The flowers of bone bloomed in every direction.
The rising bone petals exploded one after another, viciously wrapping around the entirety of Ouroboros's body.
KWAKWAKWANG───!
KWA-RURURUNG!
Even for Ouroboros, there was no way to come out unscathed after taking a full blast of Bloom and Full Bloom. The beast writhed in agony, screaming in pain.
[KIIIIIEEEEEEEEK...!]
Every time Ouroboros thrashed, the terrain around it crumbled and coarse dust swirled violently into the air.
But there were no longer any Church of Morte branches or followers nearby to be swept away.
No—even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered in the current situation.
GOOOOOOOOO────
The thick dust gradually cleared, revealing once more the dusky-black scales of Ouroboros to the world.
Once a living calamity that descended upon the world, Ouroboros now looked no more than a wounded and exhausted beast.
[Kiiieeeeh....]
It crawled, thrashing and struggling to survive.
It was rare to see a monster of this grade—one that could be called the master of a region—showing such desperation, but it seemed the Bloom and Full Bloom triggered from the Needle Spike had thrown it into disarray.
'Did it actually feel its life was threatened?'
A regional lord.
A name that alone invoked terror.
A monster of overwhelming power—reduced to trembling in fear from a one-sided assault by Janus, who hadn't even used firearms.
That meant Janus had grown incomparably stronger than before.
'Of course, one of the main reasons is that it was already wounded and worn out from the earlier battle with the Church of Morte.'
Still, no matter how battered and exhausted Ouroboros might be, its current injuries weren't lethal.
To put it bluntly, it had sustained no critical damage.
'Hmph.'
Needle Spike.
Bloom and Full Bloom.
Even after enduring all of that, Ouroboros was still breathing.
'So, it still wasn't the finishing blow.'
But there was no need to panic.
Even this was within the bounds of my expectations.
'Ouroboros is in a groggy state. I'll use this window to prepare the next strike.'
This wretched battle—its conclusion was finally within reach.
[Summoning 'Spear of Ankelenth'!]
The Spear of Ankelenth revealed itself in my right hand.
Though it was no larger than a standard spear for now, soon Janus's bone tendrils began converging toward it.
Crk, crk, crk-crk…!
What had initially been only slightly bigger than a regular spear began to grow larger and larger.
'More. More. More.'
Continuously. Relentlessly.
As the Spear of Ankelenth inflated its mass, it gradually assumed the form of a Colossal Spear.
['Hardening' has been activated.]
['Steelization' has been activated.]
The Colossal Spear turned the same hue as the Spear of Ankelenth.
With the mounting weight pressing down on my right hand, my body naturally tilted to compensate.
That's how heavy the Colossal Spear had become.
Throwing it in this state was obviously impossible—so I forcibly mustered every ounce of strength I had.
"Ghhk…!"
['Overdrive' has been activated.]
With Overdrive, every muscle in my body forcibly bulged outward.
Though the technique carried severe side effects, now was not the time to hold anything back.
['Ether Imbuement' has been activated.]
Esther was currently asleep.
So, I poured the maximum amount of ether I could manage into the Colossal Spear of Ankelenth.
[Pierce?]
[Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.]
[Erase… it───!]
Just then, Ouroboros barely regained its senses and let out another menacing roar.
It had realized there was no point in fleeing.
[KIIIIIEEEEEEEEE────!]
A wounded beast is dangerous.
And this particular beast—Ouroboros—was the very master of this domain.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Ouroboros charged.
If that hulking body crushed me, even I wouldn't survive.
[Heheh....]
The ether twitched.
The target was already decided.
Long ago, I had stripped away the scales on its belly.
That exposed patch was Ouroboros's weak point.
Crk…!
My arm muscles screamed.
No—every muscle in my body screamed.
'More. More. More....'
The Colossal Spear of Ankelenth, dozens of times my own size, was drawn back.
The stance was set.
All that remained was to throw it.
[K… kill....]
The last dregs of ether surged into the Colossal Spear.
The ether brimmed with murderous intent.
It became a power that turned desire into reality, enveloping the Colossal Spear of Ankelenth.
['Bone Javelin' has been activated.]
Using every muscle in my body and the thrust of Ankelenth's wings, I hurled the Colossal Spear.
PWAANG, PWAAAAANG───!
A deafening sonic boom erupted.
And that speed—combined with the sheer weight of the Colossal Spear—turned into an overwhelming force, streaking toward Ouroboros.
SHWEEEEEEEE────!
POPANG, POPAPAPANG!
It tore through the air.
No—shattered it.
Without hesitation, the Colossal Spear of Ankelenth shot forward and struck Ouroboros in the belly dead-on.
