Chapter 35: Final Boss

Julius was only still conscious due to [Savage Dance]. Fortunately, the chieftain wasn’t chasing after him. Its attention was shifted elsewhere.

The troll mage had finally revealed itself from its hiding place. It appeared that it was hiding itself in the ground using earth magic and the chieftain was busy arguing with the troll mage with loud grunts and growls. It almost seemed like it was berating the mage for interfering in its fight.

Julius did not mind this at all. He needed all the time to heal his injuries and the more time they wasted, the more time he had to figure out a plan. At the moment it seemed pretty hopeless. The chieftain was already a tough opponent, it was faster and stronger than Julius. Then if he included its aura ability that broke down his mana constructs it was even more challenging.

However, when he added the mage to the situation, it became almost impossible. Julius would have to constantly keep an eye on the mage as he fended off the chieftain, he had to admit that they made a good team.

He needed to take out the mage first. If he could do that, then he would have a chance. The problem was getting to it. The chieftain wasn’t going to just allow Julius to walk right up to the mage and cut its head off. Not to mention, the mage was able to hide in the ground.

Julius never took his attention off them, but they still seemed like they were arguing between themselves. It felt like they had dismissed Julius as a real threat after the last exchange. It pissed him off at being so casually dismissed. But he would be able to use this to his advantage. A plan started to form in his head and he realized that it might be possible.

They should have never allowed me this much space.

Julius was fully healed by now and began creating as many explosive spikes as he could control. The mage’s gaze snapped toward him instantly, sending a mass of black mana at Julius and falling out of sight, hiding in the ground.

Julius blocked the curse with an aggressive usage of life and fire mana, then finished forming a dozen spikes. Next, he cranked up [Pure Compression] as much as he could, condensing the fire and kinetic mana inside the spikes beyond any point he had ever reached before. Julius had come to understand that the more condensed his constructs were, the harder it was for the troll to break down the spikes with its aura. Additionally, he expected the mage to have a similar ability too considering that it had already attempted to disrupt his constructs earlier and he was hoping it would also find the extremely condensed constructs hard to disrupt.

The chieftain was shockingly not charging at Julius. Instead, it was slowly stalking toward Julius with an arrogant smirk plastered to its face.

This motherfucker, he doesn’t think I am a danger. Doesn’t he remember how close I was to jamming a spike in his forehead before he was saved by his friend? Or is he that delusional?

It didn’t matter. He was going to take this ugly fucker down regardless.

Julius felt [Fighter’s Will] activate for the first time. The skill sent out a rippling of energy throughout his body and mind, and the effects were added on top to [Savage Dance]. Julius never felt more wired in his life. It felt like everything was on a hair-trigger.

He was able to push [Pure Compression] and [Arcane Construct] even further. His eyes started to bleed from the exertion, but he started smiling like an idiot because it was working. His constructs no longer had a red ethereal glow around them. They were changing visibly. Now they were solid violet, similar to what his enhanced [Firebolts] used to look like, except, way more powerful.

Julius saw the chieftain pause as it stopped to feel the mana radiating from the spikes and he smiled at its obvious discomfort. However, the chieftain noticed Julius’s smile and didn’t let that unspoken challenge go unpunished. It’s pride as a pack leader would not allow another being to defy it. The chieftain no longer took its time but roared and charged right at Julius.

Julius was able to feel subtle movements of earth mana gather around his feet. He understood how he had not noticed it last time, but now that he was expecting it, it wouldn’t catch him off guard again. He immediately dashed to his full speed, avoiding the earth trap and heading towards the middle of the plains, getting more distance between him and the chieftain.

Julius was throwing out his newly improved spikes at the chieftain. Each spike boomed every time it was released, ripping through the air with a large penetrative force. This time, the spikes weren’t broken apart by the aura. They were still slowed down, but they impacted against the troll’s skin, leaving large gouges in its flesh. The fact that he was now able to hurt the troll, enabled him to keep his distance easier.

Julius kept regenerating as many spikes as he used, making sure to keep a total of at least ten at all times. As he was raining attacks on the chasing troll, he was looking out for any mana usage from the mage.

The mage had laid out several clever traps that almost got Julius and many curses that he had to protect against, but Julius was getting close. Each time the mage used its mana, he was able to narrow down its location. That was another reason he was running around. He had learned while finishing off the remaining trolls under the landslide that [Spatial Perception] had a hard time perceiving through so much rock. However, it was still possible, he just had to be closer.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Julius doubted the chieftain noticed, but he wasn’t running around randomly. He was systematically clearing each piece of the land.

Julius felt a tug from the direction the last curse had come from.