Chapter 98: The Price Of Victory

Jet and Frey slumped onto the shattered asphalt, their exhausted bodies finally surrendering to the strain of the battle.

Neither spoke immediately. Instead, they leaned against the remains of a concrete barrier and watched chunks of flesh, broken armor and dark blood rain down across the ruined avenue.

The Ironmaw Devastator was dead.

For several seconds, the only sounds came from falling debris and the occasional wet splatter of monster remains striking the ground. Dust continued drifting through the air, partially obscuring the enormous crater left behind by Frey’s final attack.

Jet turned toward his friend.

Frey was already looking at him.

Their eyes met, and almost simultaneously, both broke into exhausted smiles.

"Holy shit, bro!" Frey exclaimed, throwing his head backward and laughing despite the pain spreading through his body. "Did you see that? I actually blew that ugly bastard into pieces!"

Jet chuckled, resting the Vorpal Blade across his lap. "I was standing right there, idiot. You nearly blew me away along with it."

Frey grinned proudly, although the expression quickly twisted into a grimace when he attempted to straighten his injured shoulder. "Come on, you have to admit that was fucking awesome. That thing was treating us like punching bags, and then one attack turned it into minced meat."

Jet couldn’t argue with that. Even he hadn’t expected Calamity Release to possess such overwhelming destructive power.

However, after witnessing the entire battle, he was beginning to understand exactly why the attack had been so devastating.

The Ironmaw Devastator was a Green-Class Dungeon Monster, possessing physical strength and destructive capabilities comparable to a 2-Star Awakener. Throughout their battle, Frey had repeatedly used Vritra’s Coil to intercept its attacks, restrain its movements and absorb portions of the tremendous force it generated.

Every successful interception had contributed energy to Calamity Reservoir. By the time the Reservoir reached one hundred percent, Frey had accumulated an enormous amount of compressed Calamity Mana.

But that didn’t mean his attack had suddenly become one hundred times stronger than the Devastator.

The percentage represented the Reservoir’s storage capacity, not a direct multiplication of the monster’s strength. Its actual destructive output depended on the quality and quantity of the energy accumulated, the limits of Vritra’s authority and how effectively Frey released that power.

And in this particular battle, the source of that accumulated energy had been a Green-Class monster. The Devastator had effectively spent the entire fight contributing to the attack that eventually destroyed it.

When Frey activated Total Discharge, he released everything stored inside his Reservoir simultaneously, channeling the accumulated Calamity Mana through both curved swords. Rather than distributing that power across numerous smaller attacks, he concentrated it into a single devastating strike.

Combined with the damage Jet had already inflicted on the creature’s armor and limbs, the result had been catastrophic.

The monster’s defenses simply couldn’t withstand the concentrated discharge.

Jet glanced toward the enormous crater and shook his head.

"Your Divine Rune is seriously ridiculous," Jet remarked, looking at Frey with an impressed expression. "The stronger the enemy’s attacks, the more dangerous your Reservoir becomes. As long as you survive long enough to fill it, you can potentially hit back with something much worse."

Frey’s grin widened at the compliment, but he soon shook his head and glanced at his trembling hands. "Yeah, but there’s a pretty big problem with that strategy, bro. I actually have to survive those attacks first. One mistake and I’m dead before the Reservoir even reaches fifty percent."

He wasn’t exaggerating.

Calamity Reservoir wasn’t an ability that made Frey invulnerable. Vritra’s Coil could intercept and compress compatible energy, but the restraints had limits, and any force that exceeded those limits could still injure him.

During the battle, Frey had repeatedly endured violent Mana backlash whenever the Devastator shattered his Coils. His shoulder was bruised, his arms ached, and even breathing too deeply caused an unpleasant pain beneath his ribs.

Furthermore, Total Discharge had completely emptied his Reservoir.

If another monster attacked them immediately, he wouldn’t be able to reproduce that overwhelming strike without accumulating more Calamity Mana.

Jet understood the danger perfectly.

"Then we’ll have to find a better way to use it," Jet said, leaning his head against the concrete barrier. "You can’t keep letting monsters beat the shit out of you every time you want to charge that thing."

Frey gave him a sideways glance and chuckled. "Funny coming from the guy who decided to wrestle a giant armored monster with four arms."

Jet smiled faintly. "At least I still have all four."

Frey looked toward the scattered remains of the Devastator before laughing again, although the movement immediately made him clutch his aching ribs.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the direction of the collapsed building where Mikhail had taken shelter.

The fat porter emerged through the broken entrance, his enormous backpack bouncing against his shoulders as he hurried toward them. His glasses sat crookedly on his face, and his expression initially showed considerable relief when he spotted both Raiders sitting upright.

However, that relief lasted only until he looked around.

His gaze moved across the crater, the shattered armor scattered along the road and the countless pieces of monster flesh lying among the rubble.

Mikhail stopped walking.

His expression slowly crumpled.

"Oh, no," Mikhail muttered, staring at a particularly large chunk of ruined armor. He hurried toward it, crouched down and examined the fractured material before releasing a miserable sigh. "No, no, no! This is terrible!"

Frey raised an eyebrow.

Mikhail picked up a broken armor plate, turned it over and stared at the damaged underside with an expression resembling someone who had just discovered his entire savings had disappeared.

