After entering the palace, the party arrived in a huge hall with roughly a hundred crystal goblins wielding a variety of weapons.
All of them were Epic-rank level 100 – level 150.
Rudra and Liang jumped in first to attract their attention and rattle their formations.
The others followed and started raining high-speed destruction on them while Valentina and Bianca stayed at the back and helped the party by killing and saving them members from surprise attacks.
Almond joined in this time with Galvaren and Sylvia.
With his Perception that wasn’t any lower than others except for old monsters, Almond combat prowess and his combat ability revealed themselves to everyone.
A single step, a single slash, and heads would roll as he one-shotted the Epic rank monsters with apparent ease.
‘These are nothing compared to the aura, power, and abilities displayed by Heroic Bosses,’ Almond wryly smiled.
Normal monsters felt too easy to kill because after fighting in high-stack, highly focused battles against Heroic Bosses, Almond’s combat ability’s starting level went up a few notches.
Even though these Goblins were fast and their attacks were sly, Almond carefreely nullified them either with his sword or by dodging away, his steps like silent ghosts and precise as he moved from one place to another while slicing heads, sometimes horizontally, sometimes vertically.
“It looks like you’re indeed no match for him, dear,” Bianca suddenly said as only a few Goblins remained. “He has already reached a peak of 2nd stage in all Mana techniques, and his combat ability is a notch above you.”
Bianca’s eyes glinted, “This kid is a beast.”
Valentina had a grin on her face and stars in her eyes as she heard, “He is awesome. And also handsome and powerful. Umu, I choose him.”
“And he has a girlfriend,” Bianca glanced at her granddaughter.
Valentina pouted before she widely grinned, “So what? I like him, so I’ll make my move.”
*Snap!*
An arrow streaked forward from her bow, going right in front of Almond with a few inches of distance between it and his face before striking the Trampling Goblin a meter behind it.
Almond turned to her and saw Valentine winking at him, causing him to wryly smile and turn his head away as his figure blurred forward with a lightning zap, his slicing two Goblings.
“Lass, don’t be forceful against him,” Bianca said as she rolled her eyes. “If he tells you to back off, then do it. And you are four years older than him.”
“Doesn’t matter, it’s just four years,” Valentina snorted. “He is the most suitable to be my husband, hehe. Don’t you think the same, Nonna?”
“No, I don’t think the same,” Bianca side-eyed her granddaughter, “It’s suitable only when both people think it’s suitable. Just don’t make trouble, alright?”
“Fine, fine. Anyway, the Goblins are gone. Time to move ahead.”
…
The party killed a few hundred monsters and also finished resting in the next hour as they finally arrived at the Dungeon Boss Area.
Almond didn’t show much of his powers as there wasn’t a need to do so. He only used his sword, Mana techniques, and his combat style.
He mainly fought in synergy with Galvaren and Sylvia, carefreely killing monsters, storing spirits, and injecting Spirit Syringes into monsters and the trio to fight hordes.
But those were enough for others to judge his combat power, which they knew would only grow stronger.
‘This S-rank Dungeon was pretty good in terms of density value. I got over five hundred normal monster spirits and two Mini-Boss Spirits.’
As Almong checked his production, Admiral Rudra pushed the giant fancy door, opening it and revealing the Dungeon Boss area.
The boss inside had a similar blue-gold crystallized structure, but he looked like a giant Centaur fifty meters tall, wielding a bow and a horn that hung at its waist.
[Trampling Tyrant Keratora]
-Rank: Epic
-Level: 200
-Stats:
—Physical
↳[Strength: 2500|Health: 3510|Stamina: 2420]
—Mental:
↳[Mana: 2500|Focus: 2500|Perception: 2000]
“That’s so powerful!” Valentina’s eyes rippled with shock.
‘Half of its stats higher than Melameron,’ Almond’s eyes glinted. ‘Its Health, Mana, and Perception are lower than Melameron. And well, this boss is not intelligent like Heroic Spirit Boss.’
“You two should stay out of this boss fight,” Guolan said as she looked at Almond and Valentina.
“Eh? But I can just attack from afar,” Valentina tilted her head.
“You can’t do that without being a target,” Damian nodded as he squinted his eyes and flicked his finger forward as an energy bead shot forward, striking the semi-transparent field that was two meters away from them.
The field also encompassed this boss area that was 500 meters in radius, a huge platform surrounded by molten lava of blue and gold.
The energy bead struck the field, and it vaporized.
“Stay outside, this is dangerous,” Bianca said. “This boss has a bow, so he can target anyone, and that would be instant given this dungeon boss’ stats. You won’t be able to react to its attack, let alone defend or dodge.”
“Indeed, you two stay outside,” Liang said as he walked forward with his hands behind his back, his body surging with lightning as everyone heard faint crackling.
Over his body, a lightning-armor with dark blue and jade green lightning appeared while his fists formed dragon claws.
Sun and Guolan followed him as their get-up changed into metallic armor sets of ancient eastern warriors’ design.
“We’ll stay on the off-support role,” Alexander said before he nodded at his wife, and both of them walked inside as their outfit changed, adorning themselves with light-leather armor set of Epic-rank.
“This will be fun,” Damian chuckled as a mercury-white silver armor coated his body while covering his fists into gauntlets as he looked like an ancient yet futuristic fighter.
Ray Drumrell also dressed up similarly as he followed inside.
Biana also entered, but Rudra turned to Almond and asked, “Do you want to partake in this, Almond?”
Everyone’s ears twitched as they turned to Rudra.
Meanwhile, Trampling Tyrant suddenly pulled its bowstring.
Alexander and Cassandra immediately reacted, both of them unloaded two spiraling wind bullets that were specialized for interruption each as they precisely struck the boss, two on its bowstring and two on its finger, canceling the Boss’ attack.
“Nah, it’s fine. But I’ll send my two summons inside. They’ll be useful,” Almond smiled as he summoned Galvaren and Sylvia.
“Go.”
Rudra nodded and also jumped inside as the boss had already started trampling towards them, wrapped in a fiery golden-blue energy vortex as it dashed towards them.
But halfway, it suddenly made a sharp right turn and accelerated by 50% perception.
Then it took one more sharp turn, facing the party, and abruptly paused, causing a loud blast to ring while five energy-based silhouettes looking exactly like it burst forward at blinding speed.
Valentina couldn’t even see anything about how it happened, but the adventurers inside reacted and got away in time before unloading their assaults, using buffs and other skills.
Valentina stood beside Almond with a few inches of distance, purposefully brushing his shoulder with hers, “You’re pretty good, Almond.”
“Thanks, you too,” Almond replied without turning his head, his focus on the battle as he wanted to absorb everything he saw.
“I like you. How about we start dating and get to know each other.”
“No,” Almond flatly replied without looking at her.
Valentina pouted, and a mischievous glint passed through her eyes.
“I have something here, Almond. Can you please tell me what it is?”
Almond was a bit annoyed because he was giving clear hints that he wasn’t interested.
He decided to tell her clearly as he turned his head, but suddenly, Valentina moved and pecked her lips on his.
*Swoosh*
Almond instantly distanced himself two meters away and frowned, “You…”
“It’s just a kiss,” Valentina rolled her eyes. “Chill. Just wanted to check your lips.”
“Look, I get that you are very beautiful and sexy. Yeah, very nice figure. But I love someone else, and I am hers forever. You won’t even appear in my dreams, I promise. So please, don’t do that again.
“…” Read new chapters at empire