About an hour had passed since I joined Deirka's group, and we had already slaughtered about twenty Minotaurs.

However, we still hadn't found Asterios' Chamber.

I was starting to worry that Maceria and Castor Town would soon be overrun by hordes of Minotaurs.

While Dia and Earl were strong enough to defend against a couple of Minotaurs, a horde posed a different challenge.

We probably had a couple of hours before the portal spawn rate increased to the point where Dia and Earl would be overwhelmed.

"Dierka, did you leave some people in your city to defend against the Minotaur spawns?" I asked, feeling concerned.

"I left Hazel, a former guild member of Endless, and a couple of adventurers with the responsibility of defending our town," Dierka replied.

"You mean Hazel, the Black Witch's apprentice," I remarked.

"Yes, Miss Kuro's apprentice," he confirmed.

Dierka was referring to one of our strongest guild officers, Miss Kuro, also known as the Black Witch.

"Hazel just reached level 50 a few days ago," Dierka added.

"Then we better hurry, since in a few hours, Miss Hazel might not be able to handle the Minotaurs," I stated.

The five of them agreed and continued looking for Asterios' Chamber.

The resounding clash of metal and a terrifying roar reverberated throughout the labyrinth as we entered a massive chamber.

In the center, a colossal monster, half-bull, half-man and equipped with two large battle axes, bellowed as dozens of unknown adventurers engaged with the savage creature.

Dierka's group was struck with terror, as the Colossal Monster was twice the size of Goliath, which was already larger than a normal Minotaur.

With a single slam of Asterios's battle axes on the labyrinth’s floor, several adventurers were sent flying into the chamber walls, sustaining substantial damage.

Despite their fear, Dierka's group found some courage as they followed my charge towards the Raging Bull.

Asterios the Bull King, was on the verge of ending an adventurer's life with his enormous battle axe when Dierka used a Heavy Blow, Brawler’s level 35 skill, on Asterios's arm, followed by Aaron’s Shield Bash, Shielder’s level 35 skill.

This combination threw off Asterios's aim, as both skill has a decent knock back effect, saving the adventurer lying on the floor.

Sean quickly grabbed the injured adventurer and, with his nimble feet, retreated to safety with the injured adventurer.

Meanwhile, I was already preoccupied with one of Asterios's arms, forced to use Sword Guard, but the knockback effect sent me flying toward the high ceiling of the chamber.

Asterios's aggro was unmistakably focused on me as I unleashed two Half-Moon slashes while soaring toward the ceiling.

The colossal monster roared menacingly, positioning itself to hurl both of its battle axes, initiating the Double Hurling Axe attack.

As my feet reached the chamber ceiling, I began chanting, "Luna gemina, ferre duos gladios, astrum danza!, Lunar Blade Dance”.

Two enormous battle axes hurtled toward me, and without hesitation, I quickly used Twin-Sword Guard with Kaleidoscope and Durandal, both in their Taichi form.

The damage was mostly nullified, but the impact cracked the chamber's ceiling, causing chunks of broken rocks to fall to the floor.

As the two battle axes descended back to the ground, Dierka’s group and most of the adventurers had already distanced themselves from Asterios.

The Bull King retrieved his weapons from the ground just as I chanted, “Luna saltus, celeritas et vigor! Dancing Moonlight,” using Flash Step to catapult myself toward the colossal monster.

I released 32 short-range slashes with Devouring Moonflower, dealing substantial damage to Asterios, though it was only a fraction of its colossal health.

Before I could reposition myself, Asterios's instant skill activated Counter Bash.

Luckily, Twin Sword Guard was already available due to Devouring Moonflower, preventing a significant chunk of my HP from being chipped away.

While I successfully nullified Asterios's Counter Bash, the knockback effect nearly sent me crashing into the wall, causing a tenth of my HP to be lost due to the impact.

"Guild Master, watch out!" Dierka shouted as Asterios prepared to unleash one of its devastating skills, Tectonic Sunderstrike.

Sheathing both of my swords, I poised myself to unleash one of the Blade Dancer's signature skills, Concurring Blood Moon Eclipse.

Two curved dark red lights emanated from my swords, colliding with the shockwave released by Asterios's skill.

I hoped that Concurring Blood Moon Eclipse would be sufficient to negate Asterios's Tectonic Sunderstrike, but to my surprise, one of the dark red slashes managed to sneak through and strike Asterios's body.

The colossal monster let out a loud shriek as the dark red slash left a carved mark on its body.

My mana was already running low, but I had no time to consume an MP potion as Asterios entered its second state.

Asterios relinquished both of his battle axes and began pummeling me with a barrage of destructive punches.

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I managed to dodge most of Asterios's punches using Flash Step, but whenever I released a Half Moon Slash to maintain Asterios's aggro, I was compelled to use Full Sword Guard.

Due to its long cooldown, it left me vulnerable to Asterios's subsequent barrage of punches, forcing me to resort to Dual Blade Parry, an advanced version of Sword Parry that is only available when Dancing Moonlight is active.

This allowed me to mitigate 90 percent of the incoming damage.

Fortunately, both of my swords were unbreakable; otherwise, they would have shattered by now.

However, the grim news was that my HP was gradually approaching zero.

The fight was so intense that Dierka and the other adventurers were struggling to provide support.

Asterios paused for a few seconds as he clasped both of his hands, lifting them high to unleash his Ultimate Skill, Grand Impact, a pulverizing ability that would smite anyone within its premises.

