Chapter 99: Road To the Finale [3]

"ha..."

Panting with sweat dripping down my forehead, I glanced behind me, seeing massive plains of green grass and pure-blue rivers stretching on for miles.

Standing a few steps in front of me on the cliff, Ren glanced at the cave in the mountain before us and took an arrow from his quiver.

"You couldn't have found a closer dungeon?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I unsheathed my Dao and approached him.

"All the ones near the capital are monopolized by the guilds."

Pausing, I added.

"Speaking of which...how's stuff with the Quorum?"

In the future, Ren would require the support of the guild to grow stronger, especially Serena, who was the current #2 hero behind only Alaric, guildmaster of the Quorum...and the girl Ren ended up with.

Tilting his head, Ren smiled and answered.

"We're on good terms. Why? You want an introduction?"

Shaking my head, I didn't waste another moment and walked forward into the cave, my vision immediately turning pitch-black.

Then, in the next moment, shadowy figures began forming around me, gnawing away at the black void and creating a new scene.

When I blinked, I found myself now in the middle of...an ancient coliseum, dozens of quartz pillars towering for miles into the air and covered with vines.

Massive stone arches rose from the jungle floor, cracks split the weathered stone-brick walls of the coliseum, and the thousands of seats were completely empty.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

In the next second, a bestial scream echoed through the abandoned coliseum, causing both Ren and me to look forward.

With two protruding horns atop its head, a height of more than twelve feet, and a perfectly trained frame, a Greek minotaur stood opposite us, wielding a massive battleaxe.

*WHOOSH*

Three arrows, covered in orange sparks, flew from my side in quick succession, all aiming at different points on the minotaur's massive body.

Towering over us, the minotaur simply slashed its axe at the air, sending dark-brown magical slashes barreling at each of us.

Before activating Anubis's Ferry, I turned to Ren, who was standing a few steps to my right, and asked.

"You know the right heel is a weak spot, right?"

Seeing him nod his head, I flew forward and up into the air, phasing right through the magical sword slash heading at me.

Behind me, Ren dived to the right and tumbled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the slash aimed at him, while simultaneously nocking over five arrows in his bow.

*WHOOSH*

The five arrows burst forward all in different directions...however, as I placed my mark on Ren and countless pieces of silk formed from each arrow, I noticed all of the arrows' lines ended at the minotaur's right heel.

His volley.

Re-materializing a few feet before the massive minotaur, I immediately felt its gaze land on me, as in the next second, the minotaur raised its massive battle axe and slammed it downward at me.

Smiling, I simply leaped forward, boosted off the ground with my right foot, landed, and then pivoted backward.

The minotaur suddenly froze, its axe pausing mid-descent, as its eyes rapidly scanned the area.

Having stayed completely still, I simply performed the dance again...and again.

With the minotaur's large weapon and stature, all of its attacks, though destructive, took extremely long, and there was simply too much space for me.

I could infinitely spam Ripple Step, which had absolutely no cooldown.

In Ren's eyes, the scene probably looked extremely stupid: the sight of a boy jumping around while a minotaur looked around, its gaze conveniently missing the boy every time.

At that moment, as I vanished from the minotaur's perception once again through ripple steps, Ren's arrows finally met.

All of them simultaneously and collectively struck the back of the minotaur's right heel from different angles, even managing to embed themselves in the minotaur's bronze-like skin.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As the minotaur roared in pain once again, instead of looking at me, it simply glanced down at the ground and swung its axe countless times at the air.

In the next second, over ten earthly-brown magical slashes flew downward at me.

Clicking my tongue, I stood still and held my Dao slightly above my right shoulder.

As one of the sword slashes flew downward at me, I immediately jabbed my Dao straight up, watching the tip of my sword meet the earthly-brown mana particles.

Once again, I found myself suffocating...this time not surrounded by sand but dirt...heaps of it in fact.

Maintaining my composure, I wildly clenched my right fist and moved it back and forth in the dirt as if I were slashing a sword.

One by one, dots of light appeared in the pitch-black void as my Dao flew back and forth between the heap of dirt.

*BANG*

In less than five seconds, the entire dirt hill had collapsed, as I stood back in front of the minotaur, countless earthly-brown magic slashes colliding with the ground beside me.

As five arrows flew above my head once again, the minotaur did not dare ignore them this time and instantly parried them with his axe, sending the arrows to the ground.

A moment later, the minotaur suddenly sprinted forward, completely ignoring me, and ran at Ren, who was already nocking three more arrows.

"..."

Not skipping a beat, I turned around, maneuvering through the rain of brown mana slashes above, and dove forward, jabbing my Dao as far ahead as I could.

Unfortunately, the tip of my Dao just missed the minotaur's right heel, leaving me lying on the ground while the minotaur rapidly approached Ren.

As the minotaur slammed its axe downward at Ren's body, surprisingly, he did not move an inch, simply raising the body of his recurve bow above him.

*BANG*

As the axe made contact with Ren's bow, his entire body shook uncontrollably, threatening to give out at any moment.

However...at that second, while somehow maintaining the pressure of the minotaur's axe above him, Ren reached into his pocket and grabbed three small daggers, yellow particles dancing on all of their blades.

"..."

Leaping backward as the minotaur's axe tore his bow in half and slammed into the ground he was just on, Ren threw the three daggers forward while still mid-air, watching them curve around the minotaur's entire body and aim at its right heel.

Simultaneously, I stood back up and opened my right palm, sending a death-black mana sphere at the minotaur's heel that already had five arrows embedded in it.

As if timed perfectly, my death-mana sphere and Ren's three sun daggers met just a centimeter away from the minotaur's heel.

*BANG*

As a resounding bang echoed and a massive cloud of brown smoke appeared, the minotaur's legs began shaking uncontrollably.

Not only had the direct impact of the elemental reaction wounded the minotaur's heel, but the arrows had also been pushed further inside the heel by the explosion.

In the next moment, the minotaur limply fell face-forward onto the ground, its body completely still.

Just like that...the two of us had eliminated a C-rank boss.

Glancing at me from beside the minotaur's body, Ren smiled and said.

"As I said, we would fight well together."

Nodding my head, I passed by Ren and headed toward the sparkling chest in the middle of the coliseum.

As I approached, the chest suddenly opened by itself, two items flying out of it and landing on the ground before me.

One was a simple white oak branch, looking like it had been cut off a dead tree, while the other was a small blue orb.

[Aether]

--> [This item provides your body with an extra defense mechanism in the form of Aether. Particles of aether can seamlessly create things like a third arm or leg for you to sacrifice or defend yourself with.]

[Azure Orb]

--> [When held, the user's speed stat is increased by a minor-letter rank]

Arriving beside me, Ren paused for a moment, clearly eyeing the white oak branch, while I eventually said.

"Aether is all yours."

Turning to face me, Ren asked.

"...really?"

"With your instant reaction time, you can make use of an extra body part more than me..."

After staying still for a moment, perhaps expecting me to yell "sike" or joke, Ren eventually reached down and grabbed the tree branch.

Somewhat reluctantly, I grabbed the blue orb a moment later and buried it in my pocket.

As the two of us reappeared in the mountain cave, Ren awkwardly scratched his head and said.

"I feel like I'm the one who scammed you."

Nodding my head, I said as we began descending the mountain slowly.

"You did, so buy me dinner, and we're equal."

...

...

...

As we sat down back on the mana train, heading to the Sunken Pearl, I turned to Ren and suddenly asked.

"Are you ready for the finale?"

"...Yes."

After a short pause, Ren shifted in his seat and turned to face me with a serious expression.

"I think my reputation will be worse than yours after this, so don't ditch me, alright?"