Chapter 107: End of the Duel

Despite beheading the Great Ones, Ray didn’t lower his guard.

Firstly, ever since the tower interfered with his system’s ability to refine EXP, it hadn’t been issuing the kill notifications that could be used to determine if his opponents were truly dead or not.

Secondly, although he wasn’t clear about the power of the Great Ones, he believed they would appear soon in a form entirely different and stronger than the one he had just beheaded.

’Where are they going to appear from this time?’

Exhibiting extreme caution, he looked around, surveying his surroundings with a scrutinizing gaze.

He didn’t want to be caught off guard again.

Relying on his sixth sense was a double-edged sword. After all, if he ever reacted too slowly to its warnings, he’d be dead meat. It was something to use only when no better option remained!

Meanwhile.

Killed by Ray for the second time, the Great Ones thought, ’We lost another one of our lives to a mere human again. This is… this is unbearable.’

’We only have one life remaining. We have to make good use of it and put an end to his existence. If he is left alive, the demonic races will have a great headache to deal with in the future.’

The special cheat-like ability of the Great Ones triggered again after their armored knight form was slain.

Instead of entering eternal slumber like everyone else does when they are killed, their wills were given a new form, allowing them to interact with reality rather than just perceive it in an intangible state.

Their new form was that of a monster with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a colossal serpent.

Their eyes radiated a cold, paralyzing malice, while their face was horrifying enough to instill terror in even the bravest of souls in place.

Scales of jade and black covered their skin densely.

A mane of writhing snakes sprouted from their head. The snakes hissed as they glared at Ray with intense murderous intent.

A thought popped into Ray’s mind when he saw the monster appearing in the middle of the hall. “Looks like Medusa.”

In ancient legends, Medusa was a terrifying monster with the ability to instantly turn anyone who looked directly into her eyes to stone.

’They possess it too.’

Now Ray had reason to believe the Great Ones, who had returned to life in a form similar to Medusa, possessed the same ability as her. After all, when he had first entered the hall, it was littered with stone statues of various creatures with none of them being human. Those statues might be of the seekers who had faced this challenge before him but failed to overcome it!

If that was true, it would mean the Great Ones’ ability wasn’t as terrifying as they had tried to make it seem, meaning they would end up returning to their first form with the passage of time in case they survived this ordeal and failed to kill Ray.

“He managed to achieve what only Silver-rankers and above had ever achieved. What a fearsome human,” the Great Ones mused. “Fortunately, he will meet his end here. Like all the seekers who have pushed us to this point, he will turn to stone the second our gaze meets his.”

The fight had dragged on for too long.

The Great Ones tried to end it instantly.

But before they could look Ray in the eyes, he shut them tight, not daring to meet their gaze.

He was neither brave nor stupid enough to take any chances. He planned to fight them with his eyes closed by relying on his sixth sense.

He had some experience fighting like that. He done it before. Although it was against far weaker enemies, he believed he could reenact his accomplishments against the terrifying Great Ones.

The Great Ones were shocked. “Y… you know! How did you know?!”

Having no intention of wasting his breath on them, Ray merely smirked in response.

As a transmigrator from the Common Era, he knew a thing or two about popular mythological figures, but there was no need for them to know about his personal experience. The only thing they should understand is that they could forget about catching him off guard!

“What are you acting smug for?” the Great Ones felt deeply annoyed, seeing the smirk that formed on his face. Radiating skin-prickling killing intent, they continued, “By closing your eyes to avoid the fate of turning to stone, you are only delaying the inevitable. Don’t hope to survive for long while fighting us with your eyes closed!”

Hearing how annoyed they were, Ray widened his smirk further, grinning from ear to ear. “If you are done barking, come at me.”

“As you wish!”

The Great Ones’ ear piercing shriek reverberated through the hall, their voice overflowing with hatred. The next instant, their enormous body surged forward. Many tiles cracked as they slithered across the floor to get to Ray.

“Die!”

Their jaws, lined with fang-like blades, unhinged wide, wide enough to devour a grown man whole. The cold gleam in their eyes promised a merciless end, the kind of death that left neither body nor soul intact.

Ray flickered away to safety before their head even came crashing down toward him.

The racial trait unique to a Heavenly Being was no joke. Combined with his agility, he outmaneuverd them so hard they didn’t even realize when he entered their blind spot.

The didn’t realize he was behind them until they felt an explosive impact at the back of their head.

Bomb!

The sole of Ray’s boot connected with their skull, driving their head into the floor with brutal force, forcing them to share a lengthy kiss with it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Before they could pick themselves up, his foot came down again and again, stomping on the back of their head continuously, forcing the kiss they were sharing with the floor to deepen so much it turned into a full-blown French kiss.

“You like biting, don’t you? Then chew on that.” He mocked so hard the Great Ones felt like their pride was being shred into pieces by a pair of knives.

The Great Ones howled, their rage boiling into hysteria. Never—never—had they been humiliated so utterly!

Even when the traitorous slaves of their clan had joined forces with that terrifying woman from the starry skies to subdue them, they hadn’t been humiliated like this. Those two had only weakened and sealed them within the tower so that one day they could become someone’s stepping stone, but they hadn’t stepped all over them like Ray.

He was treating them like they were truly a stone to be stepped upon!

He was shattering their pride beyond repair.

“Damn you!”

A blinding light erupted, and the Great Ones’ upper body swapped position with their lower body. By the time the blinding light receded, it was already too late.

The sound of a monstrous maw snapping shut echoed like thunder through the hall as they swallowed him whole!

For a moment, silence followed. Then, a confused voice rang out.

“Why does it feel like we swallowed nothing?” The Great Ones felt nothing going down their throat despite having clearly engulfed him.

“Because you didn’t.”

Ray’s voice came from behind. He had used Lightning Step to teleport out of their mouth the instant he found himself trapped within.

Not wanting to be stomped on again, the Great Ones quickly turned around to devour him once more, but he was expecting it.

“You want to eat me?” His eyes were closed. He sensed their intention relying on the warning issued by his sixth sense alone. He had gotten better at reading it, having already relied on it too many times to save his life. “The only thing you’ll be eating is this!”

He also opened his mouth wide and roared.

Max Power Fire Dragon Breath!!!

Flames swirled out of the back of his throat, a torrent of scorching flames shooting straight into the Great Ones’ gaping maw.

The flames were so hot that the air around him shimmered violently, the very atmosphere twisting and writhing from the heat.

The Great Ones’ scales could withstand the high temperature, but their insides? That was another story. Though tougher than the flesh of most creatures, their inner body wasn’t as resilient as their scales. The fire spread through them, cooking them from the inside out.

As the torrent of high temperature flames rampaged inside them, their scales began to glow red, heat radiating off them in waves. Smoke billowed from their mouth and nostrils, and a sizzling sound filled the hall, like fat burning on an open flame.

A shrill, distorted scream rang out before their body convulsed violently, and then crashed lifelessly to the ground with a heavy, echoing thud.

Just as that happened.

A radiant light descended from above, enveloping Ray in its glow.

♦️ Congratulations, Seeker from Earth.

You have slain the Master of the Monster Palace, completing a challenge that has remained undefeated for over a hundred years.

♦️ For making history, you have received the following rewards.

Reward 1: [Ownership of the Monster Palace]

Reward 2: [Minor Abyssal Command Token]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep