Leo ripped through the air like a missile and—

BOOOOOOOM!

His legs slammed into solid earth like a sledgehammer. The gigantic eyes of the colossus rolled slightly upward as its massive head lurched to the side, almost as though its neck had snapped under the blow.

The earthen layer coating its skull shattered from the impact, rippling outward in a crushing wave that sent huge chunks of loosened earth tumbling down.

HOOOOOOOOGGGGGG!

The colossus unleashed a pained cry—so deep and powerful that the sound alone burst into a shockwave, no skill involved.

This was the strongest attack Leo had ever thrown. The twin solar beam tactic was new, experimental, but it worked perfectly. The price, though—

"Fucking hell… that shit almost cost me ten thousand mana units," he muttered through gritted teeth as his weirdly twisted ankle snapped back into place with a nauseating click.

The twin solar beams alone were nearly three thousand units each, the overloaded critical strike another two thousand, and then the aura weave—he'd overloaded it too just to keep pace with the attack.

Even with aura reinforcement, he'd taken damage. Nothing his regeneration and healing skill couldn't fix, but he could easily imagine his leg turning into a mangled mess if not for that overloaded aura.

Still, he wasn't unhappy. Leo could tell he was standing directly on the true skull of the beast, thick hide plastered over it. Redness spread across the surface from the distributed impact force, and he could feel the flesh beneath beginning to swell—like the colossus had actually suffered a concussion.

He immediately tried to tame it again. The rejection was still there, but so weak—shaken, unstable.

Then something inside the colossus snapped.

HOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!

It roared, the sound vibrating through the ground as the earth beneath Leo heaved. He stumbled as the entire terrain lifted under him.

He could only stare as the forty-odd meters of raised head rose even higher—until the towering giant straightened to nearly a hundred meters tall.

"This beast actually has such long legs!?"

Not four legs—six. As if four weren't nearly enough to hold its mountain-like body.

And then—

Hissssss—crackle—carlap—carlap—

The exposed patch where Leo stood began to heat up. Not a gentle warmth—skin-searing, skin-melting heat. Leo felt the burn lancing up his legs.

"Shit!"

He darted toward Nyxa and Niri—only to see Niri perched on Nyxa's back as she hopped from spot to spot, refusing to stay on the scorching ground for even a second.

He unsummoned Nyxa immediately. Niri crawled up to his shoulder, tiny vines gripping gently as she began casting [Nature's Heal] in steady intervals, easing the burn even as his half-baked regeneration struggled to keep up with the pain.

Within minutes, the entire colossus ignited with heat. Its eyes glowed molten orange; the hairline crevices across its body flushed red and gold; its legs burned from feet to knees as the earth's crust beneath melted into bubbling magma. Steam surged upward in thick waves as every bit of vegetation on its back shrivelled and burned.

*pic*

The colossus had turned into a walking furnace.

Then it opened its colossal mouth.

A heartbeat later, molten lava poured out—thick, glowing, and horrifyingly fast. The surrounding landscape vanished under a flood of magma until the beast stood like a lone island in a blazing lake—an island on lava lake.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! What the fuck!?" Leo shouted, eyes wide.

He was utterly baffled. Then Brant's useless talk, which was more like trying to get a topic to talk resurfaced in his mind—about how even the Emperor had made an ugly face the moment the colossus started using fire.

"But he didn't say anything about lava pools and lava rivers!" Leo snapped.

His feet sizzled—burning and healing and burning again—caught between agony and regeneration as the ground radiated unbearable heat.

"If I don't do something, I'm gonna be cooked alive." His gaze shot up to the colossus's head—specifically the crater he'd made earlier.

"Why hasn't it covered that? Don't tell me this lava crap is its last resort…" The more he thought about it, the more plausible—and terrifying—the idea became.

The colossus's primary food was the forest thriving on its back, since feeding on other beasts was not feasible in the long run. It couldn't sustain itself through eating alone; it used the plants' photosynthesis for energy, the plants gaining protection in return. But now, activating its fire skill had incinerated every last plant. Its main energy source was gone—possibly for years.

And the crater on its head remained uncovered. Meaning it had chosen to dump its last reserves of mana into killing the intruder—into drowning Leo in lava—risking its own survival.

Brant had said something similar had happened with the Emperor. The 6-star colossus only used its fire skill at the very end.

"This fucker is becoming my pet. Final." Leo growled, jaw set.

It had three skills Leo didn't possess—three skills that would be perfect with the useless [Golem Construct] sitting in his arsenal.

With determination hardening in his chest and Niri clinging to his shoulder, he launched toward the colossus's head. The beast shook violently, but its body was sluggish from the heat spike. It resisted his taming—barely.

It was tame it or burn himself to ash.

"Not much of a choice," he muttered.

He leapt high, activating [Critical Strike] along both arms.

In an instant, he was back at the crater. The exposed scalp was terribly swollen.

BAAAM!

His fist slammed down on the inflamed lump. The flesh wobbled under the impact—Leo winced reflexively, imagining just how unbelievably painful that must've been.

Sure enough—

HOOOOOONNGGG!!!

The colossus screamed from deep within its skull, shaking its massive head in helpless agony. But its size worked against it—the movement was ponderous, sluggish, almost comical.

Leo grinned sharply.

This beast was practically a sitting duck if its opponent was of equal—or higher—level.

The only thing was the difficult size and aura it radiated due to the sheer size. Leo had been fighting it continuously for 5 days and knew the only effective way for it to attack smaller things was if it crushed them under its feet or used the Earth skill.

That too failed when the smaller opponent was agile like Leo, Shyra or Nyxa. But the plus was agile being didn't pack the punch to hurt it.

But bad luck had it, it was Leo who was dealing with.

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