This mountain of swords, capable of repeatedly skewering any opponent who charged in carelessly, was Udaeus's ultimate armament for both offense and defense.
Only exposing its upper half, Udaeus didn't sink its lower body into the ground without reason.
No, more accurately, Udaeus never possessed a "lower body" to begin with.
Like a terrifying, gigantic tree spreading its massive roots underground, the body tissues extending from its pelvis had already invaded every inch of this vast hall's floor.
In other words, every single piece of land Aiden stood on was a deadly minefield brimming with Udaeus's mountains of swords.
It could even be said that his opponent in this battle was this enormous room itself.
Those continuously launching Bone Stakes turned every foothold, the entire combat zone, into its attack range.
Once someone stepped into Udaeus's domain and attempted to flee, the only exit would be thoroughly sealed off by the pitch-black mountain of swords.
Before finishing its slaughter, this Skeleton King would absolutely never let any prey escape its room.
Roarrrrr!
Completely contrary to the sluggish turning expected of such a massive body, the mountains of swords shot out at a terrifying speed, relentlessly assaulting Aiden.
In the blink of an eye, countless pitch-black pillars of varying heights erected themselves all around him.
These bone pillars weren't arranged haphazardly; they subtly guided Aiden's movements, as if whispering for him to come this way.
Forced into continuous evasion, he snapped back to reality only to find himself pushed step by step right to the front of Udaeus.
The ghost fire deep within its eye sockets flared brightly as the Floor Boss mercilessly unleashed a devastating attack with its twin arms.
Bone Stakes erupted from the ground while heavy fists howled down from above. This pincer attack from heaven and earth forced Aiden to swing his sword wildly, slicing through the bone spears breaking the surface while dodging the colossal arms that could split mountains.
Even with his current physical prowess, taking a direct hit from Udaeus would be unbearable. Injury was inevitable.
"Watch out!"
Just then, a worried shout echoed near the room's exit.
It was Lefiya.
Riveria and her party had arrived a while ago. Upon seeing Aiden fighting Udaeus alone, they didn't leave but chose to stay and watch.
Not wanting to interrupt him, they had kept silent until seeing him in apparent danger, which caused Lefiya to cry out involuntarily.
The Bone Stake attacks, which should have required an elite team of over thirty people to barely disperse, were now entirely focused on Aiden alone.
Although he possessed speed far beyond ordinary men under the enhancement of Everlasting Flames, getting caught in this endless siege seemed like only a matter of time.
Ais subconsciously took a step forward, battle intent rising in her golden eyes, but Riveria reached out and stopped her.
"Riveria?"
"This is a battle he chose himself, Ais."
Riveria's voice was calm and commanding. "Until true despair arrives, we cannot interfere. This is the unspoken rule of adventurers. It applies no matter how close you are."
This was out of respect for another powerful adventurer, bearing witness to his pursuit of a Great Feat.
Naturally, Aiden noticed the arrival of Ais and the others.
In the brief gap after thrillingly dodging another attack, he somehow found the breathing room to flash them an "I'm okay" hand gesture.
Seeing how relaxed he looked, Ais and the rest eased up slightly, focusing their entire attention on the unfolding battle, unwilling to miss a single detail.
Aiden once again made a sweeping movement to dodge the piercing thrusts of several black spears, his mind rapidly analyzing the situation.
The Bone Stakes varied in length and thickness. Some were less than a meter long, acting like short spears to hinder footwork, while others were massive stone-like pillars over three meters tall, designed to block paths and restrict movement. Their shapes ranged widely from sharp points to rectangular blocks.
This continuous barrage of Bone Stakes was indeed a massive threat, but compared to it, Udaeus's direct attacks were ultimately the most lethal.
Every devastating palm strike shattered the mountain of swords directly below, leveling the hard ground instantly.
Even with the protection of his fiery plumage, taking a direct hit would be absolutely devastating.
Compared to the Goliath or the Amphisbaena he fought before, their strength and abilities were far inferior to the Udaeus before him.
It truly lived up to the title of Monster Rex.
Brushing past a mountain of swords that instantly buried his foothold and slicing through it in one fluid motion, Aiden shot a sharp glare at Udaeus's body.
On every segment of that massive black body—literally, above the first joints starting with the shoulders and elbows—shone a deep purple radiance identical to the massive Magic Stone in its chest.
For Udaeus, who possessed no skin or muscle tissue, the reason its bones could move at all stemmed entirely from the power of these joints.
Releasing vast amounts of magical energy, these joints allowed the enormous bones to move boundlessly and locked every part of its body together.
Just as the Spartoi also had nearly invisible, tiny particles of light, destroying these joints would cause the enemy's limbs to fall off, drastically reducing its strength.
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