Chapter 6
"You seem quite powerful for someone with seven thousand kilos of strength. How about you become my Dark Slave?"
Alex said those words to the trembling Jacob with a maniacal laugh, his eyes filled with a chilling light.
But before Jacob could even respond, Alex suddenly lunged forward.
His figure blurred.
In the next instant, he had already appeared directly in front of the Goblin Chieftain.
The Goblin Chieftain had already prepared itself for the attack. The moment Alex appeared, it immediately swung its massive Great Sword in a wide arc.
"Vertical Slash!"
The Great Sword tore through the air.
Coupled with the skill the Chieftain had activated, the speed of the sword increased considerably, causing the blade to whistle violently as it swept toward Alex.
Alex reacted in time.
He shifted his stance, placing his right leg backward while positioning his left leg forward. His body lowered slightly as he immediately activated one of his own skills.
"Parry!"
...CLANG!
The two swords collided, and a crisp metallic sound rang through the entire area.
The impact forced Alex backward by two steps.
However, before the Goblin Chieftain could follow up and press its advantage, Alex had already activated another skill.
"Crescent Slash!"
With a slight leap, Alex swung his sword in a curved pattern resembling the crescent moon.
The blade sliced through the air and fiercely cut toward the Chieftain's neck.
...SPLASH!
[Critical Hit: HP -2,000]
[Target has entered a Bleeding State.]
[Target will lose 50 HP every second.]
[Duration: 10 seconds.]
The exchange had happened within a span of only ten seconds.
And with the Corrosion damage previously inflicted on the Chieftain, which would end in another five seconds, coupled with the newly inflicted Bleeding State, the Goblin Chieftain had already lost nearly half of its total HP.
The Goblin Chieftain staggered backward.
Its breathing became heavy as blood poured from the wound on its neck.
Then, a ferocious glint appeared within its eyes.
It was as though it had finally lost the last trace of reason.
A terrifying roar erupted from its throat.
And then...
Another fierce exchange began.
Neither side was willing to retreat.
Every collision between the Great Sword and Alex's sword sent sparks flying through the air, while the ground beneath their feet continued to crack from the force of their attacks.
This was the final battle.
The victor would soon be decided.
Meanwhile, Jacob realized that the attention of both combatants had completely shifted away from him.
He carefully glanced around.
The Dark Slaves were also caught up in the chaos of the battle, while the remaining goblins continued to interfere with them.
A smile slowly appeared on Jacob's face.
He had a chance to escape.
Most of his teammates had already been killed, but a small number of them had managed to escape through sheer luck and the chaos of the battlefield.
It was impossible for the Dark Slaves to kill everyone without allowing anyone to escape.
Especially when human intelligence was combined with the constant interference of the remaining goblins.
The small goblins were constantly launching disorganized attacks at the Dark Slaves.
Individually, those attacks were almost meaningless.
But when hundreds of goblins launched attacks simultaneously, even the Dark Slaves couldn't completely ignore them.
A group of two hundred goblins attacking from all directions could create a frightening effect.
And during the chaos, the Dark Slaves had continued devouring the humans they managed to kill.
One of them, apparently the one called Chris, had already reached a strength of six thousand kilos through constant devouring.
The other two had also grown considerably stronger, reaching around five thousand kilos each.
Jacob carefully slipped away.
With every step he took, his heart became more excited.
He was going to survive.
At least, that was what he thought.
Just as Jacob was beginning to believe that he was safe...
A wave of air suddenly swept across the area.
Before he could even react...
Slash!
Jacob's two legs were severed.
"AAAAAAARGH!"
Jacob screamed in agony as his body crashed heavily onto the ground.
His face twisted in pain and disbelief.
He desperately turned his head backward.
And what he saw made his pupils shrink.
Alex was standing behind him.
The young man was grinning.
Blood stained his sword.
Jacob's eyes widened.
But what shocked him even more wasn't the fact that Alex had severed his legs.
