Chapter 16
Keith crossed the border into Mandara Desert and planned to sweep through all the places of interest he found yesterday. However, when he arrived at the oasis, he spotted several teams from the Innate Nation’s military locked in combat with the monsters there. Helpless, Keith could only head to the next spot, then the next. After half an hour of flying and no action, he discovered that soldiers occupied every place he fought at yesterday.
Witnessing this, Keith knew the military was just as anxious as he was. They were doing their best to get stronger before the clash against the Elemental Dimension. As a result, Keith had to push deeper into the desert to find something to hunt.
An hour later, he came to a halt.
The heat here was exceptionally intense. The wind howled like a dying animal, and sand flew everywhere, reducing Keith’s visibility to a minimum. Shivers ran down his spine. The environment made him feel vulnerable.
Gathering his courage, Keith flew down, hoping to find something on the surface. And he did. There, in the distance, was a lone herb. It shot up two feet and then tilted over, where it held a gem-like pearl radiating rainbow light. It looked exceptionally out of place and immediately drew Keith’s attention.
He became cautious.
Keith knew powerful monsters protected the more valuable herbs, so he kept his eyes peeled for movement as he flew over. Since this was a desert, the monster was most likely directly underneath the herb, waiting for someone to take the bait.
While Keith could pre-emptively launch an attack, that might destroy the herb. He had never seen such a beautiful plant, what with its glowing light and mirky white pearl, and was unwilling to risk it. That was even more the case when he got close enough to cast Inspect.
[Divine – Rainbow Pearl Grass]
Description: Herblore level is too low to gather any information.
Divine!
Keith started shaking excitedly, as this was the first divine grade item he’d ever seen. What effects did the herb have, having such a high grade? And what if an alchemist turned it into a potion? It was too bad Keith’s herblore level was lacking to discern anything.
Just then, the earth started to rumble violently.
Obscured by the sandstorm, something erupted from the ground, rising higher and higher. It was like a massive wall, ever-growing. Soon, it towered high into the sky.
The sight stunned Keith, wondering what monster could be so large. At that moment, the sandstorm behind Keith cleared, and he spun around, only to find another massive wall.
Two monsters?!
No!
With visibility restored, Keith noticed that the edges of the wall had teeth, enormous teeth. It was as if a lightning bolt had struck Keith from head to toe, and he immediately realized what was happening. The blood drained from his face, and without thinking, he ripped the Rainbow Pearl Grass from the sand and flew up as fast as he could.
A deep roar came from below as the very earth flipped over. Keith went wide-eyed as he watched the two walls start to close in on each other.
Faster! Faster!
Three hundred feet…
Two hundred feet…
A hundred feet…
Keith pushed his Flight skill to its limit, and at the last moment, when the gargantuan mouth was on the verge of closing, Keith used all three charges of Blink to teleport to the other side.
SNAP!
Tooth met tooth as a shockwave blasted Keith even higher. He spun uncontrollably before finally stabilizing. Looking down, he broke out into a cold sweat. A monster more terrifying than the Royal Queen Bee had appeared.
The beast appeared like a whale, except its skin was rugged like leather. It had large, beady eyes, which were currently staring up at Keith.
[Divine, Monster Lord] Orcus, the Sandborn – Level 760
Health: 85,000,000/85,000,000
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Unbelievably, it was the zone boss. Only one monster in each zone had that privilege, and Keith had unexpectedly encountered it.
Orcus’ eyes locked onto the Rainbow Pearl Grass in Keith’s hands. When it took a breath, it pulled Keith forward several feet, making him think he was about to be attacked. However, Orcus simply roared, “THIEF!!!”
Saliva flew everywhere, covering Keith from head to toe. Shocked and disgusted, he used a Cleanliness Ring on himself.
Orcus’ eyes grew bloodshot as its voice boomed, “You dare to steal my treasure?!”
“Uh,” Keith looked down at the Rainbow Pearl Grass in his hands. With a forced smile, he offered it to Orcus. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was yours. You can have it back.”
A vein throbbed on Orcus’ forehead. It was enraged. “Take another look, brat. I waited three years for it to grow and planned to use it to break through to the celestial rank. Now, look at what you’ve done!”
Keith cast Inspect on the herb once more.
[Divine – Rainbow Pearl Grass (72% Damaged)]
Description: Herblore level is too low to gather any information.
With Orcus about to swallow him earlier, Keith didn’t have time to use proper harvesting techniques and instead ripped it out with brute force. While Keith felt regretful, the Rainbow Pearl Grass cracked into pieces and dissipated into the wind. Left behind was a glittering seed.
[Divine – Rainbow Pearl Grass Seed]
Description: Herblore level is too low to gather any information.
Keith was first stunned, then delighted. The chance a herb left behind a seed was low, much less a divine grade one. Now that it did, didn’t this mean he could plant it in his Farming Simulator and turn it into dozens, if not hundreds, of divine grade herbs?
