face as it lowered its head.
As the conversion began, Cohen heard.
"You have proven dominance and you've shown me a past and future that holds a unique path.
"Still, I won't let you convert me easily.
"With your will, bypass my resistance… and make me yours."
[-750 NP]