MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"No one's comin' to save ya, weaklings! The king wants the big mana ore mountain, and he will have it, and you lot are gonna get crushed."

"Smash their skulls, spill their blood, and let the ground soak it up."

"Thunderstorm Reavers clan! We're takin' it all," The hulking Minotaur commander roared as he swung his massive axe, tossing the adventurers and soldiers around while also blocking the incoming magic attacks.

Alex used the Death's Mirage skill on the commander before he manipulated darkness to create chains to bind him in place, knowing even in an illusion, his honed instincts alone were enough for the beast to defend his life.

While the adventurers and soldiers were busy noticing the Minotaur's eye turning unfocussed and chains gripping his legs and arm, Alex moved like a ghost, his sword pulsing with sword intent as he executed tens of strikes in the small window of opportunity.

"I'll take care of him," Alex declared, and his words were met with scoffs from a few while others prepared to attack, not giving him any attention, but before anyone could move, the Minotaur's thick skin split open from multiple places, dark blood drenching him. 

A mighty roar followed as the beast regained its senses, broke the chains holding him in place, and looked at his body, which was covered in deep gashes, before shifting its eyes toward Alex.

The Minotaur moved without a word said, with lighting cracking on his hoofs, and brought down his massive axe on Alex's head.

Alex stepped to the side and executed a four-fold death point, all aimed at the side of the knee, ripping it open before swiftly creating distance to avoid a lighting fist coming from his left.

Alex could have used the soul energy to truly do some unrecoverable damage, but that would have raised questions he didn't want.

"Leave the area," Alex said as he scanned the puzzled faces of the soldiers who looked at him in complete astonishment.

"Long Ear ugly, you're slippery like da shadow worm, but it doesn't matter 'cause Muutra is a great hunter and loves a good hunt."

"I'm gonna smash yer skull and grab that shiny blade of yours as my prize," Muutra said, with a wide grin on his beastly face, as the deep gashes on his body closed, stopping the constant blood loss.

"Aeon, This creature is out of our league, so don't be stupid and let us all help," An elven soldier roared as he eyed everyone to get into a formation.

"I am not repeating myself," Alex said as he moved toward the beast with a pool of darkness coming alive in his surroundings, shooting pikes and chains aimed at an astonishing speed at the hulking giant who had blue lightning cracking around him.

Muutra moved, bridging the distance in an instant, and swung his axe cloaked in lighting while the tounges of lightning cloaking his body ripped through the chains and spikes of darkness.

Alex knew that lightning released on impact by the axe would disturb tens of meters of surrounding, but even then, instead of stepping back, he moved forward, using his smaller size and superior agility to his advantage.

The sword sliced diagonally through the waist and abdomen of the beast while the darkness somewhat cushioned the impact of the axe, but it was still enough for both of them to be sent stumbling back.

Muutra simply tensed his muscles to stop the bleeding again and, without a moment's delay, dashed toward him, laughing like a madman, while Alex did the same, meeting him blow by blow, with the clash of their weapons sending shockwaves of energy through the surrounding.

For a moment, hundreds of soldiers and Minotaurs watched in astonishment as a newcomer who was an entire Rank lower than beast was going toe to toe with the creature, and even though they didn't believe he would win, his show of strength was a massive achievement in their eyes.

As the battle continued, Alex slowly chipped away at Muutra's health, only using his sword and darkness manipulation. 

At first, the best was enjoying the thrill of the battle, but even after trying his best, he was unable to deliver any significant damage, as every time he thought he had the slippery elf, he found his attack ripping through just a mirage.

Guardian Liayra, who was now free, zipped through the sky, raining down elemental arrows, claiming tens of lives every minute while the group of adventurers and soldiers who previously battled Muutra also shifted their focus to clashing with the horde while keeping their eyes on Alex, waiting to jump back into the battle.

Alex was not physically stronger than Muutra, but he was faster, and being one-third of the beast's size, it was easier to dodge and use darkness to create opportunities to strike.

The Minotaur commander was enraged by the situation as his body was covered by cuts, with his health being down by forty percent, and none of his attacks were truly landing.