KWWAAAAAAANG────!
With an explosive roar, as if a bomb had gone off, the massive body of Ouroboros was knocked back—if only slightly.
That meant a simple javelin throw had shoved a beast of that size.
[KIIIIIEEEEEEKKKK───!]
The attack had landed.
Ouroboros shrieked in pain, thrashing in agony.
But the power of the Colossal Spear didn't come from its speed and force alone.
Shhhh…
The countless bone tendrils making up the spear began to burrow into Ouroboros's body.
Before, the tough scales blocked their entry—but not anymore.
Crack, crunch!
The bone tendrils bit into Ouroboros's flesh, filling the wound.
[KIIIIIEEEEEE!]
Ouroboros thrashed, but with the Colossal Spear lodged in its stomach, its movements were limited.
CRUNCHCRACKCRACK!
Even now, the tendrils stretching from the spear continued to tear into its flesh and burrow deeper.
Ouroboros was now completely exposed.
"It's over."
I could summon two Spears of Ankelenth.
To prove it, I conjured the second.
[Summoning 'Spear of Ankelenth'!]
With Ouroboros completely vulnerable, there was no need for anything flashy.
The target was the eye.
The Spear of Ankelenth surged toward it.
[Kikikikik!]
Ouroboros tried to defend itself with its scaled eyelids, but it was futile.
No matter how tough its scales, nothing could withstand the Spear of Ankelenth.
KAANG!
The first sound was that of metal.
Then came the noise of steel being crushed.
CRACK, CRUNCH!
The scales covering its eyelid shattered, and the spear pierced through Ouroboros's eye.
[KAAAAAAAAGH!]
Ouroboros convulsed.
Or rather—it tried to.
But bound now by another Spear of Ankelenth, there was nothing it could do.
Its body had already been consumed and overtaken by bone tendrils.
Most critically, it had been impaled by the Colossal Spear—leaving it unable to move at all.
[Kiiik, kiiieee...]
The Spear of Ankelenth didn't stop at the eye. It pierced the optic nerve—and then the brain.
Ouroboros had thrashed wildly at first, but now… it went still.
It moved no more.
And then, that enormous body of Ouroboros began to collapse.
KUUUUUUUUNG───!
The Region Lord.
Lord of the Snake Cave.
Ouroboros (ουροβóρος).
Once a living calamity and catastrophe—an entity that drove all to terror—had finally fallen.
[You have defeated the non-classified beast-type, 'Ouroboros'!]
[You have slain the boss monster!]
[Damage to all boss-type beasts and monsters increased by 1.5%.]
[You have slain the region's master!]
[All beasts and monsters within the 'Territory of the Serpent' will now fear you.]
[Damage to all beasts and monsters in the 'Territory of the Serpent' increased by 30%.]
[Damage received from all beasts and monsters in the 'Territory of the Serpent' decreased by 30%.]
A flurry of notification windows burst forth before my eyes.
But the true significance of slaying Ouroboros did not end here.
+
[You have slain the stage boss! Skipping certain stage segments.]
[Cleared stages Orange-15 through 20!]
[Contribution points from skipped stages added retroactively.]
[+1,043,451 Contribution Points]
[You have hunted the region's master! The world will now fear you.]
[+250,000 Contribution Points]
[You used divide-and-conquer tactics to slay an overwhelming enemy!]
[+350,000 Contribution Points]
[Current Contribution Points: 3,230,693]
+
Stage skip.
Normally, the stage boss would've appeared at the 20th wave. By slaying it early, the preceding stages were skipped.
Given the kind of monster that usually held the title of regional master, this strategy should've been theoretically possible—but practically impossible.
And yet I had done it.
'If I had failed… Ouroboros would've overrun Ark.'
That's why provoking a regional master recklessly was incredibly dangerous.
But I had already faced Ouroboros once before—creating a fatal weakness in the process.
Thanks to that, I had been able to prepare without hesitation and hunt it down exactly as planned.
Whatever risks there might've been were already completely accounted for.
'That aside…'
The rewards I reaped from it were undeniably sweet.
Not only had I claimed the contribution points from stages 15 to 20 in one go, I'd received bonus points on top.
Most importantly, the Ark's forces had remained relatively intact.
To me, that was the greatest reward of all.
'Of course, that doesn't mean everything is good news.'
I had cleared six stages in one go.
In other words, the next wave was guaranteed to be a multi-wave event.
'At least a triple wave.'
Maybe more.
'For waves of that scale to occur, the intervals between them are bound to be long.'
Which meant I had to make the most of the time I'd been given.
Silk Road.
It was time to complete it.