Lord of Prayer

BOOM!

Zhou Chen bombarded it with his Cannon, but Ktuous had gotten smarter. Its countless tentacles danced wildly, forming a shield in front of it to block the surging beam of light.

But when Ktuous moved its tentacles aside, it could no longer find any trace of Zhou Chen.

Its massive eyeball swiveled, searching for the tiny ant.

Meanwhile, Zhou Chen was flying at Rapid Speed, using the tentacles as cover to silently approach Ktuous.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

He flew dangerously close; the slightest misstep would mean a fatal collision with a tentacle. But thanks to his superb reflexes and incredible maneuverability, it wasn’t long before he successfully positioned himself just below the corner of Ktuous’s right eye. He aimed his Arm Cannon and fired.

BOOM!

A beam of intense light shot out, once again shattering Ktuous’s clock-face eye. Disgusting yellow mucus splattered everywhere, releasing a nauseating stench.

Its Blood Volume dropped by another third.

Ktuous roared. A massive shockwave of sound radiated outward, blasting Zhou Chen away and cutting his Blood Volume in half.

He hurriedly healed himself. A Mage built in the Glass Cannon Style was the very definition of squishy; he couldn’t take even a single hit.

"How much of its Blood Volume is left?" Danika asked.

"One-third!" Zhou Chen replied, nimbly dodging the slamming tentacles.

"Once it dies, it will rewind time and enter its so-called Second Stage, reviving with full health."

"Doesn’t matter. I have enough damage!" Zhou Chen said, full of confidence.

His confidence stemmed from the immense firepower at his disposal.

As a Boss Level monster, Ktuous was clearly not an easy opponent. Ordinary Players would exhaust every option and still likely fail to even get close. Even if they did, they’d struggle to shatter its eye. They couldn’t be like him, breaking its defense in a single blow and making the fight seem easier than a roadside Three Dogs Godslaying Array.

The Star Association’s advanced tech was really something else!

However, as he maneuvered, Zhou Chen began to think.

’Ktuous has the ability to rewind time, restoring itself to its peak state. But if I can interfere with its time-reversal ability, would it be unable to enter the Second Stage? Would it just die instead?’

"Danika, if I interfere with Ktuous’s time reversal, will it just die?" he asked.

"...I don’t know."

Danika said, "You have a Skill related to the Time Realm?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

As they spoke, Ktuous’s eyeball finished regenerating.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The octopus tentacles smashed frantically against the ground, flinging rubble into the air. Imbued with terrifying Power, these chunks of burning lava all broke the sound barrier, reaching supersonic speeds.

With great agility, Zhou Chen dodged and weaved through the air. The light from the vector thrusters in his Steel Wings suddenly flared.

His steel form instantly tore through the air, followed a moment later by a sonic boom. He dove at an even greater speed, descending like a meteor and gracefully weaving past the countless entangling tentacles. Then, seizing an opportunity when Ktuous’s defenses were wide open, he unleashed a blinding beam of light.

CRACK!

The surging beam of light tore through all roars and whimpers, effortlessly shattering Ktuous’s eye. Its Blood Volume dropped to zero.

Just then—TICK!

An ethereal, phantom clock appeared within Ktuous’s massive, black eye socket. Its second hand began to tick backward—the self-targeted time reversal was about to begin.

At that exact same moment, the weapon in Zhou Chen’s hands transformed into a Long Saber that radiated an ancient aura.

—The Time Blade!

He had already asked the Star Association to unseal this blade for him.

VMMM!

Essence poured into it. The blade let out a clear hum and began to glow with a strange halo. Zhou Chen’s Mana was instantly depleted, but he immediately refilled it with a Blue Bottle.

’This attack is an Air Slash!’

[Wish Value -1000]

Zhou Chen swung the Long Saber, carving a sharp arc through the air.

The "Air Slash" ability, obtained by making a wish, allowed the attack to ignore the vast distance, landing on Ktuous the very instant the blade was swung.

The phantom clock was cleaved in two by the sharp blow, and it slowly dimmed before dissipating completely.

Ktuous let out a roar of disbelief, then, with a final shriek, it exploded into nothingness.

