Chapter 188 - A Beast VS A Monster [2]

GRAAAAAAAA!!!

Morcant let out a loud scream once more from the pain of having his tail cut off.

TAP-

Verc landed on his back as that was happening. He threw the severed part of the tail aside, then raising his sword above his head—

PHUCK!

Verc accurately stabbed the spine of the beast with the help of [Vital Mapping]!

The tip of his blade sank deep into the thick cartilage and nervous center along Morcant’s back, paralyzing the major muscle groups running down to his lower body. Dark crimson blood spurted out around the entry wound, running down the monster’s coarse skin in heavy, steady streams.

And opening his mouth—

"[Void Summon]"

Verc muttered that.

F W O O O S H—!

A black dome extended outward from where he was, and it swallowed the whole castle!

The pitch-black barrier expanded at an incredible speed, consuming every inch of the ruined lobby, the high stone pillars, and the vast ceiling. Light vanished entirely, swallowed by an absolute, suffocating shadow that wiped away all visible reality.

’W-What’s happening...?’

Having his wing and tail cut off, along with being stabbed in the spine—a part of Morcant’s reasoning returned.

The intense shock of the physical damage forced his wild, chaotic mind to clear up just enough to register the massive shift in his surroundings.

But when it did, all he could see was pitch black.

He turned and looked around, but he couldn’t see anything.

Not a single spark of light existed inside the space. The glowing red mana that had previously coated his skin seemed to be muffled, unable to illuminate even the stone floor directly beneath his massive face.

BOOM!

His huge body hit a pillar and it collapsed... Morcant can feel it, but can’t still see a thing.

The heavy impact reverberated through his front legs as stone shattered and fell around him, but no matter how wide he opened his eyes, the void remained completely dark.

"?!!"

Panic consumed him, he doesn’t know what’s happening around him anymore.

His heart pounded wildly against his ribs. The confidence and arrogance he had held as the thirteenth demon king crumbled into small pieces under the weight of this total, unyielding sensory deprivation.

’MAKE THIS STOP!!!’

GRAAAAAHHH!!!

BAAAM! CRASH—!!!

Morcant tried to destroy everything around him, hoping to kill Verc and make whatever darkness of this disappear.

He swung his massive front legs wildly into the void, smashing whatever leftover structures his blind attacks managed to touch. Stone walls crumbled, floor tiles exploded into dust, and heavy beams were snapped into splinters under his desperate, aimless strikes.

But no matter how much he trashed around... Nothing happened.

The darkness didn’t break. The dome didn’t shatter. The absolute silence of the void simply absorbed his chaotic thrashing, leaving him completely isolated within the blackness.

And because of this, slowly... Fear started consuming him.

Cold, paralyzing terror seeped into his mind. For the first time since becoming a demon king, Morcant felt truly helpless. He was a giant beast trapped inside a pitch-black box, entirely at the mercy of an opponent he couldn’t even see.

ROOOOAAAAAR!!!

He tried sensing Verc’s presence, but it was to no avail.

It was as if Verc had completely erased his existence from the world. There was no sound of footsteps, no breeze of motion, and not a single trace of mana radiating through the dark air.

Morcant tried scattering his dark mana to find Verc’s location, but he still can’t find him at all.

He forced his energy outward in all directions, letting out a wave of red power to act as a radar, but the pitch-black void simply swallowed his mana whole. Nothing bounced back. No presence was detected.

’WHERE ARE YOU?! SHOW YOURSELF!!!’

Morcant exclaimed in his head, fear, panic, anger—a lot of emotions stirring inside of him. The transformation even made his mind blurry.

His breathing turned ragged and heavy, steam pouring from his nostrils as he turned his massive head back and forth in complete blind panic. His wild instincts were screaming at him to run, but there was nowhere to run inside the absolute darkness.

He kept on searching around in panic.

He took heavy, clumsy steps forward, his massive claws scraping against the shattered floor as he backed himself into what he assumed was a corner of the ruined room.

’Come out! Fight me face to face, you coward!’

Morcant screamed mentally, his eyes darting frantically across the empty black void.

’I am a demon king! I am Morcant! You can’t defeat me like this!’

His massive body trembled as the blood loss from his back, tail, and wing continued to drain his stamina. The regeneration of his severed tail was lagging behind, slowed down drastically by the dark, oppressive environment created by Verc’s skill.

’Think... use your ears! Feel the air current!’

Morcant tried to force himself to calm down, straining his senses to pick up even the quietest sound.

Silence. Absolute, terrifying silence.

It felt as if time itself had stopped inside the dome. The heavy weight of the void pressed against his body, making it harder and harder to even draw breath.

’Is he behind me? Above me? Where is he?!’

Morcant turned his large head toward the ceiling, but there was no light, no shadow, no indication of life.

His heart beat at a frenzied pace, pounding like a war drum in his ears. The feeling of being hunted—of being treated like mere prey by a fledgling—was overwhelming his remaining pride.

’No... no! I won’t lose to a nobody! I will tear this dome apart!’

Morcant gathered every last drop of dark mana remaining inside his core, channeling it directly into his throat and limbs. He prepared to release another massive shockwave, willing to destroy his own body if it meant blowing away the dark space surrounding him.

’DIE!’

He opened his jaws wide, his throat vibrating as energy began to build up once more.

But then, all of a sudden—WHOOOSH—!!!

He heard a sharp sword cutting through flesh, and moments in between... He felt a pain in his right limb before his sensation of it disappeared.

’Huh?’

Morcant wasn’t even able to process in his head what happened.

The strike was so impossibly fast and clean that the pain arrived long after the flesh and bone had already been severed.

BOOOM!!!

He just suddenly felt his head slamming down! He lost balance!

With his entire right front leg completely cut off at the joint, the massive weight of his beast transformation dragged his upper body down, smashing his jaw and face violently into the hard stone floor!

Dark blood gushed out like a broken pipe from the stump where his leg used to be, pooling rapidly around his snout.

Morcant gasped for air, his vision swimming in the darkness as he struggled desperately to push himself back up with his remaining limbs, but his body refused to obey. The stab to his spine from earlier, combined with the loss of his front leg, completely ruined his center of gravity.

"This is for my people, and for the destruction you caused."

Morcant heard that from his side.

He tried to turn his eyes toward the sound, opening his mouth to let out one final, desperate roar or curse.

’You...!’

S L A A A S H—!

But a sword strike quickly followed.

The blade moved in a clean, perfect arc, powered by the full force of Verc’s dense, refined mana.

And this time... It wasn’t just any of his limbs... Morcant felt the pain in his neck.

The sensation of intense, burning coldness sliced straight through his throat. The connection between his brain and his massive body was instantly severed.

Morcant’s dark vision flickered as his massive head detached from his shoulders, tumbling across the stone floor before coming to a complete stop in the center of the dark space.