It was the overwhelming aura coming from Alex.
He had grown stronger.
Much stronger.
Jacob could barely believe what he was sensing.
Alex's strength had now reached the same level as the Goblin Chieftain.
Ten thousand kilos of strength!
"How...?"
Jacob's voice trembled.
He couldn't understand how Alex had become this powerful in such a short period of time.
Alex merely looked at him with that same terrifying grin.
---
MEANWHILE...
The battle between Alex and the Goblin Chieftain was already approaching its end.
The Chieftain was on its last legs.
Its body was covered in wounds, blood constantly flowing from its injuries as its HP continued to fall.
Alex raised his sword.
"Crescent Slash!"
He swung once again.
The curved blade tore through the air.
The Goblin Chieftain tried to defend itself, but its exhausted body could no longer keep up.
The attack landed.
...SPLASH!
The massive body of the Goblin Chieftain staggered.
Then it collapsed heavily onto the ground.
The Goblin Chieftain was dead.
At almost the same time, the Dark Slaves had also finished their battle.
The three stood to one side, their red eyes fixed on the unconscious Jacob.
There was greed within their gazes.
They looked at him as though they were staring at a delicious meal.
Then...
The Goblin Chieftain's corpse suddenly began to glow.
Three objects dropped onto the ground.
Alex walked over and picked them up.
He immediately appraised them.
[Item: Weapon]
[Type: Great Sword]
[Name: Rage]
[Weapon Type: Two-Handed Sword]
[Rank: Bronze Rank]
[When Equipped:]
[Attack Damage: +10%]
[Special Effect: Every attack has a chance to trigger a Knockback effect.]
---
[Item: Equipment]
[Type: Accessory - Ring]
[Name: Ring of Fury]
[Rank: Silver Rank]
[Active Skill: Fury]
[Fury: When activated, all stats will increase by 30%.]
[Duration: 20 seconds.]
[Cooldown: 8 hours.]
[When Equipped:]
[Strength: +2]
---
[Item: Source Stone]
[Uses: By absorbing the Source Energy contained within, the Source Stone can help refine the body, both internally and externally.]
[Note: Source Energy is a type of extremely aggressive energy.]
Alex stared at the three items for a moment.
Then, a faint smile appeared on his face.
The Goblin Chieftain had not disappointed him.
---
OUTSIDE THE DUNGEON...
In a secluded forest not far from Great Mountain City, two individuals wearing black cloaks stood side by side, silently looking in the direction of the city.
"Has Dark Warrior Alex made a move?"
The man on the left asked.
"Yes, Blue-Robed Bishop."
The other person replied calmly.
"To help him with the mission, I also gave him three Dark Slaves with good potential."
"That's good."
The man called the Blue-Robed Bishop nodded in approval.
"Our plan this time depends on that item that will appear in the special Goblin Dungeon."
The other man nodded before continuing.
"I also lent him the Evil Dagger of Luck. It absorbs and stores a target's luck so that it can be released and used at the appropriate time."
"He only needs to find someone with incredible luck. Doing so will greatly increase the probability of the item appearing."
"You really went all out."
The Blue-Robed Bishop chuckled.
"Don't worry. When the Dark Minions appear and invade the city to obtain what we want, I will put in a good word for you in front of the Archbishop."
A smile appeared beneath the man's hood.
"The Dark shall prevail."
"The Dark shall prevail."
The two spoke at the same time.
Then, they turned around and went their separate ways, disappearing into the depths of the forest.
---
EARLIER...
As Carl jumped into the chasm, he felt as though his body had become weightless.
It was almost as if he wasn't falling into an ordinary hole.
He was falling straight into the Abyss of Death.
His heart began beating wildly as his body continued descending.
The deeper he fell, the quieter his surroundings became.
The sounds of the world above gradually disappeared.
The further down he went, the emptier he felt.
There was nothing.
No sound.
