"Grraaaggghhh!!!"
Incensed that the one that had beaten it into submission had returned to appear in front of it once more, the quadrant leader let out a loud and rage-filled roar as it went all out.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With its aura continuing to billow, the quadrant leader conjured a great number of mana bolts behind it.
Then, without delay, it sent all of the crimson bolts towards Valyr whilst it charged forward as well.
Swoosh!
Though he was slightly surprised at the speed of the mana bolts and the quadrant leader arriving before him, the young man looked at the sight before him with great calm as his body gradually turned into motes of Shadow Energy.
"[Shadow Warp]."
Watching all of the mana bolts it conjured pass through the black cloud that suddenly before it as if it were nothing, the quadrant leader stopped in its tracks as a slight frown appeared on its face.
Then, feeling a looming threat creep up from behind, the quadrant leader hastily turned around and swung its fists...
Only to receive a bolt of Shadow Energy directly to the face.
"[Shadow Serpent Magic Style]..."
"[Shadow Bolt]!"
Bang!
'-1!!'
"Graaaggghhh!!!"
Though the attack did not inflict much damage, the quadrant leader still let out a shriek in pain as it temporarily lost its sense of sight.
After that, it hastily manipulated its mana to remove the energy that made contact with its face, being reminded of the few bolts of Shadow Energy that struck its face before.
With those memories beginning to linger in its mind, the quadrant leader became incensed once more, its rage ascending to ever greater heights as it sped up its removal of Shadow Energy.
However, before it could fully dispel all of the Shadow Energy that clung onto its face, a strike filled with great strength appeared from above and made direct contact with its forehead.
"[Arcane Shadow Serpent Combat Style]..."
"[Descent of the Dark Arcane Fang]!"
Bang!
'-26,405!!!'
"Graaagggghhh!!!"
With that, the quadrant leader was sent flying yet again, giving Valyr some time to take a look at what the others were doing.
Just like he had told them earlier, the three were in the midst of replenishing their reserves, resting at a place that was a fair distance away from where the fight was happening.
In fact, Faulus was with them as well, giving the three potions that allowed them to recover their reserves even faster.
"Well, I'm glad Faulus was able to quickly recover," muttered Valyr to himself as he let out a slight chuckle, returning his attention to the quadrant leader that stood up once more.
"[Arcane Shadow Serpent Combat Style]..."
"[Dark Arcane Mirror]!"
Getting the feeling that the quadrant leader would do whatever it took to land a hit on him once more, Valyr decided to take the initiative as he struck the ground with his spear.
Whoosh!
In an instant, a barrier made out of Shadow Energy and mana appeared around the young man, prompting the young man to affix his spear to his back for the meantime.
'Though it wouldn't stay up for long under the quadrant leader's attacks, it's definitely enough for me to replenish my mana and reassess my strategy,' thought Valyr to himself as he looked in the direction the quadrant leader was coming from.
Seeing the quadrant leader madly charge towards him with both of its fists imbued in crimson mana, a slight smirk crept up Valyr's face as he took out a mana potion from spatial bracelet.
'You're going to be in for a rude awakening.'
Bang!
Just as the thought popped up in the young man's mind, the quadrant leader held nothing back in its strike, confident that a single fist would be able to make the barrier around its opponent disappear.
Yet, contrary to expectations, the barrier only shook for a bit as it continued to remain standing, prompting the quadrant leader to wonder whether it had not put enough strength in its attack.
But before it could attempt another attack on the barrier...
Bang!
'-11,129'
"Graaaaagghhhh!!!" Out of nowhere, a bolt made out of Shadow Energy and mana was sent out by the barrier and struck the quadrant leader directly.
Though the force behind it was nowhere near enough to send it flying, it still sent the quadrant leader back a couple meters away, causing it to let out yet another one of its bestial roars.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Changing its goal in its mind to dispel the barrier no matter what, the quadrant leader charged forward once more, sending a flurry of strikes at the barrier without any regard for what had transpired earlier.
However...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
'-11,421'
'-11,703'
'-11,596'
'-11,664'
Just like before, multiple bolts of Shadow Energy and mana struck out at the quadrant leader in return, causing its appearance to turn more haggard with every succeeding bolt.
"I see." On the other hand, after topping up his mana reserves within the shelter of the barrier, Valyr looked at his skill list with an expression of interest.
"So, the phenomenon doesn't only apply to equipment skills, huh."
