Seth's sword flashed, its movement a streaking blur.
Spurt!
Blood bloomed in waves as the ability of the Black Steel Sword kicked in.
The scaled monster shrieked in pain as one of its arms fell. The pulsing green light died as the severed limb twitched continuously, vitality still abundant.
Seth paid heed to none of this. His gaze was tranquil, his mind lost in the grandeur of his flowing essence, which he felt fully for the first time.
A shadow encroached quickly — a sharp bone beak pierced through the wind, ready to strike him dead, wings riding the gale with furious force.
Seth's shredded shirt fluttered. His essence thrummed, and his weapon flowed seamlessly. Its movement was so entrancing it appeared slow.
Without hindrance, the oscillating blade smoothly flowed through the corrupted crow beast's skull-like head.
The flickering embers in its hollow eyes died out, its enormous head falling from its body.
A torrent of blood poured as the headless corpse lost control, shadowy wings stiffening before crashing disastrously into the pavement. Seth retreated — not from the force, but from the rain of blood that followed.
[Congratulations! You have slain a Shackled Mutated Mini Boss!]
[You grow stronger…]
[+13 Speed]
[+9 Intelligence]
[+15 Strength]
Cooling waves from the abrupt stat increase coursed through Seth's body.
A bright pulse flared. A green cadence pushed against the skies as a furious, one-armed mutant rushed upon him.
Its eyes clouded scarlet, all hints of the earlier green gone.
The mini boss had lost all reason to the fury of its severed limb and the pain that followed.
The bloodied stump writhed, signs of its high vitality kicking in to regrow the limb — albeit slowly.
Its remaining claw tore through the air, the concentration of green pulse passing a threshold.
The weight of its attack bordered on eight tons.
Its feet sank into the ground continuously from sheer mass.
This strike would kill its prey for sure!
Unfortunately, the monster's intelligence was too little to understand that as powerful as the ability to increase weight could be, it had a glaring weakness.
Speed.
The heavier an object, the more force required to move it.
And as a shackled beast, how much force could it muster to move sixteen thousand pounds?
The answer was simple.
Not nearly enough.
Seth weaved through the attack, his gait swaying subtly to the side as the abhorrent strike plowed into the ground, missing completely.
Bang!
The paved ground crumbled on impact, a small crater forming.
If it wasn't so heavy, maybe the monster could have diverted its attack at the last minute, with a slight chance of hitting its mark.
Unfortunately, its intelligence was so low it couldn't even fathom such a possibility.
Seth's figure blurred, a gleaming strike racing toward the mutant's neck.
Even with its weakness in speed, the monster had the boon of defense.
The heavier an object, the sturdier its constitution.
Seth submerged his mind deep into his streaming essence. The humming of his blade grew louder as the particles of its glinting edge vibrated at high intensity.
Each particle oscillated at an astounding 250Hz — about 15,000 times a minute.
Such intense oscillation triggered scalding heat, continuously contained and condensed at the edge of the Black Steel Sword. It increased the weapon's lethality severalfold.
And the best part?
This wasn't even Seth's limit. He felt he could double the intensity if needed.
The sword arced, wind whipping at its sides, unable to cull the heat.
Like a hot knife through butter, the blade sank through the mutant's neck, instantly decapitating it.
The furious winds came to an abrupt halt.
The mutant froze, eyes trembling from haunting fear. A line of red gradually bloomed across its neck.
Plop!
Its head rolled from the pavement into the grassy trail.
Blood spurted like fountains from the headless corpse as it collapsed to its knees, vitality fading before falling to the cold floor. A crimson pool spread beneath it.
[Congratulations! You have slain a Shackled Mutated Mini Boss!]
[You grow stronger…]
[+20 Defense]
[+12 Strength]
[+8 Vitality]
A single glowing orb floated from the corpse, bobbing and spiraling in the air.
Seth's eyes shone as he reached for his prize.
It suddenly vanished.
He blinked. "What the hell?"
Turning to the crow monster's corpse, he saw nothing. No orbs.
Confusion swept his mind. "Something's not right." He frowned deeply.
His mind spun with possibilities, but only one made sense.
"A thief!" The word squeezed from Seth's clenched teeth.
Fury boiled. These rewards were his.
What type of loot could a mini boss drop? He didn't know, but he was sure even the gene skills from these beasts were at least Leader grade. They wouldn't drop anything lesser.
His gaze flashed as he scanned his surroundings.
Uriel battled a mini boss.
"Huh? That strong?" Seth muttered, pausing on Uriel. The guy had already slain a snake-like mini boss and was upon another.
He continued scanning. Some were in dire straits, others held their own by joining hands — like Elaine and Brandon.
Harold was dead. Seth noted it.
Jack, the only surviving junior, fared well. His gene skill still eluded Seth, but it was clearly powerful.
Helen was bloodied and struggling, but still holding out.
That left Helen and Roderick. Where were they?
One of them should be the thief.
"Hm?"
Something touched his foot.
Glancing down, he saw a head — a human head staring lifelessly back, a victorious smile eerily pasted on its lips.
He knew this face. Maki.
How did she die? Where?
The hair on Seth's neck stood on end as an oppressive aura proliferated through the atmosphere.
He turned, heart hammering.
And he saw.
A dead mini boss — the source of Maki's victorious smile.
Then his eyes trailed to the creature hunched above the corpse, casting a deep shadow.
A humanoid mutant, not human-like in any way.
Its skin was horrendous, blistering tumors clustered into a revolting layer of defense.
Its eyes were vacant, leaving only abyssal depths in its elongated head. Its gaping maw stretched unnaturally wide.
It stood 2.2 meters tall, physique overwhelming.
Its arms were sanguine blades — one dripping fresh crimson blood, the other impaling Maki's headless corpse like an unholy kebab.
But this wasn't what made Seth's gut sink.
It was the alarming red system prompt that appeared the moment his gaze rested on the abomination.
[Warning!!!]
[Defiled Creature Detected!]
It was clear now that the theif was the last of Seth's worries.