In the aftermath of Megaloblatta’s attack, a dense cloud of black smoke covered the entirety of the open space, slowly rising to the First Floor, and as it ascended, something else came dripping down —It was molten lava born from the scorching heat.

Step... Crunch...

A short distance away, a lone figure came out from where he had been hiding, his entire body riddled with third degree burns, cuts, and parts of him without flesh.

It was Kaelen. He looked as though he had been rescued from the maw of a wild beast before being baptized with fire.

Sizzle... Sizzle...

He continued filling his Mana Veins with Mana to accelerate his regeneration, just as he had been doing during the entire course of Charymos and Megaloblatta’s battle.

Sizzle...

His flesh regenerated, and the third degree burns faded away as though they were merely muck stuck to his skin.

[This barely did anything...]

He lowered his eyes to the fragment of what was once a great shield in his grasp.

[No... This, in addition to the Monarch’s Aegis barrier are probably the only reasons why I’m still alive. Had I lost consciousness for even a second, I would have been reduced to char.]

He mused. His upper body completely bare and the once long pants that covered his lower body, completely scorched up to his thighs.

He carefully walked forward, avoiding parts of the ground that had been reduced to magma.

"Megalo..."

As more of the smoke cleared, Kaelen’s cherry-pink eyes reflected the insectoid standing still as though frozen in time.

[He looks terrible...]

Megaloblatta’s right arm was twisted so grotesquely that his elbow was right next to his shoulder and his hand was in the space between them.

"It’s time to move on to the next phase, so you can rest now, Megalo. I’ll take it from here. Thank you."

Kaelen spoke as he placed his hand on Megaloblatta’s left forearm, his voice laced in a deep, warm empathy.

"It...wheeze... Won’t be easy..."

The insectoid struggled to breathe, but still saw it fit to muster all of his strength to warn Kaelen.

"I know, but you’ve done the hardest part, so leave the rest to me."

Kaelen boldly stepped in front of him.

Assured by Kaelen’s words, Megaloblatta gave in to his body’s plead for respite and lost consciousness, then, seven large cockroaches came, dragged him away and burrowed him deep into the earth.

"You? Will defeat me?"

"Do you think that I have been weakened to that extent?! Even if I had lost all of my limbs you would still be no match for me!"

Charymos wobbled over, his entire body sizzling like steak on a grill, dark purple blood mixing with his slime as it trickled down his forehead, drenching his entire face, and a fair share of the once lively tentacles ripped from his chin, blood gushing from where they were once rooted.

"..."

Kaelen spared him no words, only a cold glare from his bright pink eyes.

[If I had to estimate, I’d say he’s left with about 30 percent of his max Mana and HP, right?]

Kaelen’s right hand twitched.

"I am going to send you to Skadi in a box, you hear me?!! How dare you defy your creator, you insignificant fuck!!"

Charymos roared, excreting so much slime that he almost suffocated within it.

"You took those words right out of my mouth."

Kaelen clenched his jaw.

"What did you just —"

"Do you ever shut up?!"

Kaelen curled his lips and equipped his spear.

[Everything was engineered for your downfall, Charymos. Why do you think we lured you up here, above sea level?]

[I know all of your weaknesses, you will die here today!]

Kaelen swallowed the words he wanted to spit out and instead poised himself.

"Ha! Hahaha... HAHAHAHA!!"

Charymos laughed maniacally, and excreted even more slime, quenching most of the scorched ground with it.

[This is the worst fucking day of my ten thousand years of life...]

His semi-reptillian eyes reflected the clear blue skies above, which were marred by the rising smoke.

Meanwhile...

Ding!

-Are you certain you would like to bestow a Name upon your weapon?

[Yes...]

Ding!

-Be warned, if the weapon does not submit to you as its Master, it will devour your Mana until your Pool is empty, will you continue?

[Yes...]

Ding!

-Please bestow a Name...

"..."

Kaelen paused for a brief second and glanced at his spear.

"...Jörmungandr."

UWOOOOOONG!!!

Ding!

-Congratulations!

-You have successfully Named your first weapon.

-Weapon’s hidden Grade is unlocked!

-You have earned 1000exp!

<□ Name: Jörmungandr.*

Grade: Legendary.* □>

"Fuuu..."

Kaelen took a deep breath as he felt the weapon’s strength empower him.

[He has awakened the weapon’s true power?]

Charymos mused as he lowered his gaze from the sky.

"Sigh... Nothing you do can surprise me anymore."

■■■■ Kraken’s Ichor: Gastric. ■■■■

Sizzle!

Charymos steadied his posture and Kaelen saw the slime covering him begin to bubble and emit vapor.

[Here it comes... Acidic slime.]

Kaelen instinctively took a step back.

"I am going to turn you into a puddle of soup..."

Ta! Ta!

Charymos charged.

■■■ Monarch’s Aegis! ■■■

[!!]

The familiar dome sprung forth and encircled Charmos, and he instantly felt his current strength and durability get reduced by 30%.

[As I thought, he really did awaken Lord Caelvorn’s skill.]

[Hmph! But no matter, these petty tricks won’t save you, because I still have my speed!]

Booom!

The sound barrier shattered at Charymos’s wake.

■■■ Creator’s Eye: Foresight! ■■■

Kaelen could immediately foresee twenty seconds into the future, yes, twenty, because this subskill evolved when he leaped from level ten.

However...

[!!]

Fwosh!

He barely managed to evade Charymos’s trident and it grazed him, ripping out a portion of the flesh on his side, exposing his ribs.

...Simply seeing into the future did not guarantee that he would be a match for Charymos’s speed.

[He managed to evade that?]

Charymos stomped on the ground to stem his velocity and immediately turned around with a wide swing aiming to slice off Kaelen’s legs.

The boy leapt in the air, but again, he could not completely evade and Charymos claimed the flesh on his ankles.

Sizzle!

The acidic slime began eating at his gashes, but Kaelen did not make a sound and concentrated pink flames at the tip of his spear.

■■■ Tempering Arts:...

Ta! Ta!

As soon as his feet touched the acidic ground, Kaelen moved so fast that he multiplied into three as he charged.

One of his afterimages thrust his spear aimed at Charymos’s side.

[Hm? This skill is... That Human’s?!]

But Charymos expertly took a step back and thrust his trident.

Clang!

BOOOM!

A violent explosion of pink flames erupted, but they did not scatter and instead gathered toward the tip of the second Kaelen’s spear.

Clang!

BOOOM!

Charymos easily parried the next attack and saw the flames gathering at the third Kaelen’s spear.

[Why do you have this skill?!]

Charymos grit his teeth, fuming, like a child who found that another had done modifications to their toy.

"Disgusting!!"

■■■■ Leviathan’s Maw! ■■■■

Fwosh!

The airborne slime sliced through Kaelen’s abdomen.

"You fool, did you truly believe that you could defeat me with such —"

BOOOOM!!

The flames erupted for a third time, and Charymos waited patiently to salvage whatever was left of —

[!!]

[Why aren’t the flames scattering?!]

Finally noticing, Charymos traced the source to a fourth kaelen who was —

[Above!]

...Fourth Claw of the Fire Dragon! ■■■

Squelch!

BOOOOM!!!

Kaelen injected the tip of his spear into Charymos’s left shoulder and it resulted in an explosion that nearly made it to the First Floor.