Preliminary Platoon Power Evaluation (4)
The entire area was filled with a deep, inky black. The sensation transmitted through his feet was distinctly different from the rest of the dungeon's terrain.
It looked like solid ground on the surface, but it felt soft and spongy, like castella cake or a sponge. It gave off the vibe of a place he absolutely shouldn't enter. But to draw out the monster, he had no choice but to step in.
The moment he set foot on that ground, a red alert window popped up in the system.
Invulnerable to All Poisons
Grants immunity to all poisons. Poison comprehension effect allows detection of poison-related status ailments.
Active Status Ailments
Poison Centipede's Acidic Poison (Entering poisoned state causes rapid HP drain. Detoxification complete immediately.)
Sure enough, there's a Poison Centipede lurking below. The key sub-boss for this dungeon conquest.
This centipede was a particularly annoying sub-boss responsible for the boss's berserk buff among its enhancements.
In other words, if he could kill this thing, taking down the boss would be a breeze from here on out.
Chloe's monster guide was damn useful.
On his way here, he'd already dealt with the other major monsters—prioritizing the tricky ones that applied buffs, just like this guy.
Now he just needed to finish this one off and head straight to the boss area.
At that moment, a dangerous greenish liquid erupted from the ground toward him. Reflexively, he swung his Imperial Sword to slice through the fluid.
Chaaak—
In an instant, the runes on the blade glowed, activating a divine power shield around his body. The monster's potent poison.
Thanks to Invulnerable to All Poisons, it had zero effect, but the acidic liquid laced with demon aura would still be dangerous if it hit directly.
Impressive performance.
Cecilia's Imperial Sword. The runes on its blade—'Will'—activated through his mana, generating the divine shield. It wasn't just Cecilia's wish to rely on him; it felt like her hopeful desire for him to rely on her too, conveyed through those runes.
The shield perfectly blocked the acidic bile.
Grrrrrr—
At the same time, the ground shook like an earthquake, and the Poison Centipede burst forth. A ferocious form over 5 meters long.
Dozens of segments, each armed with razor-sharp legs like deadly weapons.
Kwa-kwa-kwang—
The beast reared up and lunged at his position. He swiftly retreated, dodging it. The spongy ground where he'd stood cratered like a meteor impact.
And as it attacked, it spewed acidic bile from its mouth and between its segments. As its appearance suggested, it wasn't going to be an easy foe.
Poison's no issue, but that acid does affect me. A prolonged fight would be bad.
Even with the Reinhardt body, his physical durability was separate.
The armor he wore was the enchanted metal suit provided to the golden platoon members. Its defense wasn't bad, but it had limits.
In monster fights, overly heavy armor hindered mobility. His suit was quite thin and light.
He quickly maneuvered, thrusting his sword into one of the creature's hideous segments.
Kang—
A dull metallic clang, and his Imperial Sword bounced back.
What the hell, so tough?
He'd tested its durability without infusing mana on purpose. Unlike him, each segment was like solid armor.
Guess I'll end it with one White Night.
The answer was a big one—pierce its armor and bisect it in a single blow. Dragging it out wasn't ideal.
If time passed, it'd burrow back into the ground and pop out again, berserked.
He continuously evaded its attacks. Fortunately, its massive bulk meant it wasn't that fast.
But the creepy soil it had created was turning increasingly liquid, sucking at his feet with every step. A moment's carelessness, and he'd sink, unable to dodge.
Instinctively, he used alchemy compensation mana. He rapidly hardened the soil's surface.
Papapap—
Leaping across the solidified surface, he dodged every assault.
"Kyaaaaak!"
Frustrated that he wasn't sinking into its swampy mire, the centipede thrashed wildly. But he wasn't about to fall for its tricks.
"Bug-headed freak. All bark and no bite."
Calmly evading to the end, he concentrated mana in his Mana Heart. Reinhardt blood surged fiercely, channeling wild mana there.
An astonishing mana acceleration from his heart—no, his Mana Heart. The polyhedral veins in the heart.
From those Mana Roads, mana of incomparable purity and destructive power refined in an instant—far beyond ordinary.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, he poured it into the sword.
Woooong—
The Imperial Sword resonated, humming. His was a longsword; mana coated the long blade, forming a blue-tinged mana blade.
Kyaaaaak—
Another earth-shattering lunge. He dodged instantly, circling behind it.
According to Chloe's guide, the seventh segment down from the head was its weak point—the demon core.
Visualizing the spot clearly, he slowly moved the sword tip. A deliberate slowness that wasn't slow at all, tracing an arc through the air.
Simultaneously, Lion Heart Sword First Chapter—from the first form to the fifth—all techniques flashed in his mind. Unlike other imperial sword arts, a majestic style emphasizing destruction.
And when he pierced them all at once, one image surfaced.
White Night.
A midsummer night that never ends. Like the sun still dominating the horizon.
