Chapter 23 - Ruthless Side of Dark Pillar

Aaron and Sila did not encounter a single monster along the way to the Dark Pillar's front gate. Aaron's steps came to a halt when he reached the place; Sila took the teleportation slip from her digital storage.

"Good luck to you, Aaron. You need it more than anyone," Sila said, holding up her teleportation slip.

The young man nodded slowly. Fortune did play a role in a maze like this, but as long as he had the ability, it was not a problem for Aaron.

"Thank you. See you soon, Sila."

Sila activated her teleportation slip, creating a brightly lit blue light that filled her entire body. Aaron smiled, it was time for her to return to the Sky Sword base and tell everything that happened to her leader.

Slowly, Sila's body disappeared and evaporated into the sky as tiny particles of light. Sila's figure completely disappeared from Aaron's presence, making Aaron relieved.

[One incoming message]

Aaron squinted his eyes, seeing a notification panel appear before him. He pressed the panel and opened the message, saying that the message's sender was Isabella.

[Sender: Isabella]

[Aaron. Did you drop her off? Are you alright? You didn't run into any of those monsters, did you? Just to let you know, the door to the floor boss room is open. It's hard to explain the situation here. You'd better hurry up and come].

"What exactly happened? Isabella couldn't have sent such an ambiguous message."

Unwilling for anything bad to happen to them, Aaron ran into the Dark Pillar through several intersections towards the floor boss's door.

Along the way, Aaron heard the monster screeches that sounded close to his position. Aaron clicked his tongue. He never thought a monster would come when he was being chased by worries about Isabella and Clara's condition.

Sure enough, a large red-furred rat monster appeared before Aaron. Not one, but two of the same size —twice the size of a human body.

"Shit!"

Noisy squeaks could be heard from their white, foamy-looking mouths. Their sharp nails seemed to scratch the ground to show their strength against Aaron. Still, that didn't daunt Aaron at all.

[Monster Details:]

[Monster: Big Red Rat]

[Level: 36]

[HP: 40000/40000]

[MP: 42000/42000]

[Element: Wind]

'Tch! Their level is the same as the level of the first-floor boss. There's no choice but to defeat them quickly!'

The rat released a screeching shout forward, an attack that could cause an incision to occur on Aaron's body. The attack was circular and spun like a horizontal cyclone.

Aaron pointed his hand ahead, deflecting the monster's attack with his purple magic power. Although he managed to withstand it, it was not enough to protect him without taking damage.

[Damage -345]

[Damage -420]

The young man fell to his knees, his breath hitching with his eyes fixed ahead, watching the two rat monsters that had already launched their attacks. Now, it was Aaron's turn to attack.

[Talent Activated]

[Sub Talent Activated]

[Energy Devouring Sword]

[MP -40000]

Aaron's hand shot up, his palm opened and grasped the purple light of dark energy. The light gathered in Aaron's hand, along with the rumble of lightning and the strong pull of the wind, the two rat monsters could only remain frozen.

With a forward swing of his hand, Aaron landed a purple light sword strike on the two Red-furred rat monsters. An explosion of purple light was caused when the crushing blow hit both monsters, sending a thunderous rumble of lightning where the monsters died.

[Damage +105530]

[EXP +75680]

[TP +37840]

[7500 RL]

[DING! Congratulations on leveling up]

[Level 33]

[DING! Congratulations on getting a new title]

[8. Rapid killer]

[Kills two monsters in one attack]

[DING! Congratulations on getting the last hit reward]

[7 Amethyst Gem]

[10 HP Potion Lv. 2]

[3 Red rat fangs]

[4 Ash Mountain Crystals Lv.1]

'With the power of my talent, I managed to kill them easily. I'd better save more of my Additional MP, so I don't keep relying on Aerith.'

When Aaron was about to put all the items he got, he was surprised by an item called Ash Mountain Crystal Lv.1. He picked it up and squinted, a description system panel appeared before the item.

[Item Details:]

[Name: Ash Mountain Crystal]

[Grade: 1]

[Description: An item useful for increasing the AGI status of a person; the higher the grade of the item, the greater the amount of increase in status].

"Hmm, this is useful for increasing my CP. Let's see what kind of change it makes."

Aaron crushed the three crystals in his hand, slowly the collected energy began to be absorbed into Aaron's body through his forehead. The panel notification appeared for the umpteenth time before Aaron.

[AGI +30]

[CP: 56693]

'Hmm... it doesn't add that much significance."

'I'd better go to their place right away,' Aaron said.

Aaron left the place with quick steps while hoping that there were no monsters he encountered along the way to the boss room door.

He passed through several intersections and finally arrived at the area close to the boss room floor. From a distance, he saw Isabella standing with a worried face, constantly turning her head to the right and left. Clara beside her also had the same expression.

Aaron arrived at the place and saw the door to the room open. Inside, there was a large bull-like monster holding a bloody axe.

What shocked the young man even more was the corpses of the dead adventurers inside the boss room; they failed to defeat it.

"They failed?" asked Aaron. Isabella nodded.

"That's right. They were trying to ask for help, but since you weren't there, I couldn't make a decision."

Aaron arrived near Isabella and Clara. The two saw the bull monsters throwing the body parts of the dead adventurers out like chopped meat. Clara couldn't stand it; she vomited unbearably.

"What a cruelty."

He saw a man with his upper body still moving. The man shifted his head to the side, looking at Aaron with exhausted eyes.

"Impossible... to kill it."

With blood flowing through the corners of his lips, the man died horribly with his eyes open. Aaron felt sympathetic. He stepped closer and closed his eyes slowly.

"What is your decision, Aaron?" asked Isabella.

Aaron got up, he raised his head and looked straight ahead. His eyes seemed to clash with the bull monster. The monster seemed to have a grinning expression, a sign that he was challenging Aaron's abilities.

"They probably died because their abilities couldn't match the monster's strength," Aaron replied.

"Don't worry. Our purpose for entering the Dark Pillar is to conquer the floor boss. I'll take us all up to the third floor."