Chapter 330: With Your Own Power (10)

[How can a human possess so much mana?]

Shooting a sphere of aura to weaken the momentum of Heroic Strike, the Death Lord asked as he backed away. However, it was impossible to completely dodge Heroic Strike. As such, the Death Lord held up his axe to block what he couldn't avoid. The toughness of his axe could be guessed by the fact that not a single scratch appeared. But it seemed that it still couldn't block all of Heroic Strike's might.

[Kahak!]

The shock delivered by the aura caused him to cough out another mouthful of dead blood. However, while his body might be breaking apart, the death energy he was outputting was only getting stronger.

While the Death King used his death energy to control the undead, the Death Lord seemed to have his entire body made of death energy. If I hadn't learned Breath of Death, I might have been in danger.

"How can there be a limit to amassing mana?"

[Of course, there is. For humans, there is a clear limit. In fact, even elves, dwarves, beastmen, and even dragons have limits.]

Peika clashed with him once again. However, the black mana barrier he created was sufficiently powerful enough to block Peika's attack.

[Even elementals!]

[Master, this guy keeps...!]

"Yeah, I know."

The death energy emanating from his body split into several streaks and flew towards me like a whip. Although I could block them with Steel, doing so would waste more mana than needed. Instead, I expanded Peruta Circuit and created a whirlpool to wrap around my body. The black whips then continuously clashed with the whirlpool, causing loud noises to ring out.

"Die!"

I charged towards him. Chaotic Spear, carrying hundreds of thousands of mana, cleanly obliterated all other energies and shot towards his chest!

[Kuhaaaaap!]

His shout sounded out. Without thinking about dodging the attack, the Death Lord raised his axe and struck down against my spear. When the two collided, an explosive sound erupted. However, neither of us backed down.

I pulled my spear out of the deadlock by twisting it slightly and swung down as though it was an axe. This time, the Death Lord blocked it with his axe.

"Ha!"

I kicked the Death Lord's leg, which was firmly planted in the ground, and jumped using the counterforce. His axe rushed after me like a dragon wanting to bite off someone's head!

Clenching my teeth, I swung my right arm and rotated my spear. The concentrated aura on the spear blade hit his axe away and continued up to destroy a section of the cave. It had also been flung away by the recoil, as it couldn't break through the axe's defense.

"Let's see if you can block this!"

[Unlike your skills, you talk like a third-rate warrior!]

Seeing chunks of the ceiling falling down, I poured in my mana and Dortu's power turned them into bombs in an instant. Then, using my spear, I shot them as though they were cannon balls.

Using the death energy rising from his body, the Death Lord formed a whip and struck them down before they could reach him, but the subsequent detonations of the bombs reduced his whip to a sorry state. Seeing an opening, I activated Divine Speed and shot another ball of concentrated aura.

Puk! With a dull sound, the armor covering his right arm exploded. It was the first effective blow dealt to him.

[You have no limit.]

"Hmph."

He was praising me from the moment we met, but I was also surprised by his strength.

His strength was as though the Beast King was compressed into a human form, and he was even using his death energy to strengthen himself. If I became careless for even a single moment, I had no doubt that he would send a critical attack that would penetrate Steel's power.

[Is it the natural talent of the Savior Hero?]

"Natural talent of the Savior Hero? What's that?"

I asked again.

"In fact, what's even a Savior Hero?"

[I'm not too sure either. All I know came from what the Dungeon Lord told me. I simply came to my own conclusion using the information I had.]

"Well, what's that conclusion?"

The Death Lord smiled. The axe he held up began to grow bigger. By sucking in death energy, it was growing sharper and tougher.

[Defeat me. Then I'll tell you.]

"Damn guy."

Where'd he learn that from! I called Peika back.

[What's wrong, Master?]

"Chaos flames don't work on him."

To be exact, chaos flames worked, but because he was always covered in an enormous amount of death energy, chaos flames could only burn his death energy without reaching his body. Seeing him being unaffected by chaos flames even after the previous attack broke a part of his armor, I became certain.

