They walked to the end of the corridor, just to find a big monster with many tentacles in front of a colossal door. It had no eyes and blood flowed from his body. It had two horns and sharp fangs.
Lux used his Elysium Compendium and appraised the scary monster.
—--
< Ghulven, the Chimera Paragon >
Rank: Rank 5 Alpha Monster
– A chimera made by a legendary necromancer. It was made using the corpse of a demon from the Abyss and different Grade A Apostles.
– It has hundreds of tentacles that it uses to attack. It detects its prey with its extremely sensible hearing, as it has no eyes. Its prey are left to be chewed with its razor-sharp fangs.
—--
Lux shared the information of the monster, Ghulven, with Viel.
It will be very difficult to kill, but not impossible.
Viel had a plan, which may be their key to success. He had been accumulating the True Blood from all the chimeras on every floor. With it, he would have an opportunity to at least strongly harm the demon.
Diablo does not have his mount Nightmare this time, as in the original novel. But thanks to the Elixir of Death, his strength has grown in such a way that it rivals when he had a mount.
Ishtar truly wasn't of much help, but they decided to tie some jingle bells to her arrows, thus using the noise produced to distract Ghulven.
Jör will be doing the same as Ishtar, distract Ghulven. He was invisible, so he was perfect for distracting it while avoiding damage.
But Viel told him to be careful, if it was made with a demon from the Abyss no one knew if Ghulven had an Abyss Skill like Abyss Touch capable of harming a spiritual being like him.
Ferto would be one of the most important assets in the plan, his shield was the only thing they had to protect themselves from Ghulven's tentacles.
Bael's base strength was that of a high-Rank 3 Monster, and with Blood Moon equipped he reached the strength of a mid-Rank 4 Monster.
They would attack Ghulven, reducing his HP and creating opportunities for Vial and Lux to attack from the back.
Viel still has his Blood Tattoos, he was reserving this for a formidable foe and now was the moment to use them.
Thanks to his Ironclad Rhino's Blood Tattoo trait, Behemoth Skin, the physical damage was reduced by 50%. Also, with the trait from his Shadow Dragon's Blood Tattoo trait, Twilight Cloak, he was immune to physical attack when fused with the dark, something easy with Bael's skills, and the magical damage was reduced by 40%.
If he could prepare this along with his transformations, he would be able to win.
They put their plan in motion.
When the battle started, Bael used Darkened Shroud and when the whole area was immersed in darkness Viel used Twilight Cloak and fused with his surroundings. The lack of senses from Ghulven was a crucial thing for this to work.
Ghulven was distracted crushing skeletons and munching the arrows fired by Ishtar.
Viel waited in the shadows for an opportunity to attack.
After almost 30 minutes of constant battle, Ghulven was starting to get tired. It could easily kill the skeletons and destroy the swords, but due to the interference of the different summons from Viel and Lux, that became difficult for it.
Bael attacked Ghulven from its back and then, at that moment, Viel saw the opportunity.
He used the True Blood from all the chimeras in the rooms. 40 Rank 1, 40 Rank 2, 40 Rank 3 and 40 Rank 4 Monsters worth of True Blood started flowing from his body and taking shape. In less than one second, it transformed into a gigantic crimson spear that exuded tremendous pressure.
Ghulven sensed that same pressure, but it was too slow for it to do something.
"Halber of the Blood God." Viel wishpered.
Instantly it travelled the corridor and pierced its body.
"SKREEEE!!" A high-pitched pained cry resonated.
Viel's attack has left Ghulven in a critical state. But it was still alive.
Weakly, it got up and looked toward the group of summons.
"BUWWAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR" Ghulven roared.
It started frenziedly attacking.
"Lux! Run away! It has gone into a Berserk State!" Viel shouted to his little brother.
When Ghulven heard the shout from Viel, he looked at him. It was his attacker!
"Oh shit!" Viel cursed.
One of Ghulven's tentacles shot out toward Viel. He quickly avoided it, but it still touched his arm.
Thanks to Twilight Cloak he was able to avoid the attack successfully, and that touch in his arm didn't cause physical damage. But the worst that could happen, did happen. Ghulven had the Abyss Touch skill.
Although Viel didn't have any wound in his arm, he could feel extreme pain coming from there and his Health dropped by 20000.
Without any other alternative, Viel decided to activate his Shadow Dragon Blood Tattoo transformation as he sent Bael a mental command to use Darkened Shroud again.
"Shadow's Incarnation" Viel said.
