Chapter 175: The Final Blow
"THE FINAL BLOW!" the cyclops' eye turned completely dark, and its skin also changed color, becoming entirely red now that it was in its final state: the one right before it would die.
~FWISH~
Its silver chain became sturdier and made out of pure black obsidian, one simple swing resulting in the entirety of the walls around to be destroyed. read only on m-vl _e|mp,yr
…
[Skill: The Final Blow]
[Description: When its HP reach 0, this skill will automatically activate, granting the cyclops godly powers and a new form, but this will only last for one attack, afterward the cyclops will immediately pass out.]
[Note: The attack can be comparable to the one of a 'Calamity' level monster, so you better run!]
…
'Oh well… who cares when I have [Dodge Control]' Stark smirked as he got ready to avoid it, the cyclops grabbing the edge of its darkened chain and getting to swing it with all its might.
"DODGE CONTRO-" Stark immediately wanted to activate his skill.
But…
"EYE BLOCK!" the cyclops' eye and its now crimson pupil glew even brighter, then a beam of light hit Stark directly, putting some sort of lock symbol on top of his head.
"DODGE CONT-" and afterward, he couldn't use his skill anymore, "DODGE CONTR-"
"Huh…?" no matter how many times he tried to chant his skill, all that would appear before him was...
['Dodge Control' has been temporarily blocked by 'Eye Block'!]
'This…' Stark looked up to seeing that the cyclops was on the verge of striking with his chain, probably destroying the entire hallway with it as it was much more powerful than before.
'Is…' Stark looked toward his clone, it had already eliminated all the other monsters, and was looking at Stark with a huge smile on its face.
'A joke…' It seems like Stark's clone could still use [Dodge Control] as it wasn't affected by the skill.
"Right…?" Stark turned his head toward the cyclops again, and it was already beginning to swing down at intense speed.
~FWISH, VIOUM~
"TIME VISION," Stark instinctively activated the new perk of the [Focus] skill when the chain was right above his head, threatening to destroy him if it ever as much as grazed him.
[3 seconds of slow left!]
Of course, using [Time Vision] didn't completely stop time, it just slowed it down to around 0.25 of the actual time, which meant that he could still actively observe the chain slowly go down toward him.
But he just decided to use these three seconds to think…
[Dodge Control] was out of the question, although his clone was currently using it, probably since it could only lock a skill from ONE entity.
[Invincible Dodge] wasn't an option either since dodging would do nothing as the area effect would surely kill him, meaning that trying to dodge normally or with [Judicator's Wings] wouldn't do anything.
He had already used [The Purgatory Shadow] and none of his other equipments would help.
'Think…'
[1 second of 'Time Vision' left!]
'…!' suddenly, Stark's eyes widened as he finally saw it, and he almost wanted to hit his forehead for being so dumb, 'I know how to escape now!'
['Time Vision' stopped, time is resuming]
~BOOM~
The cyclops' chain hit the exact spot Stark was in, and the entire hallway ahead completely shattered by the sheer impact: the walls were destroyed, the floor collapsed, revealing the fourth sublevel under it, and everything was shaking, safe to say even those very far from Stark could sense it.
~FWISH~
Stark's clone on the other hand was able to easily dodge all the attack thanks to [Dodge Control], avoiding not only the chain, but also the destruction and debris.
And as for the original…
'…?' he opened his eyes, and found himself right behind the cyclops, unaffected by the attack as the damage wasn't that big from behind.
And as to how he did it… well it was obvious.
…
'I KNOW HOW NOW,' he peeked from behind the cyclops and noticed that the [Crimson Ball Transmission] TP point was still there, perfectly placed.
And so he just snapped his finger.
~SNAP, FWISH~
His body almost instantly disappeared, leaving a crimson smoke of his exact figure, and after a fraction of a second, he found himself at the spot the ball had hit after emerging from a massive crimson flash, resembling a portal.
[Teleportation successful]
The ball and circle symbol disappeared, but it had already saved Stark and done its job.
~BOOM~
That's when the chain hit, and all Stark did afterward was brace himself for impact, and he received 0 damage in the process.
And so after ending its attack, the cyclops turned back to its normal color, losing all of its power and aura, then falling to the ground with a large thud.
'…' Stark rolled his eyes, this had been way too much for a 'STRONG' level monster, he wished his clone actually helped too if it had eliminated the monsters already, but oh well.
…
[You have slain 'Chain Cyclops lv105', gained 572621 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Dungeon Lizard lvl103', gained 154039 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Dungeon Lizard lvl103', gained 152304 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Blood Mouth Bat lvl102', gained 145928 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Blood Mouth Bat lvl102', gained 143212 EXP!]
[You have slain 'Blood Mouth Bat lvl102', gained 144955 EXP!]
…
[+1,313,059 EXP!]
And so…
[Your level has increased to level 49, granting you two skill points and boost in stats]
[Experience: 612340/1195000]
'I guess that's done…' Stark sighed.
"=)" meanwhile, his clone immediately jumped over the giant hole that had formed, then made its way walking on the corpse of the cyclops before reaching Stark.
To be honest, he wasn't even that interested to know how it killed the rest of the monsters, because if it could do the job, and he got EXP from it, he had nothing to complain about.
'Well, I doubt I'm going to be able to find the key twice in a row, plus I would need to watch out more than before if I want to open the door…' Stark scratched his chin while thinking, he would indeed keep going to increase his level, but his chances of finding the key were slim now, this level was much darker and harder to navigate the fourth sublevel.
Well… except if [Chosen One] suddenly decided to activate again that is, but that was unlikely…
"=)" the [Superior Clone] had gained a will of its own, but it couldn't refute the words of the original, so it just waited around, analyzing their surroundings in case any more monsters showed up.
'Well, let's keep going,' Stark nodded and jumped over the giant hole using the cyclops body, going back would only result in meeting someone else = fighting to the death and taking unneeded risks after all.
Of course, if someone attacked, he wouldn't even hesitate for a single second to counter with everything he had, but it was rather peaceful on his side, so he didn't mind.
But of course… 'peace' wasn't something that everyone could get, because as soon as Stark took one step toward the next hall…
[A participant has been slain by another player!]
[Oh~ I'm loving it when the killing starts to become more interesting :)!]
'…' these two panels appeared before Stark, and he couldn't help but sigh.