Marlon ensured that he properly gauged the power of the unknown creature alongside the others before making a move.

At first, when he witnessed the careless death of Dagon, he concluded that the monster was limited to firing lasers from its eyes alone. Because of this, he had been careless, also assuming that it was slow.

However, after seeing how swiftly it moved and how easily it injured everyone who attacked it, he realized that its strength was no joke.

Only after confirming all of this did he finally decide to act.

He stepped in just in time, moments before Bola could be slain, and kicked the strange creature away.

BOOM!

The monster slammed into the wall. It seemed completely unfazed as it swiftly lifted itself from the ground and scanned the room, its gaze quickly locking onto Marlon.

At that moment, Marlon could have sworn that he saw an excited grin appear on its face before it sprinted toward him, radiating an intense killing intent that his danger sense immediately detected.

Marlon charged toward it head-on. This time, he used Divine Punch, a skill that multiplied his attack power many times over.

Closing the distance, he sent the punch forward.

But the creature moved its body swiftly and evaded the attack.

Due to its small size, it was incredibly tricky to deal with. Marlon gathered energy into his leg and delivered a quick sweeping kick, but once again, it avoided the attack.

"It is fast," Marlon noted aloud.

"Clones, attack!"

Without wasting another second, he called forth his clones.

He needed their assistance to overwhelm the mini-boss and buy himself enough time to activate and properly use Punch of Death.

The clones left Bola's side and threw themselves at the monster one after another.

Each of them used Divine Punch, their fists emitting an ethereal white glow as they rained down attacks.

Yet every strike proved futile, as the mini-boss evaded each blow with ease.

Without even bothering to fire its lasers, it managed to kill two of Marlon's clones.

Marlon swallowed anxiously, carefully noting the notoriety of whatever this mini-boss truly was.

He was still baffled by the fact that the system could not display any information about it. Not its name. Not its race. Not even its health points.

"Has it even taken any damage at all?" he wondered.

He had used Divine Punch on it earlier, and when it crashed into the wall, it simply stood back up without a trace of pain in its eyes. If anything, it looked even more alive and eager to fight than before.

Thinking about it more carefully, a troubling thought crossed his mind.

"Could this be one of those monsters that absorb attacks to boost their own power and vitality? The insane types mentioned in those books?"

If that was the case, then the more he attacked it, the stronger and faster it would become.

It was a lose-lose situation.

The only skill that could possibly work was Punch of Death.

However, he would need to be absolutely certain it would succeed, because if it failed, he would be forced to survive for another hour until the cooldown ended.

A frown appeared on his face as he watched his clones continue to get overwhelmed by their opponent.

Clarissa, still shaken by the death of her teammate and kneeling on the ground nearby, noticed his expression and grew even more worried.

If Marlon looked this concerned, then it was more than enough reason for everyone else to feel the same fear.

'Please come up with something,' she prayed fervently.

The faces of her loved ones appeared in her mind, especially her siblings, whom she had promised to visit after completing her mission.

While she prayed, Marlon arrived at another conclusion, and his eyes shone with renewed determination.

He opened his inventory and equipped an item he had been ignoring until now.

The boots Crimson had given him before his breakthrough trial.

[ Feather Boots: Consumes aether to increase the wearer's overall agility by 50% ]

The percentage increase was not large, but it was far better than nothing.

"Speed is what I need most against an opponent like this," he muttered.

Before attacking again, he summoned ten more clones and sent them into the battlefield with new orders.

All ten of them moved immediately, appearing beside the remaining two clones who were still being mercilessly beaten by the strange mini-boss.

The creature, however, was too focused on finishing off the last two clones to notice the sudden change around it.

The ten newly summoned clones appeared almost simultaneously, surrounding the mini-boss from every direction. None of them attacked. Instead, they rushed in without hesitation and used their bodies as restraints.

One clone grabbed the creature's left arm and locked it tightly against his chest. Another seized its right arm, pulling back with all his strength. Two more wrapped themselves around its legs, forcing its feet into the ground as they dragged its lower body down.

The mini-boss let out a sharp shriek and struggled violently.

Its strength was terrifying.

The ground cracked beneath them as it slammed its body around, trying to shake them off. One clone was crushed beneath its weight and vanished instantly. Another was torn apart by its claws.

Still, the remaining clones held on.

More of them piled onto its body, pressing it down from all sides. One forced its head downward. Another locked its waist from behind. The rest added their weight, tightening their grips even as blood spilled and bones cracked.

The creature continued to struggle, but its movements gradually slowed.

That was enough.

Marlon stepped forward.

The Feather Boots beneath his feet glowed faintly as aether flowed into them. His body felt lighter, sharper, and far more responsive as he crossed the distance in a blink and stopped right before the restrained mini-boss.

Up close, he could feel the violent energy raging inside the creature, along with the strange vitality that refused to fade.

He slowly lifted his fist.

The surrounding air trembled instantly.

Dark, misty energy wrapped around his fist, its intensity surpassing even the deepest darkness of a moonless night.

As it formed, an unnatural presence spread throughout the hall, causing everyone present to shiver, feeling more fear than when the mini-boss had first appeared.

SHRIEK!

Sensing the power gathering before it, the mini-boss struggled even more violently, its cries growing frantic and desperate.

Fear finally appeared in its eyes.

The same fear felt by those watching.

Clarissa, who observed the phenomenon more closely than the others who had been knocked unconscious in a corner, felt her heart pound violently in her chest.

At that moment, the Marlon before her seemed to take on an entirely different form.

A form she could not describe.

At the same time, she felt a chilling sensation that could only be described as the fear of death itself.

Meanwhile, as her thoughts spiraled—

Marlon, whose fist was wrapped in power that felt like it belonged to a reaper of death, struck the restrained mini-boss.

The attack connected with a deafening boom, followed by a powerful shockwave.

Instantly, the mini-boss's shrieks ceased as its body began to rapidly age.

Its once young and innocent-looking face grew old and grotesque. Its pale skin turned even paler before rotting into a sickly green, resembling that of a corpse.

Moments later, its body crumbled into dust and dissipated into nothingness.

Marlon noticed a strange item drop from the spot where it had disappeared, but his attention was immediately drawn to the notification that appeared before him.

[ You've slain a mini-boss, EXP +25,000 (+25,000) ]

[ Level Up ]

[ Level 60 ----> Level 61 ]

[ You've broken through to D-rank ]

He had become a D-rank hunter without the need to undergo a breakthrough trial.

However, at that moment, his concern grew when he realized that there were no rewards or skill upgrades that normally accompanied the completion of a breakthrough trial.

Thinking it through, although he had been granted a blessing that allowed him to bypass breakthrough trials until a certain rank, it also came with a downside.

He had no idea how he was supposed to upgrade his skills without those trials.

"I'll need to ask Axel Storm when I have the time," he thought.

Axel was the only person who knew the true nature of his system and was the right one to consult.

Pushing the concern to the back of his mind, Marlon shifted his gaze to the strange item lying on the ground.

"Hm."

The item was something he had never seen before, not in books and not on the internet.

Curious, he picked it up.

At that very moment, a sensation he had never experienced before washed over him, accompanied by a red-colored holographic window appearing before his eyes.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.