’Can’t risk using it again just for this small advantage,’ Dhruv thought, shaking his head.

After seeing its effect on the boss, he deemed it unnecessary to use Authority’s spells for such minor gains.

While Dhruv was deliberating, the monster lifted one of its hands and placed it over the burned area.

The area glowed as the injury healed in an instant.

Dhruv was still lost in thought when the boss swung one of its massive arms, attempting to slam him against the cavern wall.

Chunks of rock fell as the arm passed through what seemed to be Dhruv’s body.

The boss paused in confusion, watching as multiple copies of Dhruv materialized... all of them hovering in front of it.

Focusing its mana, it tried to discern which one was real, but to no avail. Everything about the illusions was flawless—each one looked and felt identical.

Even their cores seemed to be the same.

In sync, all the illusions pulled their staffs in front of them and began charging an attack. Mana began gathering at the center of their tips as the boss looked at them in confusion.

Before deciding who to target, the boss began gathering mana at the center of its mouth as well.

Dhruv and the boss seemed to be in sync as both of their attacks seemed to finish almost at the same time.

Almost... As the monster had charged its beam a second earlier.

Even with this advantage, the boss didn’t fire the beam and instead lifted four of its arms. All four of its arms slammed into each other as a chaotic mana pulse ran through the room.

’Shit...’ Dhruv realized what had happened as the illusions began to waver.

He could only see the smirk of the monster as a fully charged beam moved directly toward him.

Dhruv attacked with [Pierce] as well, but from the prior confrontation, it was obvious it was of no use against the beam.

Tearing through, the flame beam was about to reach Dhruv...

Plop!

Just a moment before the impact, his wings moved, covering Dhruv from the beam.

Boommm!

Boooommm!

Most of it was still focused on Dhruv while some of the deflected beams began cutting through the cave like a paper.

HUUUUUUUUU!

The boss wasn’t happy at all when most powerful attack of his was blocked like it was nothing.

’Let’s finish it...’

If he hadn’t learned his lesson already, From the monster’s last attack, Dhruv understood the importance of never underestimating a foe even more now.

It held especially true when the opponent was capable of flattening a city without a care in the world. On top of this raw power, each and every one of them possesses unique abilities.

The wings on his back seemed to gain a life of their own as they began glowing with even more intensity.

"Is he turning into that..." A smile appeared on Aurora’s face as she seemed to recognize the transformation.

Unknown to her, many would see nothing wrong with her smile. But those who truly knew her would notice a significant difference.

As a princess and a trained diplomat, she had learned the art of faking a smile very early in her life.

But this was different.

She wasn’t faking it here.

It wasn’t just that she wasn’t faking it. The smile kept getting bigger and bigger, so much so that Alaric, standing beside her, couldn’t help but notice.

"Sorry!?" Aurora whispered with a smile, apologizing as she looked at her lord.

’No matter how many times I see it... I could never be satisfied with it,’ she thought her smile widening even more.

While they were happy to witness this transformation, not everyone shared the same sentiment.

The monster, which had been watching this development leisurely a moment ago, instantly changed its demeanor. Its instincts flared as it frantically began thinking of ways to stop the transformation without fail.

Failure was unacceptable here.

The chaotic ripple of mana rippled through the air once again. But this time, it couldn’t disrupt the mana surrounding the mutant.

Shriirkkk!

The monster opened its mouth and began charging an attack.

The beam fired toward the seemingly defenseless mutant but only managed to hit the wall behind him, Dhruv had already turned into a shadow.

The shadow reformed moments later, now sporting horns on top of his head.

The boss shot its arm toward him, but the mutant turned into ethereal once again.

This time, when he reappeared, his face bore multiple eyes.

Defending against the attack, Dhruv turned ethereal once again...

...Only this time, his transformation was complete. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Your time’s up..." Dhruv whispered as the staff in his hands disappeared.

In its place, a crown materialized.

Smirking, he placed the crown on top of his head, and the gem embedded in it began to glow.

BOOOOOOOOMMMM!

A sonic boom roared through the cavern, shaking the very floor beneath them.

Unable to comprehend what just happened the monster looked bewildered.

A sudden dominance appeared inside of the cave as the boss felt something pressing against its will.

In the hope of stopping it, the monster desperately began searching for its opponent... but he could find it nowhere.

"I’m here..." a voice called from above.

The monster focused its mana and finally sensed the mutant sitting on top of its head.

Thinking of crushing it right away it moved its arm to swat him away. The only problem was... its body wasn’t following its orders.

"Hehehehe!.."

Hearing the laughter, the monster focused on the mutant once again.

The man sitting atop its head was calmly moving one hand to remove the crown from his own head, while the other...

The other hand was holding a core.

Panicked, the monster looked down only to find... nothing.

There was nothing in its chest.

It couldn’t understand when... or how but its core had been ripped out.

Darkness began to envelop the monster as it tried to look at the mutant one last time.

BOOOOOM!

With a loud boom, the monster crashed onto the floor.

"How long did it take, Aurora?"

Dhruv smiled as numerous notifications began floating in front of him.

"Exactly 3 seconds, Master. From start to finish, it took exactly 3 seconds," she replied.

’I’m getting good at this, it seems,’ Dhruv thought with a smile. He sat on top of the boss’s head and began reading the notifications.

[You have killed a Tier V Unique Monster: Crystal Leviathan Boss]

.

.

.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

’Putting the crown on was a good choice...’ Dhruv mused, looking at the double-leveling notification.

As he was reading through the rest, a stone materialized in front of him.

[Stone to the Next Floor]

As he examined the stone, Alaric emerged from his shadow. Bowing, he pulled out a letter and handed it to Dhruv.

"What should we do with this invitation, Master?" Alaric asked.

Sigh!

"Who’s the sender?" Dhruv asked, already predicting the answer.

"ICA... Master."