Without a second thought, I chanted, "Obscurum Circum Nocturnus Artes Saltandi Ferrarius, Moonless Night Parade."

Both of my swords transformed into pitch black, glistening like obsidian, as a dark aura enveloped them.

Moonless Night Parade, a level 70 buff of the Blade Dancer Class, consumes all of the user's mana.

In exchange, it allows the casting of three different Blade Dancer skills for zero mana.

It envelops all skills with a darkness attribute, increasing the damage by adding max HP damage per hit.

I wasn't looking forward to using this skill, as I only resort to it as a last option, and it pretty much reveals my level to veteran Arcadia players.

As the gargantuan hands were about to strike me, I cast one of my favorite mobility skills, Shadow Step, repositioning myself above the colossal monster.

Shadow Step is a darkness attribute skill that allows me to move using shadows but can only be used once during the activation of Moonless Night Parade.

I heard Dierka shouting my name as Asterios's skill struck the labyrinth's floor.

The intense shockwave destroyed the ground and sent rocks flying around the dungeon.

Aaron and the other shielder managed to protect the others by using Aegis Wall, a level 40 skill that shields a small area and grants absolute protection for a few seconds to anyone affected.

However, it has a couple of minutes of cooldown and consumes half of the user's HP.

Knowing that everyone was safe, I focused on the colossal monster, which seemed confused and was searching for my body.

As Asterios the Bull King looked up, a flurry of obsidian slashes rained down on his body.

Devouring Nightshade, the dark counterpart of Devouring Moonflower, allowed the user to unleash 32 mid-range Pitch Black slashes.

Asterios's HP drastically dropped as the slashes carved into his body.

The monster tried to guard using its two arms, but it's left arm was severed by the flurry of slashes.

As the colossal monster was on its last leg and I was slowly falling to the ground with zero mana, I thought to end the monster with my third and final move.

To my surprise, Asterios dashed toward me with his right arm holding one of his battle axes.

Unable to reposition myself due to the lack of mana, I accepted my fate as I sheathed both my swords to release the dark counterpart of Concurring Blood Moon Eclipse.

Concurring Dark Moon Eclipse, the two obsidian slashes instantly severed Asterios's head and left leg.

But it's right arm, holding the giant battle axe, was still moving towards my body.

I knew that even if Asterios's body disappeared, its battle axe would still strike me as its dying skill, Revenge Counter, allowed Asterios to launch a death-defying attack that would return one hundred percent of the last damage received.

In those critical moments, I could only hope that the Necklace of Endurance would work, but I had my doubts, considering I was technically receiving my very own Concurring Dark Moon Eclipse.

However, two shadows covered my body – it was Aaron and the other shielder.

It seemed they had been thrown toward my position.

Both of them cast Shield Guard, attempting to mitigate Asterios's Revenge Counter.

I knew that even two Shield Guards wouldn't be enough to stop the damage, and both would likely perish.

I despised the idea of experiencing the same feeling I had when Yui saved me.

As Asterios's battle axe touched both of their shields, I saw my level increase from level 79 to level 80, replenishing both my MP and HP in the blink of an eye.

My body glistened as I quickly chanted, "Change Class Enchanter!! Aura Stone! Sword Enchant."

I grabbed both of the shielders, moving them beside me to create a space to summon Iron Bastion, a level 80 skill available when I’m using Stone Aura.

Its durability depends on how much vitality status the user has.

With quick thinking, I casted Status Shift, putting all my stats into Vitality.

I couldn't help but wonder if my zero-vitality build would survive even with Stone Skin and Status Boost already active.

Zero multiplied by any number is zero, after all.

I smiled a bit, remembering Yui being angry and lecturing me on my status build, despite having just started the game for a couple of days.

“Portam Ferream Colossalem Invoco, Hostes Obstruere, Iron Bastion" I chanted as I pull the two Shielder.

A huge Iron Gate appeared in front of me blocking Asterios Giant Battle Axe.

Asterios's battle axe dented the huge Iron Gate, and the extreme shockwave threw the three of us against the corridor wall.

"Stone Skin!, Status Boost!". I instantly casted a few seconds earlier before our bodies touched the wall.

Both shielders lost more than half of their HP, while a third of my HP was chipped away.

"Are you okay, Guild Master Leirsa?" Dierka asked, visibly concerned.

"Still alive, I guess!" I answered jokingly to lower the tension.

Aaron and the other Shielder seemed to be alright, as they were both already on their feet, drinking HP potions.

"Swordmaster Leirsa!?" one of the adventurers suddenly mumbled.

"No wonder you already have access to Blade Dancer's level 70 skill," he continued.

I just put one of my fingers on my lips, signaling him to keep it a secret.

It seems this guy is familiar with Arcadia, probably a seasoned veteran of the game.

After all, this group did manage to get to Asterios’ Chamber.

"I'm Jin, a former guild member of Eternity," the Warrior said.

So that's why he knew me; Eternity is one of Asia's Top War Guilds and one of our Guild's war allies.

"It's great to see you in action, Swordmaster Leirsa," he said, smiling.

I was about to thank Aaron and the other Shielder when purple light enveloped our bodies.

"It seems that we are being sent back to our home," I said.

"Thank you for saving us," Jin said as their bodies started to vanish.

"Till next time, Guild Master," Dierka quickly said.

"Till next time," I replied.

In a few moments, I found myself in front of Maceria Northern Gate.