CHAPTER 51: SLIME NEST DUNGEON!

The titan ape swung its club down, aiming to crush him outright. Ray dashed to the side, avoiding it. The club smashed into the ground, the impact sending a wave of fire spreading outward. Trees burst into flame, the earth cracked and smoked. Nothing happened to Ray as the layer of defence constructed using the azure wind protected him from harm.

"It’s my turn." Ray countered with a sharp arc of azure wind. It cut deep into chest, exposing its ribs before the titan ape melted it away with its flames.

Wooh!

The titan ape roared, backhanding at him with its free fist as it ignited in flames. The speed was monstrous for something its size.

Ray twisted his body, barely ducking under the flaming fist. The heat singed his hair. Another flaming fist came towards him.

He jumped back, manifesting and launching a spiraling azure wind spear. It whistled through the air, tore open the titan ape’s fist and pierced its chest. Blood sprayed, sizzling as it hit the flames covering its body.

Despite receiving a severe injury, the titan ape staggered but did not fall. Its eyes burned brighter with rage!

It leapt forward with frightening speed, its flaming club sweeping in a wide arc. The ground tore apart where it passed.

Ray blocked with both arms, conjuring an azure wind barrier. The flames clashed with the wind, fire and air battling violently, creating a storm that ravaged the surroundings.

Ray gritted his teeth, sacrificing a great deal of his magic power to strengthen the barrier. Cracks still splintered across it. The club forced its way through, shattering the barrier, but Ray had already retreated.

He spread his palms. Azure wind whirled around him, dozens of green spears and blades forming at once. He unleashed them in a storm. "Let’s see how you survive this!"

His Azure Wind Weapons bombarded the titan ape from every angle. Slash after slash struck its burning shield until it shattered. Piercing spears slammed into its body, drilling deep holes, drawing blood.

The titan ape roared defiantly as blood spilled from the countless wounds Ray had forced opened in its body.

It raised its club high, flames surging skyward, preparing to bring down an attack that could split the very land in half.

"Do you think I would give you the time?" Ray scoffed as he poured every ounce of his magic power to conjure as many ultra sharp azure wind he could, forcing them to gather in a single point with intense concentration.

An intense green Ray burst forth, piercing through the titan ape’s head before it could bring its club down.

The titan ape’s body collapsed with a ground shaking thud, there was a gaping hole in its head, blood gushed out of that hole incessantly.

♦️ Congratulations, Host. You have killed a Mystical Fire Ape Chieftain, comparable to a peak bronze-rank beast. You have gained +100,000 EXP!

♦️ You have gained +50000 additional EXP for killing a demonic beast and entire major realm and four minor realms above you.

♦️ You have earned +100000 additional EXP for killing a territory lord.

♦️ You have leveled up.

♦️ You have leveled up.

♦️ You have gained +4 Stat Points.

As the notification rang out, Ray stood panting, sweat streaming down his forehead, his chest heaving, but his eyes glowed with excitement.

"The path to the Slime Nest is now wide open."

Half an hour later, a pyramid-like barrier came into view, and a flash of realization glinted in his eyes.

"Unlike the territories I have been through, the Slime Nest is actually a dungeon!"

According to the Tale of the Dark Age.

Dimensional Rifts, from which demonic creatures poured out in the common era, influenced reality in an odd way.

Their presence twisted the world around them, creating independent domains full of monsters.

The terrain inside these domains was often entirely different from the area outside them. For example, a rift in the middle of a forest could give birth to a dungeon resembling a desert, a frozen tundra, or even a chain of floating islands.

Anyways, all such places were called Dungeons.

Dungeons were divided into several ranks based on their danger. From the weakest to the strongest, the ranks were as follow.

E → D → C → B → A → S → SS → SSS

Under normal circumstances, a dungeon filled with slimes, the weakest type of demonic creature, would only be classified as an E-rank dungeon. However, the Slime Nest had long been invaded by Fiends. Because of this, its difficulty had surged far beyond its original rank, making it incomparable to an ordinary E rank dungeon. Its difficulty was comparable to an average C rank dungeon!

Ray still decided to enter it.

Firstly, king type beasts were extremely rare. If the Slime Nest had indeed given birth to one and he missed this chance, he might not get an opportunity like this again in this lifetime.

Secondly, he didn’t want the fiends, the enemy of the human race, to succeed with their plan. Whatever they were planning to do, he wanted to foil it. Since he had the ability to do something about it, he didn’t sit still.

The barrier acted as the entry point.

Once he stepped through it, he would find himself at the entrance of the Slime Nest.

He wouldn’t be able to leave unless he found the exit, which could be anywhere, but he believed it would be easy to locate with his enchanted map.

Not everyone had such an artifact, so for them escaping a dungeon was nearly impossible. Since that wasn’t the case for Ray, he naturally felt less worried.

"This feeling..."

As he was about to step through the pyramid-shaped barrier, an intense sense of danger gripped him.

"It’s similiar to the one I felt when I was sneak attacked in the territory of the Mystical Fire Apes."

He immediately made sense of it, realizing there was danger waiting on the other side.

"It seems like I will be attacked as soon as I enter. The fiends must have prepared an ambush at the entrance of the Slime Nest. Thankfully, I am a Heavenly Being with a sixth sense, so I was able to see through their plan. Otherwise, I would have fallen into their trap."

Ray entered the Slime Nest after preparing thoroughly for what he was about to face.

As he passed through the barrier, his world spun violently, his vision twisting and blurring, and he felt like he was stretched thin like dough before being snapped back into place before he arrived in a forest lit by a sky full of bright, twinkling stars.

At that point, he was feeling nauseous, but he controlled the urge to vomit as a massive boulder came hurtling through the air straight towards him with a Whoosh!