Chaos flames dealt continuous damage by staying ignited on a target, but Peika's lightning was stronger. Since chaos flames couldn't reach him, it was more efficient for Peika to be with me.

"You're literally quite the lump of energy."

[It's what I obtained by giving up both life and death. Savior Hero, what did you give up in order to obtain that power?]

"My life, fucker."

As I retorted, I infused Peika into my spear and watched the transparent aura begin to crackle with lightning.

"Look at the power I have. Does it look like I'll enjoy a peaceful life?"

[Kuhahahaha! Perhaps at the end of your growth, you might give up death as well! Unlike me who abandoned being human and became an undead, you'll be in a human's body! No, if that happens, you might not even be human anymore! Kuhahaha!]

"What's so funny, you bastard!"

I bellowed loudly and used Frozen Roar while I was at it. The death energy hurling towards me froze, and a portion of the energy surging up on his axe fell off. At the same time, a surge of energy coursed through my body.

I wasn't done yet. I activated both Twin-headed Ogre's Tattoo and Giant Wolf's Tattoo. In an instant, the attack power of my close ranged skills and charge type skills increased by 50%. In other words, the skill I was planning on using would have its might doubled.

[Your power suddenly increased tremendously.]

"Because the dungeon's power hasn't been working much, I've been holding them back. But now, I have some confidence in myself. Well, that's not a story for you to hear."

There was no need to reveal my secrets. I held up my spear again. Since this wasn't the First Dungeon, I summoned Sharana.

[At your command, Master!]

"Strengthen me with your wind."

[That's my specialty!]

A gust of wind began to blow around me. Mixing in with Peika's lightning, an ordinary person would find it difficult to even stare at my figure.

The Death Lord seemed to have felt danger, as he sent dozens of black whips and aura waves flying towards me. In response, I summoned Ruyue and created a barrier of ice. Although it disappeared when it collided with the whips and aura waves, it bought enough time for me to gather the necessary energy.

I aimed my spear towards him and kicked off the ground.

"Wind King's Rage!"

[Kuhaaaap!]

There was nowhere for him to run. The Death Lord let out an odd bellow and swung down his axe to cut the energy I was emitting. A huge black aura shot out from the path of his axe and charged towards me while cutting apart the ground in half.

As I had already started charging towards him, I couldn't move away now. As such, I faced his attack directly.

[Kuhahahaha! Your courage is praiseworthy!]

"Hmph, as if that can even cut a radish in half!"

A lightning storm and earth-severing strike collided. The already crumbling cave began to rumble even more.

"UOOOOOOH!"

I scraped together all the mana lying inside my body and poured it into the wind. Then, I activated Crimson Hell's Tattoo and began to suck in the Death Lord's death-carrying mana. Filtering it with Breath of Death, Absolute Soul and Peruta Circuit worked together to draw in mana to my body. Everything was happening in an instant.

My body became a giant lump of mana.

[I won't die so easily! Take this, Savior Hero! This is my power!]

The Death Lord kicked off the ground and charged towards me. His entire body was covered in his black energy. After dissipating the aura he shot out, I also charged towards him in full force.

"Dieeeeee!"

I started the gathering of the fiercely spinning wind and lightning. Using the one supreme talent I had, I concentrated every power into one point.

In an instant, the surroundings became silent. Even the crumbling cave seemed to halt momentarily. In reality, everything moved extremely slowly because I was using Divine Speed.

Thanks to Divine Speed, I was able to complete the energy concentration process in the blink of an eye. The Death Lord also noticed what happened. Seeing the energy compressed together on the tip of my spear, his eyes widened.

[I see, I see! So that's what made you the Savior Hero!]

"You'll die if this hits you, so you better speak your mind now!"

[Kuhahahahaha! I've already overcome death once, yet you're announcing my death so boldly!?]

