He normally acted based on his instincts, rather than relying on his though process, and didnât usually pay attention to other things besides his training, yet the current situation has caused him to pause and think.
In the boss room where there was no one listening, Kaozinta murmured again.
âWhy for god sakeâŠ. Is the bastard getting stronger each time?â
He had no other recourse, but to think about it that way.
If that wasnât the case, the only explanation would have been that he, himself, was getting weaker, but he knew first hand that that wasnât the case.
In fact, having been recognized for his accomplishments through endless hunting, he was able to cloak himself with more demon energy.
Even those few true demons, which were stronger than him wanted to put him in check, were trying desperately to figure out his secretâŠ..
âThen it is true that that boss monster was, in fact, getting strongerâŠ. Is that possible? I have never heard of any monster that could achieve that? Is it true that the current monster grows stronger with every fight?â
Kaozinta could not come to a logical conclusion although he was spinning his head as he thought deeply.
After all, the true demons, including himself, have yet to fully understand this place, known as âNarakaâ.
The reality behind when this place has come to the existence, how the monsters kept regenerating, and how the amenities of this place were maintainedâŠ.
They blankly thought that what they believed to be a demon god was looking over them from above, but nothing was for certain.
âHmmmâŠ..â
Kaozinta fell in deep thought a little longer like that.
Finally, putting on a refreshing smile, he brushed aside any questions.
It wouldnât be something that could be resolved, anyhow.
It was prudent just to enjoy the circumstances brought by the current situation.
If the boss monster was getting stronger in his exclusive hunting territory, that was a good thing, not a bad thing.
It was because as the bastard got stronger, there were more rewards for him to collect, and that it would help with his training even more.
He was one being that especially enjoyed fighting even among the belligerent true demons, so he embraced the current situation with a happy laughter.
He thought.
âAlright, a monster that develops endlessly, interesting. Truly interesting. However, Iâve also reached this position faster than any other demonsâŠ..â
Kaozinta made fists with all his might.
Unable to suppress the excitement that was burning up inside, he swung his right arm widely.
Kwaang!
Big cracks formed on the temple wall which was known for its hardness, and looking rather refreshed, Kaozinta thought as he exited the boss room.
The time he took to pulverize the monsterâs head since he first encountered the bastard was 3 minutes.
He could not rest a minute, so that he could increase the gaps in the levels between them, in order for him to destroy the bastard within that time.
To allow some time for self reflection for the first time in a long while, he tried to walk towards the entrance of the temple.
However, with the sounding of the alarm from his âtrue crownâ a moment later, his plan has gone up in smoke.
Instantly losing the pleasant expression that he had on his face, Kaozintaâs face turned grim.
Then out of his mouth came unrepeatable swearing words.
âYou, good for nothing damn bastardsâŠ. You did this while I had vacated my place?â
Like King Athildhu, Kaozinta and a demon world that he was separately ruling.
When the alarm sounded, letting him know that something has happened to that demon world, Kaozinta could not suppress his anger.
Kaozinta also believed, as did King Athildhu, in the elitism of the true demons, so he was even angrier when he learned that ordinary demons have done something.
âWhoever the bastards are, Iâll shred them in to pieces first and return.â
Kaozinta quickly exited the temple of lightning and fire, and left Naraka to return to his own demon world.
A peaceful atmosphere returned to the temple for the first time in a long while as there no longer were monstrous noises, originating from the tough training.
Unaware of this fact, Vulcan struggled by himself, inside the regeneration room, so that he could deliver a single destructive punch to Kaozinta at their next encounter.
**************
Kaozintaâs assumption was true.
Vulcan was stuck in the latter half of 1,200 level.
However, proficiency which was responsible for the playersâ powers has been developing in bounds to the point of amazement.
Although it has once been stalled due to Kaozintaâs intrusion, Vulcan foggily saw the new path beyond the wall that was hindering him.
Therefore, he was able to move up to the higher level with much more ease.
On top of that, the current situation in which Kaozinta was killing him repeatedly has, in fact, worked in favor of Vulcan.
Vulcan had initially feared the pain of death which endlessly haunted him.
As a result, the hindrances in his mind resurged even more, and he even devolved into getting killed by Kaozinta within 1 minute, without even putting up a good fight.
However, when such phenomenon repeated, repeated, and repeated again, and he no longer felt death as deathâŠ
The situation had changed at the moment when he felt dying as being a daily routine such as eating and sleeping.
Like Belgeram who came to his understanding inside the lava demon cave, Vulcan, too, was able to grow by cracking out of the suppressing shell of hindrance.
However, there was a slight difference in the understandings between Belgeramâs and Vulcanâs.
Belgeram, the demon duke, reached Nirvana by forgiving Vulcan, when he understood that his own wrath, desire, and other similar emotions were useless through his repeated death, but VulcanâŠ..
âKaozinta, you bastardâŠ. Next time, Iâll crush your skull, no matter what!â
On the contrary, Vulcan was overcoming himself by harnessing the internal anger.
Vulcan no longer feared death, the most fearful thing to a living person.
In such a situation, what anything in the world could cause him to fear?
