The moment Kaelios snapped his fingers, the world around Alex shifted entirely.
The vibrant garden filled with flowers and statues dissolved into a swirling vortex of shadows and ash, leaving him disoriented for a brief second.
Alex’s feet hit the ground hard, and he instantly noticed the air was heavy with the stench of sulfur and decay.
[You have entered the Abyssal Wasteland.]
[Warning: This is a Tier-8 Area. Recommended Level: 1000.]
Brushing off the ash clinging to his armor, Alex surveyed his surroundings.
The land was a barren expanse of jagged obsidian rocks and rivers of molten lava, stretching endlessly in all directions.
The sky above churned with ominous black and red clouds, crackling with the occasional bolt of dark lightning.
Every breath was thick with heat, making the atmosphere oppressive.
“Abyssal Wasteland,” Alex muttered, his voice calm despite the hostile environment.
His eyes shifted to his status panel.
[Level: 700]
“Well, this is going to be interesting,” he remarked, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips.
Though he was 300 levels below the recommended range, fear wasn’t part of Alex’s nature.
He felt a strange thrill instead, a challenge unlike any other.
Overwhelming odds were nothing new, and this felt no different.
To complete his objective, he needed to find the [Abyssal Titan] quickly.
But considering the size of this zone, that wasn’t going to be easy.
The [Abyssal Wasteland] was deeper within the game world, far larger than any area Alex had explored before.
But even though he thought that less than three seconds ago, as he looked in the distance, he saw it.
“Huh…”
A shadow unlike anything else loomed against the horizon.
[Warning!]
[Be careful!]
Alex froze.
At first, he thought it was a massive pillar or structure as there was no way something that big coud be the target.
And yet…
The creature moved, and his jaw tightened as the colossal figure came into view.
It was enormous, easily towering over 500 meters tall, higher than some mountains.
Its sheer size was beyond anything Alex had ever faced.
[Abyssal Titan (Divine)]
[Level: 1300]
[Too far to check other information.]
“That’s why they called this task impossible,” Alex muttered under his breath, taking a few cautious steps forward.
The titan’s head turned suddenly, its glowing crimson eye locking onto his general direction.
Its molten body radiated heat, and dark flames licked along its exterior.
Its skin looked like cooled obsidian streaked with molten cracks, giving it an aura of indestructibility.
Each of its steps made the ground quake violently, and its powerful aura alone could make lesser beings collapse under the weight of its presence.
Not only that, but it was level 1300, stronger than anything Alex had EVER faced on his own in this life and the previous one.
This was literally the strongest monster he ever had to face alone since previously his record was level 1,000.
Alex ducked behind a massive boulder just as a crimson laser-like scanner emitted from the titan’s sole glowing eye.
He held his breath, sweat dripping from his temple as the scanner swept over the area.
For a tense few seconds, the titan paused.
Its eye lingered in Alex’s direction.
Then, it turned away and resumed its slow, thunderous march.
Alex exhaled sharply, the weight of the encounter washing over him.
He knew, without a doubt, that if the titan had spotted him, he wouldn’t have survived.
Still crouched behind the boulder, Alex gripped his staff tightly and pointed it at the retreating titan.
“Let’s test something,” he muttered.
[Demonic Spear]
The spear materialized at the tip of his staff, molten and brimming with destructive energy.
With precise aim, Alex hurled it at the titan.
The weapon flew true, piercing through the air before slamming into the titan’s back.
The resulting explosion shook the wasteland, a fiery blast engulfing the titan.
-1!
No damage.
Alex’s eyes widened.
“Not even a scratch?”
The titan’s body seemed entirely unaffected, its molten form ignoring the explosion as if it were nothing.
That confirmed it. This boss wasn’t meant to be defeated by brute force.
‘Just like in games,’ Alex thought. ‘If a boss is this overpowered, there’s always a specific weakness.’
Activating his [Cursed Eyes of the King] could help uncover it, but getting close enough to use them was a different story.
From what Alex had observed so far, the titan’s attacks and defense were maxed out, but its speed was relatively low.
“I need to move closer,” he decided.
But first, he had to deal with the countless monsters that roamed the wasteland.
As Alex dashed forward, his agility made him a blur across the barren landscape.
The air shimmered with heat, but he paid no attention to the oppressive conditions.
Up ahead, groups of monsters emerged.
[Abyssal Fiend]
[Level: 1023]
[HP: 170,000,000]
[Skills: Abyssal Claws, Hellfire Burst, Shadow Leap, Lava Armor, Death Howl, Regeneration.]
[Molten Horror]
[Level: 1085]
[HP: 200,000,000]
[Skills: Lava Spit, Flame Shockwave, Molten Chains, Magma Explosion, Infernal Roar.]
Six Abyssal Fiends and five Molten Horrors.
Alex stopped briefly, summoning his ethereal fox allies.
[All Elements Fox Summons]
The foxes materialized around him, their ethereal forms glowing with the energy of their respective elements.
“Let’s clear this out quickly,” Alex said, his voice steady.
Without hesitation, Alex activated [Bleeding Claws] and lunged at the nearest Abyssal Fiend.
His shadow-enhanced claws ripped through the monster’s molten flesh effortlessly, tearing it apart in just three strikes.
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The Abyssal Fiend let out a dying screech before crumbling to ash.
Meanwhile, his fox summons leaped into action.
The fire foxes unleashed torrents of flame, incinerating the Abyssal Fiends.
The water foxes extinguished the enemies’ lava-based attacks, their streams of water cutting through molten defenses.
The electric foxes stunned their foes with lightning bolts, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up strikes.
The light foxes blinded the enemies, while the darkness foxes unleashed void-like energy, tearing through even the toughest defenses.
The battle was over in minutes.
All six Abyssal Fiends and five Molten Horrors lay defeated, their remains scattered across the wasteland.
Not a single fox had been injured, and Alex hadn’t even needed to cast another spell.
“Level 1000+ monsters are nothing to me now,” Alex said, smirking confidently.
His power was undeniable.
But he knew the real challenge lay ahead.
Far in the distance, the Abyssal Titan continued its slow march, unaware of the hunter closing in.
Alex tightened his grip on his staff.
The strongest monster he had ever faced was waiting, and he had no intention of losing.