Chapter 102: Finally!!!!

Chapter 99

A sound escaped Orion’s mouth.

At first, the Webfiend Lord thought it was a cry of pain, but something about the sound felt wrong. It didn’t resemble the desperate cry of someone suffering from unbearable agony, nor did it carry any hint of panic or despair. Instead, it sounded strangely light, almost amused.

The Webfiend Lord stiffened.

Wait... was that a laugh?

No, not quite. It was too restrained to be a proper laugh, yet too close to one to be mistaken for anything else. A low, quiet chuckle escaped Orion’s mouth as he slowly raised his head.

The Webfiend Lord stared at him, and despite all its confidence and the enormous gap in power it believed now existed between them, the monster did something it could scarcely believe itself capable of doing.

It took a step backward.

"What the..."

The words escaped its mouth before it could stop them.

This was not how things were supposed to go.

The human should have been terrified. He should have been trembling beneath the pressure of the newly evolved Grade S monster standing before him, drowning in regret over the foolish decision to challenge an opponent he could never hope to defeat. At the very least, he should have shown some sign of understanding the danger he was in.

But he did none of those things.

Orion wasn’t breaking down in terror, succumbing to dread, or displaying even the slightest trace of desperation. Instead, those rainbow-coloured eyes of his held an expression the Webfiend Lord couldn’t understand.

They were the eyes of someone who had finally found something he had been searching for over a very long time.

Orion’s rainbow-coloured eyes shone brightly, sparkling with an emotion that could only be described as unbridled excitement. He wasn’t looking at an opponent capable of killing him, nor did he appear to be someone caught in a desperate situation.

He looked like someone who had finally discovered the very thing he had been longing for.

Finally...

"Finally," Orion muttered beneath his breath, his voice calm.

Ever since he had reawakened and discovered just how powerful he had become, an unbearable itch had been growing within him.

It wasn’t a physical itch but something deeper, a persistent, maddening sensation that seemed to exist within his very being. No matter what he did, it refused to disappear, constantly reminding him that something was missing.

He could feel it whenever he fought and whenever he tested his abilities, but the sensation became most intense when he faced an opponent who failed to meet the expectations he had unknowingly developed after experiencing his newfound strength.

The itch had been there ever since his reawakening, and to scratch it, Orion needed to do something he had always been itching to do.

He needed to fight someone truly strong.

Someone capable of pushing him beyond his current limits, forcing him to stop holding back and finally reveal what he was truly capable of.

Unfortunately, most of the Webfiends he had fought and slain since the dungeon break began had failed to satisfy that desire. They were simply too weak to give him the kind of battle he wanted.

Even when they grew stronger, they could barely force him to exert himself. He could slaughter them in large numbers, experiment with his abilities, and improve his control over his powers, but none of those battles had truly scratched that unbearable itch.

Then he encountered the Webfiend Lord.

For the first time, Orion had found an opponent capable of providing a little more resistance. Yet even during their earlier battle, the itch had remained, growing more unbearable with every passing second.

That was when his Origin Eyes caught sight of something interesting.

The monster was close to reaching the next grade.

Orion had recognized the signs: the changes in its aura, the way its body continued adapting, and the fluctuations in its energy. There were subtle but unmistakable indications that its existence was approaching a new boundary.

The Webfiend Lord was on the verge of evolving.

And if it succeeded in reaching that next level...

It would become far, far, far more powerful.

For most warriors, that would have been the worst possible outcome. They would have done everything within their power to stop the monster from evolving, attacking relentlessly in a desperate attempt to kill it before it could cross the boundary separating it from a much more powerful existence.

Even the most reckless warriors would understand the danger.

Allowing a dungeon boss to evolve into a higher grade in the middle of a battle was practically an invitation to disaster.

But Orion was different.

To him, the possibility of the Webfiend Lord evolving wasn’t a disaster. It was an opportunity to finally find an opponent capable of satisfying the desire that had been gnawing at him ever since his reawakening, someone who could make his blood pump faster at the very thought of fighting.

And what had he done after realizing that the dungeon boss was close to evolving into the next grade?

He had done something most warriors would never even dream of doing, something that even the insane among them would hesitate to attempt.

He had helped it.

Orion had deliberately helped the dungeon boss evolve.

While everyone else would have considered the monster’s breakthrough a catastrophe, he had viewed it as a chance to obtain the opponent he wanted. He had been looking for a stronger enemy, so he had helped create one.

And now...

The evolution was complete.

The Webfiend Lord had finally entered Grade S.

The opponent standing before Orion was no longer the same monster he had fought earlier. Its power had undergone a tremendous transformation, and the pressure radiating from its body was proof of just how much stronger it had become.