Ultimately, after facing Kaozinta for 9 years now, the shape of Rock Seager, which was the allegory of the huge fear and suppression that debilitated Vulcanâs growth, has been crumbled down to almost nothing.
And in its place, even bigger wrath took in shape.
Like flames, Vulcanâs hostility and fighting spirit rose and burned up all the crippling inner hindrances.
Having overcome his shortcomings like that, Vulcan became more fluent in managing lightning and fire in more explosively, and he was even able to demonstrate more outstanding maneuvers against Kaozinta who was at the same level.
âHowever, itâs not enough!â
Instead of taking a lotus position as before, Vulcan moved about, with all his might, by using the energy of thunder god.
There were definitely no one else in the room other than Vulcan, however, his violent movements was like as if he was exchanging blows with someone invisible.
That visual was created by the fact that he was moving in concert by recreating the most recent battle that he had fought against Kaozinta.
Pazzzzzz.
His body entirely covered with golden electricity, Vulcan moved all over the small room.
He was very quick such that his movements even appeared to have impressed the elder gods of Asgard, yet it did not satisfy him.
Having moved about dizzily fast, Vulcan focused his mind in order to reach the desired condition by endlessly regurgitating the past battles.
He couldnât be victorious at this level.
That was, with only quick movements, it was not possible to even deliver a well designed punch to Kaozinta, let alone defeat him.
Vulcan kept pushing himself to recreate the unconscious movements that he had made in the previous battle by transcending his physical limitations.
âThe level I wantâŠ. If and only if I can freely utilize the feelings that come from the movements as if there were no physical limitationsâŠ..â
Thinking about his movements as he rapidly dashed through the air by ignoring the law of inertia when he was about to face Kaozinta, Vulcan became more serious.
Only if that was possible, he would be able to demonstrate incredulous movements like teleportation, even without the space contraction skill.
Since then, Vulcan forgot everything else, and used his time focusing on the thunder godâs energy, and on the fire spirit of the lightning.
It was because those two skills were the most appropriate ones which could help him recreate the same feeling and unconscious maneuvers.
To capture that elusive feeling, Vulcan focused on his training by maintaining a deadly concentration, in that way.
It wasnât certain how deep his concentration has been, but the focus has been so intense that he didnât even realize that it has already been one week since he has transported to the temple of lightning and fire.
Like that, one month of time has passed, two months have passed, and half year has passed.
Finally, when the required quest accomplishment time limit of one year was drawing close, there came changes in Vulcanâs movements.
PazzzzâŠ.Zzzzzzz.
PazzâŠ. Pazzzzzzz.
It wasnât just unlike as if one was just simply covered with thunder.
It wasnât just thunder like movements, either.
At every moment in which he changed his direction, Vulcan spewed out golden light as he disappeared as if to have been evaporated.
He was able to, although for very brief moments, shed his physical body completely, and exist as total lightning.
Before Vulcan, who has demonstrated that, an imaginative foe Kaozinata has appeared.
And like before, the bastard had a smirk on his face as he smiled.
Vulcan smiled likewise as he was looking directly at Kaozinta, and Vulcan dashed in quickly towards him in order to deliver a punch.
Of course, it wasnât easy.
Even if it was a foe created out of his imagination, a true demon was a true demon.
Chasing after the imagined Kaozinta who was moving incredibly fast to be chasing after with ordinary speed, Vulcan used the lightning skill that he has taught himself.
And the demonstration of his secret movements that he learned at the end of the hard workâŠ
Like an entity without mass, and ignoring both inertia and gravity, Vulcanâs movements, as he sporadically appeared from one point to another, here and there, inside the boss room looked as if it could not be any faster. And finally, he was able to get to the weakness prone back side of Kaozinta.
Kaozinta quickly turned his head and showed a flustering expression.
Having delivered one shot there, Vulcan smiled, and at the same time, Kaozintaâs imagined shape vanished like an illusion.
Exhilarating pleasure. And persistent sense of being elevated.
As Vulcan was suspended in the air with such pleasure, a sound reached his ears.
Escaping from his own universe, Vulcan fell to the ground.
Pazzzz.
As if a fire god of lightning has appeared, Vulcan stopped, leaving behind a small line of soot.
As that was so mesmerizing, he even felt as if the being wasnât from this world.
He slowly opened the system window, and read all the messages that had passed by his ears.
[Thunder walk, the legendary skill has been newly upgraded to a new legendary skill thunder dash!]
[Battle proficiency has been raised to SSS from SS!]
[Defense proficiency has been raised to S from A.]
[Evasion proficiency has been raised to SSS from SS!]
[Quest successful!]
[Ordinary quest â Survive as a boss monster for 1 year inside the temple of lightning and fire (the hidden quest location).]
[Youâve earned the ultimate experience level!]
[The activity area has been expanded to the surrounding vicinities of the temple of lightning and fire.]
[The exposure of the tightly hidden temple of the lightning and fire has been increased. The probability of being discovered by true demons has increased.]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[The next quest will be supported in a demon mode. Please reenter in demon mode if you wish to attempt a quest or hunt monsters, or maintain the current condition if you wish to hunt true demons.]