Roy appeared in a very large cave after passing the misty wall.
It was too big, so big that a few dozen cruise ships could be fitted inside of it.
Roy's eyes flickered.
The possibility of it being formed naturally was denied.
Only the possibility of it being carved out by a dragon's claw was accepted.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling and stalagmites grew from the ground.
This sight would make one wonder how many years it took for the stalactites to grow and for the stalagmites to form and whether it was formed 850+ years ago or tens of thousands of years ago.
The walls of the cave were covered with a slimy substance that gave off a repulsive odor, and there were barely any signs of anyone ever having been here before.
A pond separated it into two parts.
It was very unique as it was entirely red in color and crimson light radiated off of it, illuminating the surroundings.
Greenish-black mist floated above it.
It was almost impossible to see the other side due to the thick mist.
On one shore was Roy.
Around him stood Tevenlor and the Female Siren.
On the other shore was a tree.
It was thick but not too tall and covered in a golden shroud.
A single fruit hung from the intertwined tips of its seven leafless branches.
It was like a dry persimmon, far from blooming.
Roy's eyes lit up when he saw it.
Eating it would mean completing the last trial and also his Grand Quest, which would net him the Lord-Grade Body.
But... that wasn't going to be easy.
After all, it was guarded by a 20-meter-tall bat, whose attention was focused on him and the other two newcomers.
"Welcome. You might already know me, but let me introduce myself. I am the Crimson Lord, the one in charge of the Dragon's Pond, a being far superior to all of you. So forget about challenging me. The likes of you aren't my match."
The Crimson Lord said, acting like it felt disdainful to even communicate with them. They were like ants in its eyes. It had no reason to not believe that it could stomp them to death.
"Oh really?" Roy raised his eyebrow.
Secretly, he gave his ghost form and black aura lightning to Shadowless.
In absolute secrecy, Shadowless prepared lightning bolts. He created a hundred of them while hiding in his creator's shadow. No one noticed it as he was in the Shadow Dimension, a place even Roy couldn't sense.
"It will take time, but I will be able to suppress and kill all of you."
It threatened them in a voice full of animosity and confidence before continuing.
This time, it spoke with indifference.
"Time, however, is what I don't have. Voss's sons have already found the secret passage. I don't want to confront them, and I think you don't want to either."
Then, it smiled at Roy and spoke.
"So let's do each other a favor. Give up your body, and I will not touch them and even take them out of here."
Roy spat on the ground, "I refuse."
"You leave me with no choice but to take it by force!!"
The Crimson Lord screamed and opened its mouth. Inside, it was dark. But that darkness was quickly illuminated by hundreds of electric lights. They were of a blue color, similar to Arlo's Aura Lightning, and they danced about, coiling around each other and quickly fusing into a mighty thunderbolt.
Pow!
In the very next moment, the Crimson Lord spat it out.
Whoosh!
It took the shape of a 1000 foot long snake that thundered down on Roy with such speed that he was given no time to even budge an inch of his body before it stuck him straight in the chest.
Boom!
Roy was thrown back like a kite cut from its strings after getting struck by it. He slammed into the wall harshly. The impact created a 15-meter wide crater and raised clouds of dust in the air.
"That... didn't hurt me?!"
He was lying in it, feeling absolutely baffled.
If not for the dust surrounding him, the onlookers would have been equally shocked.
"Master!" Tevenlor shouted anxiously, unable to see whether he was fine or not. But after taking on something as ridiculous as that, how can one come out unscathed?!
"My thunderbolt had 300 million volts of electricity. A normal aura master can't survive it. It's like heaven's wrath, earth-splitting. He should be dead by now."
The Crimson Lord, believing that victory was already in its grasp, said and then looked at the remaining two newcomers mercilessly.
"Even if you shout till your throat is sore, the result isn't going to change. Nothing can change it."
It started laughing.
Just then, the Formless Siren shot it down.
"You are a liar." The Formless Siren rolled her eyes at it. "He is perfectly fine. I can feel it."
"Bullshit!"
The Crimson Lord opened up its wing, ready to fly over to her and rip her to shreds.
"You--!!"
Suddenly, it was rudely interrupted by a laid-back voice.
"Man, you bark a lot. Are you sure you are a bat and not a dog?"
The Crimson Lord's eyes widened to the size of saucers because of what it witnessed.
Its jaw threatened to drop to touch the ground as Roy jumped out of the cloud of dust, landing where he once was, close to the crimson pond.
『The corrupted elder spirit had struck you with lightning.』
『It's detected that you have 100% immunity against black aura lightning.』
『Black aura lightning is stronger than chaotic blue lightning.』
『You received 0 damage.』
Roy patted the dust off his shoulder and then tauntingly stared at the Crimson Lord.
"That didn't even tickle."
Hearing his words, its eyes twitched.
"I knew you were right." The Female Siren smiled sweetly.
"How can I not be." He gave her a comforting smile. "I am still to fulfill my promise with you."
"H-how?!" The Crimson Lord uttered through gritted teeth.
"I am immune to lightning, you dumb fuck." Roy dedicated all the swear words in his dictionary to the Crimson Lord and swung his hand.
"Shadowless, give it a taste of its own medicine."
"As you wish, master!"
Following his order, Shadowless made his move.
Boom! BROOOOM! Boom! Boom!
A hundred lightning bolts came out of the blue and drizzled down on the gigantic bat like torrential rain.
"Argh!!!!"
One after another, lightning bolts exploded on its body.
As a result, not only was it set on fire, but its towering body also continuously trembled like a rabbit getting shagged by another rabbit in heat.
"You aren't Voss. Will you be able to survive getting burned by a level-6 fire?" Roy smirked.
"Don't! Don't do it!" It cried out, feeling as if Roy could really make his words a reality.
And Roy did!
He focused his eyes on the fire, and they quickly changed color, turning from red to orange, then green, and eventually sun-like.
The system's notification rang in Roy's mind.
『You have used the Fire Control Skill to upgrade the level-1 fire in your surrounding to level 6.』
『The Crimson Lord is being burned by it』
『It is losing 1000 HP/sec』
He saw its black wings melting away, turning to dust. The same thing happened to its limb. Without them, it became completely immobilized.
"Gaaaahhhhhhh! Put it out!! Fucking out it out!!!"
It was set ablaze. Getting burned by a fire that could melt divine steel into liquid brought the crimson lord excruciating pain. Roars of pain blasted out its mouth as it begged to be spared.
Roy coldly looked at what was going on.
It looked like it would die any second now!
