"Let's go everyone,

" Nathan shouted.

His party joined him in the chorus, attempting their final bout against the monster.

With a powerful dash, Nathan pushed himself toward the tree monster.

"Guruuuk

" The creature bellowed.

As he neared it, the monster launched its large arm toward Nathan. Spikes immediately grew from its hard skin, nearing its razor-sharp edge toward him.

"Too slow!

" Nathan muttered, bending to his knees as he glided through, dodging the monster's attack.

Strength, Health, Defense, Stamina... This devastating creature was far more powerful than the golems they had faced before and insanely more durable. However, their only saving grace was that it was slower. If it had the same speed as the Tree Golem, or even greater than it... They would be dead.

Sliding on the floor as he evaded the deathly attack of the massive creature, Nathan navigated his motion to the back of the monster. He rolled on the ground and quickly rose to his feet, standing behind the large tree creature.

"Now!

" He yelled to everyone else.

The monster, upon noticing the location of its prey, turned to assault Nathan with its hand, flailing it behind him rapidly.

"No, you don't,

" Lucy declared, creating multiple whips from her regalia in an instant.

She launched the elongated, hardened pieces of cloth at the monster's arm, seizing it with all five of the whips.

"Rrghhhh

" She groaned, drawing the whips to her side, using her full strength.

The powerful arm of the monster slowed, moving toward Lucy instead of its designated attack location.

"Guruuuuk?!

" It growled in perplexity.

Jack, quickly taking advantage of its confused state, ran toward the monster in order to draw attention to himself. Since3 Lucy was using all her strength to restrain the monster, she was incapable of doing much else. As a result, she was utterly defenseless. Should the beast decide to focus its attack and wrath on her, she would die.

"Oi, you overgrown weed!

" Jack shouted, making the monster turn its face to him in rage. Though it didn't understand his words, it felt irritated by Jack's loud call.

Jack raised his hands, gripping his ax with his feeble arms, already exhausted from countless swings. As the monster lunged its second hand toward Jack, he quickly descended it with a powerful force, expending his whole might in the attack.

"With this... I'm done... My strength... Is used... Up...

" Jack's thought went as he fell to the ground.

The ax he launched at the monster broke through the thick skin of the monster, injuring it severely as it cut through the arm.

"Guruooooo!

" It screeched in pain.

The attack was not enough to fully incapacitate the monster, but that wasn't Jack's intention to begin with. All they needed was a slight moment of shock, the window of opportunity for the monster's guard to be down.

"ICICLE SHOT!

" Lydia's voice beamed through the entire area as she directed her trembling hands toward the creature's head.

Immediately, her bracelet glowed ever brighter and an immense mass of ice formed a few meters from her fingertips. The cold lump sharpened to form a thick and pointed icicle, pointing its sharp end toward the monster.

"Hiaaaa!

" She yelled, releasing the icicle, flailing backward in recoil.

The ice spear shot at the monster, gaining momentum as it dived through the air. With great speed, it traversed the short distance and pierced the head of the monster.

"Guorghhhhh!!!

" It bellowed in pain.

The sudden impact gotten from the ice shot caused the monster to lose its balance. It tripped and fell backward, slowly descending to the floor... Right where Nathan stood.

"Perfect!

" He grinned tiredly.

His hands were already raised up, and his blade glowed brightly white, with sparks of blue emitting from its edge.

"A normal attack won't cut it... I need to use even more force... Thanks for buying enough time, everyone. I'll finish it with this

"

Concluding his thought, Nathan swung his blade, drawing it downwards with all his might and a powerful yell of triumph.

"Blade Of Rupture: Shattering Strike

"

At that moment, white flashes also appeared, and the space around the blade distorted. The very fabric of space seemed to divide as the glowing blade's invisible attack made its way to the falling monster.

>SKRIIIIIIIIIIBOOOOOMMMM!!!<

The hard skin of the monster instantly shattered, and the flash of energy that pierced it vaporized the core. This was followed by a tremendous blast, an internal explosion of the monster. Its body split apart as a result of the internal pressure that welled up within it, sending every portion flying in every direction.

Carl used his shield to defend himself, Lydia, Puck, and Desmond from the falling debris of monster parts. The others were saved from the rupture due to being near the point of impact. As a result, the exploding parts went beyond them.

Finally, everything settled, and Nathan's glowing sword returned to its normal color. The young adventurer collapsed on his knees, drawing exhausted breaths. Certainly, the last move cost more energy than he bargained for.

"Huff... Huff...

"

The rest of the party members converged to Nathan's location. They all sluggishly walked, pushing their feet in slow and exhausted steps.

"W-We... We did it... Finally!

" Jack mumbled.

The others gave celebratory glances at one another, relieved that they had overcome the monstrous hurdle they had faced. Nathan joined them and smiled slightly.

