[A bloodthirsty extraordinary life form has been detected!]

  [The life form is expected to possess power equaling a peak Elemental Adept Magus.]

  Before Victor could fully process the sudden alert, a massive form hurtled toward him with terrifying speed. The impact landed with earth-shattering force, sending Victor spiraling through the air like a blazing comet.

  “Gah!” Blood spurted from his mouth as searing pain spread through his body. As an Elemental Adept Magus proficient in Cosmo element, Victor always had an intangible spatial shield surrounding him. For it to bypass his shield and inflict such damage meant its power was nothing short of monstrous.

  As Victor regained his balance mid-flight, his eyes widened. Emerging from the smoke was a monstrous, gorilla-like abomination—a horrendous fusion of sinewy fur, writhing tendrils, and malice. This must be the true form of the flesh monstrosity.

  “So, you’ve been hiding…” Victor muttered, wiping a streak of blood from his lip as his heartbeat quickened.

  The creature stood at least ten meters tall and was a typical magical beast in shape. Not only did it have more than ten fingers on each of its feet, but it also had tendril-like arms on each side. Its gaping maw revealed rows of razor-sharp fangs, the sight made even more horrifying by the long, undulating tongue that slithered from within. It was truly a terrifying abomination—an affront to nature itself.

  “GRRAAAAHHH!” the monster roared, momentarily numbing Victor’s senses. It quickly lashed out with its massive, writhing tentacles toward Victor.

  Instinctively, Victor teleported away with {Blink} and reappeared some distance away. The tentacles struck where Victor had been floating a split second ago, sending a shockwave that rippled through the air. The creature’s speed was unlike anything he had encountered before—it was fast, far too fast.

  This can’t go on! It’s faster, stronger, and more durable than I am. Fighting it in close combat is tantamount to suicide, Victor thought as he quickly flew away.

  But the beast didn’t let him escape so easily. It lunged at him again, closing the gap almost instantly. Victor conjured {Gap Hole}, intending to redirect its momentum, but the monstrosity twisted its massive body unnaturally mid-attack, evading the rift with uncanny reflex.

  “Shoot!” Victor cursed under his breath, forced into a confrontation. Casting {Warpblade}, he manifested an ethereal blade in his grasp. He deflected the incoming attack—the blade biting into the creature’s flesh and leaving a shallow wound. But for every strike he managed to parry, the beast unleashed a relentless flurry of blows, driving him into a desperate rhythm of defense.

  Fortunately, despite his disadvantage in strength, Victor’s smaller frame made it easier to evade and counterattack with quick, precise cuts to the monstrosity’s massive body. On top of that, the creature couldn’t fly or jump around. Thus, it wasn’t long until the monstrosity showed an opening.

  “Got you!” Victor drove the ethereal blade into the creature’s torso with all his strength. A brief surge of elation from hitting it square in its vitals—until he realized the truth. The monstrosity’s tentacle coiled around the blade, its grotesque grip locking him in place.

  A cold dread crept over him. It was at this moment that he knew… he fucked up.

  “Fuck!”

  With an almost effortless motion, the monstrosity hurled Victor into the air before slamming one of its massive tentacles into him with bone-crushing force. Victor was unable to stabilize himself this time and crashed into the ground, forming a crater beneath him as the impact sent tremors across the battlefield. Victor lay with limbs splayed as he tasted dirt and blood.

  “Ugh…” A groan escaped his lips as pain coursed through him. His ribs ached, and he could feel a bone fractured, his internal organs reeling from the devastating blow. If it wasn’t for the new enchanted Magus robe, his injuries would have been much worse.

  HP: 57%

  MP: 451/1044

  Not good! I need to think of something, or else…

  “Oh no, the headmaster is losing!”

  “Should we help him?”

  “Are you insane? I could barely track that thing’s movements! My spells won’t be able to hit it!”

  The hiding players exchanged anxious comments among themselves. They were unsure what to do as their pillar of support struggled against the abomination. After all, in most cutscenes, the protagonist would always win.

  These fools… Victor thought bitterly as he forced himself upright. They’re acolytes now. They should be able to help, even a little. But no—they were never able to read the atmosphere.

  The monstrosity landed a short distance away with an earth-shaking thump, looming over Victor. Clearly, it wasn’t taking him seriously and appeared to be playing with him.

  “Whoa! The boss monster’s phase two is so fierce and tough, like something straight out of Elden Ring!”

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  “Yeah, it’s brutal. If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were playing one of those hardcore, no-mercy games.”

  “Wait, is it just me, or is the boss looking at us?”

  “Uh-oh. It’s definitely looking at us!”

  The group froze in fear as the creature turned its attention toward them, its tendrils twitching with eerie intent. Before they could react, the monstrosity lashed out, snaring nearby players in its coiling appendages and dragging them toward its gaping maw.

  “Aaah! Help!”

  “No! I don’t want to die after making it this far! I can’t deal with the long resurrection cooldown!”

  “Aaargh!”

  “Help! I’m being eaten alive!”

  Their screams filled the air as the players were consumed one by one, as if it was munching snacks. Some players retaliated by shooting spells, but even though it was staying still, the attacks barely injured it at all. Any sort of injuries that the players inflicted were healing faster than what they inflicted.

