"Good, it is rare to see a weakling that doesn't back out of a fight." Grinning, the Aurax said as it took a battle-ready stance, emitting a strong aura that made the entire hall shudder in readiness for what was about to begin.

Then, without waiting for any verbal confirmation from Marlon, it disappeared from its location and sprinted toward him, its speed immense.

Fortunately, his agility stats had grown so much that he could follow its speed.

Both of them closed the distance with one another.

And clashed.

"Divine Punch!"

Marlon used one of his most powerful punches, his hands wrapped in an ethereal glow.

"Flashy," the Aurax let out casually, then swung its own fist forward.

BOOM!

The sound of the collision was thundering, sending shockwaves through the entire region.

Marlon gritted his teeth and punched again, this time with more ferocity and rage.

But the Aurax disregarded all his attacks with ease.

"Haha, you're not so weak. Be proud. Only you have gotten the privilege to be considered a plaything in a long time."

Laughing and teasing, the Aurax continued to counter all his attacks with ease.

The hall was filled with explosions and the impacts of their collisions.

Most of the torches embedded in the walls could not withstand the strength of the impacts and fell off.

Dozens of such torches now lay on the ground with their flames extinguished, plunging the place into an uneasy darkness that made one's skin creep with dread.

But not Marlon. His eclipse vision made it possible for him to see clearly.

The Aurax, on the other hand, was unaffected. Whether it was day or night, or a condition unknown to humans, it would still be able to fight.

It was the special privilege of its race that placed them higher than others, giving them the titles they now held.

The two of them brawled continuously as time speedily went by.

Unknowingly, they had spent more than three hours exchanging attacks.

At the moment, there were plenty of cracks on the walls and wide dents on the ground, indicating the intensity of their fight.

But even now, the two continued.

Marlon's clothes had been torn, and there were now plenty of injuries on his body.

Although none were major, pain surged each time he moved.

But he simply gritted his teeth and endured it.

The boss, on the other hand, was unscathed. Its pale white skin and black-gold horns remained glowing in the darkness.

There were tiny amounts of blood on its skin, but they all belonged to Marlon.

"Haha! Your tenacity is commendable!"

It roared with laughter as it grabbed Marlon's hands and swung him toward the wall.

With a thundering crash, a serious crack appeared as debris fell atop Marlon, who lay on the ground, using the spare few seconds to catch his breath, ignoring the troubling pain that shot through his body.

Since the Aurax was not concerned with attacking him, as it saw him as an inferior being, Marlon took the opportunity to consume a health potion and a power-boosting potion.

His strength surged and his body felt invigorated, but he knew it would only amount to little.

"Even if you consumed a dozen of those refined wastes, you would still not be able to beat me."

The Aurax walked closer to him.

But Marlon did not feel rushed to defend himself.

He simply stared at it with hatred and frustration while allowing the potion effects to stabilize.

The boss tilted its head in a mocking manner, able to tell what the human was trying to do.

But instead of rushing to kill him, it was impressed.

Its previous opponents would either run or fight, and a few would even kill themselves when pushed to the wall.

But this one seemed different. Unlike the others who gave up right away, this one held the confidence that he would win.

It was laughable, but admirable.

A tale it could not wait to share with its kin once this annoying test was over.

"Come on."

It signaled with its fingers in an intimidating manner for Marlon to approach.

"Stalling for time will not save you," it let out teasingly.

"I never said it would," Marlon responded in annoyance and launched himself out of the debris toward his opponent.

As he closed the short distance, he summoned five clones, and with a command, they all swarmed the Aurax.

"Your petty trick again," the boss scoffed, then added, "However, it seems these doppelgangers are stronger than the last ones. Impressive."

"Eat this!"

Marlon roared as he arrived in front of the Aurax and delivered punch after punch, each laced with divine power.

His clones joined in.

And as usual, the Aurax gave them no chance.

This time, it did not bother taking the clones out.

It seemed to enjoy playing with all of them at once.

Marlon allowed it to continue, and then, while it was occupied, he used his trump card.

The usual jet-black mist wrapped around his fist, and the same unnatural presence enveloped the wall.

Marlon swung the Punch of Death forward without ceremony.

"T-this—!"

The boss sensed the attack.

Its eyes widened, and for once, it displayed a hint of dread.

But it did not let that dread consume it as it used all its agility and launched itself backward to evade the strike.

"Shit!"

Marlon gritted his teeth in annoyance.

His trump card had been exhausted, and now he had to wait one hour before he could use it again.

Regardless of his failure to kill it with the god-like skill, a conclusion dawned on him.

The Aurax could sense death very well.

And they were scared of it.

He recalled the dreadful shriek of the mini-boss and how it struggled with all its might to escape.

And just now, even though it was brief, he had seen the same look in the boss's eyes.

"You!"

The boss barked suddenly, the playfulness in its voice gone.

It looked at Marlon with a stern expression.

"How did you possess such an ability?!"

"Heh, because I am me?"

"That is not it!" the boss barked.

"Other races should not possess such a skill, especially not weak ones like humans!"

"Tell me how you obtained it, and I might let you off easy."

A surge of confidence appeared in Marlon as he watched the reaction of the once-unfazed monster.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because you should!"

The boss was enraged. It was now on the receiving end of mockery.

Only it should be allowed to mock others, not a weakling.

It demanded answers more ferociously, but Marlon responded casually, angering it even further.

"You!"

The boss darted toward him, its eyes dark with killing intent.

"Clones!"

Marlon sent all his clones forward to collide with it.

"Die!"

But the boss slaughtered them easily and continued toward him.

Marlon's eyes narrowed, focusing on all his inspection and reflexive skills as he predicted the attack point and moved aside.

This only infuriated the Aurax further as it sent another strike without bothering to regain its balance.

A sharp gust of wind flew past him as he barely managed to evade.

He summoned two more clones and attacked together with them.

"Damn you!"

The boss regained its balance at once and released a powerful aura.

The abrupt release sent the three of them flying at immense speed.

The clones sustained ghastly injuries, losing massive amounts of stamina and health.

Marlon was fortunate enough to land properly and did not sustain any serious injuries.

He sneaked a glance at his aether reserve.

[ 2650 / 20000 ]

He only had enough to summon two more clones.

And he did.

He sent them forward with the weakened ones.

And while they distracted the boss, he consumed an aether potion.

Then he quickly returned to the battle.

The clashes continued, time speeding by as the hall grew more chaotic with each passing second.

One hour passed, and the cooldown of Punch of Death ended. Without wasting the opportunity, he activated it.

But the boss reacted and evaded it.

Nonetheless, it was a few seconds too slow this time and only evaded by luck.

He immediately noted the obvious.

The boss could only read his thoughts and predict his movements with extreme focus and composure.

Now that it was pushed to the wall and enraged, its mind-reading ability was no longer as effective.

Keeping this in mind, Marlon pressed forward and did not give it time to regain itself.

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