Chapter 534: Second Stage

Julius decided to ignore the idiot in front of him. He wanted to beat this monster and couldn’t worry about Isaac. This wasn’t a standard Tier 4 monster like the ones he had taken care of in the past.

This chimera was something else entirely. The sheer amount of damage it could release was impressive enough. However, its endurance and regeneration were the real issues. If he couldn’t figure out a way to hurt the monster, he was afraid that he would simply be wasting his own energy.

Of course, slowly whittling its mana and other resources away was still a sound strategy, but he didn’t know if he wanted to do all of that. He had a sneaking suspicion that was precisely how this beast was meant to fight.

With how big it was and its higher tier than his own, he wasn’t confident that he could outlast the monster.

Luckily for him, he had other options at his disposal. Options that he was looking forward to using, and if he “accidentally” hit Isaac because he was in the way, then it was only the big oaf’s fault.

He heard the guy still trying to talk to Julius, as if to explain his reasoning, but he wasn’t hearing any of it. Julius was too focused on taking control of his mana and aura. He slowly fed the blazing crown on his forehead, feeling the intense heat radiating from the soul-bound item.

Time slowed down to a crawl as his mind and spirit went into overdrive.

The crown wanted more fire mana; it was a greedy little thing, and despite his usual reservations, he didn’t hold back this time around. He let the crown have what it wanted—feeding the flames with his massive mana pool, letting his ruinous aura meld with the ruinous flames.

The synergy between the two energies was perfect. It was as if they were meant for each other, and they supported each other in ways his usual mana and aura were never able to. Each covered the other’s weakness and offered their strengths without taking away the other’s own.

The only problem he had to deal with was the sheer heat the crown was giving off. His flesh was being blasted by some of the most intense flames he had ever created. He used to think that his blue flames were hot, but this was on another level.

These ruinous flames were melting the stone beneath his feet, and it required him to constantly throw life mana into [Phoenix Renewal] to keep his body intact. Drasil pitched in as well. He had already gotten used to Julius’s antics and only whistled in exasperation when he felt Julius destroying his own body.

What was amusing to sense was Seraphyne’s panic while she was hanging out in Julius’s soul space. The turtle spirit wasn’t panicking because she was worried about Julius hurting himself. No, she was frantic because Drasil had grabbed hold of her and was using her as some kind of mana battery.

She didn’t have a healing skill that could help Julius, but apparently, she made for the perfect battery, allowing Drasil to use more mana.

Julius would have teared up in pride for his little spirit, but his tears would have evaporated by the sheer heat he was experiencing.

Fortunately, the heat was just a byproduct of what he was trying to achieve. Once he got a good feel for the mana, he finally started to manipulate the ruinous flames. He used [Armaments of the Arcane] to slowly mold his mana into small spikes.

The compression of the flames was surprisingly tricky. He wasn’t able to compress them as intensely as usual. He didn’t know if it was because of the nature of the flames or just because they were already so powerful, but he was barely able to compact them.

He still tried, though. He also made sure to utilize [Spirit Fortification] to weave his ruinous aura into the constructs. He laughed loudly at how easy it was and how seamless the construction became. His ruinous flames and ruinous aura were truly meant to be combined.

Several dangerous flares of fire erupted when he finally formed a single spike. The power contained in each one was miles above anything he had felt from one of his constructs. It wasn’t like when he used [Void Strike] on them.

That was a totally different kind of power and danger. [Void Strike] was an attack that ignored defenses due to its unique and spatial nature. This was different. His ruinous flames and aura were meant to burn down and destroy anything that stood in its way. Plain and simple.

He tried to add [Void Strike] to the spikes, but to his shock, it didn’t work. Even more shockingly, they didn’t even explode. The combination of the two skills wiped away the skill before it had a chance to latch onto the construct. It almost felt like the constructs wouldn’t allow anything else to touch them.

Like some deep-seated pride.

Julius was okay with that. He was already desperately trying everything in his power to keep it together. The ruinous flames and aura worked well together, but that didn’t mean it was easy to control.

It required all of his willpower to form them and even more to keep them together.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Yet, he still didn’t give up there. He kept on going and pushing far beyond his limits.

He didn’t stop at one or two spikes. He formed over a dozen of them in quick succession. Typically, this wouldn’t be possible regardless of his control over mana and aura. However, the crown was giving him a helping hand. It wanted this more than he did and lent him its power.

An array of bright azure colored spikes dazzled as they sat over his shoulders. Each pulse they released threatened to disrupt everything and blow all of this power in his own face.

However, he ignored that for the time being. For some reason, he had absolute confidence that wouldn’t happen. The thrill of power violently surged through his blood.

His body was burning away; he could feel that, despite his and Drasi’s efforts, he was little more than bones. His arms had burned off, as had his legs. Only his chest and head were a priority to keep healed.

The pain would have been crippling for most, but for Julius, the pain was just irrelevant.