Divine Skill – Crescent Rush!

He slammed shoulder-first into the Titan's leg, widening the crack.

Puddle unleashed offense without pause—

Tri-Cast: Water Jet! Light Bullets! Shadow Tendrils!

Water carved into lava veins, light detonated like radiant mines, and shadows clung to the cracks, slowing the magma's flow.

The Titan reeled, but then its core ignited crimson. Its mouth opened wide.

Titan Ultimate – Infernal Breath!

A torrent of flame, hotter than the sun's surface, swept across the caldera, obliterating everything in its path.

Rhys' instincts screamed. He leapt into the blaze—

"Magic Sword + Fireball + Water Blade—Steamburst Edge!"

His sword carved upward, unleashing a scalding vapor slash that split the inferno in two. Steam exploded outward, shielding them from annihilation.

"Now!" Rhys bellowed.

Bounce stomped again, moonlight flooding the steam cloud. Puddle surged with radiant halos. Together, their bond flared—

Rhys' sword blazed with triple resonance: Water, Light, and Dark infusion.

Fusion Mode: Battle Form – Legacy Awakening!

He shot forward faster than the Titan's eyes could follow.

"Magic Sword Technique—Whirlwind Slash!"

Silver blades of mana ripped across its chest.

"Vertical Slash!"

A shining cleave split its molten armor.

"Arc Surge Slash!"

Mana lightning tore through its heart.

The Titan staggered, cracks glowing along its body like shattered glass.

Rhys leapt high, Aether Vein screaming with light.

"Final strike!"

He plunged down.

Magic Sword Ultimate – Celestial Sever!

A crescent of starlit destruction carved clean through the Titan's chest. The giant froze—then erupted, its entire form shattering into a tidal wave of molten shards.

Bounce shielded them from the blast, Puddle weaving healing streams through the air.

The caldera trembled… then grew quiet.

[ Boss Defeated – Molten Colossus, Titan of Ashen Crucible ]

The molten shards cooled into black glass across the caldera floor. Rhys exhaled, wiping soot from his brow as the system messages flared.

[ Level Up! ]

[ Level 181 → 184 ]

[ Skill Book Acquired – Titan's Endurance ]

Rhys picked it up, flipping it in his hand. "Huh. Just a skill book. I guess this one didn't have much on it." He shrugged, sliding it into his pack.

Puddle gave a soft "Kuyuu," bobbling happily. Bounce stretched his stubby wings, the lunar glow fading back to normal.

"Good work, both of you," Rhys murmured, crouching to catch his breath while his skills ticked off cooldown. The air still shimmered with residual heat, but the battle was done.

Once his mana steadied, he rose, heading toward the forest path winding down the volcanic ridge. The red horizon glared behind him, but ahead lay green shadows once more.

"Now only two bosses left," he muttered, lips tightening. His mind replayed the forum threads he'd read, and the warnings scrawled across them—grim notes of players who had failed.

Only two bosses left.

And they were stronger than anything so far.

The forest ahead was different from the swamp he'd first fought through. This one was darker, its canopy so dense the sunlight was reduced to thin streaks of silver piercing the gloom. The air was heavy, damp, and carried the faint copper tang of old blood.

Rhys slowed his steps, eyes narrowing. Even without the system notifications, the danger here was obvious.

Puddle rippled nervously, faint halos of light and shadow rising off his body, while Bounce kept low to the ground, claws scraping softly as if ready to lunge at anything.

[ Entering – Black Forest: Inner Ring ]

[ Recommended Level: 190+ ]

"Figures," Rhys muttered. "This is where things start getting serious."

From the shadows came skittering sounds. First one pair of glowing red eyes, then dozens—hungry gazes peering from the treeline. Shapes slithered, climbed, and crawled out. Twisted wolves with skeletal frames, spiders with molten veins, and bat-like creatures with translucent wings.

Small fry, but endless.

"They're just trying to wear me down before the boss," Rhys muttered, rolling his shoulders as Aether Vein began to glow. "Fine. Let's clear the path."

The first wave screeched, charging forward—

And deeper in the forest, the ground trembled. A guttural roar echoed, one that made the small fry scatter back in fear. The shadows themselves seemed to recoil, and the trees groaned under the weight of something massive moving closer.

[ Boss Detected – Guardian Beast of the Black Forest ]

Rhys exhaled slowly, silver flame dancing in his eyes.

"Guess you're next."

The earth split as the Guardian Beast emerged. A towering stag-like creature of obsidian bark and sinew loomed over the clearing, its antlers twisted into jagged black branches that crackled with green lightning. Moss dripped from its body, but its eyes burned with a feral, corrupt light.

[ Guardian Beast of the Black Forest – Rank 1 Boss ]

[ Level 190 ]

Its roar shook the canopy, scattering flocks of black crows into the dim sky. The smaller monsters fled outright—prostrating themselves in the undergrowth as their master arrived.

