Lucian moved swiftly, he was like a phantom was he moved. Since they've already noticed the Dragon Soul Devourer he didn't mind and and directly sued it openly.
His Agility, combined with his innate grace, made him a ghost. It wasn't long before his heightened senses picked up movement.
Three hulking beasts, easily three meters tall, emerged from the dense undergrowth. They resembled bears, but their fur was a matted, sickly green, and their claws were a foot long, dripping with a viscous black ichor. Their eyes, six apiece, glowed with a malevolent red.
[Blightfang Ursa]
[Level: 16]
[Type: Corrupted Beast]
[HP: 12,000/12,000]
For a level 16 beast, Lucian didn't need to activate Crimson Shadowstep.
His form blurred, leaving a faint crimson trail as he shot towards the nearest Blightfang Ursa. The beast roared, a sound like grinding tombstones, and swiped with its massive claws.
"Screeech!"
The air tore where Lucian had been a microsecond before. He was already behind it, Dragon Soul Devourer arcing in a silver gleam.
"BANG!"
The beast shrieked, a sound of pure agony, and stumbled. Before it could recover, Lucian spun, the spear a whirlwind of destruction.
"First Move: Dragon's Roar!"
The spear shaft hummed, bending like a striking dragon, and lashed out. "ROAR!"
A spectral dragon's roar echoed as the spearhead connected with the Ursa's side.
"BOOM!"
A shockwave erupted from the point of impact, sending dust and corrupted leaves flying.
[-3,150 HP!]
[Blightfang Ursa HP: 3,960/12,000]
[Draconic Ascension Activated: Strength and Agility +2% for 30 seconds (Stack 1/10)]
The other two Ursas charged, their roars shaking the very ground. One lunged, its jaws snapping, while the other reared up, preparing to bring its massive weight down.
Lucian's eyes were cold. He sidestepped the lunge, the fetid breath of the Ursa washing over him. As the second Ursa slammed its paws down, creating a crater where he'd stood, Lucian was already airborne. He kicked off the side of an obsidian tree, twisting in mid-air, his spear aimed at the charging Ursa's exposed neck
"SHLICK!"
The spearhead, imbued with his immense strength, punched through scales and thick muscle, severing the spinal column.
[-3,960 HP!]
[Blightfang Ursa Eliminated!]
[+450 EXP | +35 Relic Gold Coins]
[SS-Rank Skill: Blood Devour Activated!] → [+1 Strength] [+1 Physique]
[Blood Harvest (Dragon Soul Devourer) Attack Power Increased: +85% → +86%]
[Soul Drain Activated! Life force stored (5%)]
The remaining Ursa, the first one he'd attacked, howled in rage and charged, its eyes blazing. Lucian met it head-on. His Celestial Adamantine Body shimmered.
[Celestial Adamantine Body Activated!] [Physical Damage Reduction: 50%] [Elemental Resistance: 30%]
The Ursa's claws raked across his chest.
"Ding!"
Sparks flew as if metal struck his crystalline skin.
The wounds, mere scratches on his hardened form, began knitting closed almost instantly.
[Ungodly Regeneration Activated!]
Lucian smirked. He drove his fist, not his spear, into the Ursa's snout.
"BAM!"
The sound was like a sledgehammer hitting concrete. The Ursa's head snapped back, a wet crack echoing.
[-1,800 HP!]
It staggered, dazed. Lucian didn't give it a chance. Dragon Soul Devourer
became a blur, striking a dozen times in a second.
"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!.."
[-350] [-340] [-360]...
[Draconic Ascension Stacks: 2/10... 3/10... 4/10]
The Ursa collapsed, riddled with wounds.
[Blightfang Ursa Eliminated!]
[+450 EXP | +32 Relic Gold Coins]
[SS-Rank Skill: Blood Devour Activated!] → [+1 Agility] [+1 Physique]
[Blood Harvest (Dragon Soul Devourer) Attack Power Increased: +86% → +87%]
[Soul Drain Activated! Life force stored (10%)]
He stood amidst the carnage, his breathing even. The thrill of battle, the surge of power, it was intoxicating. Two Ursas down, 900 EXP. He needed one more
for the reroll.
He moved deeper into the forest, the twilight deepening. The silence was eerie, broken only by the rustle of unseen things in the undergrowth. His perception, sharpened by his stats and instincts, scanned his surroundings.
Suddenly, his ears twitched. A faint sound, almost swallowed by the oppressive silence - the distinct, sharp clang of metal on metal, followed by a muffled roar of pain, then a guttural snarl. Combat. And it sounded intense. He paused, his head tilting. The sounds were coming from a few kilometers ahead. A frown touched his lips. For someone else to be this deep into the Forgotten Hunting Grounds, and engaged in combat, meant they were either very skilled or very foolish. He was surprised. He had thought himself relatively fast in clearing a path here.
Curiosity was a fleeting thing for Lucian. He had his own goals. He was about to turn, to find another pack of unsuspecting monsters for his EXP and reroll,
when the very air around him rippled.
"WHOOOMPH!"
A split second later, a massive shockwave, a visible distortion of pressure,
blasted outwards from the direction of the combat. It moved with incredible speed, a destructive wave that hit the treeline with the force of a colossal
hammer.
"CRACK! SNAP! BOOM!"
Trees, ancient and obsidian-hard, were pulverized into splinters. Boulders the size of huts were not just shattered but erased, reduced to fine dust. Everything within a half-kilometer radius of the shockwave's origin was annihilated, leaving a barren, smoking scar on the landscape.
Lucian's face changed slightly as the furious tide of force roared towards him.
It was powerful, enough to severely injure even a Ranker of his caliber if taken head-on without preparation.
[Incoming High-Energy Kinetic Force Detected!]
His Celestial Adamantine Body flared, its crystalline structure humming.
[Celestial Adamantine Body Fully Activated!]
He didn't retreat. Instead, he took a single, firm step forward, planting his feet
as if he were an extension of the earth itself. His hands, glowing faintly with
contained power, snapped together in a clap.
"THWACK!"
The sound wasn't just a clap; it was a miniature thunderclap, a concussive blast
that originated from the point of impact of his palms. An even more powerful shockwave, condensed and ferocious, erupted outwards from him, a counter-tsunami of pure kinetic force.
The two shockwaves met a hundred meters from Lucian. For an instant, the air
shimmered and warped as if reality itself was buckling. Then, Lucian's shockwave, imbued with his superior strength and the focused nature of its
creation, tore through the incoming wave. It didn't just negate it; it consumed it and continued its path, a vengeful spear of air, straight towards the source of
the initial disturbance.
"BOOOOOOM!"