Chapter 167: I Am Dead

"Caught You!!!"

​Anika threw her clawed hand forward, the sheer force of her swipe tearing the air into a vacuum. But before she could grab Asher, he vanished.

​{Flash - Activated.}

​"....?!"

​Anika paused midair, her momentum halting instantly against the laws of physics, and looked five hundred meters below as Asher reappeared in a burst of displaced shadows.

​"He can also teleport?" She moved her gaze towards the dark castle looming in the center of the subterranean wasteland, a small frown appearing on her face.

​She knew what resided in that castle. In the strict, absolute hierarchy of an SSS-RANK, trespassing on another sovereign’s territory was an act of declaration. But would she risk everything for it?

​’Damn! I can’t leave this delicious snack alone! Even if I have to offend that thing, I will go all out!!’

​Her ravenous hunger overpowering her caution, she shot downward again like a crimson meteor.

___

​Below, guarding the perimeter of the ominous black fortress, the ten SSS-Rank Monsters sensed the movements above them, and raised their heads to the storm sky, seeing Anika moving towards them. These were apex predators—massive, city-destroying calamities in their own right.

​BAM!!!

​Something smashed right into the ground, drawing their attention to the spot, but no matter how they looked, the spot was empty.

​"....?!"

​Asher silently moved past the gigantic python, whose scales radiated a suffocating toxic aura, then the Ape, whose muscular density warped the air around it, making sure not to reveal himself. His stealth skills were pushed to their absolute limits; a single stray heartbeat would mean instant death.

​Seeing no one, the ten SSS-Rank Monsters turned their attention back to Anika, and opened all their colossal mouths wide.

​Asher stopped at the huge metal gate of the castle, looking over his shoulder at the monsters, staring at the condensed energy balls appearing in each of their mouths. The spirit energy in the air screamed as ten distinct elemental domains synchronized.

​’Ten SSS-Rank Monsters... Don’t tell me she can defeat all these Bosses.’ He thought, his heart hammering against his ribs.

​BOOOOM!! X10

​The whole ten attacks shot towards Anika, who stood casually mid-flight, as the attacks smashed right into her, rising a massive, apocalyptic cloud of smoke that momentarily blotted out the storm overhead.

​"How annoying."

​"....?!"

​Asher and the ten Bosses were stunned, staring as the smoke cleared, revealing long, jagged bone spikes protruding all over Anika’s red body. She hadn’t even raised a hand to defend herself; her spikes durability was simply that absurd.

​"You fools aren’t my target, but now, I will kill each one of you!!"

​CRACK!!

​All the spikes separated from her body with a sickening snap, and started spinning with insane speed, forming long, drilling spears of compressed demonic energy.

​"Die!"

​WHOOSH!!!!

​The spear spikes shot downward like a rain of death, moving faster than sound, smashing right into the ten SSS-Rank Monsters, killing them with a single hit.

​’My Goodness!! She can actually one-shot ten SSS-Rank Bosses?!’ Asher thought in pure, unadulterated shock, as the whole ten monsters collapsed on the ground, dead. Their impenetrable hides and massive health pools had been bypassed as if they were made of wet tissue paper.

​He couldn’t even fight against three at once, and here Anika was, casually one-shotting ten.

​"Now, it’s your turn snack! I apologize, monsters don’t taste good." She stretched her hand towards him, as a massive new spike appeared above her palm.

​BOOM!!

​It shot towards Asher, heading for the instant kill.

​"Damn!!!"

​Asher quickly turned towards the heavy, ancient door, and with all his strength, he kicked it hard, breaking the rusted seals and running straight inside without a care of what was waiting. The fear of the known threat far outweighed the dread of the unknown.

​He leaped to the side, as the spike smashed heavily on the ground where he had just stood, creating massive fault-line cracks that rippled through the courtyard.

​"You are a sneaky one, snack."

​Still on the ground, Asher turned around, staring at Anika, who had gracefully landed before the door. With a confident, sadistic grin, she stepped forward, entering the grand hall.

​BAM!

​An invisible, crushing force smashed right into the two of them. They both grimaced in pain, grabbing their chests. This wasn’t a physical attack; it was absolute domain suppression, an aura so impossibly dense it felt like the gravity of a collapsing star.

​"What is happening?!" Asher gritted his teeth, feeling like a massive, invisible hand was squeezing his heart from the inside, threatening to burst his veins.

​"You." Anika muttered, her previous arrogance vanishing completely, looking up at the dark space with wide eyes.

​Hearing her words, Asher snapped his head towards the dark hall.

​SWHOOSH!

​The ancient torches all over the wall finally lit up in sequential bursts of cold blue fire, illuminating the whole cavernous space. And sitting on the throne, elevated twenty meters tall above the ground, was a...

​"Human?" Asher was stunned.

​The humanoid figure on the throne slowly opened his glowing red eyes, staring straight at Anika. Then he turned his chilling gaze to Asher... His long white hair flowed down his back like a waterfall of starlight, and his immaculate white outfit almost seemed to absorb the light around it, creating a void-like silhouette.

​Asher moved his gaze around. On both sides of the walls were huge iron doors, all sealed shut, likely holding ancient horrors, and beside each door were old ancient torches. The architecture wasn’t demonic; it felt strangely divine, yet corrupted.

​He snapped his head back to the young man. What shocked him to the core was the frantic, blood-red warning the system was suddenly flashing across his retina.

​{Warning Master.}

{Warning Master.}

{Master Encountered A God’s Chosen.}

{Warning Master.}

{System Advise Master to run.}

​Asher blinked. Even when Anika—an Ex-Rank Elite Demon General—showed up, the system didn’t advise him to run away. But now... It was actively telling him his survival rate was absolute zero.

​He had brought Anika here so she could fight the dungeon Boss, utilizing a calculated monster-infighting strategy, but it seemed this Boss was on a completely different level of existence.

​Even if Anika got killed here, what about him?

​’Are all SSS-Rank Dungeons like this?!! No way! I won’t die. Not yet.’ He forced himself back to his feet, his knees trembling under the pressure, standing at the side, staring at Anika at the door, and the man on the throne.

​’At least I should know what I am facing.’ He thought, desperately bringing up the Awakened system.

​[Profile View Error.]

Asher narrowed his gaze, bypassing the Awakened System and forcing his unique system to provide the data:

​{Name: Darion.}

​{Titles: Ancient God’s Chosen. Great Hand. Undefeatable. Immunity Body. Sovereign Of Shape Shifter. Merciless. Slaughterer. One strike.}

​{Rank: Ex-Rank.}

​{Species: Superior Human.}

​{Class: Special Boss.}

​{Agility: 5,000,000.}

​{Demonic Energy: 20,000,000.}

​{Defense: 50,000,000.}

​{Health Points: 300,000,000.}

​{Physical Attack: 10,000,000.}

​{Magical Attack: 10,000,000.}

​{Skills: N/A.}

​Asher stared at the astronomical numbers—a defense so high even his Mythic-Tier weapons would likely shatter, and an attack power that could erase cities in a single motion.

​’I am Dead.’