The fire that burned on the surface of the lake was white in color and seemed to give off a bright orange glow in the moonlight which is what had caught my eye a few kilometers away. I had planned on swimming to safety when I arrived at the lake site however now I had no idea what to do since in front of me was a burning lake that would most likely melt the flesh of my bones and behind me was an A – rank monster that would rip me limb from limb.
Before I could even decide on what to do, I felt razor sharp teeth dig into my right shoulder as the monster crashed into me causing us both to tumble into the fiery lake below. The moment my skin touched the surface of the water, I immediately felt intense pain that caused me to tightly hold on to the beast who was now underneath me in the water. The voice of the system immediately began notifying me of the changes occurring to my body.
{YOU ARE THE FIRST PLAYER TO DISCOVER THE LAKE OF AZRAELRIOUS}
{YOU HAVE RECEIVED 20,000 CHAOS POINTS}
{YOU HAVE GAINED 40 STAT POINTS}
{YOU HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH HOLY FIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME}
{DUE TO YOUR SPECIAL STATUS AS DEATH'S SUCCESSOR, YOU HAVE FORCEFULLY UNLOCKED YOUR DIVINTIY STAT}
{DIVINTIY HAS INCREASED BY 10...}
{DIVINITY HAS INCREASED BY 20...}
{DIVINITY HAS INCREASED...}
{DIVINITY HAS ...…}
{YOU HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO INTENSE PAIN. YOUR BODY EVOLVES TO ADJUST TO YOUR CURRENT STATE.}
{MAGICAL RESISTANCE HAS INCREASED BY 5...}
{MAGICAL RESITANCE HAS INCREASED BY 10....}
{MAGICAL RESISTANCE .....}
I didn't know much about the divinity stat however an increase in magical resistance was useful in terms of resisting the burns of the holy fire however the system notification that immediately drew my attention was this:
{THE MONSTER "LYCANRIN" STATS HAVE BEEN TEMPORARILY WEAKENED BY 99% DUE TO LACK OF RESISTANCE TO HOLY FIRE}
This meant that it could now only use 1% of its actual power however even with its decrease in power there was still a large stat difference between it and me.
As I continued holding on to the Lycanrin, which was now thrashing in the water in pain, I felt an increase in power within myself as the system alerted me of yet another update.
{THE TITLE "DEATH'S SUCCESSOR" ABILITY HAS BEEN ACTIVATED IN THE PRESENCE OF HOLY FIRE CAUSING A CHANGE IN THE EEFECT OF HOLY FIRE ON YOU. HOLY FIRE NOW HEALS YOU AND INCREASES YOUR CURRENT ABILITIES}
{ALL STATS HAVE INCREASED BY 70 EACH}
{YOUR HEALTH HAS INCREASED BY 20,000}
{YOUR MP HAS INCREASED BY 10000}
{YOUR STAMINA HAS INCREASED BY 10000}
{ALL STATS HAVE INCREASED BY 1 EACH}
Damn!! it seems that title of "death's successor" was actually useful when before I had simply thought of it as a useless gimmick. For a brief moment I was actually glad to have been chosen by Hades as his successor before I once again realized that I was in this hot situation because of him. My hatred of him snapped me back to reality early enough for me to see the Lycanrin almost reaching the shore of the Lake as it tried to get out of the lake. I couldn't allow that to happen since the effects of the lake were what was making it weak enough for me to kill it and hence, I quickly swam to the shore, my arm strokes generating two-meter-tall waves as I was propelled forwards faster due to my increased strength.
I was able to reach the monster just as it was about to leave the lake and grabbed its tail as tightly as I could. The Lycanrin yelped in pain as it tried to push forward with all its strength however at this point it had lost a lot of its stamina and strength which were gradually decreasing due to the effects of the holy water whereas my stamina and strength were increasing as each second passed by due to the effects of my title which meant that at this point in terms of stamina and strength, I was slightly stronger than him. This new revelation gave me courage and hence using all of my strength, I threw the weakened Lycanrin backwards towards the center of the lake. The Lycanrin landed near the middle of the Lake and after a few moments of struggling to orient himself, it immediately began swimming towards the opposite side of the lake away from me but there was no way I was going to let him do that.
I began swimming towards the Lycanrin at top speed, the numerous status updates popping in my head giving me more courage. I soon reached the Lycanrin who was slowing down due to the intense pain it was experiencing caused by the holy fire. Since I didn't have any weapon, I decided to do this the old-fashioned way. I climbed on top of its back and with both hands I grabbed it by the throat and began to chock him as hard as I could.
I immediately regretted my decision….
You see in this heated moment of passion I had forgotten one thing about the beast. It was the fact that its mane was made up of sharp spikes and hence when I grabbed its throat and began choking it, the spikes on its throat immediately pierced my body causing me to scream out in pain and agony. I could feel myself going numb from the pain and my grip on the Lycanrin's neck loosening.
{YOU HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO AN EXTREME AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL PAIN}
{PASSIVE SKILL "PESERVERANCE" HAS BEEN ACTIVATED}
{THE AMOUNT OF PAIN BEING EXPERIENCED HAS DECREASED}
{PERSERVERANCE SKILL MASTERY HAS INCREASED BY 4%...}
{PERSERVERANCE SKILL MASTERY HAS INCREASED BY 5%....}
{PERSERVERANCE SKILL MASTERY HAS INCREASED BY …...}
{YOUR BODY EVOLVES TO COPE WITH THE PAIN INFLICTED ON YOU}
{PHYSICAL RESISTANCE HAS INCREASED BY 10...}
{PHYSICAL RESISTANCE HAS INCREASED BY 5...}
{PHYSICAL RESISTANCE …...….}
Sensing that I had loosened my grip, the Lycanrin entered in its berserk state and began rolling around in the water trying to drown me, its roars of defiance causing the water to rupture in waves, the fires beginning to slowly die down on its body. It would seem that in its dire moment it had acquired some resistance to holy fire and hence the de-buffing effects of the holy fire were beginning to weaken which meant that if I didn't finish this in the next few minutes, it would completely regain its original strength.