So done with a head-on clash, after a mighty roar, he jumped into the sky, with his arms and axe, started to get cloaked in lightning that had a dark shade.

Guardian Liayra, who had stayed out of the battle for some time, seeing Muutra suspended mid-air with a storm of lightning brewing around him, finally aimed her bow at him as an arrow of revolving white wind started to take shape.

Alex kept his eyes on Muutra as he awaited his descent, knowing he had shown enough and it was time he ended this battle.

Moments had passed when Guardian Liayra released the arrow that bridged the distance in an instant, creating a roaring tornado around itself.

At the same time, Muutra roared, sending the lightning storm like a shockwave while he descended toward Alex with his hulking arms and hatchet cloaked in blue and dark lightning.

The moment the arrow touched the storm, it turned into a lightning wind storm as both elements fought for supremacy while Alex silently gave the command to use his best physique skill.

'Tenebrous Shard Enclave'

Alex felt mana leave his body as, in an instant, darkness moved like a wave in every direction taking the form of a circular dome that grew by the moment, and not caring of what it was, Muutra dived right into it.

But to the surprise of everyone watching, the massive crash everyone was expecting didn't come, nor did the shockwave of any sort. It was like the pitch darkness absorbed him in his entirety.

---------

(Inside the Dome)

Muutra landed on Alex's position, creating a deep crater thirty meters wide while sending an energy shockwave that should have gone far past hundreds of meters.

However, it didn't even travel a hundred meters as the growing darkness devoured it in mere moments, and not even the sound left the dome.

"What's this darkness? It weakens my grip on magic, dulls my senses?" Muutra mumbled out loud as firsthand experienced restrictions inside the dome.

The Tenebrous Shard Enclave was a domain-like skill that created a hundred-meter-wide and tall dome from the center, and all of Alex's darkness element attacks were boosted by 100% while his opponent's element was suppressed by 30%.

The skill also dulled his opponent's senses, and the dense darkness blinded their vision unless they had a special vision. 

Even though it cost two million mana to activate and a hundred thousand mana every minute to maintain, it was still a broken and immensely valuable skill.

"You fraggin' rat, where yeh hiding come and face me?" Muutra bellowed after not sensing any attack for a few seconds, making him feel like he was being toyed with, which fueled his already boiling rage.

"Don't matter, got enough of yer weaklin' tricks." Muutra roared a moment later as his aura started to change, and so did his body.

He fell on his hands, fangs growing from his mouth, his fur growing longer and darker, his muscles swelled, veins bulging out, and his horns growing.

Seeing the changes, Alex smiled as he was waiting for him to enter a state of primal rage before ending his life.

As the transformation came to an end with dark lightning cracking on his body, creating a form of elemental barrier, Alex used the darkness to send a multitude of ground spikes, chains, and spears at the growling beast as he shifted with his sword cloaked in soul energy and as he got closer, he shot a soul bullet.

A gutwrenching roar followed his attacks, as even with rage clouding his mind, Muutra felt pain from his very being, and the lightning barrier around him got disrupted for a moment.

In that moment of opportunity, Alex assaulted a second time, plunging his formless sword into the best skull.

He instantly disabled the soul energy, making his sword turn physical, pulling it upward with all his might before he used the phantom walk to leave the place.

Alex had spit open Muutra's skull, and so his brain and delivered a critical blow, yet it was not enough to end his life, but with the damage done, it was only a matter of time before the beast fell.

Muutra went berserk, a mad beast who had pain and rage consume his mind, making him toss his hatchet around and let his lightning lose, but to make sure he didn't leave the area, Alex engaged with him using the Darkness Embrace and Nihility Purge skills to neutralize his attacks.

Alex was preparing to end the battle before going out and acting as if he was exhausted and was under a debuff before logging out, making it seem he fell unconscious after an arduous battle.

Yet the moment Alex shifted to deliver the final blow, dense killing intent clocked with primal aura washed over him before he felt his skull getting crushed by a hand as solid ground vanished from under his feet.