No light.
No hope.
And yet...
Carl could feel something.
Something was calling out to him from deep within the darkness.
He couldn't understand what it was.
But he could feel it.
It was as though something deep beneath him was waiting.
Carl continued falling.
One minute passed.
Then another.
After nearly two full minutes of falling, he finally saw what was beneath him.
His pupils contracted.
A sea of bones.
That was what awaited him at the bottom.
Countless bones covered the entire area.
Human bones.
Beast bones.
And other types of bones that Carl couldn't even identify.
But among all of them, one particular object immediately caught his attention.
A golden bone.
It looked almost like the bone of an Eastern Dragon.
It was enormous and dazzling, lying directly in the place where Carl was about to crash.
Carl's eyes narrowed.
He immediately summoned Desolate.
The massive Great Sword appeared beneath him.
Carl positioned the weapon beneath his body, hoping that its toughness would absorb at least some of the impact.
Then...
...BOOM!
Carl crashed into the ground.
A massive crater was created instantly.
White bone fragments exploded into the air, scattering in every direction.
For several seconds, the entire area was covered in a cloud of bone dust.
Then the fragments slowly began to settle.
And inside the crater...
Carl was lying there.
His body was twitching violently.
Blood covered him from head to toe.
Blood was even gushing from his seven orifices because of the terrifying impact.
His right leg was twisted toward the left.
His left leg was twisted toward the right.
Almost every bone in his body had been shattered.
The pain...
It was beyond anything he had ever experienced.
It was the kind of pain that threatened to consume his sanity and tear his soul from existence itself.
Carl wanted to scream.
He desperately wanted to scream and release even a fraction of the agony consuming him.
But he couldn't.
Every time he tried to open his mouth, blood simply gushed out.
He was in pain...
But he couldn't scream.
He was in agony...
But there was nothing he could do to relieve it.
He was on the verge of death...
Yet he couldn't find even the slightest hope of life to grasp onto.
This was true terror.
The kind of terror that no human being should ever have to experience.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
He wanted to cry.
But even his tears were mixed with blood.
He was broken.
Completely broken.
For a moment, Carl wanted to quit.
He wanted to give up.
He wanted to allow death to take him.
But something stopped him.
A voice.
A mysterious voice deep within his mind.
It kept telling him that it wasn't time to die.
It told him to hold on.
It told him that there was still hope.
It told him to keep moving forward because there would eventually be a way.
And most importantly...
It told him that there were people waiting for him.
People who were waiting for him to save them.
The voice continued.
Crawl forward.
Keep moving.
Grasp onto anything you can feel.
And that was exactly what Carl did.
With a voice that sounded like someone who had been rejected even by hell itself, Carl began crawling forward.
His arms were the only parts of his body that could still move.
He dragged himself across the sea of bones, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
"I can't die yet..."
His voice was barely audible.
"I can't die yet..."
He repeated those words again.
And again.
And again.
As though those words were the only thing giving him the strength to continue.
"I can't die yet..."
The more he moved, the more pain he felt.
Every single movement sent unbearable agony through his shattered body.
His brain could no longer process all of it.
There was simply too much pain.
Eventually, Carl became numb.
His senses began to fade.
His consciousness slowly slipped away.
Yet...
He continued crawling.
Even when he couldn't feel his body anymore...
He continued crawling.
Even when his vision became blurry...
He continued crawling.
Even when his consciousness was almost completely gone...
He continued crawling.
Until finally...
He couldn't move anymore.
Carl's fingers trembled against the ground.
Then, just as the mysterious voice had told him...
He reached forward.
His fingers touched something.
A rectangular-shaped object.
It was glowing with a strange black luster.
Carl's fingers slowly wrapped around it.
His vision had already become almost completely dark.
He could barely make out anything.
But there was something written on the object.
Words shining with a golden light.
Those were the last things Carl saw before his consciousness completely disappeared.
THE FOOL.