Chapter 274

Pffffffff—!

The boots immediately activated with a loud hiss as Ray vaulted off the ground, twisting his body mid-air while hammering his legs into the second scythe heading his way.

Bang!

The scythe instantly tore into the earth as Ray forcefully drove it down with his feet.

His hands were pinned by one scythe while the second limb was locked beneath his boots.

Now, both of them were caught in a tense stalemate, glaring at one another furiously.

Dragging its first scythe backward, the hooked teeth sliced through Ray’s hands, sending blood splattering into the air for a moment.

A second later, the creature lunged forward, thrusting its massive tusks toward the Aspirant with lightning speed.

However, Ray anticipated the trajectory and immediately twisted around fluidly, allowing the monster to lunge past his position.

In the process of spinning away, his feet unpinned the second scythe, which was now free to lash toward him, but he vaulted high into the air just in time.

The heavy limb smashed through the empty space with a loud bang.

Hovering in the air for that brief moment allowed Ray to realize something critical.

’It’s slower... a tad slower than it should be. It looks like the injuries previously dealt to it are actively affecting its performance.’

Twirling through the air while weaving past the recovery strike of the second scythe, the Aspirant kicked against the empty space with all his might.

Pfffff—!

He vaulted straight toward the Earth Shaker with blazing speed, a faint trail spraying behind his boots.

’... I can actually do this.’

He managed to narrowly avoid the second scythe that rushed past him with deadly velocity.

A single second before reaching the creature, its cracked horn shot upward toward him with a blazing acceleration that almost caught the Tribrid off guard for a split second.

But due to his quick reflexes, kicking the air to leap sideways, he was able to dodge the horn and bolt toward the massive entity once more.

Passing through all its primary defenses, he landed squarely on its head.

Without wasting a single second, his fist cocked backward.

Hauling it forward, he bashed it onto the Earth Shaker’s skull with his entire physical force.

Bang!

The ground cracked beneath the beast’s massive feet as the heavy blow, which felt like a blunt hammer strike, connected with its armor.

The titan staggered for a moment.

Ray was already gearing up for another consecutive punch when he realized that aside from the slight disorientation, the exact spot he had struck remained oddly undamaged.

Regardless, he was ready to punch the beast as many times as it took to bring it down.

Unfortunately, it was as if the Earth Shaker read his thoughts; the first scythe lunged toward his position while the second swung from behind in a pincer cross, hoping to trap the youth completely.

’Ah, damn this beast.’

Spinning around, his boots activated once more, and he dove forward to meet the incoming limbs.

Staring directly at the massive appendages, he spotted a small gap in between them.

Unhesitatingly, he dove through the opening with fluid grace.

However, the hooked teeth caught a portion of his uniform and tore cleanly through the fabric, but luckily, he wasn’t harmed as he crashed onto the ground with a controlled roll.

The Earth Shaker lunged after him, appearing before him in a mere fraction of a second, its scythe whipping viciously toward the boy.

Lightning arced around his legs for a brief instant, allowing him to bolt backward in the nick of time as the blade cleaved the solid ground in two, kicking up massive chunks of earth into the air.

Ray landed four meters away, panting heavily from exhaustion.

The beast was certainly injured, but he was already running on fumes.

From fighting those spider beasts nonstop to the sudden drop into this strange, crimson world, he hadn’t been granted a single moment of rest.

And now, he had to face this?

Unfortunately, the creature wasn’t going to give him any time to curse his luck as it dashed toward him again.

A single blink.

That was all it took for the Earth Shaker to close the distance and appear right before the Aspirant. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’These damn King-rank beasts and their annoying speed...’

The cracked horn was thrust directly toward the boy’s chest.

He bound backward, then leaped high into the air with lightning sizzling intensely around his hands.

’Luckily, I still have a little mf left.’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive strikes of lightning burst out, smashing into the Earth Shaker’s face with destructive force.

Each strike sent the beast sliding backward, its massive head thrown to the side, but the assault was still unable to injure it deeply.

Ray landed on the ground but kept the lightning strikes coming while keeping a close eye on his mana bar.

Only when the gauge reached the last twenty points did he finally halt the elemental strikes.

Since the beast wasn’t going to give him any time to rest, he wasn’t about to afford it any breathing room either.

Pfffff—!

He launched forward, casting a brief glance at his remaining energy reserves.

[Energy: 20/170]

’It will be enough...’

A tactical plan was beginning to form in his mind as he fluidly weaved in between the scythes speeding toward him and slipped right between the beast’s colossal legs.

Exiting behind the Earth Shaker, he vaulted into the air, twisting his hips around with a firm, determined look on his face.

Then, with a loud crack, he swung his leg in a powerful roundhouse kick toward the creature’s exposed back.

Attempting to turn around, the beast couldn’t react in time as the kick landed with crushing force, causing the solid ground beneath the King-rank entity to shatter.

Heavy cracks fractured the thick carapace of the beast’s body, forcing it to let out a piercing screech of pain.

Ray cast a quick glance at its current health pool.

[HP: 40/100]

Just in that brief moment of analyzing the damage he had caused, the Earth Shaker spun around with violent momentum, causing the boy to lose his footing and crash onto the ground.

Springing back to his feet the very next second, he was about to dash away in anticipation of a counterattack when the earth suddenly shifted, wrapping tightly around both of his legs and pinning him firmly in place.

’Shit.’

The next moment, the beast loomed directly in front of him.

It swung its serrated, hooked scythe straight toward his side, aiming to cleave him completely in two.

Tchaaaaak—!

Crimson droplets burst out immediately into the air.