At long last, Orion could finally scratch that unbearable itch.

He could finally let loose.

"Now I can finally let loose," Orion said calmly.

His rainbow-coloured eyes remained fixed on the Webfiend Lord, and the smile on his face grew slightly wider.

"You’re strong enough now that you won’t die too quickly."

He spoke without the slightest hint of malice, and that was what made his words so disturbing.

Orion wasn’t threatening the monster out of anger, nor was he trying to provoke it with insults or intimidate it through empty bravado. He was simply stating what he believed to be a fact.

The Webfiend Lord took another step backward despite itself.

Its expression darkened.

It was clearly the stronger one here. It had already crossed into Grade S, while the human before it had undergone no comparable evolution. The difference in their auras alone should have made the situation obvious.

So why?

Why was it feeling this way?

Why was its body reacting with an instinctive urge to flee? And why did every part of its existence seem to be warning it that the human standing before it was far more dangerous than he appeared?

The Webfiend Lord’s fingers twitched as its many eyes remained fixed on Orion, trying to understand the source of the inexplicable unease crawling through its body.

It had become stronger, much stronger. After pursuing the power of Grade S for countless years, it had finally obtained what it wanted.

And yet, for some reason, the sight of that white-haired human made it feel as though it had walked straight into a trap.

The Webfiend Lord was about to discover the answer to its questions.

The webstrings that had been trying to slice Orion apart began to creak.

At first, the sound was faint, but it quickly grew louder as the strands tightened around him, struggling to keep him in place. Their sharpened edges dug deeper into his body as they attempted to overcome the invisible force resisting them.

However, the force pushing against the webs continued to increase.

More and more.

The webstrings trembled violently, their surfaces stretching beneath the mounting pressure until they could barely maintain their hold.

The Webfiend Lord’s expression changed.

Creak!

Snap!

Snap!

One strand broke, followed by another and then another. The countless webstrings binding Orion began snapping apart, one after another, their broken pieces falling to the ground like discarded threads.

The force holding him in place had finally overwhelmed the restraints.

Within moments, the deadly cocoon was completely destroyed, leaving Orion standing free.

His body still bore the wounds inflicted by the webstrings, and blood stained parts of his white clothing. Yet his rainbow-coloured eyes never left the Webfiend Lord as he slowly straightened his back.

Then, the blood surrounding his body began to disappear.

The crimson stains faded from his clothes, and the blood on his skin vanished along with them, restoring his pristine appearance as though he had never been injured in the first place.

In the blink of an eye, the white-haired figure standing before the Webfiend Lord looked exactly as he had before being restrained.

Orion raised his hands, and two daggers appeared in them.

The blue dagger materialized in one hand, while the red dagger appeared in the other. Their blades gleamed with distinct colours, radiating an aura that seemed almost eager to be unleashed.

Orion glanced at the Webfiend Lord.

"Get ready," he said calmly.

Although his expression remained composed, he was barely keeping himself in check. The excitement surging through his body was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

For the first time since his reawakening, he was about to face an opponent that had reached a level of power worthy of his attention, someone who might finally force him to push beyond the limits he had been testing until now.

Orion’s lips curved into a faint smile.

We’re about to have the greatest fun ever.

After that thought, another dagger appeared.

The white dagger materialized between his teeth, its handle held firmly in place as he prepared to wield all three blades.

The blue dagger in one hand, the red dagger in the other, and the white dagger clenched between his teeth.

It was an unusual sight, one that might have seemed ridiculous if not for the aura gathering around him.

Until now, Orion had deliberately restrained his telekinesis. He had done so to prevent the battle from ending too quickly, holding back the full extent of his ability so he could continue testing his other powers and experience a more satisfying fight.

Even when he had faced the Webfiend Lord earlier, he had continued suppressing his telekinesis to avoid overwhelming the monster before it could provide him with the resistance he wanted.

But now...

There was no longer any reason to hold back.

The Webfiend Lord had evolved and reached Grade S, becoming the powerful opponent Orion had been waiting for. He had helped the monster reach this point precisely because he wanted to experience a battle against an enemy strong enough to challenge him.

And now that the opportunity had finally arrived, he had decided to stop restraining himself.

Just as he had said, he could finally let loose.

The next instant, Orion released the full force of his telekinesis.

An invisible pressure erupted from his body, spreading outward in powerful waves. The surrounding air trembled, and the ground beneath his feet groaned as the sheer force of his power began affecting everything around him.

The atmosphere changed.

The Webfiend Lord’s expression underwent a drastic transformation.