CHAPTER 66: INTENSE!

"Its effects are too small... That’s it!? Just two effects?!" Leon grumbled, his voice thick with disappointment.

"What was I even expecting? It was inevitable that the system would disappoint me like it always does!!!" he shouted to himself.

The crystal heard him but ignored the complaint—it already knew Leon was fishing for a reaction.

Not long after, Leon spotted an ice cave in the distance. From the tracks, it was clear the paw prints were leading straight toward it.

He also noticed some bloody prints—one of the wolves that had followed the Gray Alpha was clearly injured.

Without wasting another moment, he activated Light Steps and dashed toward the cave’s entrance.

After rushing to the cave’s entrance, he hid by the side.

He had gotten the Conceal skill and was just waiting for it to fully combine and assimilate with his body.

Though the skill was a non-combat one, it still helped immensely in battle — all thanks to its second effect.

The cave’s interior was shrouded in darkness. He couldn’t see what was at the other end, but he was certain the alpha was inside.

Leon knew the inside would be warm, so he didn’t initially bother with his mana barrier. But after thinking carefully, he decided to activate it anyway.

He didn’t know what kind of trap might have been set for him, but prevention was better than cure.

He needed to take every precaution if he didn’t want to get injured easily again.

He waited for some time, his sharp eyes sweeping the surroundings near the entrance.

When he looked up, he noticed sharp, pointed ice icicles hanging from the cave’s ceiling.

He took note of that, making a mental reminder to avoid those deadly points when he made his move.

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

You can now use The Supreme Thief Skill

Light Steps!

It has been successfully assimilated into

your body.

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

Seeing the long-awaited message, he exhaled in relief.

He immediately activated Conceal, Light Steps, and Mana Barrier.

From his spatial artifact, he brought out the claw weapon.

"I still haven’t checked this thing’s effects... can’t wait to use it. But a little peek at its stats won’t hurt... right?"

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

Wolf Claw

Rank: D

•─────⋅☾ Effects ☽⋅─────•

Attack Power: +20

Agility: +5

Stealth: +1

•─────⋅☾ Quote ☽⋅─────•

With this weapon, you’ll be the most brutal assassin ever; only the blood and the headless corpse of thy victim shall live to tell the tale of thy deeds!

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

Leon’s eyes lit up at the sight of the weapon’s effects.

"As expected of a D-rank weapon... its stats are amazing! My E-rank dagger pales in comparison!" he praised.

He slipped it onto his hands, fitting it over his knuckles — or rather, under and against his palms.

Flexing his fingers a little, he grinned before deciding it was time to go for the kill.

He bent low and stepped forward quietly.

Before he could take another step, a notification popped up.

Ding!

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

You have entered the DUNGEON BOSS’

LAIR. Beware of traps!

Temporal Owner: Gray Alpha

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

"Huh?" Leon’s eyes narrowed. The owner didn’t matter — he was going to kill that Wise Gray Alpha brutally.

Traps!? What the fuck!?

He began walking even more carefully, but unfortunately, not carefully enough.

His foot nudged a small stone, and the moment it shifted, all the traps in the area activated.

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

Traps have been activated — try your best

not to get hurt.

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

Leon froze, his heart hammering. Seconds later, he heard a loud crash just inches away from him.

Before his mind could process it, his instincts screamed — danger from above!

Incoming!

He reacted instantly, leaping forward without hesitation. Just as he moved, something slammed down behind him with a sharp, crystalline shatter.

The sound was like breaking glass — but Leon knew better.

T-the icicles... they’re falling!

With the semi-darkness limiting his vision, he had no choice but to rely solely on instinct.

This continued for a while — each step forward a gamble — and he didn’t dare step back.

Suddenly, his foot landed on something. It had the shape of a leaf, but it was hard, thick, and nothing like the soft texture of a normal one.

Ding!

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

You’ve stepped on 1 GRAVITY LEAF.

Your Agility stat will be temporarily reduced

by 10% [Effect lasts for one hour].

