The Heavenly Slaughter Star Discovers a Dungeon
When the Heavenly Slaughter Star rampaged, it felt like being submerged underwater. His consciousness remained, but it was hazy—like he had become a detached observer watching his own frenzied body from behind. So when that awareness suddenly snapped back into place with a jolt, Enoch scratched his cheek in mild discomfort.
This shouldn’t cause any problems… right?
A wide clearing had been carved into the middle of the forest. Shattered tree fragments lay scattered everywhere as if they had been tossed into a blender. The swamp bear that had directly provoked the Heavenly Slaughter Star was naturally torn to pieces. Not even a trace of it remained.
For now… I should find more of them.
This was probably not the kind of combat experience Rionne had in mind. Crackle—! Enoch kicked off the ground.
[…This is definitely a problem.]
Undine recalled the sight of the rampaging Heavenly Slaughter Star. The power was stronger than usual, but far more worrying was the savage ferocity that shredded everything around it. A rampage of this level was manageable right now. She or Rionne could stop it easily. But if something like this happened once Enoch left the forest?
It would be a tragedy.
A massacre would unfold, or Enoch would die. They would be forced into a cruel binary choice. To prevent that, they would need to combine rigorous training with regular releases of his built-up madness.
The training to suppress the Heavenly Slaughter Star’s frenzy was something they had been doing for over three years. It seemed the madness that had been bottled up during that time had finally burst free now that he was separated from Rionne.
Well, the solution was simple. If you let it accumulate, it would eventually explode. So just vent it before that happened. Once every few months, or even once a year. A rampage like this in a remote forest every now and then would probably feel refreshing.
Undine sent the mental message through their contract link. Rionne quickly grasped the situation and reached the same conclusion. And so, in Enoch’s absence, his regular forest expeditions were officially decided.
Enoch picked a fight with anything he came across. After battling the swamp bear he felt strangely refreshed, and he still needed to accumulate the combat experience Rionne had ordered. Besides, having been born under the Heavenly Slaughter Star, Enoch himself simply enjoyed fighting.
Crackle—! Indistinct lightning shaped like a dragon’s claw overlaid Enoch’s hand. It was Hand Qi—his mana manifesting through the power of his authority.
Those capable of projecting mana externally to amplify destructive force, whether Sword Qi or Hand Qi, were called Experts. The next stage—those who could wield Gang Qi that formed a distinct star within the heart—were called Masters.
Those who could command natural mana through sheer will, manipulating external mana at will, stood at the Grand Master realm. And those who awakened the power of the soul and stepped toward divinity were known as Demigods, or half-gods.
Of course, even within the Expert and Master ranks there were finer distinctions. Simply projecting mana was low Expert. When that mana took on faint form and gained lethal power—reaching the level of Sword Qi Wounding—it became mid Expert, and so on.
Still, Rionne had told him not to obsess over realms when facing enemies. Realm was merely a gauge of mana control and physical refinement; it did not fully represent a person’s true combat strength. She had added, however, that higher realms did mean greater output, so he should still be careful. Unless one’s technique was truly exceptional, an ant could never dodge an elephant’s stomp.
Therefore Enoch planned to make his technique exceptional. Raising his realm would take time, and there was no guarantee nothing would happen before then. The solution was simple: train his skills until even an ant’s body could topple an elephant.
That was why he had no intention of avoiding the fight before him. The moment he spotted a walking tree, Enoch swung his hand. The tree answered by whipping its branches.
Crunch—! Branches shattered, sending splinters flying. Enoch slipped through the gap and spread his fingers wide. Incoming branches. He read their paths, swept them aside, pushed with his fingertips, pulled by bending them, advanced while dodging, twisted his waist, and drew back his fist.
Against a tree, smashing was better than tearing. With that straightforward thought, he threw his punch.
Crack—! The tree’s trunk bent nearly in half.
-Kkkrrr…!!
Watching the shrieking tree, Enoch’s eyes flashed. The moment the pained monster committed to a heavy attack, he struck.
Zap—! Electricity surged at his toes, accelerating him. The Heavenly Slaughter Purple Lightning Step—an evolution of the basic footwork Rionne had taught him. He wove nimbly between the branches. The faint afterimages left behind looked exactly like purple lightning.
