Thud.
Witnessing the creature they've been fighting against for minutes on end finally fall to the ground thanks to a few moves, Hal and the others were left at a loss for words as they watched everything unfold with their mouths agape.
On one hand, they were glad that the nightmare that was the quadrant leader had been finally conquered.
If everything went well, then that meant one or a couple of them would obtain the necessary eligibility to enter the Gates of Awakening.
However, whilst they watched with jubilation on how Valyr was able to dispose of the quadrant leader so easily, this sight also brought them a slight feeling of emptiness.
So far, the four of them were under the impression that the entire group looked to be on a similar level of strength.
After all, each and every one of them possessed a Mythic grade class.
Sure, the tournament between them showed that there was still a difference in combat strength among them.
Not only that, but Vera joined their expedition into the inheritance at the very last minute, leaving the others with no choice but to assume that she had a similar level of strength as them.
Nevertheless, they still accepted that.
They accepted the fact that among the five of them, the ones that had the greatest combat strength were Hal and Valyr.
In fact, almost all of them were under the impression that Hal and Valyr were similarly powerful, with one specializing in an area that the other didn't.
But with the display of power Valyr had just shown them, the four of them now began to wonder.
'Where does Valyr's limit lie?'
As the four of them continued to rest a fair distance away from where the battle was unfolding, such questions began to linger in their minds.
Some of them had even begun to wonder whether they were needed to enter the inheritance in the first place.
Even Hal, who had been proclaimed by the masses to be the strongest due to his class, now began to doubt the strength he had accumulated so far.
After all, he, Vera, Loreina struggled to remain standing in front of the quadrant leader, having to pull out all stops just so they could fight back.
Yet, as if he was used to fighting opponents of a far higher level than him, Valyr utilized all of the skills in his arsenal in an ingenious way, even going so far as to use the quadrant leader's inherent nature against it.
'I guess it wouldn't be a problem for Valyr to fight against the quadrant leader on his own if not for the sudden growth it went through,' thought Hal as he let out a faint sigh.
Feeling his understanding of the world greatly change due to the existence of the young man that stood far away from them, he soon recalled the argument that transpired between Valyr and Faulus some time ago.
Because of that, he was reminded of the fact that none of them were a match for a Myth level being.
Though, with what Valyr had shown them, he began to wonder whether the young man would actually be able to fight toe to toe against one.
And if not, he wondered whether or not the gap in strength between Valyr and the Myth level being wasn't actually all that significant.
'That's stupid. Even I know that even beings at the peak of Rank 5 would have great difficulty fighting against Myths.' In the end, he discarded the thought as he shook his head.
'In any case, this more or less means his current level of strength is greater than even those considered to be the elite at the peak of Rank 5.'
With this thought in mind, the man let out a sigh as he asked himself, 'How does he do it?'
Looking at Valyr once more, he hoped that some answers would reveal itself in front of him.
Yet what he didn't know was that the answer to his question was already there.
"Hey, Hal!" Furrowing his brows as the question continued to linger in his mind, Hal snapped back to reality after hearing his name being called.
"Come here!"
...
"Well, this is quite the problem."
Looking at the quadrant leader that had been rendered lifeless by his attacks, Valyr had a frown on his face as he was reminded of what had happened earlier.
"There's no notification again," muttered the young man to himself, even going so far as to bring up his notification screen.
Whoosh!
"Ah, shit." Just as he had finished scouring the entirety of his notification screen, a barrier made out of crimson red mana appeared around the quadrant leader's body, prompting him to move closer to where the others were.
"There's one more phase."
"You called?" While he was in the midst of creating enough distance between him and the quadrant leader, Hal had appeared beside him with a slightly curious expression.
Nodding in response, Valyr looked at him before flashing a bitter smile. "It seems like we'll be having to fight against the quadrant leader once again."
"Seriously?!" At those words, Hal looked at the young man in shock, while the others had terrified expressions on their faces after hearing it.
