Chapter 67: C ranked boss moves!
Chapter 67
CLANG!
BANG!
CLANG!
The sharp metallic echoes rang out in the dungeon as Zen’s sword clashed against dozens of spears from the charging goblins. Sparks flew with every strike, and the cracked ground beneath his boots trembled with each exchange as he weaved from one beast to another.
With the sudden boost in agility, Zen looked like a phantom. His figure blurred, his movements sharp and unpredictable, while the D ranked goblins scrambled helplessly to keep up.
FWISSH!
A spear darted toward his face at terrifying speed. Zen leapt back, narrowly avoiding the piercing edge.
But before he could fully land, another spear drove deep into his side, puncturing flesh and drawing blood.
{-5HP}
"The hell?!" Zen snarled through clenched teeth as pain shot through him. Spinning around, he glared at the goblin who had landed the strike.
His fury exploded as he launched a powerful kick square into its face. Bones cracked, and the goblin was hurled backward, smashing into the stone ground with a sickening thud.
"Ahh..." Zen groaned, gripping the shaft of the embedded spear. With a pained grunt, he yanked it free just in time to see another goblin swinging its weapon diagonally toward his head.
CLANG!
Steel clashed violently as Zen intercepted the strike with the very spear he had just pulled out. The impact sent a painful vibration rattling through his arm, but he ignored it. With a quick pivot, he brought his katana in a horizontal sweep, slicing the goblin’s head clean off.
"Okay, that’s what I get for being too cocky," Zen muttered, panting as he leapt back. His eyes swept the battlefield. Around eighty goblins remained, forming a deadly circle around him, their crude spears all pointed at his chest.
GROWL!
The monsters thundered in unison before surging forward like a wave of green death.
’Shit! This is too much, even for me,’ Zen thought as his heart pounded. ’Eighty D ranks, and after that, I still have to face the boss. How the hell am I supposed to win?’
His gaze darted to the back of the chamber. The boss still sat proudly atop its grotesque throne of bones, watching the carnage with a cruel glint in its oversized eyes. Its enormous spear, at least eight meters long, was buried in the ground beside it like a monument of war.
"Whatever." Zen gritted his teeth and raised his sword horizontally in front of him to block another strike.
He spun, then leapt into the air to avoid two more thrusts. Landing with sharp precision on the shaft of one goblin’s spear, he sprinted across it like a tightrope runner, his body light and swift.
With a final push, he launched himself off and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick straight into a goblin’s neck. The beast flew back like a ragdoll, smashing into several of its companions and collapsing them all in a heap.
{Sword Active Skill Activated: Wind Slash.}
The system prompt flickered in front of Zen’s eyes as a storm of energy wrapped around his blade. The katana’s edge hummed with deadly power, vibrating with untamed force.
Without hesitation, Zen swung forward in three rapid arcs.
FWISSH!
FWISSH!
FWISSH!
The howling wind blades tore through the air, shrieking as they cut through flesh. Six goblin heads rolled across the dungeon floor in an instant, lifeless bodies collapsing in spurts of blood.
A smirk tugged at Zen’s lips.
{Active Skill now on cooldown. Time limit: 4 minutes.}
"No one cares," Zen barked and charged back into the fray.
A spear came flying toward his face. He slipped past it with a sidestep, his sword flashing upward in an elegant arc that cleaved another goblin’s head in two. Blood misted the air, hot and metallic.
Zen pressed forward, but then...
A sharp throb of pain ripped through his side. His knees buckled, dropping him to the ground. Warm blood gushed from the wound, soaking through his clothes. Grimacing, he pressed one trembling hand against the injury, desperately trying to stem the bleeding.
He hadn’t even caught his breath when the shadows of dozens of spears closed in on him. The goblins shrieked, lunging forward with deadly precision, their weapons all aimed at his head.
"Shit." Zen mumbled beneath his breath as his heart thumped violently against his chest, each beat louder than the last.
He didn’t know what else to do, but instinct kicked in. With a desperate cry, he lifted his sword horizontally above his head just in time as dozens of spears smashed into it.
