Chapter 63: Eldritch Amalgamation

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[You’ve been detected by the [Demonite Mutated Goblins (C+++ Rank)]!]

[They’re hungry for blood and flesh! The Demonite in their bodies have made them go insane and will attack anything on sight.]

[However, the Demonite has also enhanced their stats by a further +25%!]

As the strange-looking mutated goblins charged toward us like a mindless zombie horde, I imbued Mana into my daggers and then unleashed a barrage of flames and frost against the horde, immediately stopping their relentless charge.

The flames burned them, and the frost froze them in place. However, it was just the initial impact, and only a few were fully stopped, while the rest relentlessly crawled over the bodies of the fallen and groaned, rushing towards us.

A larger mutated goblin stepped forward, three times as big as the other ones, and whose arms were gigantic and disproportional to the rest of his body. A barrage of gigantic fists attacked me as the goblin attempted to crush me like a bug. The gigantic arms were covered with sharp purple crystals, emanating miasmic energy.

“Not bad, I guess." I smiled, charging my daggers with Mana and Ki, and then decided to try out one of the new Dagger Arts techniques.

{Shadow Slash}!

My body suddenly seemed to meld into shadows for a split second as I appeared right behind the goblin’s back, my daggers swiftly slicing through the goblin’s shoulders and arms and filling it with explosive flames and freezing energy.

SLASH!

The mutated goblin fell onto the floor in an instant, its gigantic arms unable to move anymore. This dagger technique was not bad at all! It seemed to help me sneak behind a foe with ease, and though it cost a good chunk of MP and Ki, I can’t overuse it.

A horde of mutated goblins charged towards me right as I finished off their big friend. However, aid quickly came in the form of spiderwebs wrapping around their legs and forcing them to fall onto the floor.

“Hehehe, where do you think you’re going?” Laughed Annabelle, suddenly charging black and purple-colored energy into her hands and then shaping it as arrows, firing them all at the goblins. “{Dark Poison Arrow}”

The Goblins were completely massacred, their bodies melting with each arrow they took. Her Poison Magic was much stronger than I had imagined; to be able to even shape poison into arrows is already a very high level of comprehension.

“Well done, Annabelle!” I praised her.

“Hehe, I’ll cover your back, Anna~ Just for now!” She said with a childish giggle, her eyes turning deep red as she swung her giant spider claws and began piercing the chests of the goblins, killing them with a single hit.

“She’s strong…” Baihe appeared at my side, looking at Annabelle with a bit of jealousy. “But I’ll be the one to cover your back, Anna; don’t worry!”

“E-Eh?” I wondered. “Ah, sure.”

Is she being competitive with Annabelle or something?

“GRUOOHH!”

Suddenly, as we were tearing through the army of monsters with Baihe and my two familiars, Violet and Snow, a gigantic creature emerged from the crowd. It looked like an ugly amalgamation of bodies crawling around monstrously. It seemed to be made of over ten mutated goblins stuck together; it looked really gross.

[The [Eldritch Amalgamation (B- Rank)] has manifested itself!]

[All of the Mutated Monsters stats have increased by a further +15% for being merely present!]

[The Eldritch Amalgamation glares at you with fury, desiring your young flesh and warm blood!]

A single, red-colored eye opened in the middle of the amalgamation’s mutated body as countless fleshy tentacles surged from the rest of its body. Its roar called even more mutated monsters; at least another twenty joined the fray, quickly charging towards us furiously. The amalgamation didn’t stay looking either; it immediately jumped from where it was, right in front of us. The entire pseudo-dungeon trembled; cracks emerged in the floor as the gigantic abomination glared at us with its single red eye, gathering Mana into it and then firing a powerful laser!

“Baihe!”

I barely managed to grab Baihe in time and jumped over Violet with Snow; both of us ran away from the explosion before it could hit us, by barely a hair. The rest of the mutant goblins didn’t give up either. They appeared around us, viciously swinging their gigantic arms, trying to bite us with their enlarged jaws, or even spitting acid at us. They were a rowdy crowd.

“{Freezing Coffin}!” Baihe roared with fury, hitting the floor with both of her hands. Frost spread everywhere around us, immediately freezing the surrounding goblins, even though their bodies inside the freezing cages were still alive.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

Kevin suddenly leaped from behind, landing heroically in front of us and swinging his spear so fast it only looked like flashes of light piercing through the dozens of goblins' bodies, instantly slicing them apart one by one. Their frozen bodies shattered into pieces as Kevin smiled at us as if he were the most reliable friend out there.

