"Before that thing comes any closer, we need to run, Young Master, please just run," Cerys said as her voice broke apart, her words stumbling over each other as fear gripped her throat so tightly that even breathing felt like a struggle to her.
And her eyes, she made sure they were locked onto the darkness ahead as if she were staring at something that had crawled straight out of her worst nightmare.
Immediately, the ground answered her fear before Clay could even respond.
It began as a faint vibration beneath their feet, something that felt almost like a distant heartbeat echoing through the stone, but within a few breaths it grew into something far more violent, as the entire dungeon trembled and the air itself seemed to tighten, as though something massive had just woken up and taken notice of them.
Then from the dungeon's darkness, it stepped out.
The Minotaur.
It emerged from the darkness with a presence that crushed everything around it, its body towering so high that it felt as though the ceiling itself had lowered just to accommodate it, and every inch of its form was packed with muscle, thick layers of power that rolled beneath its fur like coiled steel cables ready to snap at any moment, its arms bulging with strength that did not belong to anything human, and its chest rising and falling with slow, heavy breaths that sounded like distant thunder.
Its fur did not hide its physique at all, because even beneath that coarse, dark coat, the lines of its body were clear, rippling and tense, each movement causing waves of muscle to tighten and release as though it were constantly preparing to strike.
In its hands, it carried a massive double bladed axe.
The weapon alone looked heavy enough to crush a man just by falling, and yet the Minotaur held it as if it weighed nothing, the blade catching what little light existed in the dungeon, reflecting it in cold flashes that made it look even more dangerous.
Cerys felt her legs weaken as soon as she saw it.
"Young Master… please run," she whispered again, her voice shaking so much that she could barely hold her words together. Yet she forced herself to say it because she knew exactly what would happen if they stayed.
Clay nodded, though his eyes remained open and focused, not on the fear in her voice, but on the creature in front of them.
Then a sound rang out in his mind.
DING!
The Host has encountered a foe stronger than himself.
Overlord Ability Exponential Overgrowth Spur activated.
At that moment, something inside Clay changed.
It was not something he could see directly, yet he could feel it clearly, as if his entire body had suddenly awakened, as if something that had been sleeping deep within him had finally opened its eyes.
A window appeared before him.
Name: Clay Valmont.
Age: 17.
Gender: Male.
Mana Occupation: Paladin.
Mana: Holy Power.
Cultivated Mana Stage: Twelve Peak of Mana Infusion Realm.
Overlord Ability: Exponential Overgrowth Spur activated.
The moment he read it, another surge of power flooded through him, stronger than anything he had felt before, and his body reacted instantly, his muscles tightening, his senses sharpening, his awareness expanding as though the world around him had slowed down.
Then the information inside changed again.
Cultivated Mana Stage: Twelve Peak of Mana Condensation Realm.
Clay's eyes widened.
"System… I am in the Condensation stage?" he asked, unable to hide the excitement in his voice, because this was not a small leap, this was a complete transformation of his strength.
Before I crippled myself, I was only at the sixth stage of Mana Infusion, he thought rapidly, and after you repaired me, I got my cultivated Mana back and then you doubled it, making me reach the twelfth stage, but now… now I have reached the peak of Mana Condensation?
The system responded without emotion.
Yes.
Clay's lips curled upward as a grin spread across his face, because the power coursing through him felt real, it felt overwhelming, and for a moment he almost forgot where he was.
"Young Master, in front of you!" Cerys cried out suddenly, her voice snapping him back to reality.
Clay turned his head toward her.
"Huh?"
Then it hit him.
The Minotaur.
He snapped his gaze back forward.
Too late.
The massive axe had already descended.
It came down with terrifying force, aimed straight at his shoulder, the blade cutting through the air with a sound that felt heavy and violent, as if it were tearing the world apart.
Bang!
Cerys shut her eyes instantly, her body locking up as she braced herself for the sound she remembered too well, the sound of flesh being split, of bone breaking, of life ending in an instant.
But it never came.
Seconds passed.
Silence followed.
Her eyes slowly opened.
And then she froze.
Clay just stood there.
The axe rested on his shoulder.
It had torn through his clothes, leaving a rip that exposed a small portion of his skin, but that was all it had done.
It did not cut him.
It did not break him.
