The ground shattered as the creature lunged.
This time I met its attack head on.
My chain lashed out wrapping around the dire King's foreleg like a predatory serpent.
"System!" I called.
The familiar translucent screen appeared in front of me.
[Player Alistar! How may I be of assistance.]
"Distribute the remaining stat points to strength and agility, now!"
[Understood]
I yanked the chain.
It didn't budge.
The creature was just too large, but my intent was never to pull it, it was to swing myself at it.
In an instant I closed the distance between us, feeling a slight increase in my strength.
Its jaws widened in a vicious bite but I twisted midair, straining my muscles to the extreme before slamming my fist on its skull.
THWACK!
The impact was jarring.
The maw of the dire king snapped shut with a sickening crack causing it to stagger slightly.
I took the opportunity to sink my dagger into its eyes or rather I tried to.
The damned beast noticed on time so it tilted its head just enough to avoid losing its eyes.
My dagger grazed its tough hide instead leaving a streak of purple, a very tiny amount of void essence which was almost impossible to detect.
I instantly created distance between us again feeling my mana run low.
"Mark"
I began moving again.
"Void constrictor."
Dark purple energy surged along its length spreading from the small cut I left near its eyes, the tendrils erupted outward, wrapping around the beast's limb.
It tried to move but the more it did, the tighter the tendrils became.
And me?
I took advantage of the restriction.
The stat point I had distributed to my agility and strength was visible.
I was noticeably faster than I was earlier and my hits were far more brutal.
I imbued the fanged viper with Void essence then I moved around the beast in a blur, creating cuts wherever my blade met its hide.
Despite the thickness of its skin, the Void was already eating at its flesh corrupting the very essence of its being.
When the dire king finally decided it had enough.
The crimson markings on its skin glowed.
Then…
It roared.
My body froze midair, sending a nauseating feeling of dread throughout my body.
Something probed at my mind, eating away at the deepest layer of my consciousness.
My body shuddered.
Right in front of me, all the things I feared the most were replaying in my mind on repeat like a broken record.
Then I felt it.
An impact.
"Ugh!"
I swung across the ground like a ragdoll discarded by a bratty temperamental owner.
My vision was blurry and the only thing I could see was red.
Still I knew I had just broken a few bones.
I struggled to my feet but the approaching tremors didn't help my case.
The beast was approaching.
Still…
I smiled.
My lips parted slightly.
"Void… severance."
I didn't need my vision to understand what transpired the next moment.
A sickening crunch sounded.
Then another.
And another.
Until it became a chorus of bones cracking and skin being torn apart.
"...Heh."
I chuckled.
"Maybe I underestimated you a little bit."
My voice was hoarse.
My body was even worse, the pain spasms were frequent, making me groan with each movement I made.
I wiped the blood off my eyes.
A few feet away from me, the dire king lay.
Broken and pitiful, yet the defiance in its eyes never wavered.
'Just like a true king.'
I walked toward it—no, I limped.
Either way, I closed the distance
Standing close to it, I could see just how fatal the wounds I had dealt to it were.
"Void sphere."
A dense orb of writhing purple formed above my palm with a belligerent hum, it took shape eventually becoming something close to a black hole.
I shoved it forward.
The moment it touched the dire king, I gave it a command, equipping the divine relic, Ash had given me.
[Gluttonous lantern.]
"Devour."
The void sphere didn't explode.
It consumed the dire king before collapsing onto itself, causing the space around to ripple violently.
[Ding! HP reserves are critical! Advised actions: consume an elixir.]
[Ding! Mana reserves are below 5%]
"I don't have that, you dipshit." I groaned.
[Player Alistar has access to the shop!]
[Please check the notifications often.]
[Ding! Player Alistar has obtained wishing tickets x4]
[Ding! You have obtained a skill: Monarch's Aura.]
My eyes lit up.
"Oh… that's surprising."
I wondered if it was because I devoured the corpse of the dire king or if the system was being generous.
But after recalling what Ash had said back in his sanctuary, I believed the former.
"System! Purchase one deluxe tier elixir and one mana recovery potion."
[Ding! The cost is three wishing tickets, would you like to proceed.]
"Argh! Fuck… yes proceed, gosh my ribs are killing me."
[Ding! Deluxe tier elixir and one mana recovery potion, acquired.]
Without wasting a single second, I ransacked my inventory gulping the two potions with urgency.
The elixir was cool as it went down my throat washing off the exhaustion of the previous battle.
That was until…
CRACK!
"Argh! For the love of the heavens…"
CRACK!
"Eeeekkk!"
The more my ribs repaired themselves the worse the pain became.
Until nothing was left to fix.
"Hah…" I sighed in relief.
[ ♠ Jackal: That fight was sick.]
[Sinclair: Alistar, how do you move like that when you're a mage.]
[Arttheclown: maybe he comes from a family of martial artists? Maybe?]
[Mauve: Not related but I'm never doing PVP with that freak, Alistar is not human.]
'Ehhh I mean… he isn't wrong but… I'm not sure he meant it that way.'
I had forgotten that these guys existed after using the Flow state.
Well they were bound to be distractions so it was fine.
Mist and the remaining top rankers didn't speak but I was sure they were watching.
"Don't blink, thanks for the weapon, I'll use it well."
I looked around at the destruction I had created, feeling satisfied a bit at my progress.
I turned off the channel.
"I guess I'll exit the tower, raiding in this state might exhaust me furth—"
JINGLE!
"Huh?"
'Was I imagining it, I clearly heard the sound of a bell.'
"Strange." I mused.
"What is?" A voice replied.
It was at that moment I knew what it meant to have a panic attack.
The voice wasn't mine.
It belonged to a dangerous presence.
And that dangerous presence was currently behind me.