Path to Transcendence

Chapter 534: Second Stage

Julius decided to ignore the idiot in front of him. He wanted to beat this monster and couldn’t worry about Isaac. This wasn’t a standard Tier 4 monster like the ones he had taken care of in the past.

This chimera was something else entirely. The sheer amount of damage it could release was impressive enough. However, its endurance and regeneration were the real issues. If he couldn’t figure out a way to hurt the monster, he was afraid that he would simply be wasting his own energy.

Of course, slowly whittling its mana and other resources away was still a sound strategy, but he didn’t know if he wanted to do all of that. He had a sneaking suspicion that was precisely how this beast was meant to fight.

With how big it was and its higher tier than his own, he wasn’t confident that he could outlast the monster.

Luckily for him, he had other options at his disposal. Options that he was looking forward to using, and if he “accidentally” hit Isaac because he was in the way, then it was only the big oaf’s fault.

He heard the guy still trying to talk to Julius, as if to explain his reasoning, but he wasn’t hearing any of it. Julius was too focused on taking control of his mana and aura. He slowly fed the blazing crown on his forehead, feeling the intense heat radiating from the soul-bound item.

Time slowed down to a crawl as his mind and spirit went into overdrive.

The crown wanted more fire mana; it was a greedy little thing, and despite his usual reservations, he didn’t hold back this time around. He let the crown have what it wanted—feeding the flames with his massive mana pool, letting his ruinous aura meld with the ruinous flames.

The synergy between the two energies was perfect. It was as if they were meant for each other, and they supported each other in ways his usual mana and aura were never able to. Each covered the other’s weakness and offered their strengths without taking away the other’s own.

The only problem he had to deal with was the sheer heat the crown was giving off. His flesh was being blasted by some of the most intense flames he had ever created. He used to think that his blue flames were hot, but this was on another level.

These ruinous flames were melting the stone beneath his feet, and it required him to constantly throw life mana into [Phoenix Renewal] to keep his body intact. Drasil pitched in as well. He had already gotten used to Julius’s antics and only whistled in exasperation when he felt Julius destroying his own body.

What was amusing to sense was Seraphyne’s panic while she was hanging out in Julius’s soul space. The turtle spirit wasn’t panicking because she was worried about Julius hurting himself. No, she was frantic because Drasil had grabbed hold of her and was using her as some kind of mana battery.

She didn’t have a healing skill that could help Julius, but apparently, she made for the perfect battery, allowing Drasil to use more mana.

Julius would have teared up in pride for his little spirit, but his tears would have evaporated by the sheer heat he was experiencing.

Fortunately, the heat was just a byproduct of what he was trying to achieve. Once he got a good feel for the mana, he finally started to manipulate the ruinous flames. He used [Armaments of the Arcane] to slowly mold his mana into small spikes.

The compression of the flames was surprisingly tricky. He wasn’t able to compress them as intensely as usual. He didn’t know if it was because of the nature of the flames or just because they were already so powerful, but he was barely able to compact them.

He still tried, though. He also made sure to utilize [Spirit Fortification] to weave his ruinous aura into the constructs. He laughed loudly at how easy it was and how seamless the construction became. His ruinous flames and ruinous aura were truly meant to be combined.

Several dangerous flares of fire erupted when he finally formed a single spike. The power contained in each one was miles above anything he had felt from one of his constructs. It wasn’t like when he used [Void Strike] on them.

That was a totally different kind of power and danger. [Void Strike] was an attack that ignored defenses due to its unique and spatial nature. This was different. His ruinous flames and aura were meant to burn down and destroy anything that stood in its way. Plain and simple.

He tried to add [Void Strike] to the spikes, but to his shock, it didn’t work. Even more shockingly, they didn’t even explode. The combination of the two skills wiped away the skill before it had a chance to latch onto the construct. It almost felt like the constructs wouldn’t allow anything else to touch them.

Like some deep-seated pride.

Julius was okay with that. He was already desperately trying everything in his power to keep it together. The ruinous flames and aura worked well together, but that didn’t mean it was easy to control.

It required all of his willpower to form them and even more to keep them together.

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Yet, he still didn’t give up there. He kept on going and pushing far beyond his limits.

He didn’t stop at one or two spikes. He formed over a dozen of them in quick succession. Typically, this wouldn’t be possible regardless of his control over mana and aura. However, the crown was giving him a helping hand. It wanted this more than he did and lent him its power.

An array of bright azure colored spikes dazzled as they sat over his shoulders. Each pulse they released threatened to disrupt everything and blow all of this power in his own face.

However, he ignored that for the time being. For some reason, he had absolute confidence that wouldn’t happen. The thrill of power violently surged through his blood.