With a heartful laugh, he raised his axe. Coincidentally, at that moment, the death energy surrounding his body and the armor he was wearing disappeared.

Even someone that wasn't me could kill him by attacking his weak point. In the center of his chest was a jewel shining like a star!

[I am Dortu. Nullification complete.]

[Kuk!?]

It seemed the Death Lord didn't expect this to happen at all. I couldn't blame him as he couldn't perceive Dortu's existence. He immediately began to gather death energy to cover his body, but he was full of openings in my eyes.

I thrust my spear and spoke.

"You have nothing to say?"

[The Savior Hero is... one who gathers everything! And...!]

Unfortunately, that was it.

Before his axe could reach my shoulder, my spear penetrated his chest.

The jewel exploded with a boom, and the subsequent torrent of mana, lightning, and wind destroyed the Death Lord's body without leaving behind a trace.

I took my spear back and stood my ground. Taking the crumbling pieces of the cave with my body, the corner of my mouth twitched.

"You should have said it earlier, damned guy."

[I am Dortu. Master, did Dortu make a mistake?]

"No, Dortu. You did well today. You made the difference."

Without Dortu, I wasn't sure my last attack would have killed him. His armor was sure to be an extraordinary item.

In the short time that the two of us fought, Dortu managed to nullify and even eliminate his armor. It seemed Dortu's ability was growing stronger too.

[I'm all out of energy. I'm tired.]

"You did well too, Peika. Go rest."

I stroked Peika who left the spear, and she happily went back to Fairy Garden.

I also sent Dortu back before raising my head. A giant boulder falling my way was struck down by a flying axe.

"Looks like you didn't know about this either."

In the final moment, it became possible for me to control his axe using the Eliminator's power. I couldn't do anything about the energy residing in it, but I could make the axe aiming for my shoulder move slower and heavier.

The Death Lord must think he lost because of the power concentrated on my spear tip, but I had actually utilized several different powers to defeat him. Although I could have defeated him earlier if I wanted, it was the first time I had met such a powerful warrior and I ended up getting too excited.

"I shouldn't do this next time. It's not like the Demon Lord will simply charge at me."

He might even stay still and only shoot magic. In fact, I didn't know whether or not he would fight himself. But since he was the only one in the Demon Army that was capable of fighting, he would have no choice.

To get better used to the Eliminator's power, I spun the axe around and struck down the falling boulders one by one. Of course, I wouldn't die even if the entire cave collapsed on top of me.

After some time, a message rang out.

[You succeeded in defeating the Death Lord alone. The Death Lord was a powerful warrior and mage who had never experienced a single defeat in his life. Granting him both defeat and annihilation is truly a grand achievement. You obtained 5 skill points as a reward. Current skill points: 39]

[You obtained the title, 'Death Lord Killer'. All stats increase by 5. The effect of the title will be applied even when it is not equipped.]

[You cleared Beyond's 40th floor. You obtained the qualification to challenge the First Dungeon's 91st floor.]

[You obtained 5 bonus stats. Your HP and MP increases by 2%.]

[Experience has been added to skills you frequently used to progress through Beyond's 40th floor.]

[You received the unique reward left hidden for the First explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat increases by 10.]

[Secret. Death Lord's...]

The message suddenly stopped.

The falling boulders began to rise up one by one. At the same time, I could feel a power slowly leaving my body. I narrowed my eyes.

"Ho... What interesting situation is this?"

The dungeon's power was disappearing from the dungeon.

At that moment, the axe suddenly froze in mid-air. Perplexed, I tried to manipulate the axe again, but the axe no longer listened to my commands. That axe... ceased being a weapon.

[I forgot, I had something else to tell you.]

"Hey, you bastard."

I cursed.

"Don't you know lying can get your hand chopped off!?"

[I didn't lie. To a warrior, his weapon is part of his body! So I did seal my life in my body!]

He retorted casually.

Right, the voice was coming from the axe, which carried his life.