Chapter 667 Four Pillars: To the Brink of Death
'-12,653'
'-63,070!'
As two damage values appeared on top of the quadrant leader's head, the colors in the surroundings had become muted for a brief moment thanks to the two attacks Valyr had unleashed.
Though, as if both attacks had achieved their goals, the surroundings swiftly regained its vibrancy, the only remnant of the two attacks having existed appearing on the quadrant leader's body.
Then again, it would be more accurate to say that the quadrant leader's entire body at the moment was the remnant.
From Valyr's standpoint, its skin had taken on an ash gray color due to the infiltration of Shadow Energy into its body.
Not only that, but he had a feeling that its insides had turned a shade of gray as well.
His proof?
The strands of flesh jutting out of the gaping hole where one's heart would usually be located.
Though he did not think too much of it at the time, while examining the other quadrant leaders in preparation for completing the quest, Valyr noticed that all of the quadrant leaders had gaping holes at the exact same spot.
'Is it a metaphor for something?' thought Valyr to himself once again as he stared at the unmoving quadrant leader before him.
Thanks to the debuffs [Cataclysm of the Dark Arcanum] would inflict upon the target, that meant that Valyr was free to attack the quadrant leader as much as he wanted to.
With that, even though he was pondering over whether or not the gaping hole meant something, the young man busied his hands, slashing diagonally at the quadrant leader before quickly swapping to the magic scepter.nove-lb-In
'-4,980'
"[Shadow Serpent Magic Style]..."
"[Grand Serpentine Fang]!"
Whoosh!
'-15,734!'
As if he had rehearsed such movement for a long time, Valyr deftly swung the scepter towards the quadrant leader as he summoned both Shadow Energy and mana towards its tip.
Without much fanfare, a large and dark fang appeared in front of the young man, giving one the feeling of demise when one looked at it from afar.
Swinging the scepter towards the quadrant leader once more, the large fang zoomed through the air before piercing through the quadrant leader's torso.
Puchi!
"..." With the quadrant leader still suffering from the debuffs Valyr's ultimate move had inflicted, it went without saying that it did not make sound, nor did it react to it being pierced by the fang.
Nevertheless, with [Hunter's Tracking Eyes] working on overdrive, Valyr could see that the quadrant leader was close to breaking free from the detrimental effects.
"[Shadow Serpent Magic Style]..."
"[Shadow Bolt]!"
With that, he did not hesitate to attack the quadrant leader one last time, sending a bolt of Shadow Energy towards one of the many weak spots he had noticed through his vision.
Bang!
'-13,866!!'
"Grrrraaaggghhh!!!" As if the bolt of Shadow Energy was the catalyst for the quadrant leader escaping from the debuffs, the quadrant leader let out a guttural roar as the attack sent it flying for a couple of meters.
Then, as if the reactions it was supposed to make in response to Valyr's attacks earlier had arrived all at once, the quadrant leader's body greatly shuddered for a bit, the reason for which were unknown to the others.
'Does the gaping hole mean that it has abandoned its humanity?' Seeing that it would be a while till the quadrant leader regained its bearings, Valyr thought back to the ideas he had earlier.
'Or does it mean that it has no need for humanity in the pursuit of greater power?'
Going through his train of thought, the young man decided to take the time to replenish his mana reserves as he shrugged his shoulders. 'I might be overthinking this...'
'But with how the Triad Gates and the Great Cataclysm might have something to do with this inheritance, everything could be a possible clue.'
...
While Valyr was in a state of deep ponderation as he waited for the quadrant leader to get up, Hal and the others could only stare at the sight with their mouths agape.
After all, even though they witnessed it first-hand, they couldn't believe what was happening.
With how much the five of them had talked about the quadrant leader, almost all of them began to subconsciously think that the fight would take quite some time since they wouldn't be able to deal a lot of damage to a quadrant leader even at their strongest state.
Yet, lo and behold, the leader of their group had broken that notion.
Not only did Valyr deal a lot of damage to the being that all of them felt would be difficult to defeat, he had done so in a way that made it seem like he was the one who wielded the strength of the quadrant leader.
"He's really gone all out," murmured Hal as he let out a sigh of awe.
After that, he set his sights on the quadrant leader still on the ground as he activated his identification skill.
"[Eyes of the Sage]."
Ding!
"Holy shit." At the very moment he cast his eyes upon the quadrant leader's status screen, Hal sucked in a breath of cold air as his entire attention was focused on its HP.
"The quadrant leader hadn't even made its move yet... but he's already brought it down to a quarter of its HP."
————
[Primitive Humanoid Quadrant Leader (Ancient Elite)] (Level 90 | Mini-boss)
Class: Elite Primitive Humanoid (Rare)
HP: 21,697/132,000
MP: 179,160/179,160
Attack: 5,216 - 5,216
Defense: 3,300 - 3,300
Stats: 825 VIT, 1304 STR, 1287 AGI, 825 DEX, 1493 INT, 1287 WIS, 657 PER, 300 LUK
Skills: [Great Primitive Combat Style], [Great Primitive Magic Style], [Advanced Physical Damage Resistance], [Advanced Magical Damage Resistance], [Intermediate Physical Damage Nullification], [Intermediate Magical Damage Nullification], and 13 other skills.
Concepts: [Intent of Balance]
Remarks: Yeouch.
————
"Damn." Hearing the words Hal was muttering to himself, the other three went ahead and took a look at the quadrant leader's status screen, only to react in the same way Hal did.
"He didn't hold back at all," said Faulus as he moved the screen to the side, watching the quadrant leader finally attempts its retaliation towards Valyr.
With immense rage filling the entirety of its body, the quadrant leader let out a furious roar as it swiped down at Valyr in a cross pattern.
However, Valyr easily avoided the attack by taking a few steps back.
Then, taking advantage of how unguarded the quadrant leader was, he sent yet another [Shadow Bolt], now aiming for its head.
Bang!
'-9,243!!'
Watching how Valyr seemed to have total control over the entire fight, Hal and the other three briefly looked at each other as a thought popped up in their minds.
'Perhaps fighting a quadrant leader isn't actually that hard?'
