After Lucien discovered the precious method of infusing his Steel Rend Trait with the Fireballs from the Knowing of Fire Trait he received from fusing with the Fire Tome, the battle took a more interesting turn.
His steel claws blazed with fire, making his punches not only hurt badly—each cleave carved deep with searing heat that ate into the monster's flesh.
The Dungeon boss now saw him as a real threat and moved with deadly purpose, unlike the sluggish attacks from before.
And that turned out to be devastating for Lucien. Because the bastard was lightning fast!
Throughout the battle, Lucien couldn't help but wonder: how exactly did he plan to defeat a level 120 monster if a level 50 one was giving him hell?
He threw himself between the pillars, sliding around their corners like a desperate snake. This was his only lifeline.
The White Wolf's massive size and blistering speed made it nearly impossible to navigate the tight spaces with the same deadly efficiency Lucien used. The creature had no choice—slow down or crash into the stone columns.
Two crashes already. Each impact had surely torn chunks from its Health Points.
The entire hall shuddered with both bone-rattling collisions.
Lucien burst from the shadows, launching a lightning-fast strike at the wolf's flank. His punch erupted in flames and sliced through fur and flesh, drawing an angry yelp from the beast.
The wolf whipped around to sink its fangs into him but slammed its skull into a nearby pillar instead. Lucien seized the moment, unleashing a storm of blows like a man possessed.
Each strike was like cutting through meat with a red-hot blade. Lucien battered the White Wolf without mercy.
The hindlimb and surrounding fur were painted crimson with blood—so much that it was hard to tell who was really the monster here.
Lucien stood gasping, a dangerous hunger burning in his eyes. His steel talons and hands dripped with blood. Even his face was splattered with crimson.
He slowly backed away from the wolf, smoke rising from his hands and the beast's wounds. The wolf snarled through its pain, but before it could lunge, Lucien had melted back into the shadows between the columns.
In these few brutal moments, the battle had pushed Lucien to his breaking point. He was hanging by a thread—one more hit from the Dungeon Boss would end everything. He would die and fail. But that wasn't even the worst part.
The worst part was that the Dungeon would likely seal itself forever, and he would lose the path to Evelaine Hollows. Lucien had read somewhere that dungeons unlocking new locations were different beasts entirely—incredibly rare. Even worse, when players failed these challenges, the dungeons didn't just reset for another try. They vanished completely, sealing off any chance of reaching new territories.
There were different types, but these special dungeons were the keys to expanding the game world. They had a specific name, but Lucien couldn't quite remember what they were called.
Lucien pushed the thought aside and focused on the fight at hand.
There was still one major problem—the White Wolf's stealth ability.
It had used the skill several times, and Lucien had barely managed to sense the incoming attacks thanks to Predator Instincts, which let him feel any killing intent aimed his way.
Even so, most of his damage came from those stealth moments. The White Wolf would vanish completely, never showing itself until it was ready to strike. That's why the killing intent always hit Lucien so late—when death was already breathing down his neck.
But that wasn't his biggest problem.
His real problem was that he wanted to fuse with the Dungeon Boss too!
He already knew his level was far too low for it.
However, he had a plan brewing. The idea was to backtrack through the other tunnels and hunt the remaining monsters he'd skipped before stumbling upon the White Wolf.
But first, he needed to cripple this beast badly. Which was exactly what he was doing.
The wolf vanished again. For a heartbeat, deadly silence wrapped around the Boss room—no movement, no sound, nothing.
Then Lucien jerked his head back, barely a split second before the White Wolf materialized and crashed into him. Even with his guard up, the impact sent him rolling backward into a pillar.
He collapsed forward and spat blood.
[Your Health has fallen below 30%]
[Passive Trait: Crimson Hunger has been activated]
[Your Attack Power will increase by 30% with every hit you take until your death.]
Lucien gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up. This was exactly what he'd been waiting for. He'd studied this trait carefully, and it was the reason he refused to touch his healing potions despite carrying plenty.
If he healed himself, he wouldn't be dancing on death's edge. This way, with the knowledge that dying would seal his chance at a quest the entire world didn't even know existed, his blood sang with raw excitement.
So much that the only way he could honor this feeling was to play with that razor-thin line between death and victory. It was absolutely thrilling.
The monster charged with a bone-rattling growl, but Lucien simply ran, losing himself in the maze of pillars. The wolf stopped, confused for a moment.
It didn't use stealth immediately. Lucien had studied the White Wolf's pattern—there were gaps between uses. And those gaps were when he struck, driving them both deep into the pillar forest, getting the massive beast tangled up while he dealt his damage.
Just like now. And with his boosted attack power, he rained down claws like a wild man, flames dancing in his hands, making each wound bleed and smoke.
The deadly dance continued until the Dungeon boss lay in a pool of its own blood, breathing in shallow gasps, glaring at the blood-soaked man standing over it with crimson eyes.
Lucien looked down and smirked.
"Didn't I tell you?"
He turned away from the fallen boss and walked toward the entrance of the pillar hall.
"You wait right here for me. Let me go grab some fusion points."