The distance closed to a single step. He clenched his hand, bent his fingers, and recalled the technique. The first form of the Heavenly Slaughter Purple Lightning Claw.
Heavenly Slaughter Purple Lightning Claw — Massacre Form: One Origin
Massacre Form was a standardized sequence of movements. Because it optimized both mana flow and motion shape, forms usually produced far greater power than ordinary techniques. So he roughly modified it on the fly—compressing the countless rapid strikes of Massacre into a single lethal path.
Fast. Powerful. Five streaks of lightning followed his fingertips, ripping everything apart.
─────────────!!!!
Where the purple lightning scattered, the monster’s corpse—now sliced into six pieces—rolled pathetically across the ground.
[That kid is seriously insane.]
Undine wore a thoroughly fed-up expression and clicked her tongue repeatedly. What kind of maniac modified a form in the middle of combat? One wrong outcome and he would have died on the spot. It was a good thing it succeeded; she had been ready to leap out at any second. The arrogant little brat, of course, hadn’t seemed to entertain even the slightest possibility of failure.
[Is he just thoughtless, or does he actually have that much confidence?]
Grumbling, Undine slowly lifted herself when she saw Enoch preparing to move again after finishing the fight. That was already the ninth battle. Sunset wasn’t far off, yet the brat showed no sign of wanting to head back. Was it because he was young and overflowing with stamina? No—more like he was still just a child. Come to think of it, children were always bursting with energy. Even a highest-grade spirit like Undine found it impressive.
[Oh?]
Then Undine sensed a peculiar aura. If they continued in this direction the brat would discover it soon. Things might get a little interesting.
[Or maybe not?]
On second thought, she might be the only one who would suffer. The realization irritated her for no particular reason.
Enoch moved swiftly through the forest. Despite the string of battles, his body brimmed with even more energy than when he had first entered. Does fighting suit me after all?
Well, he was the Heavenly Slaughter Star. Just listening to Rionne’s stories made it sound like the star produced beings born solely for battle.
“Hm?”
That was when Enoch’s senses caught an enigmatic energy. It wasn’t quite a presence. It felt blended into the surrounding environment, yet also like mana was clumping excessively and swirling. In another sense, it felt strangely detached from the world itself.
Enoch saw no reason to suppress his curiosity and sped up. Purple lightning sliced through the air, and it didn’t take long to reach the source of the strange aura.
“This is…”
Enoch’s eyes widened. At first glance it looked like an ordinary cave. But anyone capable of sensing mana who still called it ordinary would need their head examined. Eight out of ten such people would definitely have something wrong with their brains.
I’m pretty sure Rionne called something like this a dungeon.
She had taught him about them. Aside from artificial dungeons like mages’ workshops or ancient ruins, there were bizarre spaces that formed naturally. They often appeared where mana stagnated or flows became tangled, though sometimes they simply materialized without warning, making them difficult to categorize.
In any case, dungeons had many possible origins and equally varied internal traits. He had even heard a story about a human who entered one and came out as an elf. Setting aside how that was even possible—
“Yeah.”
Enoch gave a firm nod and stepped into the dungeon. He wasn’t harboring any strange expectations.
The dungeon’s interior was bizarre. It looked like a normal cave, yet its depths stretched impossibly far. Even when he expanded his senses out of curiosity, the swirling mana blocked them from extending. Still, his five senses remained unaffected.
Enoch’s ears twitched. Soon, fighting spirit surged up naturally.
Thud—! Thud—!
Heavy footsteps. The clear sign of an enemy brought a grin to Enoch’s lips. He still hadn’t figured out the dungeon’s peculiarities, but he didn’t particularly care.
Crackle—! Enoch shot forward, a streak of purple lightning.
[Is he reckless or just brave?]
Undine’s sighs only grew heavier at the sight. At the same time, a past conversation with Rionne suddenly drifted through her mind.
‘Enoch’s dislike of humans might not actually be racial discrimination. It could be closer to simple anthropophobia.’
‘Isn’t that the same thing?’
‘When I first brought Enoch in……’