It simply stopped.
Clay was stunned too. He looked at the axe resting on him, then he lifted his gaze toward the Minotaur, then back to the axe, then to the Minotaur again, then to the axe again, and then to the Minotaur again, his expression growing more confused with each turn of his head as if his brain could not decide which part of this situation made less sense.
The Minotaur was the same, completely stunned. Next, it did the exact same thing Clay did.
It looked at its axe, then at Clay, then back at its axe, then at Clay again, then at its axe again, then at Clay again, its massive head moving in a slow, repeated motion as though it were trying to understand why reality had suddenly stopped working the way it should.
Cerys stared at both of them, her mouth slightly open, her mind struggling to keep up, and then she looked at the Minotaur, then at the axe, then at Clay, then back at the Minotaur, then at the axe again, then at Clay again, her head moving in the same pattern as if she had been pulled into their strange rhythm.
What is going on?
Why is he not dead?
The Minotaur suddenly lifted its axe again, its mysterious confusion replaced by raw anger, and it let out a deafening roar that shook the dungeon walls.
ROOOOAAAAAAHHH!
The axe came down once more.
Bang!
Cerys closed her eyes again, her heart pounding so hard that it felt like it might burst, but once again, the sound she expected never came.
She opened her eyes.
Clay was still standing.
Unharmed.
She looked at him, then at the axe at his shoulder, then at the Minotaur, then back at the axe, then at the Minotaur again, her head moving again and again as if she were trying to confirm that this was real and not some illusion.
The Minotaur did the same action.
It looked at its axe, then at Clay, then back at its axe, then at Clay again, over and over, its massive body stiff with disbelief.
Cerys felt her thoughts collapse into chaos.
Is this real?
Is he really unharmed?
The Minotaur's anger grew even more violent, its breathing turning heavy and rough as it refused to accept what was happening, and with a furious roar, it lifted its axe once more.
This time, it aimed for his head.
Clay, who had been staring in confusion, suddenly noticed this.
His bangs.
His carefully maintained, shining dark crimson bangs.
The blade was coming straight for them.
"You son of a bitch!" he shouted, his expression twisting in pure outrage as his body reacted instantly.
After this, Cerys saw something she could not comprehend.
The Minotaur disappeared from her sight.
It was there one moment.
Gone the next.
Then she heard it.
A deep, heavy crack that echoed through the dungeon like thunder striking stone.
Her body stiffened.
Slowly, very slowly, she turned her head.
It took a while.
It felt like every second was stretched longer than it should be, because her mind refused to accept what she might see, and yet she could not stop herself from looking.
Her gaze moved inch by inch.
Her breathing slowed.
Her heart pounded.
And then she saw it.
The Minotaur was embedded into the wall.
Its entire body had been driven deep into the stone, cracks spreading outward from the point of impact like a web, and its chest had collapsed inward, as though something had punched straight through it with overwhelming force.
Cerys's mouth opened wide.
Her tongue nearly slipped out as her mind completely froze.
A whirling sound broke her focus.
She looked up.
The massive axe was spinning in the air, turning again and again as it slowly descended.
Then she heard Clay's voice.
"You bastard," he said, his tone filled with irritation as he clenched his fist, "you almost cut my hair."
His eyes locked onto the Minotaur's body.
"I will make sure the next one lands on your skull."
The axe fell.
Clay reached out casually.
He caught it with one hand.
Effortlessly.
Cerys felt her entire world tilt.
He caught it.
Barehanded.
That axe was not something an ordinary person could even lift, and yet he held it as if it weighed nothing at all.
Even senior Mana Knights would struggle with that.
So how is he doing this?
Clay glanced at her.
"Maid," he said, his tone almost relaxed, "I thought it could adapt. Why is it down so fast?"
Cerys swallowed, her throat dry.
"Young Master… I…"
She wanted to say she did not know.
She truly did not know.
But before she could finish, the dungeon trembled again.
The cracks around the Minotaur's body began to shift.
Its chest moved.
The deep wound began to close.
Flesh pulled itself back together.
Bone reformed.
Muscle tightened.
Then its eyes opened.
Slowly.
The Minotaur pushed itself out of the wall, its massive form rising once more as if nothing had happened.
Cerys felt her blood run cold.
And then, the Minotaur roared again.