He swung the blade over his shoulder in a diagonal slash. A pure white flash birthed a crescent strike.
It cleaved the Poison Centipede in two.
***
"Hoo..."
He exhaled deeply, calming the churning mana in his Mana Heart. He'd internalized the White Night imagery well before today.
Plus the Reinhardt pureblood's innate martial genius bloomed fullest in life-or-death battles like this.
Not bad for a first try. Bloodline really carries.
That's how he'd mastered the secret art right here. The system recognized it as a skill, providing perfect guidance.
He watched the massive centipede before him twitch in two pieces. 'Bisected' didn't quite fit—it had exploded from the inside.
The weight of its demon aura felt at least third-form illusory. Even targeting the vitals, vaporizing it in one hit was satisfying.
It guzzled 50 MP of refined mana, though.
"Is that everything?"
Where the giant centipede's corpse shattered, the ground rumbled and sank. A pitch-black hole yawned beneath.
The centipede's tunnel.
Through this, I can reach the boss faster than Rozette.
Right—how Chloe beat Rozette in the power eval.
She'd prioritized key monsters like him, then used this tunnel as a shortcut straight to the boss. He'd do the same.
He checked the system time since entering the dungeon: about two and a half hours.
In Demon King Slayer, full clears took Chloe four hours, Rozette ten minutes longer.
For first place, max an hour and a half left. The tunnel was long; he needed to hurry. Still, faster than the surface route.
Surface, and those two would've finished the boss already.
He sped through the centipede tunnel. A narrow cave requiring a ducked head. Poison puddles everywhere, as expected from a monster burrow.
Not as potent as the main body, but threatening to normal cadets.
Chloe crawls through this hazardous tunnel to beat Rozette?
With Invulnerable to All Poisons, only the cramped posture bothered him.
Thinking of the noble marquess's daughter enduring this for victory made him chuckle despite himself.
Of course, Chloe was an alchemist who handled poisons expertly. She'd detox on the fly.
The labyrinthine path continued. A tough underground maze, but alchemy reshaped the terrain favorably, speeding him along.
Using sylphs, he found the exit by following the airflow.
"Phew. Fresh air's much better."
A virtual space of illusion and hallucination, but the fidelity made surface air far preferable to underground.
And so he entered the boss area. One hour through the tunnel.
For power eval first place, only 30 minutes remained.
***
Boss area entered. Still misty mountain terrain.
A mountain fortress on one slope. Strong demon aura pulsed beyond its walls.
Boss is in there.
Alchemy propelled him up the outer walls swiftly. The gate yawned open, but he wanted a peek at the boss first.
There it was below the walls: a massive knight mounted on a ghostly steed without form. An Undead Knight.
Jet-black armor. Beneath the matching helm, eyes brimmed with malice. Black demon aura sparks flickered wildly, like the cyclops from the last mission.
Way stronger than a normal third-form.
The eval's reinforcement came from freaks like this. No surprise for the boss.
Despite the intimidating look, it didn't feel threatening. He'd stripped its dangerous buffs by killing the subs.
Twenty minutes left. Buffer for variables: ten minutes better than Chloe's clear. Effectively ten minutes.
Time tight, but no rush.
A sloppy attack could drag it out. Better to behead it with one White Night.
Instead of charging, he calmly activated mana circulation. Current mana: half capacity, 40 MP.
Recovered some in the tunnel from the prior 30 MP...
Short 10 MP for White Night.
But mana circulation would refill 10 MP in ten minutes.
This was the basic mana training method.
Higher like the White Night Knights' regimen burdened his late-awakened body, so Uriel taught him this foundational one.
Time to upgrade now that I'm third-tier.
He hid from the Undead Knight, not letting it spot his circulation. Its eyes glowed red, but no detection.
Undead. Undead Knight, no less. Central Order or Pantheon profs would freak.
In the lull, he recalled recent Pantheon theory: Advanced Monsterology and Beast Studies.
As taught, monsters mimicked beast bodies. Demon beasts preferred turning devoured monsters into undead.
Hence innate undead turning demon beast makes them trickier.
The prof had trembled describing it as an 'evil abomination.' Fitting for an eval boss.
Yet even such monsters were creations of the two chief gods, Jedin and Unir. Demons were Unir's children; monsters separate from demon beasts.
Monsters made great fodder for demon beasts.
Demon beasts' goal: kill and absorb all Jedin-Unir creations, mimicking them. Demon King Slayer Part 2 reveal; truth incomplete.
No one's cleared to Part 2 but me. Can't be helped.
Iseland falls to demon beasts with that mystery unsolved—the game's ending.
To survive this brutal world, he needed their full truth. Using every scrap from Demon King Slayer.
Lost in thought, 10 MP filled. Exactly ten minutes.
He moved.
Senses sharpened by circulation, he ambushed the Undead Knight. White Night invoked again.
One strike, and its head hit the ground.