Most of the bull minions were dead by now. At the same time, Ria had lost her crown due to the death of 43 players.

Every place Zyrus saw was filled with blood and corpses. Neither the players nor the monsters would turn into fragments of light as long as the raid was on. It was a harrowing sight for those with softer hearts.

‘They’re doing better than I’d thought,’

Zyrus’s yellow eyes shifted towards the area where a group of goblin riders were encircling a herd of bulls. No matter how the monsters charged and raged on, the only fate that awaited them was having their eyeballs pierced by the arrows.

The blinded bulls made the fight easier. They mutilated others of the herd with their horns and caused even more ruckus, allowing the group of goblin riders to get away from the sight.

This was the reason why they were unscathed in both of the battles. With their long-range attacks they managed to kill a lot of enemies without being harmed in the slightest. Of course, it was only possible with their teamwork with the human players.

Without the shield warriors and swordsmen in the way, the bisons would have flattened the goblins into meat paste.

Zyrus only needed a glance to figure out the overall situation. In the best-case scenario, he had thought that more than 300 players would survive from the original ~450 players.

Although a lot of them died against the ogre, the remaining ones became stronger as well. Thus, his prediction wasn't off by much.

“Don’t engage anymore, run as far as you can. All leaders, go all out to finish the minions.”

“Roger that,” Shi kun gave a spirited shout and used the most powerful skill he had, Wrathful Reckoning.

Except for two, all of the remaining bisons were slowed down to a crawl. The players rained down arrows upon them even as they retreated.

Flicker

That wasn’t all.

Jacob, who hadn’t used a single bit of his mana, also joined the fight. Fifty bucket-sized fireballs fell on top of the surviving minions. The air sizzled as all of the moisture was turned into white hot steam.

Even Zyrus was forced to squint his eyes at this. The Instantaneous power of this move was on the same level as his poison breath. And since it didn’t target allies and enemies alike, this was more practical than his attack.

‘Everything’s in place…,’

Zyrus smiled faintly and roused his mana as well. All of his preparations were for this moment.

He knew about Tauranox’s attack pattern.

The field boss only used physical strength in the first phase, and it would only start the final phase after its HP was reduced to 50%. Before that though, it would use the shining horn’s power and charge around the battlefield.

In an ‘Invincible’ state at that.

This was the reason why he took so many blows to crack its horn. Thanks to that, Tauranox wasn’t moving around in the invincible state.

HUFFHUFF*

But its horn wasn’t the only organ filled with power. White mist blew out from Tauranox’s nostrils as the monster slammed down with its hooves.

The ground cracked like a mirror and lava flowed out from within. Zyrus’s actions had triggered a different attack pattern.

Boom

The raging monster charged at Zyrus with a speed that’d put a cheetah to shame. In less than a second it was already in front of Zyrus.

BOOM

‘That was close!’

Zyrus rolled on the ground to barely dodge the attack. His scales fell off due to high heat of lava, but there was no time to wince in pain. Tauranox’s rush was similar to the Verdara beetles. Both charged in a straight line, so its weakness was apparent.

[Arcane Lance]

Blue spears flickered around him as Zyrus activated the skill. He had no intention of clashing head-on this time.

“Charge,”

Whoosh

10 lances vanished into thin air with a flick of his finger, and Tauranox’s hide was penetrated almost instantaneously. The monster was now bleeding from all sides.

“Mooo”

Zyrus rolled away and started circling Tauranox once again. Even without the system's assistance, he knew that he could only use the skill three more times. Arcane Lance was different compared to Eye of Annihilation and Basics of Sojutsu.

There was a vast gulf of difference between a supportive and an offensive skill. The might of arcane lance was clear to see as it had dealt a whopping 1000 damage. The main reason behind this was Tauranox’s lacking magical resistance.

It had thick hide, but it was far from being able to block the lances made by Zyrus’s mana.

-20,-35,-10,-50….

Bang

Zyrus once again dodged the monster's hooves by a hair's breadth. Just the heat coming from its feet had reduced his HP to less than 1000.

Tauranox wasn’t the only one taking continuous damage. Although Zyrus had inflicted ‘Bleed’ on the enemy, he was also inflicted by ‘Burn’ from the lava.