“Hey! Did you have to steal our kills?!” Baihe complained angrily.

“A-Ah, I just saved your lives!” Kevin said.

“No, you didn't; you just showed up when I had already frozen them!” Baihe crossed her arms. “Seriously, stop getting in the way all the time!”

“Y-You should be grateful instead of screaming at me." Kevin felt a bit sad.

“There’s no time for drama,” I said as a giant red beam flew towards us. “RUN!”

We all jumped away, just in time, as the powerful red beam landed on the floor. A huge explosion of blazing miasma reached the floor, melting it and leaving a large hole. The Eldritch amalgamation had not gone anywhere, of course. Immediately, seeing that we were wasting our time discussing it, it fired a laser to vaporize us. A second too late, and we wouldn’t be able to even tell the story.

“That damn ugly thing..." Kevin muttered angrily.

“We have to stop that." Baihe said.

"Heheheh, that sounds like fun.” Annabelle was having the time of her life.

“I’ll be the bait,” I said. “Once it has its attention on me, you guys attack it! Break that huge crystal on its back, and it’ll weaken for sure.” I commanded a second after I used my Eye of Truth to analyze the monster’s weak points.

“Okay!”

Everyone agreed quickly. It was good that they weren’t indecisive when things got serious. I swiftly enchanted my speed using my Mana and Ki and then rushed in front of the monster, its giant tentacles and huge eyes locked into me. The monster’s huge tentacles had sharp, metallic tips that were like spears; one hit from that, and it would be a deadly wound for sure. However, thanks to a certain privilege, I was pretty good at evasion.

[The Effects of the [Little Rabbit’s Fearlessness (F Rank Privilege)] have been activated.]

[Your AGI has temporarily increased by +50% while you’re running away!]

My movements were so fast that whenever I evaded an attack, an afterimage of myself stayed behind, fooling the beast into attacking it instead. The abomination roared with fury and frustration, its single eye charging Mana and firing a powerful beam against me.

BOOOM!

However, what ended up being blasted was my afterimage at the end, as I appeared right on its left side.

“Hey, dumbass, I’m here.”

“GRARGH!”

As it continued its relentless attacks, Kevin, Baihe, and Annabelle attacked at once, and rather coordinately at that. Annabelle’s spiderwebs suddenly wrapped around the monster’s tentacles, sticking them to the floor, all while Baihe froze its many limbs, and then Kevin leaped into the skies, descending with the tip of his spear and hitting the beast’s crystal on its back.

CRASH!

[The [Eldritch Amalgamation (B- Rank)]’s [Demonite Crystal Core] has been shattered!]

[All of its Stats have dropped by -70%, and Mana has almost completely depleted.]

The crystal was shattered into pieces and then exploded into black-colored ashes, disappearing completely. The beast roared in agony, suddenly falling to the floor and struggling, losing most of its powers.

“See ya.” I smiled at the beast, gathering light into my hands through Sunshine and unleashing a powerful sunbeam.

The pure light against the weakened monster worked wonders; without the crystal to protect it against magic damage, the light consumed its body and burned it. A phantasmal essence surged from the corpse, disappearing. It looked shapeless, and it wasn’t really a ghost but an “eldritch manifestation,” something that high-level warlocks, or the Apostles of Death, can summon into a vessel.

[You and your Party have defeated [Demonite Mutated Goblins (C+++ Rank)] x42 and [Eldritch Amalgamation (B- Rank)] x1!]

[You earned 62000 EXP!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Your Level has increased from Level 36 to Level 38!]

[All of your Stats have increased.]

[You earned Bonus Stat Points and Skill Points.]

[The [Dagger Arts (C): Lv1] Skill Level has increased to Level 2; new Techniques have been unlocked.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Divine Judge of Flames} praises your great strength and companionship with your allies.]

[He has sponsored [Skill Level Potion (B Rank)] x3 and [Holy Sunlight Charm (B+ Rank)] x1!]

[Several other Constellations are entertained and pleased by your actions.]

[They have sponsored 2000 Plot Points.]

[The Cosmic Throne {Cursed Eight-Legged Maiden} is watching your actions attentively.]

