Before Cyrus could complete a blink, the boss was already before him, weapon swinging. He just barely managed to duck, transforming what would have been a lethal strike to the eye into a deep slash across his forehead instead.
Blood gushed from the wound into his left eye while hearing a heavy stomp approaching from his new blindspot.
The realm boss's smile was evident as he observed the challenger skillfully evade the assault and then advance with determination etched on his battered face.
Cyrus set his plan in action, targeting the left wrist and stabbing deeply until a sharp crack echoed. He then swiftly circled behind the boss, aiming for the back of his left knee and right ankle, all within seconds.
"Marvelous! He has potential," The realm boss thought, grinning widely as blood sprayed from the deep wounds on his wrist, knee, and ankle.
"Keep attacking! Don't let it retaliate!" Cyrus commanded himself, persistently stabbing and slashing at the wounded boss with all his physical might.
His strikes flowed seamlessly, each one transitioning into the next. Although the boss parried several blows, one evaded his defense, cutting through the right elbow joint. This caused the boss to lose grip of his spear and sustained further injuries across his torso.
The boss staggered backward, presenting Cyrus with the golden opportunity. Seizing the moment, he aimed a strike at the exposed neck.
His blade sliced through the air, causing Cyrus's eyes to widen in shock as he missed the final attack. The realm boss completed his backward lean and swiftly transitioned into a counter-attack, executing a leg sweep aimed at Cyrus's legs.
He managed to hop over the attack and went for his counter-attack aiming to rip open the realm boss's wide open chest. Yet, just as the knife was about to deliver a fatal blow, it suddenly broke into fragments.
"They weren't just simple blocks; they were hidden strikes designed to break my blade!!" That realization made him falter upon landing, leaving him vulnerable to a swift claw strike that tore through the right side of his stomach.
"Don't tell me this is all you've got?" he asked while yawning as Cyrus stumbled backward, struggling to suppress a scream of sheer agony.
"I can't defeat this creature; I'm going to die!" he thought, as despair took over and blood seeped from between his clenched teeth, his hard thought plan failing apart.
Cyrus winced from the pain, and the boss seized that moment to surge forward, delivering a powerful uppercut that nearly knocked him out as he was sent flying into the air.
"And here I was, thinking you would present a challenge," the monstrous king said, frowning, before delivering a punch straight to Cyrus's face, the sickening crunch echoing throughout the temple.
The punch's force propelled him through the air, causing him to tumble and skid across the ground, leaving a trail of blood. A sense of serenity enveloped Cyrus as he lay there bleeding, his breaths growing fainter and his heartbeat fading into silence.
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(Outside the temple)
A small monster let out an angry roar before its head was smashed into the ground by Rick's charge.
"Hold on, kid, I'm coming!!!" he bellowed, batting monsters aside and flinging others from his back. "I won't let you sacrifice yourself!"
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(Back inside the temple)
"How are you feeling?" A deep soothing voice asked as Cyrus weakly glanced up to see a man crouching in front of him. His physical features were shrouded by the golden glow emitting from his body.
"Like shit, I-I can't do this" Cyrus spat with a frustrated tone in his weak voice. He glanced around to see himself in a white void.
"It's good that you feel that way," The golden man said with a light chuckle "Now you know your limit and can finally start to surpass it"
"M-my limit?" Cyrus repeated as he saw a large pile of weak monsters with the realm boss standing on top.
"Yeah it's that point in time where fate itself is trying to test you," He said with a serious tone. "I know you are a smart boy so how are you gonna do it"
"Drawing on the experience I gained from battling monsters, and with this strange ring you left me with," he murmured, removing the ring from the necklace and sliding it onto his right ring finger.
As the purple runes on the ring shone brightly, a warm sensation began to spread throughout his body, erasing any pain and filling him with an invigorating rush of energy instead.
"Glad to see you didn't pawn it off for easy money," The golden man said with a warm smile as he walked towards a massive door while fading away. "Now finish this and let's meet at the top"
The boss bent over to grab the beaten slayer by the hair, who was still muttering and wriggling. However, his expression quickly turned to one of utter shock when he couldn't feel his right hand.
"Huh?" He gazed in shock at his wrist that is spurting blood.
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The monsters looked on in disbelief at what happened to their leader, then shifted their attention to Cyrus. He was poised and ready for battle, his body covered with bright, glowing purple runes, a ring enveloped in a purple aura, and one of Sarah's katanas in hand.
"I guess I was wrong, you certainly have more to give" The realm boss spoke with a smirk as the mana in the air was engulfing the challenger like a raging inferno.
The three beastly monsters watching from above held their breaths as their leader used his mana to regrow his missing hand and other wounds.
Then in a split second, both of them disappeared before just as quickly reappearing in the center with both their weapons clashing with a loud boom that shook the dome.
Cyrus snarled, spinning to the boss's left side and leaping for a slash at his neck, but missed as the boss leaped away, countering with a swift downward strike of his long weapon.
Still airborne, Cyrus didn't lose momentum; he twisted around, raising his katana to block the blow. The force was powerful enough to drive his feet into the ground, causing it to crack around him.
Cyrus crouched lower and, despite the confined space, dashed forward. He let loose a swift jab that was strong enough to snap the realm boss's knee out of place.
The boss grunted in pain and dropped to one knee while his mana slowly moved the bone and muscles back into place.