His body was burning away; he could feel that, despite his and Drasi’s efforts, he was little more than bones. His arms had burned off, as had his legs. Only his chest and head were a priority to keep healed.

The pain would have been crippling for most, but for Julius, the pain was just irrelevant.

He slowly took control of the spikes and teleported away when he felt the chimera send another volley of attacks his way. This teleportation had unbalanced the delicate equilibrium he created. The spikes he created with pure willpower were on the verge of collapsing, as was his mind.

His constructs wanted to destroy and cause chaos. Therefore, he let them do exactly that. He barely had to push them towards their target. The second they were released, they were soaring toward the chimera all on their own with a palpable hunger radiating from their surface.

They were literally falling apart as they tore through the air. He coughed up a gallon of blood due to the backlash of releasing the technique. But his eyes sparkled when he saw his precious constructs tear through space.

They moved so quickly, they were little more than flashes of light

The massive chimera, which had stubbornly soaked up all the damage anyone had thrown at it, finally reacted. Julius spotted the signs of fear in its eyes just before the spikes slammed into its body, causing absolute ruin.

The entire sky lit up in a symphony of flames and destruction. The chimera’s roar of agony shook the barrier. Julius, on the other hand, floated there limbless and with a broken body, admiring his handiwork with a wild grin on his face.

He ignored the multiple pings he received, likely some notifications. He also ignored Isaac, who must have gotten in the way of his attack and was blasted into the distance, slamming into a grouping of trees.

The guy would survive… Probably.

When the dust settled, he finally got a look at the damage he had caused. The chimera looked like a mess. It looked like someone had detonated dozens of landmines across the chimera’s flesh.

Its ribcage was exposed, and half of its body was covered in severe burns. As a matter of fact, its body was still on fire. The ruinous flames were devouring its flesh as if it were food, further accelerating the damage they unleashed.

The chimera glowed red once more and let out a powerful blast of mana. Julius watched with intrigue as the flames were extinguished. He could feel the Tier 4’s Authority ripple outward; he suspected that this was the reason why it was able to swat out the flames as easily as it did.

Still, the damage was impressive. He would have given himself a pat on the back, but he was still growing his limbs back.

He saw the chimera healing as well. It was definitely delayed compared to Isaac’s attacks, but the creature was still able to regenerate—a big annoyance.

That was why Julius didn’t let up. While the chimera was still in terrible shape, he didn’t give it any time to breathe.

He gathered even more mana and aura, flowing them through his crown and into more spikes. Since he had already done it before, the process was slightly more straightforward. That said, it was still a grueling task.

He quickly fired another salvo, his barely regenerated arms disintegrating once again from the excess heat. It was quite an annoyance, but the spikesʼ results spoke for themselves. Just as the chimera was recovering, he was already sending a dozen more spikes, concentrating his efforts on an area just under the beast’s neck.

From what his mana senses could tell during the brief moment when its scales were destroyed, he sensed a large core just underneath it in that particular region. He was curious how the beast’s scales managed to shield against his perception, but he didn’t have time to worry about that.

The explosion rocked the beast once again. This time, cutting even deeper into the flesh of the beast. Its ribcage was fully exposed, and he could see what appeared to be its organs. Just underneath one important-looking organ, he spotted the mass of mana he had sensed before.

It was a red gem-like material with intricate veins running through it. It wasn’t so much a core, but rather something that looked closer to a heart.

He didn’t hesitate for a single moment. He was already charging even more spikes. The ruinous flames were practically dancing with anticipation as they saw the injured opponent. He had to hold back the crown from going too far; it was trying to pull so much fire mana from him that he was getting sucked dry.

He gave a single warning slap, and to his shock, it listened to him and retreated slightly. It almost felt like it was respecting him by the tiniest of margins.

It only took him destroying his own body for that to happen.

The chimera was recovering faster than he liked to see, and so he quickly sent the next volley at the creature’s core. A protective shield appeared around the core, but he concentrated all of his firepower on this one section.

Its barrier wasn’t enough to stop all of the spikes. The first two were blocked, which was impressive enough, but the next ones tore through it and slammed into the heart-shaped core, driving deep and exploding in a symphony of flames.

The resulting explosions staggered him as he hovered in the sky.

He would have been more excited about taking out one of the monster’s cores, but there was another issue. One that actually made him a little bit worried.

When he had destroyed the core, instead of getting weaker, a surge of power flowed through the chimera as if the residual energy from the wrecked core spread into the chimera’s body—enhancing it even further.

He grimaced to himself. It looked like he had unlocked the second stage of the boss fight.

However, he realized that it wasn’t such a bad thing. That just meant he had a perfect opportunity to test some of his other ideas against the beast. He felt a big smile appear on his face as he raced back toward the creature.