"A Green-Class monster!" Mikhail lamented, holding the ruined plate in both hands. "Do you two have any idea how valuable the materials from a Green-Class monster are? Its armor, claws, horns, teeth, glands! We could’ve made a fortune from an intact specimen!"

He looked around again, growing increasingly distressed as he realized just how thoroughly the Devastator had been destroyed.

"And look at this!" Mikhail continued, gesturing helplessly toward the scattered remains. "The armor is shattered, the internal organs are completely ruined, and I can’t even find a single intact horn! How am I supposed to harvest anything from this?!"

Frey stared at him in disbelief.

Then his expression darkened.

"Oi, Fatty!" Frey snapped, pointing one curved sword toward the porter. "We were practically dying over here, and all you can fucking think about is money?!"

Mikhail turned toward him, looking equally offended. "Of course I’m thinking about money! You’re both alive, aren’t you? I’m happy about that! But being happy you’re alive doesn’t mean I can’t mourn the destruction of perfectly valuable materials!"

Frey’s mouth fell open.

Jet lowered his head, struggling to suppress his laughter.

Mikhail, apparently encouraged by the fact that neither Raider was seriously injured, continued defending himself with increasing enthusiasm.

"Besides, do you know how much professional harvesters charge for processing Green-Class monsters?" Mikhail demanded, adjusting his glasses. "I could’ve collected enough valuable materials to cover several days of expenses! Instead, you turned the entire monster into something that looks like it went through an industrial meat grinder!"

Frey stared at him for several seconds before letting out an incredulous laugh.

"You’re unbelievable, Fatty!" Frey exclaimed, shaking his head. "Next time, why don’t you walk up to the monster and politely ask it to stop attacking while you remove its organs?"

Mikhail folded his arms across his chest and snorted. "If monsters were capable of negotiating, I’d probably make more money than both of you combined."

That finally broke Jet’s composure.

He burst into laughter, drawing an irritated glance from Frey and a satisfied smile from Mikhail.

After a moment, Jet managed to calm himself and gestured toward the ruined street.

"Don’t worry, Mikhail," Jet said, still smiling. "There’s another Green-Class monster waiting for us somewhere inside this Dungeon. You’ll have another chance to harvest one."

Mikhail’s expression brightened immediately.

Then the meaning of Jet’s words sank in.

His smile disappeared.

Frey stopped laughing.

For several seconds, none of them spoke.

They had just fought a Green-Class Dungeon Monster, and despite possessing powerful Divine Runes, both Jet and Frey had been pushed considerably harder than during their previous encounters.

The battle had required their combined efforts, repeated restraints from Vritra’s Coil and a fully charged Calamity Reservoir to secure victory.

And the actual Dungeon Boss was still waiting.

Another Green-Class monster.

Another opponent comparable to a 2-Star Awakener.

Worse, they had no information about what kind of creature the Boss might be or what abilities it possessed.

Frey leaned backward against the concrete barrier and smiled bitterly.

"Fuck me," Frey muttered, rubbing his forehead with one hand. "I almost forgot about that. We just barely survived one of those bastards, and now you’re telling me there’s another one waiting for us?"

Jet nodded slowly, his earlier amusement fading. "And we can’t assume it’ll be anything like the Devastator. The Boss could have completely different abilities."

Mikhail looked between them before quietly setting the broken armor plate aside.

For once, he had nothing to say about money.

The three remained where they were, allowing the silence to settle around them while they recovered from the battle.

Jet eventually retrieved a bottle of water from his supplies and passed it to Frey before drinking from another. Both needed time to restore their depleted Mana, particularly Frey, whose repeated use of Vritra’s Coil had placed considerable strain on his reserves.

Mikhail took advantage of the break to examine the surrounding remains more carefully. Although most of the Devastator’s valuable materials had been destroyed, he eventually recovered several usable fragments of armored plating and a handful of intact teeth.

He packed them away without complaining further.

More than half an hour passed.

During that time, Jet and Frey rested, treated their minor injuries and gradually replenished their Mana. Jet also practiced briefly manifesting and dismissing his Asura Arms, checking whether the strain from the prolonged battle had affected his control.

Fortunately, the additional limbs responded normally.

His coordination still required improvement, especially when transferring the Vorpal Blade between different hands, but the experience gained during the battle had given him a much better understanding of how to fight with them.

Frey, meanwhile, confirmed that his Calamity Reservoir had returned to zero after Total Discharge. His Mana had recovered sufficiently to continue fighting, although the bruises covering his body would take longer to heal.

Eventually, Jet rose to his feet and stretched his shoulders.

"All right," Jet said, picking up the Vorpal Blade. "We’ve rested long enough. Let’s keep moving."

Frey pushed himself upright with a groan before retrieving his curved swords. "Yeah, yeah. Just give me a second. My entire body’s still complaining about that oversized bastard."

Mikhail secured the straps of his enormous backpack and approached them, his expression returning to its usual cheerful confidence.

"Ready whenever you are," Mikhail announced, adjusting his glasses. "Although I’d appreciate it if the next Green-Class monster remained in one piece."

Frey turned toward him with an exhausted glare. "Fatty, I swear to God..."

Jet laughed and started walking before their argument could continue.

With Frey moving beside him and Mikhail following several meters behind, the three resumed their journey deeper into the ruined city.