Now on level ground, Cyrus tore away the mask and landed a powerful headbutt to the sharp nose, causing a crack followed by a spurt of blood. The boss, hissing through the pain and fury, threw a fast left hook. Cyrus, however, responded by twirling the katana around and jamming the handle into his hand, fracturing multiple fingers.
The three creatures attempted to keep their eyes open as two of them engaged in a rapid blitz, bouncing off the dome's walls and clashing weapons, creating sparks that lit up various areas in quick succession.
"He's different from before, now he's attacking like a wild beast that has given up on defense!" The boss thought while looking into Cyrus's eyes he saw a burning look of rage staring back.
The runes on his legs and feet glowed with increasing intensity, causing his muscles to swell and his movements to accelerate until he became a blur.
The realm boss, recognizing his disadvantage against the newfound speed, anchored his feet into the ground. With a concentrated effort, he spun his spear in a defensive whirl, attempting to parry what seemed to be simultaneous attacks from Cyrus coming from multiple directions.
The moment he directed a slash away from himself he quickly countered with his stab toward Cyrus's face which was seconds away from piercing his skull if he didn't tilt his head to the side making the tip of the blade leave a bloody line across his nose and slice off his right ear.
"Did his mind snap making him forget who he is?"
The question lingered in his mind, a stark contrast to Cyrus's earlier tactics in the fight, which involved calculated counterattacks aimed at minimizing unnecessary pain. Now, unfazed by the fresh wounds, Cyrus closed in without hesitation and delivered a downward slash, leaving a deep gash across the stomach and chest.
As Cyrus was about to press on with his attack, the runes on his legs faded slightly, diminishing his speed. This allowed the realm boss to swiftly deliver a powerful front kick directly to his gut. The force of the attack sent him shooting back with blood and vomit spewing from his mouth.
He hit the ground so hard he left a dirt cloud as the realm boss sprinted after him while pulling his weapon arm back. Once ready he shot it forward with enough speed to part a section of the dust cloud revealing that Cyrus managed to catch it with both hands while the tip of the weapon was inches from his throat.
In their fierce struggle, the runes on his arms glowed with increasing intensity, causing his muscles to swell and tense up. Then with a forceful toss, he flung the weapon aside which stuck into the ground.
With a swift motion, he executed a kip-up, leaped from the weapon's shaft for extra height, and withdrew the katana from his mouth in one seamless action. As the boss lifted his free arm, Cyrus executed a swift downward strike.
The blade sliced through the arm with ease, yet the motion was hindered just enough to allow the boss to dodge his head to safety. The monsters watching didn't even see the attack before their leader's right arm at the elbow suddenly detached in a spray of blood.
"No, he chose to discard all constraints and concentrate solely on our battle!" The realm boss deduced, observing the young slayer, a twisted grin forming on his face.
He tightened his grip on the weapon and in a smooth motion yanked it out of the ground and swung it at Cyrus who was still in the air with all his might.
Cyrus managed to block the attack, but the force sent him hurtling backward. In a mere instant, the realm boss appeared before him and thrust through his left shoulder with a swift strike.
The arm dangled uselessly while the mana in the air fused with the katana, cloaking it in a sinister deep purple aura. The blade was then plunged into the boss's stomach, making him feel as if his belly were ablaze.
When they landed on their feet Cyrus forced himself to get closer with each of their weapons moving deeper into the wounds.
"He is willing to sacrifice his own life just to take mine!" The realization roared in his mind as his head snapped backward after taking a punch to the damaged nose. "And he's adapting every second!"
Before the runes on his arms dimmed he still had enough strength to knock a couple of sharp teeth out and send the monkey boss flying back while releasing his weapon.
While soaring he focused most of his mana to regrow his arm instead of teeth before flipping himself around so he could land with a crouch. He brought his newly remade arm up to catch the broken end of his weapon before quickly using his other hand to catch the other end.
The boss smiled as the mana-encased katana rocketed towards him at such fast speed that it forced him to block with his left leg instead of taking it straight to the chest.
Even though he anticipated it, the pain made him blink, and as he reopened his eyes, there was Cyrus, his left knee swiftly rising towards his face.
"He's getting more dangerous as the fight continues! The boss might lose. who is this challenger!?" The three monsters chatted to themselves as they watched their boss barely lean back in time to avoid the flying knee.
Cyrus executed a swift forward flip, landing a powerful heel kick that drove the realm boss's head into the ground and shattered his nose. Instantly, he grabbed the katana and plunged it towards the boss's forehead, only to be halted as it impaled the boss's outstretched palms in a last-ditch effort to block.
Locked in another struggle for victory as the blood-stained katana got closer to piercing the forehead, The boss swiftly drew his legs up to his chest and then forcefully extended them into Cyrus's injured stomach.
Cyrus clenched his teeth against the sharp pain as he was thrust backward into the air, his katana slipping from the enemy's palms. The realm boss didn't waste a moment, leaping after the young slayer to deliver his own sharp heel kick into his stomach again.
Cyrus crashed to the ground, a gush of blood and spit escaping his mouth as the heel dug deeper into his belly, bursting something crucial within him just as the floor around him cracked open.
"I'M BEGGING YOU, DON'T YOU DARE DIE!" The realm boss let out a cry of sheer delight while they plunged deeper into the temple's lower levels as the floors broke under the force of Cyrus's body.
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(At the second door entrance)
Rick saw the temple start to collapse in on itself and quickened his pace.
"What's going on!" Sarah called out making him glance back to see reinforcement and healers.
"Something crazy! come on!!" He roared as large gorilla monsters appeared to guard the temple and charge the incoming slayers.