By charging left and right Tauranox was converting the entire battlefield into a field of scorching lava. If not for the strong scales of Sylvarix, Zyrus’s feet would have been melted to his bones.

[Arcane Lance]

Whissh

-1000

ROOOAR

Zyrus managed to strike the monster's head, but it also made it go wild. On its head the sigils of Bleed and Fury were stacked to 9 times.

Tauranox no longer resembled a bison at this point. Its broken horns were set ablaze in crimson fire. With red eyes filled with wrath, it looked more like a demon from hell than an herbivore.

‘Damn, I wish I could transform like these fuckers one day,’

Zyrus grumbled as he was chased around like a dog. Every hit from Tauranox was capable of dealing 1000 damage, enough to kill him for good. However, it was also this life threating battle that made him accustomed to his body. Every part of his body was functioning like a highly efficient machine, not wasting a single ounce of energy.

[Eye of Annihilation]

He activated the skill in order to dodge the monster’s attacks. With his enhanced eyesight, Zyrus finally managed to catch a breath of relief and looked back at the monster.

“What the-”

What he saw gave a great shock to Zyrus. Of course, he didn’t stop running even then.

‘Albeit very faint, it has a source of origin as well!’

It was a preposterous situation. To think that a field boss in the first ring had reached a realm that he was unable to attain in his previous life.

‘Maybe it’s not as weak as everyone imagines it to be…’

With the increase in his intelligence stat that came with the Eye of Annihilation, Zyrus was able to mull over a lot of things while running for his life.

Since boss monsters never died in the actual sense, the lump of power he was seeing could be the core that maintained their existence.

[Arcane Lance]

-1000

Zyrus was able to attack once again after 30 seconds had passed. Just like the first transformation that gave Tauranox ‘Invincible’ status, its second transformation which triggered at less than 50% HP gave it the ability to charge without being hindered.

Even a mountain would crumble due to its effect.

Instead of hitting its front, Zyrus decided to attack the sides of the monster once again. He was no longer interested in the fight after seeing the source of origin.

It was much more fruitful to observe the core that maintained its existence. Compared to Nidraxis, Tauranox had a very crude core.

Thanks to that, he was able to learn a lot by observing its mobilization of power.

‘It’s amazing,’ Zyrus’s spirits lifted up as he analyzed the lump of energy in the monster's head. This was an unexpected yet precious opportunity. He knew what he had to do in order to make the most of it.

[You have consumed 1 EP on Eye of Annihilation]

[You have consumed 1 EP on Eye of Annihilation]

[You have consumed 1 EP on Eye of Annihilation]

Zyrus felt an intoxicating sensation as he used three EP at once. It was a risky move, but it was worth it. With his heightened intelligence all he needed was a fleeting moment to read the upgraded skill.

[Eye of Annihilation (B) |Stage 3|: Bring forth the oblivion as your gaze births ruin. This is a fundamental form of a high-ranking skill. You are able to unleash a trace of its true power]

[Usage: You can figure out the opponent’s absolute weakness by using the skill]

Effects: Crit rate +13%, Intelligence +8, Enhances Eyesight, Your eyes can see the unseen

CD: 81 sec

 

Zyrus had expected that a skill like this would require nine stages to rank up. In cases like these new effects should be unlocked at every third stage, and he was indeed correct.

‘Your eyes can see the unseen’ was the effect he needed the most. Despite the blurry vision he was now able to perceive the core that held the entirety of Tauranox’s existence.

Not just this 'Tauranox', but every version of 'Tauranox' that existed in the past and future. Zyrus channeled the concept of collapse and aimed it at its core.

[Arcane Lance]

Swoosh

-3?#?

Muuuu

An unbelievable damage was dealt to Tauranox. The wild plains looked like a field of purgatory as its blood evaporated with lava, but even in its battered state, the core of its existence remained the same.

It showed Zyrus the essence of his enemy, along with its past and future. He found the answer to one of his questions, but what followed was a sense of melancholy rather than joy.

Thrust

-357

Zyrus didn’t have the mood to observe any longer after probing its core. He was able to see the path Tauranox had walked upon. From a fledgling calf to an apocalyptic beast that laid waste to countless kingdoms, he had witnessed its journey in that instant.

Why was a powerful existence reduced to such a pitiful state?

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