After all, the quadrant leader had drastically grown in strength after being defeated once by Valyr.
If that was the case, then didn't that mean the quadrant leader would reach the strength level of Myths once it rose from the grave yet again?
"Well, we don't really have much choice. We have to kill it if we want to complete our quest, after all." Wryly smiling, Valyr shrugged his shoulders as he used his identification skill on the fallen quadrant leader.
Seeing its HP move further and further away from 0, the young man intently looked at the screen he had brought up, raising his eyebrows once he noticed that its health stopped increasing after reaching 50%.
"Grraaaaaaggghhh!!!"
Letting out a guttural roar that was overflowing with rage at this point, the quadrant leader slowly got up on its feet as it eventually locked its gaze on Valyr.
Whoosh!
Then, to no surprise, it flared out its aura in its entirety once more, causing one to feel a sense of intimidation if one with lacking strength were to stand in front of it.
However, rather than charge towards Valyr and make its move, it instead stood in place for a while as its skin began to turn a deeper shade of red.
Concurrently, its aura was reaching a level of power far greater than before, prompting everyone to use their identification skills on it to see what they were now up against.
Ding!
————
[Primitive Humanoid Quadrant Leader (Divine Elite)] (Level 100 | Boss)
Class: Elite Primitive Humanoid (Rare)
HP: 171,840/343,680
MP: 275,442/454,320
Attack: 8,432 - 8,432
Defense: 5,372
Stats: 1343 VIT, 2108 STR, 2048 AGI, 1343 DEX, 2366 INT, 2048 WIS, 1076 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: The pinnacle of its existence. As well as the beginning of its eventual demise.
————
"Over 2,000 points on four stats..." Sucking in a breath of cold air at the information he had received, Valyr looked at Hal beside him, who had an expression of slight terror on his face.
Shuddering for a bit, Hal took in a few deep breaths to calm himself as he turned to look back at the young man.
"How are we going to fight against this?" Though his words came out as smoothly as they normally would, one could still sense the underlying dread hidden within each word. "Can you still use those skills you used earlier?"
Valyr shook his head, causing the scholar to feel a bit more terror. "I'm afraid not. It'll be a long while before I could use them again."
Though the time dilation that existed between the outside world and the inheritance significantly reduced the cooldown of his ultimate moves, Valyr would still have to wait for over 10 minutes to be able to use them again.
If it was the quadrant leader during the first phase, it wouldn't have been much of a problem for him to do so.
If it was the quadrant leader during the second phase, though it would be approaching the level of near impossible, as long as he worked with the others, it was still doable.
But now that they faced against the quadrant leader in its current phase...
Stalling for over 10 minutes was nothing but a pipe dream.
"No, wait a second..."
Just as Valyr was furiously wracking his brain to come up with a solution to defeat the quadrant leader, he soon recalled a certain item that he had brought along for the inheritance, causing the gears in his mind to start turning madly.n()O).V.-E))l)-b--I-(n
Continuing to think more and more about the item that popped up in his mind, a determined expression soon appeared on his face as he came to a conclusion.
'Though it wouldn't be enough to render the quadrant leader gone in one attack, it would be more than enough for us to manage.'
"Hal," said Valyr.
"Yeah?" Looking at the young man, Hal noticed that a solemn expression was on his face.
"I want you to work with Loreina and the others to stall the quadrant leader for two minutes," replied Valyr.
Though, he soon corrected himself.
"On second thought... one minute is more than enough."
"What are you going to do?" asked Hal after doing what Valyr told to him to do.
"I'm going to prepare something that would allow us to have an easier time while fighting this quadrant leader," replied Valyr as he began to distance himself from them. "Though it might sound like I'm making an excuse to escape..."
"I hope you can trust me on this one."
"...Alright." Taking in a deep breath, Hal eventually nodded at Valyr, prompting the latter to nod back with a smile.
"Do what you have to do then."
"Until then, we'll stall the quadrant leader like there's no tomorrow."