CLANG!
The reverberating sound echoed across the chamber, bouncing off the stone walls like thunder. Zen’s arms trembled, veins bulging as he clenched his teeth, holding onto the weapon with every ounce of energy in his body. The spears pressed down on him like an avalanche, threatening to crush him where he stood.
’System, activate Soft Touch!’
{Soft Touch activated.}
At once, the overwhelming weight pressing down on his blade vanished, transforming into nothing more than a feather’s touch. The sudden release caused the goblins to stagger forward, their balance disrupted as their spears no longer had the strength to push him down.
’Soft Touch. A skill that makes whatever I touch feel absolutely weightless... that’s how I countered the ogre boss during the gate raid. When it swung that massive hammer, I stripped the weight from it. The beast lost balance, toppled forward, allowing Jace land a hit.’
Zen’s lips curved into a sharp grin at the memory as he straightened his posture, throwing the goblins off-balance completely.
"My chance." His voice was low, dangerous.
He shot forward like a bullet, his sword flashing in silver arcs. His movements were so quick that before one goblin’s severed head could even hit the floor, two more had already followed it. Blood sprayed the air in streams, staining the cracked ground beneath him.
His speed was now unmatched—boosted by every stat point he had squeezed into agility and power. Against these D ranks, he was death incarnate.
’I still have three seconds before the skill deactivates.’
Zen parried another incoming spear with a sharp clang, twisting his body as his hand shot out to grab the goblin holding it. With Soft Touch still active, the beast felt as light as air in his grip.
He hoisted it effortlessly above his head before hurling it with monstrous strength, every one of his forty-two stat points burning through his veins.
The goblin flew like a ragdoll, weightless at first—but as the skill’s effect reached its limit, its mass returned mid-flight. Its body accelerated instantly, doubling in speed before smashing into a cluster of ten charging goblins.
BOOM!
The impact was devastating. Flesh, bone, and weapons scattered as the beasts were flung against a wall so hard it collapsed in on itself, showering the chamber in dust and rubble.
Zen’s chest heaved, sweat dripping from his chin as he turned. Only four remained standing now.
Even the goblin boss, who had been watching with amused glee, no longer looked entertained. Its glowing eyes narrowed, its confident smirk fading into something that resembled unease.
{Soft Touch deactivated. Skill now on cooldown.}
{Weapon Active Skill: Wind Slash is now off cooldown.}
"Perfect." Zen grinned darkly, tightening his grip on his sword.
He stood still, baiting the remaining goblins. Their shrill growls tore through the air as they bolted forward, desperation in their charge.
"Die!"
Zen swung his sword with all the strength he could muster. Wind burst to life, wrapping the blade in violent currents before exploding outward in three bladed arcs.
FWISSH!
The attack cut through the beasts in an instant. Their movements froze mid-charge, their bodies severed cleanly before they collapsed to the ground with heavy thuds.
{Congratulations! Beasts slain.}
{Congratulations! Goblin beasts slain.}
{Congratulations! Goblins slain ×100.}
Lines of blue text flashed across Zen’s vision, almost drowning his sight with the flood of notifications. With an impatient snarl, he swiped them away, his attention already locked on the figure now rising from the bone throne.
The C-ranked boss.
Its eight-meter-long spear was pulled from the ground with a bone-rattling crack. Its towering body stretched, muscles flexing beneath grey-green skin, while its hungry gaze bore into Zen like a predator savoring prey.
Zen’s hand instinctively went to his bleeding side. Warm blood seeped between his fingers, soaking his clothes, the pain pulsing with every beat of his heart.
’Okay... I wiped out the D-ranks like they were nothing. But this? This isn’t the same. I don’t know if I can win this fight. Am I even strong enough?’
Despite his doubts, Zen steadied his breathing and lowered himself into a battle stance, sword gleaming faintly with residual wind energy. His eyes locked onto the boss’s, neither blinking nor backing down.
He was unaware, however, that while his battle against the boss was about to begin... Something was happening back at the clan.