One ton of weight, gravity, and pressure is acting on your body [Effect lasts for one hour].

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

"Fuck!" He hissed, feeling an intense weight slam onto him.

What the hell is with these traps!?

A ton of weight — that was like an entire shipping container or a mid-sized car.

With his strength, carrying that much wasn’t impossible... but having that weight pressing on his entire body was a different matter entirely.

His agility dropped drastically, and now he moved at the sluggish pace of an elephant that wasn’t even running.

There was no way he could dodge the alpha’s attacks at this speed.

Suddenly, his burden lightened considerably, and a smirk touched his lips.

Light Steps had activated its 50% weight reduction. Now, he was carrying just over half a ton — still heavy, but much more manageable.

He pressed forward, dodging the relentless icicles, until a faint ray of light appeared ahead.

I hope that’s the end of this damned gauntlet...

The silhouettes of five wolves emerged in the dim glow. One of them, he knew without a doubt, was the Wise Gray Alpha.

Beyond this point, the icicles no longer fell — the alpha’s chosen ground was safe from that hazard.

Leon exhaled in relief.

Moving in a crouched, silent rush, he aimed to land a critical strike, capitalizing on Conceal’s effect.

Their backs were to him — this was his chance to end that cunning bastard.

With each step, the wolves came into sharper focus. His eyes locked on the alpha — the source of his pain, the thorn in his side.

He closed in, claw weapon ready, every muscle taut.

He reached the alpha’s back and swung for its neck.

But before the blades could bite, the wolf turned, its eyes locking on his — that smug expression spread across its muzzle.

A cold premonition gripped his heart.

N-not again... not another trap!!! he screamed inwardly

He knew exactly what that grin meant — whenever the alpha smiled at him, something bad always followed.

And just when the claw was a few centimeters away from the alpha’s thick hide, a solid wall of ice erupted between them, bouncing him off as if he were nothing.

Leon was flung several meters back. Just a little more force and he would have found himself back in that hall of traps... again.

He quickly got to his feet and rushed back at the alpha.

I don’t believe that ice wall will come up again! Why is this wolf so wise!? Why is it wiser than the dungeon boss himself!?

Leon was convinced that the Wise Gray Alpha had manipulated the dungeon boss somehow — maybe told it something and sent it away — before taking over its lair. The way it used the lair’s defensive mechanisms against him only confirmed his suspicion.

Why is the dungeon boss so damn foolish!?

He lunged again, but just as his strike was about to connect, an earth wall rose up and hurled him back for the second time.

He tried again. And again. And again. Each time, the same — that powerful defense blocking his attacks.

But Leon wasn’t attacking like a mindless zombie. No, he was studying every movement, every trigger. He was learning how the wall worked, looking for a weakness, a way to use it to his advantage.

Now, he had a theory — and it was time to test it.

Instead of striking the alpha directly, he feinted, then lunged at the wolf on the alpha’s left.

The wolves had been standing as spectators to the ongoing clash between Leon and the Gray Alpha, never expecting an attack.

The targeted wolf’s eyes widened in panic as the Wolf Claw came for its neck. It knew death was only a heartbeat away — it had seen how brutal Leon’s attacks were.

And it was right.

The claws tore halfway through its neck, severing flesh and muscle. The wolf dropped dead instantly, not even able to howl in pain before it collapsed.

The only sound that followed was the harsh spray of blood spurting from its neck, splattering across Leon’s face.

Leon smiled.

With the crimson mask of blood and that vicious smile, he looked like the god of death himself — a cold-hearted killer.

The remaining wolves stiffened, gulps audible as they stared at him with wary eyes.

Now reduced to four, they stood on edge, knowing Leon could strike at any moment — and likely when they least expected it.

Meanwhile, Leon’s grin only widened. His theory was right. The ice wall only protected the alpha, not the others.

Perfect.

He decided to finish them off quickly so he could focus entirely on the alpha.

He rushed the nearest wolf. It lifted a paw to block, but when their attacks clashed, its paw was sliced clean off.