Sssssst!
The flames Seong-hyun had created died down in an instant.
This time, it wasn’t even aimed at the heart, but a spell cast at the charging Behemoth. Yet, there was no exception.
Before it could even reach the creature, it dissipated into units of mana.
‘The scattered mana… is going to the heart?’
Even though he had aimed for a completely different spot, Seong-hyun could see his mana scatter and then flow into the heart.
It was absorbed completely, as if it had belonged to the heart all along.
This was precisely why Behemoth had been spamming magic at such close range to the heart.
If it could devour even others’ mana like that, its own magic would never harm the heart.
‘Damn it, now I get it. It absorbs all mana generated within this space.’
Seeing how the mana scattered in all directions even when not aimed at the heart, it was clear this was an effect of the location itself.
This was the place within its body where Behemoth’s influence was strongest, and the creature held the advantage here.
Ruuuumble!
‘What do I do about this…!’
Seong-hyun’s eyes darted around as he thought.
Even while frantically dodging the magic Behemoth unleashed, he had to rack his brain.
‘But it’s not like I can retreat to another location.’
The Guardian Behemoth could not be defeated unless its weak point, the heart, was destroyed.
But the place where the heart was located was also where the creature’s power was strongest. It was a difficult situation in many ways, a true dilemma.
Krrrack!
Seong-hyun sliced off the head of the Behemoth charging straight at him.
It was a clone of Behemoth, incredibly tough, just like the main body, but it was easily cut down by Seong-hyun’s sword.
But even so, the severed head and body parts regenerated quickly, before he could even make his next move.
‘Damn it…!’
Behemoth was drawing upon the vast mana stored in the heart.
It was essentially like having an infinite source of mana right beside it to draw from.
Thanks to that, it was bombarding Seong-hyun with attacks without any strain, no matter what counterattacks it suffered.
‘Magic is useless since it just dissipates… The only option is to inflict physical damage on the heart, but even that is proving difficult.’
Seong-hyun tried to cut down the charging clone and aim directly for the heart with his sword.
But no matter how grievous the wound he inflicted, its regeneration was so fast, and its movements so swift, that even Seong-hyun couldn’t shake it.
And fighting this thing until it exhausted all the life force it could draw upon was also impossible.
‘I thought about blowing the whole thing up, but I can’t even infuse my sword with shadows.’
Seong-hyun had tried to imbue his sword with the shadow attribute to unleash a wide-area attack filled with mana, but even that didn’t work.
This place literally absorbed all mana; it was different from mediocre abilities that only absorbed direct magic or mana.
Inside the creature’s body, he couldn’t hope for Fria’s help either.
‘Ah, wait a minute…’
At that moment, a thought flashed through Seong-hyun’s mind.
Seong-hyun immediately began to spread his shadows in all directions.
“Foolish one, whatever you try, your mana will only be absorbed by me.”
“Go on, then. Eat your fill.”
The shadows Seong-hyun was spreading were the ones used for his legion, for summoning, and for Shadow Transition.
It was an energy that operated on a different level from ordinary magic or mana.
But the creature’s ability was to absorb literally all kinds of mana. Although it was a power he had never seen before, his shadows were undoubtedly a type of mana as well.
And Seong-hyun’s prediction was spot on.
Sssssst!
The heart mercilessly sucked in his shadows.
Seong-hyun’s mana capacity was far beyond that of an ordinary human, and he could produce a correspondingly massive amount of shadows.
But those shadows were scattered and absorbed before they could do anything.
Seeing this, Seong-hyun actually increased the amount of shadows he was emitting, as if telling it to take as much as it wanted.
“You’re eating a lot. But you’ll get a stomachache if you just gobble up anything.”
“Ugh…?”
Ruuuumble!
Suddenly, the central area where they stood began to shake violently.
The Behemoth clone that was about to charge Seong-hyun not only stopped dead in its tracks but also began to sway and stagger.
“Damn it…! What have you done!”
Cold sweat suddenly started pouring down the halted Behemoth’s face.
Seeing this, the corners of Seong-hyun’s mouth curled up.
‘Is it already reacting? It was half a gamble.’
What Seong-hyun was looking at was the creature’s heart, which contained Fria’s sealing stone.
It was an object that had sealed a god of an entire dimension.
Having forcibly swallowed such a powerful object, it was inevitable that even a slight stimulus would cause something like this to happen.
And the role of that stimulus was played by Seong-hyun’s shadows.
‘Fria did say it. That the shadows I command are a power very similar to her own. If so, they’d be perfect for stimulating the sealing stone.’
In other words, as Seong-hyun’s shadows—similar to the power of Fria, the goddess of darkness—flowed in, the sealing stone that had been barely stabilized became unstable.
This was also why Seong-hyun had been able to easily destroy the sealing stone before just by swinging his sword.
Sssssst!
Having confirmed it was effective, Seong-hyun poured out even more shadows from his body.
