“Try your best, human!” The Anthrolisk retorted, its form blurring as it activated its stealth ability and made a run for it!
But the beast didn’t realize the futility of its attempts. 𝚘𝓋𝔩xt.𝑐𝒐𝚖
Val’s Heavenly Eye saw through its deceitful illusion like it was nothing.
Val moved at the top of his speed, flashing up to it. Then he lashed out, his sword strikes landing on the exoskeleton of the Anthrolisk, the force behind them causing it to groan with each hit.
When the dungeon monster felt cornered by his relentless and brutal assault, it retaliated, throwing a punch at Val.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he threw out a fist, meeting its punch with his own hellish-fire-covered one, causing a shockwave to ripple through the air. The force of the clash was enough to throw both of them off balance, but while Val remained uninjured, the Anthrolisk’s hand was set ablaze.
The hellish fire rapidly spread from its hand to its exoskeleton as it attempted to extinguish the fire by tapping on its fire resistance exoskeleton. Val watched with a smirk as it only made the situation worst for itself. Under the wrath of the Hellish Fire, its right hand and exoskeleton were reduced to nothing in a matter of seconds.
Then the Hellish Fire latched onto its exposed innards.
ARGHHHHHHH!
The Anthrolisk roared in agony as the fire began to consume it.
However, wanting to bring its opponent down with it, it attempted another attack with its remaining hand, but Val caught the punch with a vice-like grip. He then drove his sword right through the creature.
Ugh!
It screamed, trying to wrestle its hand free from Val’s grasp, but it was as if an iron vice had clamped onto it. It was stuck.
With a malicious grin, Val twisted the sword embedded in the creature’s body, amplifying its torment. Its screams filled the chamber, bouncing off the stone walls, echoing eerily.
“Too loud,” Val commented nonchalantly. He pulled the sword out and with one swift stroke, beheaded the Anthrolisk. The Hellish Fire did the rest of the work, reducing it to a pile of ashes.
[Ding! Congratulation, Host. You’ve have killed a Level 3.3 dungeon Lord, Anthrolisk. Gained 660 EXP!]
The system notification appeared before Val, congratulating him on his victory.
In the pile of ashes that was once the Anthrolisk, Val discovered more cores. Quickly, he scooped them up and pocketed them before he went to help his undead minions deal with the giant cockroaches.
With their combined strength, it didn’t take long to decimate the last group of giant cockroaches, an act which granted Val a few hundred more EXP.
After the battle, Val turned his attention to the corpses of the fallen beasts. He scanned them, realizing none of them had cores. What bad luck!
Although dead, they were still useful to Val!
Using the Corpse Sacrifice skill, he offered the corpses to the Devil God, causing their carcasses to be teleported to the Shrine of Evil. This shrine was alive in its own unique way, having a form of consciousness tethered to Val. It consumed the sacrifices offered in the name of the Devil God, who in this case was Val himself, converting them into a raw and primal evil energy capable of creating undead minions.
This energy flowed back into Val through the bond he shared with the shrine. With it, he could create up to ten more Level 2 undead minions or two Level 3. Given the rebellious nature of Level 3 undead and the fact he had no means to control them, Val decided to create Level 2 minions instead.
[Host has created 10 more level 2 undead!]
[The number of Host’s Undead Minions has increased to 14!]
Upon consuming the cores he had extracted from the Anthrolisk’s ashes, Val felt a new surge of power course through him, and it was a feeling he welcomed with open arms.
Immediately, he was met with a series of notifications.
[Level 3 Core of Strength consumed. Your Strength has increased to 30 points!]
[Level 3 Core of Agility consumed. Your Agility has increased to 31 points!]
[Level 3 Core of Reflexes consumed. Your Reflexes have increased to 30 points!]
[Level 3 Core of Stamina consumed. Your Stamina has increased to 32 points!]
[Level 3 Core of Wisdom consumed. Your Arcane Heart has slightly strengthened. Your Soul Power reserve has increased to 250 points! Your Soul Power production rate has increased to 50.]
Val was slightly taken aback by the last notification.
It was the first time he’d come across a Core of Wisdom, and he’d been curious to see what its effects would be. So he was delighted when he found that it enhanced his wizarding abilities.
‘The Core of Wisdom is undoubtedly a game-changer for wizards. I need to seek out more of these in the future,’ he thought. ‘But it’s going to be hard. From what I’ve understood, only sentient dungeon monsters have a 50% chance to drop the Core of Wisdom.’
Val made his way to the altar at the center of the chamber and picked up the Labyrinth Heart resting atop it. Looking at it, he wondered how he could establish a connection with it.
Finding no intuitive way to do so, Val decided to cast ‘Detect’ on it. The system responded quickly.
[Name: Labyrinth Heart]
[Danger Level: 2 (Less dangerous than Aquarius).]
[Item Description: The Labyrinth Heart can be used to create a mini-labyrinth with walls so robust that even Level 4 bloodline users cannot brute force their way through. It can also be used to deactivate the mini labyrinth. The host can bind with it using soul power.
It cost 1000 soul power to set up a labyrinth. There’s no cost of deactivating it.]
Using wizardry, Val manipulated his soul power, dumping a few units of it into the Labyrinth Heart. Immediately, he felt a strange sensation, almost like a tug in his chest, as the bond was established between him and the dungeon object.
[Ding! Congratulation, Host. You have become the owner of the Labyrinth Heart.]