Feeling the ground quake once more as Riekan's corpse started to glow, Valyr could not help but spew out a few profanities, swiftly distancing himself from what was about to come.
Boom!
Though, just as he had arrived near the entrance to the room, consuming an Inferior Health Rejuvenation Potion to regenerate the remaining portion of his lost health, a wave of energy far more massive than the previous ones spread throughout the entire room.
With it moving at great speeds, it swallowed Valyr whole as even an [Elusive Dash] was not enough for him to avoid the wave, sending him slamming into the walls.
Bang!
'-12!'
"Agh…" Due to how massive the wave of energy was, Valyr eventually became embedded into the wall he slammed into. Nevertheless, after the wave of energy had subsided, he was still able to pry himself out of it, though feeling a bit of muscle strain in the process.
However, all feeling of pain and the like instantly disappeared once his gaze landed on the being that stood where Riekan's corpse previously laid. Of course, Valyr knew that the being before him was none other than Riekan, yet for some reason, he felt like he was looking at an entirely different being.
Previously being at the same height as Valyr, Riekan now had a stature at least twice as tall as him, with the size of his body adjusting accordingly. Naturally, the robe he wore and the blade he wielded also adjusted to conform to his current size, with his silver blade being wide enough for Valyr to use as a platform if he wanted to.
Aside from that, the dark green skin he used to have changed into a dull ash gray color, with the distinct facial features a goblin would usually have being less pronounced on his face, instead resembling the facial features of a human more.
However, what surprised Valyr the most was the fact that Riekan's body seemed transparent. To him, it felt as if he was looking at an illusion, rather than an actual being slightly far away from him.
Nevertheless, all those thoughts swiftly disappeared when he used [Analysis] on this new Riekan, with his pupils shrinking in an instant as he took a look at the status screen that had appeared in his field of vision. At that moment, all thoughts of fighting against this Riekan had gone down the drain. After all…
How could one surmount such a vast disparity in stats?
Ding!
[Riekan the Blademaster of Wrath (Lesser Boss)] (Level 40 Boss)
HP: 119,700/119,700
MP: 128,200/128,200
Stats: 532 VIT, 712 STR, 444 AGI, 384 DEX, 712 INT, 220 WIS, 340 PER, 160 LUK
Remarks: What can you even do in this situation?
————
"Kill… kill…" While Valyr felt like he would truly faint at any moment, wondering how he would even bridge such a massive gap in stats, Riekan's gaze gradually shifted to where Valyr currently stood. Radiating unmistakably murderous intent, he gradually made his way to where Valyr was, dragging the silver blade along the ground as it sparked from time to time.
Though Valyr knew that the current opponent coming towards him was unbeatable in his current state, the flames of tenacity blazed brightly within him, reminding himself of his journey's end goal. With that, he went ahead and activated [Defense Aura] before activating [Elusive Dash] soon after, distancing himself from Riekan as he looked around the room to see if there was any way for him to escape.
"I'm pretty sure Tristan and the others had only gotten to Riekan's second form, possibly his berserk form," Valyr muttered to himself as the gears in his brain rotated at great speeds, using all of his senses to their utmost limits. "After all, if they had faced against something like this, they wouldn't tell me the final boss was an incredibly strong goblin."
"They wouldn't even mention the dungeon in the first place!"
"Come on…! Is there any way for me to escape from this room?!" Frantically searching for even the slightest chance of him being able to escape this living hell, his search eventually came to a halt once Riekan boxed Valyr into a corner, the former's expression that of solemnity as he raised his silver blade.
Watching the silver blade reach the top of the ceiling, Valyr thought about his next move.
Naturally, he thought about using [Elusive Dash] to get away from the corner and continue searching. However, as he thought about how lackadaisical Riekan moved about up to this point, he knew that the being in front of him would only need to exert a bit more strength to be able to corner him once more.
With that, he resigned himself to what was about to come, letting out a despondent sigh before closing his eyes, deciding to leave it up to fate as he asked the heavens once more to let a miracle happen.
After all, they were listening to him, right?
'It can't just end here, right? Heavens, I know you're listening to me right now,' Valyr inwardly muttered. 'I haven't even gotten anywhere near to making progress towards my goals!'
Whoosh!
Feeling the gusts of wind generated by Riekan's falling silver blade, the thoughts in Valyr's mind became even louder. 'Don't tell me you've given me a second shot, just so I could fall into despair… come on, heavens!'
"RESPOND TO ME!!!"
BANG!
Coincidentally, at the very instant Valyr shouted his thoughts out loud, the gusts of wind generated by Riekan's blade came to an abrupt stop, making Valyr wonder whether the heavens had heard his pleas or not. Eventually, Valyr decided to open his eyes, feeling a bit impatient to see whether his prayers had worked.
Though, once he did, he was swiftly greeted by an unimaginable sight.
Before him stood Riekan, whose expression was that of immense rage, trying to push the silver blade he wielded down with all of his strength. However, try as he might, it wouldn't even budge.
On the other hand, a human no more than a few inches taller than Valyr gripped onto the silver blade, sporting a nonchalant expression as he looked at Riekan with a slight hint of relief. Noticing that Valyr had finally opened his eyes, the human looked at him with a light smile before opening his mouth. "Oh, hey. I appreciate everything you've done so far. You've made my job way easier than it should be."
"What…" In response, Valyr could only utter out a word, his mouth going slack-jawed from the sight before him. At that moment, all the fear he previously felt from what was about to come had swiftly disappeared, being replaced with immense curiosity, as well as awe and dread towards the human holding Riekan's blade in place.
Naturally, multiple questions quickly arose in Valyr's mind as he continued to look at the scene before him. However, before he could ask any of them, the human looked at him and let out a light chuckle before shaking his head. "I know you have a ton of questions to ask me, but let's save that for later. For now…"
"Let me take it from here."
