"You all stay here. I’ll go and try to save a few more awakeners trapped beneath the sand."
"Grapple." "Palm Strike."
Now that Aster could use both skills simultaneously, he could practically fly through the air at incredible speed.
The Queen Iron Crab was about to seize another awakener who was buried beneath the heavy sand. The man struggled with all his strength but couldn’t pull his lower body free. Then he saw the giant crab’s claw descending toward him.
Tears streamed down his face. He shut his eyes, waiting for death. A moment later, he felt his body become weightless. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself soaring through the sky.
He looked at Aster with a puzzled expression as the young man carried him to safety. Before he could even thank him, Aster shot back into the air.
The awakener stood there in stunned silence.
One after another, Aster rescued awakeners from the Queen Iron Crab and from being buried alive beneath the sand.
Almost everyone had been saved.
Now only thing remained is the Queen Iron Crab... and the battle against it.
Darius had also been helping his guild members escape the sand. After confirming everyone was safe, he turned toward the massive monster.
"Even though it’s over twenty levels below me, it could still kill me in one hit... That’s the difference between humans and monsters."
Just then, he saw Aster flying straight toward the crab.
"Oh no... What is that kid doing?!"
He frantically waved his arms.
"Kid! That’s dangerous! Get back!"
But Aster was already too far away to hear him.
Darius panicked.
"Those military people are insanely protective of their students. If rumors spread that my guild let one of them die... EXCELSIOR is finished!"
He clenched his fists.
"No. I have to save him."
The moment he rushed forward, he saw a gigantic golden palm erupt from beneath the Queen Iron Crab.
BOOM!
The enormous beast was pushed upward.
"What?! What kind of skill is that?! It actually moved that giant Queen Iron Crab!"
His eyes widened. He remembered how he talked with his friend. He made a dead face and thought
"I seriously need to make up with that kid..."
Meanwhile, Aster darted around at blinding speed with Grapple, weaving between the crab’s countless legs.
He slipped beneath its enormous body use "Palm Strike." With his both hand and use of duel manifestation.
Golden palms rained upward like a storm.
Within seconds, hundreds of palm strikes slammed into the crab’s underside.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The enormous monster was blasted off the ground before crashing onto its back.
Aster instantly landed on top of it.
"Solar Slash."
Blazing sword slashes materialized one after another, striking the crab’s pale underbelly.
Unfortunately, they left only shallow scratches.
He targeted the joints as well as it was the creature’s known weak points. But his attacks still lacked enough power to break through.
At that moment, Darius jumped onto the overturned crab beside him.
With a grin, he asked,
"Need a hand, kid?"
The Queen Iron Crab violently flailed its legs, trying to flip itself back over.
Aster answered without hesitation.
"Yes, please!"
"Hahaha! Good choice."
Darius crouched down and placed both palms against the Queen Iron Crab’s abdomen.
"Song of Ruin."
A purple glow spread across his hands.
Aster watched carefully.
Nothing happened. And thought "So that’s it... I shouldn’t have expected too much."
But suddenly,
CRACK!
A tiny fracture suddenly appeared across the crab’s shell.
Aster’s eyes widened "You can break its shell?!"
Darius laughed.
"Haha! This is my skill, Song of Ruin. Most people think it’s just a fancy noise-making ability. But by touching a solid object and pouring my mana into it, I send resonant sound frequencies directly through its structure. The vibrations destabilize it from the inside until... boom."
Another crack spread.
"And the stronger the vibration, the faster it breaks."
The fracture rapidly expanded until a large section of the shell collapsed, exposing the crab’s soft flesh underneath.
"Now!"
Aster nodded "Solar Slash!"
Dozens...
Then hundreds...
...of blazing slashes manifested in the air and poured directly into the exposed opening.
Darius stared in disbelief.
"How is this kid doing that?"
"He’s not even swinging a weapon..."
"Is he some kind of magic-type awakener?"
The Queen Iron Crab thrashed violently in agony. Slash after slash carved through its exposed flesh. Its movements gradually slowed.
Slower...
Slower...
Until...
Everything became still.
System: Killed Queen Iron Crab
Level Up!
System: Congratulations! Dungeon Cleared.
"Finally..."
Aster smiled at Darius.
"Thank you. Without your help, I couldn’t have defeated it."
"Oh, no, kid."
Darius waved his hand.
"You don’t realize how strong you are. Even if I hadn’t stepped in, you would’ve killed it eventually. I only sped things up."
"Maybe... but it would’ve taken much longer. Thank you."
"Haha. Fair enough."
He pointed behind Aster.
"You also saved a lot of my guild members."
Aster turned around.
The members of EXCELSIOR stood in a straight line.
Every one of them saluted him.
Darius smiled.
"Oh, right. I never introduced myself."
"I’m Darius, Guild Master of EXCELSIOR."
"If you ever need help, just come find us."
"And as for the Queen Iron Crab..."
"You can keep the whole thing."
Aster immediately shook his head.
"No. You helped save everyone and helped defeat it too."
"How about we split it in half?"
Darius stared for a moment before laughing.
"Hahaha! Kid..."
"You should stop being so generous."
"Otherwise people will keep stealing the credit for your work."
For a brief moment...
Cedric’s face flashed through Aster’s mind. His mind froze for a second but he immediately came to his sense and He smiled and extended his hand.
"I’ll remember that."
The two shook hands.
After returning to his teammates...
"So cool, Aster!" Yor shouted "You defeated that giant crab all by yourself!"
"I’ll admit you did well this time." Adrian crossed his arms while looking away "But if I got serious, I could’ve done it too."
Aster simply smiled and scratched the back of his head.
Alas looked around "What happened to the crab?"
Aster casually pulled half of the enormous corpse out of his inventory.
Yor blinked.
"Only half?"
"Yeah."
"The EXCELSIOR Guild Master helped me a lot, so we split it."
Alas nearly fainted "Dude! Do you know how much that’s worth?!"
"You got scammed!"
Aster laughed "It’s fine."
"There are still three giant legs."
"The three of you can each have one."
"What?!"
Alas’ eyes sparkled.
"Aster... you’re the best friend ever!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Suddenly...
System: Passive Collection
Queen Iron Crab Core Collected
A glowing blue orb appeared in Aster’s hands.
Everyone froze.
"...What?"
Aster looked around in confusion.
Yor swallowed.
"That’s..."
"An S-Rank Monster Core."
"Is it valuable?" Aster asked.
Adrian nodded "If you find a skilled blacksmith, you could forge an S-Rank weapon with that."
"And if the blacksmith is exceptional..."
"It might even inherit a special ability."
"A weapon..." Aster smiled to himself.
"I was already planning to gather materials for a custom weapon."
"And as for the blacksmith..."
"I know exactly who to visit."
Meanwhile...
Inside Saint Helena Martial Art College...
In a workshop filled with blazing furnaces...
Leoric suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo!"
He rubbed his nose.
"...Why do I suddenly feel like someone is thinking about me?"