  “What are they, idiots?” Victor muttered, rubbing his temples at their stupidity. Nevertheless, this gave him a moment of respite. At least they’re useful for something.

  Not wasting that precious reprieve, Victor took out several health potions and healing scrolls from his interspatial ring, downing bottle after bottle and tearing through every scroll he had. Thankfully, he had stocked up on Aqua Vitae Draughts before venturing into the Ghost Necromancer’s lair. These potions far surpassed standard health potions, rapidly mending his battered body and replenishing his mana.

  Once his injuries were nearly healed, he retrieved a small vial containing a shimmering, silver liquid—the Liquid Essence of the Lost Sea, the one he acquired from the free gacha. It could enhance his infused mana significantly and allow him to unleash power beyond his current rank, albeit with unpredictable side effects. I don’t think my remaining sigil would be enough to take it down; there’s no other choice but to use this.

  Steeling himself, Victor uncorked the vial and drank it in one gulp. Immediately, power surged through him as his infused mana went into overdrive, filling every fiber of his being with energy far beyond his normal limits. He clenched his fists as his aura intensified, manifesting in brilliant waves of Cosmo-elemental energy that rippled through the surroundings.

  The monstrosity, sensing the sudden spike in Victor’s power, abandoned its gruesome feast and lunged toward him with terrifying speed.

  Not allowing it to close the distance, Victor, amplified with the power of his Voidborn Orb, cast {Gap Hole}, summoning multiple spatial rifts around the abomination and creating a complex network that ensnared it.

  “This is your end!” Victor’s voice rang out as he infused the rifts with the amplified mana coursing through him.

  “{Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}! {Warpblade}!”

  One after another, countless ethereal blades materialized before him, hovering with a silent threat. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he sent them surging into the spatial rift before him.

  Those ethereal blades were amplified by the spatial rifts around the monstrosity as they came bursting out of them. They slashed from every angle before disappearing into another rift to repeat the assault. The battlefield was painted black with the thick, oozing ichor pouring from the monstrosity’s wounds as these blades gained more and more momentum.

  “GGRRRAAAAHHH!!” Despite the monstrosity howling in agony, Victor didn’t let up. He continued to manipulate the rifts, directing the blade’s attacks with pinpoint accuracy. For the moment, it seemed the tide of battle had finally turned in his favor.

  Yet, as time dragged on, Victor realized that the monstrosity’s regenerative power began to outpace even his ultimate attack. At first, it was subtle—a tendril twitching back together, a chunk of flesh writhing into place—but soon it became glaringly clear that this wasn’t going to be enough. Tendrils of black tissue snaked through the severed parts, binding them together with unnatural speed. Hateful layers of flesh fused over the wounds, undoing the relentless damage from the blades.

  “Ghh! The potion’s side effects are kicking in… What should I do now?” Desperation crept into Victor’s voice as a cloud of hopelessness loomed over him.

  Then, as if answering his plea, a streak of silver light leaped toward the monstrosity. With a dazzling flash, a massive claw of light tore through the abomination’s body, gouging deep into its twisted form.

  Victor’s eyes widened. The silver remnants of the attack lingered on the creature’s body, radiating a light that seemed to halt the monstrosity’s regeneration entirely.

  “Lumen!” he exclaimed, instantly recognizing the figure.

  This magical mount of his had been gone for over a month and now returned at this critical moment. Thinking back, her disappearance was indeed 100 percent linked to this flesh monstrosity, as evidenced by her light-infused attacks that proved to be its perfect counter.

  Almost as if to prove his hypothesis, the monstrosity growled at Lumen with dread. Victor noticed that it was “scared” of her.

  Regardless, Victor kept the rain of ethereal blades going, but it became apparent that the strain of maintaining the intricate spatial rifts was becoming unbearable. Gritting his teeth, he sent a mana transmission to Lumen. “Can you help me restrict it, girl? I want to kill this thing for good!”

  Victor had devised a creative method of ending the abomination in one decisive strike, but executing it required the monstrosity to be pinned down and for him to be in dangerously close proximity. After all, he would cast the spell {Gap Hole} in a way that he never did before.

  “Woof!” Lumen barked in acknowledgment, her silver fur shimmering with radiant energy. She darted toward the monstrosity with blinding speed, becoming a streak of light.

  The abomination sensed the impending threat and lashed out with its tendrils, but its movements were no longer as precise. The relentless barrage of ethereal blades continuously slashed through its grotesque form, leaving it weakened and sluggish. This opening allowed Lumen to weave through the flailing appendages with effortless grace, closing the distance in a flash.

  Victor ceased his spells just as Lumen leaped onto the creature’s back. Then, her moon mark glowed brilliantly, and particles of radiant energy gathered around her head, coalescing into a massive, spectral jaw lined with razor-sharp fangs. With a deafening snap, the spectral jaws clamped down on the monstrosity’s body, crushing flesh and bone with terrifying precision. The force of the bite sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield, shaking the ground beneath them.

  “GRAAAHHHH!!” The monstrosity thrashed wildly in a desperate attempt to shake her off, but it was futile. It couldn’t move, retaliate, or even regenerate anymore—truly a miserable state.

  Victor watched the scene with a smile, quickly closing the distance between himself and the creature. When he was just a few meters away, he activated the sigil embedded in his solar plexus, attempting to cast the strongest spell in his arsenal.

  “Die! {Gap Hole}!”