Staring at the list of techniques he could access from [Arcane Shadow Serpent Combat Style] and [Shadow Serpent Magic Style], Valyr noticed that the two ultimate skills he had used at the beginning of the fight were ready to be used once more.
Wondering as to why that was the case, he was swiftly reminded of the time he had used [Breath of Beginnings] on his magic scepter, realizing that its cooldown reduced accordingly due to the time dilation.
Aside from that, he also recalled the [Enlightenment] skill his necklace had, causing a bitter smile to creep up onto his face as he thought back to the ideas he had at the time. 'I should really find the time to do my original plans after this.'
'In any case, this changes everything.' Watching the quadrant leader continue to strike the barrier from the outside, Valyr went ahead and used [Superior Analysis] to see how far they were from beating it.
Ding!
————
[Primitive Humanoid Quadrant Leader (Divine Elite)] (Level 100 | Boss)
Class: Elite Primitive Humanoid (Rare)
HP: 107,294/343,680
MP: 314,152/454,320
Attack: 7,756 - 7,756
Defense: 4,940 - 4,940
Stats: 1235 VIT, 1939 STR, 1884 AGI, 1235 DEX, 2177 INT, 1884 WIS, 990 PER, 357 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 Greater Balance]
Remarks: Though the end may be near, always remember to fear the unknown.
————
'Already below 50% HP.' Looking at how much health he still had to go through to end the quadrant leader's life, Valyr nodded in satisfaction.
'The three definitely removed a big chunk of the quadrant leader's health while I was gone,' thought the young man as he briefly glanced at the other four.
Bang!
'-11,442'
"Alright. Time to hopefully end this." With the quadrant leader being sent back by its own attack yet again, Valyr decided that now was the time to make a move, dispelling the barrier without hesitation.
Whoosh!
"Grraaggghh!!!!" Seeing the barrier around its opponent finally disappear, the quadrant leader became jubilant as it could now attempt to attack Valyr directly once again.
Imbuing its fists with crimson mana once more, it charged towards the young man, certain that its attack would finally land true once more.
However...
Swoosh!
Just as the quadrant leader stood 50 meters away from the young man, a field of darkness swiftly spread out from under Valyr's feet, prompting the quadrant leader to double down on its attack as the field reminded it of a certain energy.
Shadow Energy.
"Graaaggghhh!!!" Pushing its agility to the limit, the quadrant leader swiftly appeared in front of Valyr's field of vision once more, aiming to strike the latter at the upper torso once again.
"[Shadow Warp]."
Fwoosh!
Sadly, before it could do so, the young man transformed into a cloud of Shadow Energy like before and disappeared from its line of sight, causing the quadrant leader to become annoyed.
Then again, as it had already gone through this scenario not that long ago, the quadrant leader swiftly turned around, putting more strength into its fists at the sight of the young man.
"I knew you'd turn around."
At those words, the quadrant leader became slightly hesitant, feeling as if the young man was leading it towards something.
Though, after briefly looking at its surroundings, the quadrant leader saw nothing of the sort.
'Did it say that just to deceive me?'
At that point, similar thoughts began to run through the quadrant leader's mind.
In the end, it decided to trust in its gut and continue its attack once more.
"Hehe." At the sight of the quadrant leader, Valyr flashed a slight grin.
Then, out of nowhere, a large fang pierced through the quadrant leader's throat.
"[Shadow Serpent Magic Style]..."
"[Grand Serpentine Fang]!"
Bang!
'-18,120!!!'
"Grhhrrkk...!" Widening its eyes in disbelief, the quadrant leader stared at the fang that pierced its throat as it began to stumble backwards.
Removing the fang on its throat by manipulating its mana, the quadrant leader rolled on the ground for a bit, eventually regaining its footing once more.
"..." Standing up once more, it looked at Valyr with rage-filled eyes as the urge to ruthlessly murder the man before it rose to a far higher zenith.
But, before it could even do so...
A barrage of attacks appeared before its very eyes.
"[Shadow Serpent Magic Style]..."
"[Memento Mori]."
Bang!
'-21,886!'
"[Arcane Shadow Serpent Combat Style]..."
"[Cataclysm of the Dark Arcanum]."
Bang!
'-52,638!'n.-OvELB1n
"And to top it all off..."
"[Strike of the Lightless Arcane]."
Bang!
'-36,625!!!'