Rhys drew in a breath, blade lifting. "Alright. Show me why they call you the Guardian."

The beast struck first. Roots erupted from the ground, whipping forward like spears.

"Mana Shield!" Rhys thrust his palm down, the barrier sparking alive just in time. Roots shattered against it, splinters spraying into the air.

Bounce slammed a foot down—

Divine Skill – Lunar Pulse!

Waves of pale light surged outward, blasting back the roots and scorching the corruption from them.

"Kuyuuu!" Puddle answered, halos flaring as he cast—

Ancient Light Magic – Light Bullets!

Dozens of searing beams peppered the beast's side, burning holes through its mossy hide.

But the Guardian Beast barely flinched. Its antlers glowed, then split the sky with emerald lightning. The bolt struck Rhys head-on.

Pain rattled through his bones, his shield cracking—

"Gh—!"

Bounce's Moonlit Sanctuary shimmered instantly, intercepting the storm. The divine dome absorbed the brunt, leaving Rhys smoking but alive.

"Thanks, partner." Rhys' eyes narrowed, his blade glowing with intertwining flame and water.

Magic Sword + Fireball + Water Blade – Steamburst Edge!

A slash of scalding vapor roared across the clearing, slicing into the Guardian's chest and sending it reeling. Steam hissed as bark split and moss burned away.

The beast bellowed and charged, antlers lowered. The very trees bent away from its fury.

Rhys braced, whispering—

"Fusion Mode: Magic Swordsman – Legacy Awakening."

Silver light flared around him, his sword harmonizing with Puddle's mana and Bounce's divinity. His next steps cracked the ground as he dashed forward to meet the charge head-on.

Antler met blade. Sparks and lightning tore the forest apart.

Silver light poured from Rhys's chest, spiraling into the blade. His aura surged outward like a storm, bending the air.

[ Legacy Awakening – Ancient Tamer's Inheritance ]

—Draws upon the essence of all bonded summons, merging their strength into the master.

—Power scales with rarity and bond level.

—Duration: 120 seconds.

Rhys felt it instantly. Bounce's divinity anchored him—calm, unwavering, like a moon that never faltered. Puddle's mana flowed in endless currents—water, light, and dark intertwining like three rivers meeting at one sea.

Their presence became his own. His heart beat in rhythm with theirs. His blade pulsed as though it had become a fragment of his companions.

The sword's edge shimmered with layered elements:

—A lunar glow of Bounce's protection.

—A rippling undertone of Puddle's water.

—A halo of light spearing through shadow.

The Guardian Beast hesitated, its corrupted instincts recoiling at the sudden surge of radiant power. Still, it roared and charged, antlers splitting the sky with viridian lightning.

Rhys blurred forward—faster than before. Each strike of his blade carried a weight beyond his own—Puddle's mana amplifying it, Bounce's divinity refining it. When his sword swung, the air split with threefold resonance: water crashing, light blazing, shadow biting.

"Magic Sword Technique – Whirlwind Slash!"

But this time, it wasn't just mana blades. Spirals of moonlit water and radiant arcs of light tore through the forest, ripping apart the charging roots before slamming into the Guardian's chest.

It staggered, black moss burning away, obsidian bark cracking.

"Kuyuuu!" Puddle's voice echoed in his mind, lending him more mana.

"Pyuuuuu!" Bounce's roar overlapped, strengthening his body even further.

Together, their bond manifested as shimmering chains of silver light wrapping his arms, his sword, his very being.

Rhys stepped once more into the storm, no longer just a swordsman.

He was the spearpoint of two ancients, awakened through legacy.

The Guardian Beast braced, vines writhing around it like an armor of thorns, antlers glowing again for another storm.

Rhys raised his sword, eyes narrowing. "Let's end this, together."

The Guardian Beast bellowed, its antlers blazing with viridian lightning as the moss along its body writhed and sprouted into wriggling thorned whips. The forest itself seemed to cry out in pain, trees bending as roots cracked free from the earth to obey the corrupted guardian.

[ Guardian Beast – Phase Two ]

[ Skill Unleashed: Verdant Cataclysm ]

Bolts of green lightning rained down, each strike splitting into crawling vines that sought to bind and choke. The air was heavy with ozone and decay.

"Not good," Rhys muttered, planting Aether Vein into the ground. The light from Legacy Awakening swirled brighter around him. "But we've got this."

He swung his blade upward—

Magic Sword Technique – Vertical Slash!

The silver arc cut through two descending vines, searing them away with water-light fusion.

Puddle's voice chimed in his mind, gentle but fierce.

Ancient Water Magic – Aqua Veil!

Mist flowed outward, draping Rhys in a regenerative curtain as his wounds began closing.

Bounce stomped the ground.

Divine Skill – Lunar Pulse!

A wave of silver shocklight blasted outward, momentarily halting the vines that surged in from every direction.