He was happy that he stuck to his conviction. He abandoned no one, yet he still won. The teamwork everyone displayed made him glad that their training paid off well.

"A-Are you alright, Sir N-Nathan?

" Lydia asked, giving him a concerned look.

"Yeah... I'll be fine... I just need to rest a bit,

" He muttered, donning a smile to relieve her worries.

"Hahahahaha

" Jack burst out laughing.

"That was certainly crazy. But what was with that last attack, Nathan? I have never seen anything like it!

" Jack beamed.

"Yeah! I noticed too... You never used it in any of our previous fights,

" Lucy added in joint curiosity.

"Ah... That? It's a new move I'm still working on. As you saw, the damage it causes is insane... But it uses up too much energy. The toll it also takes on my body is also high. I was avoiding using it until now because of that. In a situation where we fight many monsters in succession, it's not advisable to use it...

" Nathan said.

"W-Wow!

" Jack and Lucy muttered consecutively.

Nathan kept quiet about the fact that the amount of power used up by the blade was so high that if he kept using it, the Blade would lose all its power.

"I can feel it... The Blade of Rupture's energy has been exhausted far too much...

" He thought within himself.

He had been using it far too much in succession. A Relic such as this was meant to be a Trump Card. But he used it at every given opportunity because of the high danger surrounding them.

"S-So you used such a risky attack like that, because of us... Sir Nathan...

" Lydia muttered, feeling guilty about the length Nathan went to for the Party.

"Don't be silly... If I didn't use that, I would have also died. It was the most rational course of action. Besides... You guys weren't so bad yourselves. Your teamwork this last round was outstanding. The timing was better too. You've all improved greatly... I'm proud of you,

" Nathan smiled.

He couldn't show any form of weakness before them. As the strongest and their leader... Everyone was counting on him.

"We must survive... And after this... I'll ask them to join me... We can continue being a party even when we leave here...

" Nathan thought.

Noticing that the monster's body had vanished, Nathan looked toward their Porter, whose only use was gathering and carrying all their spoils and properties.

"Puck, go pick up the loot... Everyone else should rest. We'll be taking a quick break,

" Nathan ordered.

Immediately he said this, they all collapsed, making groans of ease as they rested their backs and behinds on the cool, hard ground.

Puck, the porter, went to gather the loot which had been left behind by the monster. Since the body parts of the creature had vanished, a pile of spoils awaited them, a small distance from their location.

From the difficulty of the monster they fought, Nathan could already tell the quality of the rewards they would get.

"W-Whoah! This is amazing, everyone!

" Puck said in excitement.

Nathan smiled in satisfaction. It seemed the effort was worth it. Once Puck returned, they would all eat and rest a little before proceeding further. Something the Party learned from their time in the new 'Annihilation Mode' was that monsters would always attack them if they stayed in a single spot for too long.

Whether they could sense them somehow, or it was the Dungeon setting, the group had no idea. Only one thing was certain. There was danger in being static for long, and also danger if they ventured further.

Picking from the two dangers, Nathan decided it was better to keep moving.

Puck kept picking loot, and everyone relaxed their tired bodies. Nathan shut his eyes for a moment, imagining the face of Marie.

"Wait for me, my love,

" He whispered to himself.

"Uaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!

"

Puck's sudden cry of fear alerted Nathan, waking him up from his brief daydream. The other Party members grumbled, wondering what caused Puck's outburst.

Knowing that Puck was a scaredy-cat, even seeing a spider suddenly would drive him to a state of panic. This made everyone not take his cries seriously... Everyone except Nathan.

"E-Everyone... Wake up now!!!

" Nathan barked.

Their eyes sprung open as they heard the voice of their guide. His voice was shaky, filled with panic. What could drive the usually level-headed person into such a state?

They all looked at Nathan, but his face wasn't pointed in their direction. No... He was looking elsewhere. His body trembled and a look of fear dominated his face.

"D-D...Dra...

" He muttered in fright, his eyes still transfixed on the sight in front of him.

The Party members followed his eyes and looked toward the place Nathan was gazing at. Their heads slowly turned as they looked in the direction of Puck and their loot.

They did not expect to see what they did.

"Gurrrrrrrrrrrr

" A low growling sound was made.

"N-No... Is that...?!

" Lucy mumbled.

Every member of the Party trembled in fright at the sight before them.

Puck's body laid lifelessly on the floor, what remained of it anyway. Blood oozed on the ground as only the lower part of the porter was seen drowned in his blood.

Behind the corpse of their Party member, there was the monstrosity that everyone's eyes met. No one dared to think about Puck or the fact that his life had been extinguished. There was a more urgent preoccupation that took all of their attention.

The massive beast, a small distance from them...

"D-Dra... Dragon....!!!

"