At the sight of it, the Exsanguinator flinched. Never in his life had he seen anything so oppressive. His predator instinct commanded him to flee, but he was frozen, unable to move, drawn like a magnet to this thing.

"What is that?" he stammered.

He, who stood at the top of the food chain, felt helpless for the first time.

Johan cracked a small smile seeing the Exsanguinator lose his composure. But something else worried him: he didn't know how to control this black hole. That was the reason he had never used this technique again after receiving it.

"It's the end, Exsanguinator," Nox murmured, a foot resting on the Chimeric Cleaver, sword in hand, as he watched the scene from afar. "What a shame I didn't kill you with my own hands."

The Exsanguinator turned his head toward Nox, his gaze burning with hatred. But it was too late: the black hole had already engulfed him. He felt gravity pulling him toward the center, his body beginning to warp and shatter.

The Exsanguinator's scream was muffled by the black hole's noise, a sound that echoed through space and time. Then, he vanished, sucked into the immense void.

"Hahaha, we did it!" Johan smiled, panting. "He's definitely dead!"

As if sharing the same thought, everyone turned to Nox, hoping to lend him a hand, but what they saw shocked them. The Chimeric Cleaver's body lay lifeless on the ground.

Seeing the surprise in their eyes, Nox shouted to them, in a hoarse voice amplified by mana:

"He just passed away too!" pointing to the inanimate Chimeric Cleaver at his feet.

"What a monster!" Jack whispered.

Both monsters were dead. Upon confirmation of this news, everyone began to smile. Certainly, some of their comrades had lost their lives, but they had survived. They were simply relieved to have escaped this hell.

Normally, after defeating the bosses, the return crystal should have appeared to allow them to leave, but nothing happened. On his end, Nox figured that if he had truly managed to kill them, the system would have already sent him notifications.

Glancing at the system, he saw that the quest was still ongoing.

[ Quest: Kill the Exsanguinator and the Chimeric Cleaver

Rank: S+

Success: ???

Failure: Death

Status: Ongoing... ]

A feeling of unease came over him. He took another look at the Chimeric Cleaver to check: it looked very dead.

As for Johan and the rest of the team, their joy shattered. They were no longer so sure they would make it out alive.

"Could the Exsanguinator have survived the black hole?"

He looked at the black hole that threatened to soon destroy Johan's spatial isolation.

"No, even the Exsanguinator couldn't survive that. But what if… He could come back to life like the Crow…"

As this thought crossed Nox's mind, he felt a presence behind him. Turning around, he saw a familiar feminine figure he recognized instantly.

"Tilda?" Nox murmured, his face hardening.

...

At the sight of her, Nox rushed toward Tilda, his mind racing. He didn't understand what she was doing there, or how she had arrived. The last time he had seen her, she was… He chased the thought away, refusing to accept it.

"A monster? But who? The Exsanguinator? Is this also one of his skills?"

When he got close to her, he noticed her face was calm, almost serene. She looked at him with a strange expression, as if seeing him for the first time.

"Tilda?" Nox asked, his sword still in hand.

Tilda didn't answer. She simply stared at him, her eyes dark and unfathomable.

Nox felt a shiver run down his spine. Something was wrong. He raised his sword, ready to strike.

"Tilda, it's me, Nox," he said, trying to reason with her. "What are you doing here?"

Tilda didn't move. She continued to look at him, her face expressionless.

"Don't play dumb, you already figured out this isn't your sweetheart, didn't you?"

The voice that came out of Tilda's mouth chilled his blood, but Nox remained calm. It was the voice of the primordial Exsanguinator.

"How do you know Tilda? How could you take her appearance?" Nox growled, full of rage.

"Pfft, you have a short memory, you forgot you touched a certain tree when you entered the Dark Forest…"

"Damn, I should have been more careful," Nox sighed. "How did you survive the black hole?"

"Should I reveal my secrets to you?"

"No, I already know. Surely thanks to the power that constantly brought the Humanoid Crow back to life. I assume you stole it from him when you absorbed him?"

"What do you mean, his power? It's mine! I just lent him my strength, believing he would kill you, but that incompetent… Because of him, I'm reduced to this…"

"If you can regenerate, the Crow included, that would mean he too…"

"No, my mount is quite special. It's a shame, I would have loved to give him some of my power, but his condition makes it impossible."

"His magic resistance resists immortality."

"Oh! You know about it! But what is this theory of immortality? No one is immortal, even gods can be killed. Even the greatest powers have their limits. Although… Well, let's get to the point. Are you ready for the final round?" she said in a sensual voice.

Based on her words, Nox confirmed his hypothesis: if she was still alive, it was because of her regeneration. Could the Exsanguinator completely regenerate from nothing? What were his limits? Had he already reached them? But the real question nagging at his mind was: why had he morphed into Tilda? And why hadn't he attacked him like the monster he was?

All these unanswered questions made Nox nervous, but he refused to let his emotions cloud his judgment. He was facing an S+ rank monster after all. Whatever his form, he remained a dangerous threat to humanity.

"Regeneration, huh? What a terrifying power!"

"You guessed it yourself! That's right, even if reduced to shreds or blood, I can completely regenerate," she said, shaking her fingers. "Are you ready for the final scene?"

Nox's face hardened, and he adopted an attack stance, ready to strike.

"Haha, look at that face! You're not going to kill your wife, are you? How insensitive!"

"Nox, you want to kill us, me and our baby," she said, perfectly imitating Tilda.

Nox couldn't bring himself to kill a monster that had taken the appearance of his wife. Yet, it was the only way to close this cursed portal.

"Shut up!" he said in a strained voice.

The Exsanguinator slowly approached Nox, then sighed.

"What are you waiting for? Kill me quickly. Your teammate launched a skill he couldn't even handle. From what I see, that thing is going to escape him very soon. And if you don't kill me first to get out of here, you're all going to die."

"In any case, if you die, you'll come back to life, won't you?"

"Who knows?" the Exsanguinator said evasively.

The Exsanguinator's regeneration skill was so overpowered that he could rebuild himself from just one of his cells. But as powerful as it was, it had a limit, and he had already reached it. Every time the Humanoid Crow had come back to life, it was under the influence of his power.

But even if his regeneration had reached its limits and his death would be final soon, he wanted to play one last trick on Nox, try to completely break him before his last breath.

"You won't kill him? Do you care about the lives of your comrades?"

Nox hesitated for a moment, his sword trembling in his hand. Memories of Tilda flooded back to him.

"It's just a monster," he reassured himself. But unfortunately, this monster had perfectly copied Tilda.

With a growl, Nox struck. His sword came down on Tilda, but she didn't react. She didn't defend herself, didn't try to flee. She just stared at him, her eyes dark and unfathomable.

Nox felt an electric shock run through his body. He had just sliced Tilda. He had killed her. He…

Almost instinctively, seeing the body fall, Nox caught her on reflex, his eyes empty of all emotion.

"Assassin!"

These words, intended to break Nox's spirit, made his eyes widen.

But suddenly, the monster burst out laughing, a sound that shook the earth. "So fragile," he said with disdain.

Then, he exploded into a mass of blood, taking Nox with him…

A/N:

If the Exsanguinator took Tilda's appearance to approach Nox, it was because after his regeneration, he no longer had the strength to use his skills fully. He was already at his limit and knew he wouldn't survive, but he still wanted to ruin Nox. If he had appeared in monster form, Nox would have killed him instantly. That is why he took the appearance of his wife to make him drop his guard, in order to recover a little energy before his suicide attack.

....

Here we are at the end of this chapter.

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