[She has mixed opinions about you, and wonders if you could be a good influence for her incarnation or an obstacle to her growth.]

[For now, she has decided to sponsor 50 Plot Points out of goodwill.]

Arachne is quite stingy.

I guess because I’ve been with Annabelle for a while now, her sponsor eventually showed up. I don’t really know much about her other than that her sponsorship is the origin of most of Annabelle’s spider-related powers. But much like Dracula, she’s more of a “malicious” Constellation, evil-aligned. They’re not as evil as Archdemons or Apostles, but they’re still malicious, and they actively tell their sponsored incarnations to commit evil acts to receive rewards.

Anyways, Gabriel has become a rather full-time sponsor now, and with those rewards, he must be the happiest to see the spreading of chaos being eradicated. I better drink the potions while we take a little break.

[You have consumed [Skill Level Potion (B Rank)] x3!]

[Three Skills have been randomly leveled up.]

[The Effects of the [Jester’s Reverse Fortune (S Rank Privilege)] have taken effect, your LUK Stat has been reversed!]

[The [Mana Sense (E): Lv6] Skill has leveled up to Level 7, and its Rank has become D.]

[Amazing! The [Mana Sense (D): Lv7] Skill gained an additional Level!]

[The [Divine Eye of Truth (S): Lv2] Skill has leveled up to Level 3.]

[The [Half-Beast Demonic Transformation (B): Lv2] Skill has leveled up to Level 3.]

[Incredible! The [Half-Beast Demonic Transformation (B): Lv3] Skill gained an additional Level!]

That was great growth; these level-up potions are very scarce, and I doubt I can buy them myself through my privilege shop. To begin with, Gabriel invested a nice deal in me.

Especially when I take a look at this charm...

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[Holy Sunlight Charm]

{Item Type}: [Magic Accessory] [Charm]

{Item Quality}: [B+ Rank]

{Item Requirement}: [Sunlight Element Affinity]

{Item Durability}: [300/300]

{Item Effects}

[HP]: [+25] [MP]: [+100] [STR]: [+25] [VIT]: [+25] [DEX]: [+50] [AGI]: [+50] [INT]: [+50] [WIS]: [+25] [LUC]: [+50] [CHM]: [+500]

{Item Abilities}

[Holy Sunlight Protection]: A metallic charm enchanted with the divine brilliance of the sunlight that shines within the Realm of Heaven. If held by someone with an affinity for the element of Sunlight, enhances All Stats by +5%, Sunlight Magic Damage and Effects by +20%, and decreases Sunlight Magic MP Cost by -10%.

[Sanctifying Light]: By imbuing Mana into the charm and spending 25 Durability, it is possible to unleash a small fraction of the true Sunlight that shines upon the Realm of Heaven, which will deal great damage against Demons and Undead-type Monsters.

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The charm had the shape of a small sun with a cross in the middle of it. It looked like a keychain, but by merely putting it anywhere in my clothes, it’ll take effect. Honestly, it was ideal. I think this might also be compensation for having saved Henrietta back then; probably after this, he won’t gift me anything more.

“Hahh… I want to take a longer break, but we should get going.” Kevin said, quickly stretching his arms and legs.

“Yeah.” Baihe nodded. “I can sense something malicious and dangerous within the dungeon’s depths... My Constellation says we have to eliminate it before it becomes a greater danger.”

“Hehe, I am ready at any time.” Annabelle giggled.

“Alright, let’s go.” I nodded, leading our party.

After I gathered the corpse inside my inventory, we made our way down to the depths of the Dungeon. Its caverns became darker and darker, but there were no monsters in sight. And when we reached its darkest depths, a cave hall filled with purple crystals everywhere greeted us. In its center, there was something that looked like a throne made of these crystals.

Sitting above that throne, a dark figure greeted us, made of pure darkness and concentrations of miasma. Above its head, there was a crown made of purple crystals, imbued with a strange-looking red jewel on top of it. This wasn’t just a normal monster.

"It looks like I can’t even relax; that damn Beelzebub told me I wouldn’t be bothered through my manifestation." The entity sighed. Countless red eyes opened within its dark body. “I thought there would be a valiant hero greeting me, but it results to be just a quartet of children.”

[The [Eighth Ancient Apostle of Death: Bael, King of Wickedness] is manifesting himself before you.]

Wait, what? Already?!

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