Suddenly, wisps of inky-black mist began to seep from the intricate lines of the Shadow Dragon Tattoo etched upon Viel's skin. The mist gathered, coiling around him like a sentient shroud, gradually obscuring his form from view.
Within this shroud, a symphony of shadows danced, taking shape with ethereal grace. The mist coalesced into an enormous Shadow Dragon, its scales forged from the very essence of darkness. The dragon's eyes gleamed with an otherworldly brilliance.
As the colossal creature emerged, a palpable aura of shadow extended to the corridor's lofty ceiling. The shadowy silhouette radiated a majestic presence, its form a sublime amalgamation of darkness and power. The colossal wings of the Shadow Dragon stretched wide, casting intricate patterns of darkness upon the corridor's walls.
Viel could last in this transformation 15 minutes. Technically, he should gain the strength of an Argonaut Rank Monster with it. But due to his low rank of a mere beginner, he could just reach the demi-Deimos Rank.
"SKREEEE!!" Ghulvan launched toward Viel.
He skillfully evaded the attack fusing with the shadows in the corridor.
As he didn't make a sound, Ghulvan couldn't find him. Something sad for him, as Viel was in its own shadow.
Ghulven sensed a great amount of energy coming from below him. But, again, it was too late. A fully charged Shadow Breath hit his face, and just like that, erased it.
The beheaded Ghulven corpse fell lifelessly to the ground with a heavy thud, sending shockwaves through the earth.
Viel headed to the body of Ghulven and harvested its soul. Just to check, he summoned his Soul Book and went to his Souls page.
—---
– Souls
· Rank 1 Souls (36)
· Rank 2 Souls (40/1 Alpha)
· Rank 3 Souls (40/1 Alpha)
· Rank 4 Souls (40/ 1 Alpha)
· Rank 5 Souls (0)
· Brolin Steelbrow → Grade A Apostle
· Ghulven, the Chimera Paragon → Rank 5 Alpha Monster (Abyssal)
—---
The raid in Ereban's Lab has proved to be very fruitful. From the boss of the second floor, an Emerald Serpention, he had obtained an Emerald Snake Tail and a Lionheart Mane. From the boss of the third floor, a Nocturnal Bloodfiend, he had obtained two Vampiric Fangs and the wings from the giant bat. Aside from their corpses.
Lux said he didn't need any of the things left by Ghulvan, which were its horns and its heart.
But they still had to see what was behind the door, what Ghulven was protecting.
Viel and Lux pushed the door together. Inside the new room, they found an altar with three things on it.
A crystal skull, and two books.
Viel tried to appraise the items, but his Appraisal skill was too low, and he couldn't.
"Lux, can you appraise these things?" Viel asked his brother.
"Yes, I can." Lux answered and used the Elysium Compendium to appraise the items.
—----
< Memory of the Death >
Rarity: Legendary
Requirement: Initiate
– An artifact made by the ancient civilization of the Underworld.
– It can store three necromancer-related spells.
– You can change the spells stored in the skull.
– The spells can be used without any cost, but they can only be used once per day.
– Current Spell: None
—--
< Chimera Creation >
Rarity: Mythical
Type: Skill Book (Consumable)
Requirement: E-Ranker
– Allows the user to create chimeras.
– The chimeras created will have a random combination of the attributes of the used monsters.
– The chimeras will be under the control of the creator.
– The number of chimeras that can be created depends on the rank of the user.
—--
"Big brother, I can't appraise this book." said Lux while pointing towards an old book with the cover torn off.
Viel took it and, with difficulty, tried reading something written on it.
"Ereban's Diary #3" Viel said.
"Lux, this is the diary of Ereban do you mind if I take it? I already have the previous part." Viel explained. "You should take the 'Memory of the Death', it's useless to me."
"Of course not. You should also take the skill book. After all, all of this is thanks to you."
They both took the rewards and walked to the base floor.
Viel decided to check a notification he received after killing Ghulven.
< The Experiment from the Abyss>
Mission Rating: SS+
( COMPLETED! )
< Rewards >
150 Free Stat Points
200 Skill Points
200 Body Constitution Points
150 Soul Stat Points
700 Elysium Gold Coins
600 Gaming Divine energy
< Bonus Reward. >
– Furnace of the Old World
—--
< Furnace of the Old World >
Rarity: Legendary
Requirement: Blacksmith-related Class
– A furnace created by an Old Empire that perished after trying to use the core of its planet to forge a weapon.
– The Furnace of the Old World uses the remnant fire from that core and is able to melt almost every material.
-- This item is Soulbound to Viel Von Kaizer
—--