Ascension of Chaos

Ashley

It doesn't take me too long to find a convenient monster hunting ground. Specifically, another catacombs. But this time I make sure never to go as deep into it as we did in the last one. Not to mention to leave before killing off too many of the monsters within it.

I'm not sure what exactly made the mini boss of the previous catacombs go berserk after all.

For all I know, we could've just gotten too close to it, or we could have killed too many of its underlings.

So it's best to be safe rather than sorry.

On another note, Blake also sent me a message through the System. Something I forgot was possible.

Although the message was very fuzzy and had a bunch of errors and glitched parts all across the screen. Which was rather annoying.

Anyways, Blake's message made me feel enough relief to continue marching forwards as I hunt one monster after another over the course of several more days. All because his message stated that he was fine and would recover soon.

And that I should just hunt on my own for now.

That we're too far apart to rejoin each other before the domain's next event happens.

When the central region begins to fall apart as well.

So I hunt. I hunt monsters one after another, leaving the underground and going back down over and over again with each of the King of Destruction's rampages for days. Slowly gaining levels and rising up to level 124 in the process. With the leveling process itself becoming faster with each new skill I have in my possession.

And I am getting quite a few new skills. Both through Skill Points and from killing monsters with new root skills that the ones I had killed before didn't have.

I get skills for attacking, skills for defense, and everything in between. Stealth, general resistance, flat magic boosting skills, and even a new regeneration skill from the wyrms. Because they can apparently regenerate a body part if they have enough mana.

It's some sort of active use only skill that lets me regenerate using mana instead of health, but only when I want to. So it isn't always active.

And after a full month has finally passed within the Unique Domain, it finally happens.

Once I leave the latest catacombs – one that I had actually struggled to even find in the first place with the precious few ones remaining by now – it is completely destroyed by the King of Destruction's rampage. And I can't find another one after it.

Not a single monster lair at all.

No catacombs, no pyramids, no wyrm dens, and no elemental homes.

Nothing.

Not even drake nests, which I eventually found a while back but never found again.

Which, of course, leads to another death march.

Because there are a lot of mini bosses and other monsters that are now homeless.

But even that problem goes away after the King of Destruction lets out another roar and shoots out far more pyroclasts and meteors than he did before. Sending the death march scattering and slaughtering a good portion of it in the process.

I let out a sigh of relief at the sight as I continue flying away, only for me to tense up again mere seconds later.

When the entire domain begins to tremble.

At first it's just a single quake that lasts for a few seconds, with the ground trembling down below. Then it's another. And another.

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And gradually, these quakes occur more and more frequently. After which I begin to hear loud explosions coming from the volcano, where I see a flood of black and crimson ash and flames shoot straight out of its mouth. Meanwhile the quakes continue to occur even while the ash and flames spill forth.

I narrow my eyes as the ash and flames begin to flood outwards from the volcano all around it before crashing into the ground and moving downwards like an eruption of magma. But without the magma.

Shit.

I fly higher and higher into the air in order to avoid it, but I feel my attention locking back onto the volcano's peak again when the tremors come to a halt.

And something peaks its head out of the volcano.

Something that sends a chill down my spine just from the sight of its terrifying eyes. Eyes that are a glowing crimson in color with an appearance similar yet different to my own eyes. With the monster's eyes being slit with a glowing white light shining at the center of a pool of liquidy crimson.

But that chill turns into genuine fear when I identify it.

♢ The King of Destruction, Azrathos – Level 175 – 100 Potential Skills ♢

I feel myself freezing in place, unable to move any more than simply flying in place as I stare at the creature's head. A head spanning several meters in size alone and clearly reptilian.

And everything the King looks at immediately begins to be covered by glowing crimson cracks before simply falling apart and turning to crimson ash. Only for said ash to fall apart as well and simply vanish. As if wiped from existence.

The King of Destruction looks around at the central region of the Unique Domain for a few seconds, its gaze slowly trailing along and destroying everything it meets. But when it is about to see me, I hurriedly remember Chaotic Source and activate Assimilate. Just in case.

An act that I am very thankful for when the King's gaze finally lands on me, and I find myself flooded with System Messages.

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 29/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 28/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 27/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 26/30 charges remaining.}

…

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}

…

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 1/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 0/30 charges remaining.}

{You have used up one charge of- Warning. User has no charges remaining. One unit of Chaos Energy has been expended to refill 10 charges. You have used up one charge of Chaotic Source! The True Damage has now been redirected! 9/30 charges remaining.}

Over the span of a mere fifteen seconds of the King staring at me, I end up using nearly a hundred charges of the skill. And through that reflect his True Damage to the monsters nearby, slaughtering quite a few of them and giving me levels and Skill Points back to back as a reward.

I continue to stare at the King of Destruction though, not taking my eyes off of him even after the unique monster took his off of me. Almost like it grew bored of me or something.

It already stared at me for a lot longer than it looked at anything else, probably because I wasn't being affected by its gaze. But my level is too low to matter to it right now, so it must've marked me in its mind as weak and moved on.

But while I'm looking at the creature, a thought comes to mind. A similarity in appearance.

The monster looks kind of like a T-rex. Sort of.

Like a strange mix between a T-rex and a land dragon.

My staring comes to an end though when I hear the pained screams of the monsters down below, making me look down to find the ash and flames from the King having reached the central region. Where it is currently torching every monster in sight.

Except the drakes, who are flying above it all without a care.

And when I turn my gaze back to the peak of the volcano again?

The King of Destruction is already back inside of the volcano, out of sight.

But the image of the unique monster will stay burned into my mind for a long time to come.