As soon as they emerged, Seong-hyun’s shadows were uncontrollably sucked into the creature’s heart.
Even though it was draining his mana, it was the creature whose complexion was rapidly turning pale.
If the sealing stone in its body were to run rampant any further, it would have to expend enormous power to stabilize it, and the original power it had regained by devouring countless demon species could be completely nullified.
Of course, the worst-case scenario among all this was Fria’s third seal being completely broken.
“Kuaaaargh!”
The panicked Behemoth momentarily stopped the heart’s mana absorption.
And Seong-hyun, who had been waiting for that exact moment, drew upon all the mana in his body.
Seong-hyun gathered the black shadows he had been emitting in all directions and poured them into his sword.
By the time Behemoth witnessed the blackened blade, it was already too late.
“Move aside.”
Kra-koooom!
Seong-hyun swung his sword, and the jet-black sword energy that flew forward poured out, blowing away the entire space ahead.
The walls and ceiling were blown wide open.
And most importantly, Behemoth’s central heart was half-destroyed, the bone that had encased it completely shattered.
Crumble!
Behemoth’s face cracked and fragments crumbled off like debris.
It hadn’t even been directly hit by his sword strike, which was aimed squarely at the heart, yet the creature looked as though it had taken immense damage.
This wasn’t just about the clone standing before him.
– Graaaaaah!
With a tremendous vibration and noise, Behemoth’s entire body staggered.
Parts of the creature’s now-unstable main body melted and flowed down.
But despite this, Seong-hyun’s expression didn’t relax.
“It’s still not over?”
“You bastard…!”
Rage flickered across Behemoth’s face.
When Seong-hyun looked at the heart, the remaining half was a mess, but it hadn’t been completely destroyed.
Considering the power of the black sword energy he had unleashed, it should have been obliterated without a trace.
This meant something else had come into play.
“So the defensive magic of the other hearts activated.”
Seong-hyun activated the Eye of the Thunder God and assessed the heart’s condition.
Seong-hyun had succeeded in dealing heavy damage to the central heart, but the eight other hearts Behemoth still had were intact.
A defensive magic, closely linked to each heart, was at work. To completely destroy the central heart, he had to destroy all the other hearts as well.
“What kind of weak point is this… You’re tough.”
“Silence, human! It will take time to recover, but I will make sure to finish you. There are still two more guardians like me. Without you, annihilating the remaining humans will be nothing.”
Crack! Craaackle!
Before the enraged Behemoth could even finish speaking, a swarm of its other clones materialized around them.
Hundreds of clones, on par with the main body, had appeared.
The central heart being half-destroyed had caused the mana dormant within it to surge out all at once, and it had used this surge to create this many clones to eliminate Seong-hyun.
“I won’t give you a clean death. I’ll make you die in the greatest agony a mortal can experience.”
Seong-hyun was now surrounded by the clones.
Even for Seong-hyun, it was impossible to escape or hold out against so many clones.
But he wasn’t flustered at all.
Because he had something to rely on, even if he didn’t act himself.
“You’re talking as if you’ve already won the fight. Even if I’m tied down, the remaining hearts can just be destroyed from another side. My legion has already reached each heart. You must feel it, right?”
“Are you so desperate as to hang your hopes on something like that?”
Seong-hyun’s words were met only with a sneer.
Besides the one Seong-hyun had faced, there was a Behemoth clone guarding each of the other hearts.
Of course, they had been weakened when the central heart that supplied mana to the entire body was half-destroyed, but it didn’t think mere summons could defeat its main clones.
But just as Behemoth was about to speak.
“Keuk…?”
A sharp pain shot through it, and blood trickled from the clone’s mouth.
The other clones also coughed up blood. Its pupils quaked at the unbelievable sight.
“Looks like something went wrong?”
Seong-hyun, watching the creature, offered a sardonic response.
Iseuna and the legion she led were the first to shatter the heart on the highest level, dealing another massive blow to Behemoth and shaking its entire body.
And not long after the first heart was destroyed.
Another heart was destroyed, and then, in a chain reaction, the hearts began to break one by one.
– Graaaaaah!
Thuuuud!
The giant monster, Behemoth, collapsed onto its four legs.
Its collapse was so immense it even changed the surrounding terrain of the dungeon.
The violent impact shook Behemoth’s entire body, but the one most affected was, of course, Behemoth itself.
“Keuk… th-this can’t be…!”
“See? What did I tell you.”
While Behemoth was still reeling, Seong-hyun calmly strode forward and was already approaching its heart.
Even when he was alone, Seong-hyun was never fighting alone.
For the clones at the other hearts to fall so quickly.
Behemoth’s reaction was one of utter disbelief; it was a blunder born from underestimating the legion’s power.
“I told you you’d regret underestimating me.”
A faint smile played on Seong-hyun’s lips as he looked down at Behemoth.