“DIE!” An aggrieved bellow returned Keith to reality. When Orcus saw the Rainbow Pearl Grass disperse, rage overwhelmed what little reason it had. The instincts of a system born monster rose to the top, and all it wanted to do was swallow Keith in one bite.
“Ah, well, gotta go!” Keith promptly turned and fled, not thinking for a second of fighting Orcus. He wasn’t crazy!
In response to Orcus’ anger, the surrounding sand whipped into a frenzy, turning into a fierce sandstorm. It was so blinding that Keith could only see a few feet ahead. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a massive shadow chasing him and jumped in fright.
When a minute passed and Orcus saw that it was too slow to catch Keith, it quickly changed tactics and took a deep breath. Normally, when a human breathed, if a fly flew too close at the wrong time, they might accidentally swallow it. In this case, Orcus was the human, and Keith the fly. An unresistible suction force wrapped around Keith and yanked him backward.
Keith’s eyes widened in alarm, and as he flipped about, he started casting spells in an effort to interrupt Orcus.
Holy Flame Lance!
Death’s Touch!
Infernal Blast!
Wind Lord’s Scythe!
All of Keith’s big-hitting spells hit Orcus spot on, yet the beast didn’t react in the slightest.
.
[Divine, Monster Lord] Orcus, the Sandborn – Level 760
Health: 84,988,000/85,000,000
Keith had spent over 100,000 mana and only dealt a measly 12,000 damage to Orcus’ 85 million health pool. Its defenses were scarily high.
Changing tactics, Keith cast Cold Snap on the ground, then summoned an Earth Wall. From the wall sprouted a giant root, which extended upward and grasped Keith around the leg.
It worked!
Keith was about to pull himself to safety when a scythe made from sand came out of nowhere and severed the root, as well as Keith’s hopes.
By now, Keith was right in front of Orcus’ mouth, and he could already see the monster’s jaws coming to a close. Orcus had timed it perfectly. When Keith entered, its front teeth would grind him into meat paste.
Noticing the monster’s plan, Keith steeled his resolve and stopped resisting the suction force, instead moving with it.
SNAP!
Keith’s decision saved him from death, and he safely entered Orcus’ mouth. He was now trapped inside, with nowhere to go.
Keith started panicking.
Suddenly, there was a whoosh, and something slimy slammed into Keith, sending him flying. With a bang, Keith collided with one of Orcus’ teeth and lost 12,000 health. Dazed by the impact, Keith didn’t react when Orcus’ tongue pressed over, squeezing him against the tooth.
“Agh!” Keith screamed in pain as his health fell by the thousands with every passing moment. The threat of death brought Keith unprecedented clarity, and he quickly went through his skills, trying to find a solution.
And he did.
Void Shadowstep.
Keith’s body flickered and turned intangible, gaining the property of avoiding all physical attacks and, by extension, anything physical. Overwhelmed with delight, Keith used his Flight skill to pass through Orcus’ tooth and cheek. Light replaced darkness, and Keith found himself outside. He checked his status and realized he had dropped under 30% health.
“Huh?” A startled cry came from Orcus as, just below its eye, it discovered Keith battered and bloodied.
The cry shook Keith to his core, and he quickly fled. Before he could get far, a familiar suction force pulled him backward. This time, Keith was prepared and activated his physical immunity form, ignoring the effect completely.
“Haha!” Keith laughed with joy when he realized freedom was near.
As Keith flew further away, Orcus realized its suction attack was ineffective, so it summoned a handful of Sand Scythes near Keith, hoping to cut him into pieces.
When Keith saw the scythes homing in, he felt the mana imbued inside them and switched to Void Shadowstep’s element immunity form at the last moment. The suction force took effect as the Sand Scythes flew through Keith, and when the danger passed, he quickly switched back to his physical immunity form.
Crap, Keith thought.
During that brief moment, Orcus understood what was happening and knew what to do. Acting decisively, one Sand Scythe after another assaulted Keith in an unending barrage. Helpless, Keith had to keep his elemental immunity form active and allow the suction force to pull him toward Orcus’ mouth.
Like déjà vu, Keith arrived before Orcus’ mouth, and the same situation unfolded. This time, Orcus wasn’t tricked and accounted for Keith accelerating at the last second. Thankfully, a charge for Blink came off cooldown, allowing Keith to teleport out of harm’s way.
Keith again found himself inside Orcus’ mouth, and fury overcame him.
Fine, since you want to eat me so bad, I won’t leave.
Earlier, facing Orcus alone was too dangerous, so Keith didn’t think about fighting it. Now that he was unable to escape, he changed his mindset. And when he did, he realized the situation wasn’t as dire as it seemed.
The key was Void Shadowstep and Orcus’ massive body.
Keith had never had the opportunity before, but what stopped him from using Void Shadowstep to pass through Orcus’ body and find its organs? Say, its heart?
Keith blinked.
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing stopping him.
Covered in blood, Keith broke out into a grin.
Today, he was going to kill a divine grade Monster Lord.