Its massive body disintegrated into dust, and a streak of light flew toward Zhou Chen.

—[Soul Fragment of the Great Ktuous: Can be used to learn Skills or for Forging Weapons.]

"Did you succeed?" Danika’s voice was filled with disbelief. She had never imagined that Zhou Chen could actually prevent Ktuous from reversing time on itself, killing it so easily.

"It’s dead," the Nameless Ghost confirmed.

SWOOSH!

Like a supersonic fighter jet, Zhou Chen dove at Rapid Speed toward the massive sinkhole.

The loot Ktuous had dropped was falling into the pit. If he didn’t hurry and grab it, it would fall into the depths of the sinkhole, and retrieving it then would be a huge pain.

’It looks like a white stone and a Knight’s Lance.’

Zhou Chen had excellent eyesight and could make out the shapes of the dropped Artifacts. A thought struck him. ’The white stone must be an Extraordinary Material... and that lance... could it be the Weapon needed to defeat the Magma Giant Beast?’

"Be... be careful!"

Just then, the Nameless Ghost suddenly shouted a warning, startling Zhou Chen.

And then he saw it: volcanic rock, suddenly rising from the depths of the sinkhole.

An enormous mountain of rock rose up from below. The two Artifacts landed on it with a clatter, and then the rock suddenly shuddered.

CRACK. CRACK.

The two Artifacts instantly shattered into dust.

’Holy shit!’ Zhou Chen’s eyes widened.

The rock didn’t stop; it continued to rise.

In the vast, dark sinkhole, it was as if the concept of Gravity no longer applied. For a dizzying moment, Zhou Chen thought it was a meteor from outer space about to crash down on him...

He snapped back to his senses and hastily changed direction, flying upward. Horrified, he glanced down and felt a chill crawl up his spine.

A massive face had appeared on the surface of the rock!

DUN DUN DUN—The battle music, which had ended less than thirty seconds ago, flared up again.

The Boss’s name appeared.

—[Volcano Tyrant: Lava Giant Beast]!

’What is this thing doing here?!’

Zhou Chen felt like he was cursed. As he frantically ascended, he opened his map and discovered that the Magma Giant Beast’s location marker had, at some point, merged with his own!

’Did the fight with Ktuous attract the Magma Giant Beast’s attention?’

’Or did it come for the Weapon that could harm it?’

Zhou Chen’s mind raced as he tried to figure out how to deal with this Boss.

Suddenly, he saw the rock face’s eyes open. They were pools of roaring Fiery Fire, erupting with a light as blinding as the Sun.

The intense Light Burned Zhou Chen’s eyes, and he instinctively squeezed them shut. Inexplicably, a connection to his Soul appeared in his mind and was forcibly established.

’Wait!’

’What the fuck...’

Zhou Chen realized with horror what was happening, but before he could mount any effective resistance, the connection was complete.

"Aba-aba-aba... gooboo gooboo... gooboo gaga... aree yoo gudd maleesha..."

Zhou Chen’s face went slack, his expression becoming vacant and idiotic. He forgot how to fly and began to fall from the sky.

"What’s wrong with you?!" Danika screamed.

"He... his brain has been Assimilated by the Magma Giant Beast!" the Nameless Ghost said in disbelief. "No, that’s not it. It’s not Assimilation, but some kind of mental link... their brains are sharing!"

SPLAT!

Zhou Chen landed on the Magma Giant Beast. His health bar emptied, and the word "Dead" appeared above him.

A few seconds later, he respawned at the nearest bonfire, still in the same idiotic state, babbling senselessly. "Aba-aba-aba..."

The Nameless Ghost and Danika appeared beside him.

"What do we do now?" Danika frowned. "I’ve never heard of the Magma Giant Beast having an Ability like this."

"Perhaps it’s a newly evolved one..." The Nameless Ghost sounded helpless. "We can only wait for him to come to his senses on his own. It shouldn’t take too long. From what I can tell, his Willpower is quite strong."

"Can’t you do something?" Danika asked.

The Nameless Ghost spread its hands. "I’m powerless to help."

Danika was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "I am, too."

「More than ten minutes later.」

"Ah!"

Zhou Chen cried out as if waking from a Nightmare, finally returning to reality.