Return of the Woodcutter

Lucius's skill was still active, frying the fearmonger, keeping it so busy it couldn't properly move thanks to the paralysis property of the lightning element. 

Not far from the couple, Sheyla rapidly got to her feet using her adrenaline. She knew the Goliath wasn't dead yet. Before it recovered enough to use its abilities, she nocked a projectile, imbued it with her skill Frozen Arrow, then fired.

Roisin invoked her fire and ice magic, backing the Goliath into a corner with a wall of fire while sending ice spikes towards the creature.

George used his new skill, Water Canon Lv2, and conjured a big round water canon ball. Using his skill Aqua Pressurization, he changed its shape into that of a shell to further enhance its destructive power before launching the deadly liquid projectile at his enemy's throat. 

Immobilized by the lightning spear and its electric properties, the Goliath braced itself for impact. Hitting it in right in its ugly face, the Water Canon left a nasty injury while covering the monster with water, further enhancing the lightning spear's power.

Ogoro rushed to Lucius and Elizabeth's side to rapidly examine their injuries. There was nothing he could do for Elizabeth's corruption so he focused on her husband. He internally cursed when feeling the warrior mage's internal injuries. 

'Damaged organs. Fractured spines and ribs. Charred flesh. This is beyond bad. I must provide surgery as soon as possible, even then I can't guarantee he'll live. But with that creature still alive, I won't have time to do the surgery.' Ogoro thought, applying his remaining three recovery beads to Lucius. 'This ought to keep him alive long enough until we kill this thing.' 

"George! Give me a boast!" Ogoro shouted, dashing at the fearmonger sword in hand.

Sam clicked his tongue at the sight of everyone working together while he was doing nothing. He couldn't let them all take the spotlight, "George! Me too!"

The water mage's ears almost cringed at the balls of this baldie but he nonetheless used his remaining mana and soul power to conjure two water walls under Ogoro and Sam's feet, adjusting the angle accordingly. Both men were suddenly propelled at incredible speed towards the fearmonger.

Standing on the side, Marta, changed into a mindless berserker, charged at Sam. The baldie met the berserker blow for blow. 

Meanwhile, having shortened the distance enough for his gauntlet to be effective, Ogoro launched five thin wires, wrapping two of the Goliath's arms, then pulled to decrease its defense. 

'Just how strong is that thing?' Despite pulling with all his strength, he only managed to budge the arm. 'Is the difference so great I can only do this much?'

Sam, who just finished dealing with the berserker, came to his aid. The baldie grabbed Ogoro's arm and pulled. Finally, the monster's guard was forced open. It screamed in pain when the lightning spear hit its torso.

Despite being from different respective teams and having a few misunderstandings about each other, the group had already fought waves and waves of berserkers together. Although they disliked working together, they knew how to fight as a real team.

If a team of level 2 challengers cooperated well enough, even a level 3 creature could fall, otherwise, there wouldn't be level 3 creatures in the Tower. 

One should never underestimate teamwork.

However, in some cases, teamwork was not enough. Particularly when the entire team was on the brink of exhaustion. George and Roisin fell into a feelless state after using their last drop of energy. Sheyla soon joined them after releasing her last frozen arrow.

Moreover, the lightning spear's power had been mostly used up to penetrate the fearmonger's defense. Suddenly, the Goliath's torso mouth opened wide and gulped Lucius's skill whole. 

"You puny little things." The Goliath stood slowly, as it closed its mouth, sparks of electricity buzzing out in between its molars-like teeth. 

Its muscles bulged, expanded. Ogoro and Sam clenched their teeth but try as they may, they barely had any power left in them. Ogoro deactivated Durability to save his soul power. Since it was pointless to keep at it, he released the wires that, weakened, threatened to break.

"Monster…," Sam said as he realized that Lucius's spear had been gulped by the fearmonger's torso mouth. "Ha, haha. That thing ate the skill… it ate it! Haha haha… we're doomed." 

While Sam was losing his shit, the fearmonger approached slowly.

"You should have never opposed me," the Goliath said, its fists coated in grey matter. The creature violently thrashed the shocked Sam against the wall. Despite blocking the blow at the last moment, Sam coughed a mouthful of blood.

"I'll crush every bone in your feeble bodies before corrupting every single of you," the Goliath spat, trying to bring back fear into its preys.

Facing the monster alone, Ogoro smirked, for he could sense another monster approaching. "Is that so?" 

"Madness," the fearmonger said. "Why do you have so much confidence in your eyes?"

BANG!

A loud noise coming from the wall to its left attracted its attention.

BANG!

The tremors got louder as the cracks appeared on the stone structure.

BANG!

"I knew it," Ogoro's smirk shifted into a genuine smile.

"What is this?" The creature asked, confused, spreading its Domain to feel what lied beyond that wall. It was horrified when it discovered a soul comparable to its. Although it appeared injured, the soul was definitely strong. 

It had been too busy having fun to even notice it before.

BOOM!

Stones flew outwards as a hole in the wall appeared and a shower of dust clouded the creature's vision shielding itself from the flying debris.

A man stepped out of the hole, ax in hand and a gaze filled with extreme fury caused by five days of destroying a labyrinth that seemed endless. He had searched for them using his Domain for days now. 

"Shit… it's really you, my friend," Ogoro said as relief washed over him.

"Been a while," Aito nodded, then his gaze rapidly shifted from one exhausted challenger to another, quickly analyzing the situation while keeping a watchful eye on the thing standing nearby. Every challenger apart from Ogoro was paralyzed.

Sam and the others, he cared little about them, but seeing the state of his teammates made him furious. 

"Ogoro, take care of Lucius's wounds. I will—" Aito felt a sudden pressure on him, the same one he had felt on the 8th floor. 

"How dare you ignore me?" The Fearmonger said, applying Fear to the puny human who came uninvited. 

However…

—Active Skill: Aura of Bravery Lv 2—

The area burst alight when a sudden golden aura covered Aito's body, kicking the Fear's ass back to where it came from.

"How dare you be so rude as to interrupt me?" He replied, steam escaping from his armor set's gaps. His skin glowed a vibrant red while his strength shot up to level 5. 

The already injured Goliath unconsciously took a step back. "You… you were the one who helped that failure!" 

"Yeah, so what?" Aito had previously sensed them with his Domain and more or less figured out what was happening when he sensed the Goliath's soul. 

What surprised him the most was Lucius's newly created Domain and surge of power. Since he hadn't been able to join immediately due to berserkers attacking him along the way and a few walls to destroy, he had bet on Lucius's power up to buy time and provided him with a shield against the Fear when he was in range. 

"You ruined everything! They were almost done cooking, and you came with this accursed… skill. Wait… no, there's no way another braver… no, no, that's impossible!" 

"I've already heard that line too many times from your peers," Aito replied, his ax and armor shining yellow, "don't you ugly bastards have anything else to say?"

—Active Skill: Durability Lv5—

—Active Skill: Cleave Lv2 (coating)—

"My peers? You killed others like me?" It coated its arms with grey matter, "Step back! Stay away from me!" 

'Bahaha! What a sissy!' Uruk who was just awakened because of Aito's skill laughed his ass off. 'Coward! He isn't worthy to even lick my pommel!'

[If you don't have anything better to say, just shut up. You're just distracting him.] Valinar said. 

Aito ignored the orc's comment and focused on the fight. His leg muscles contracted. He applied Impact to his armored shoes, adding more propulsion, then decreased his weight. 

BOOM!

He traveled five meters in but an instant while the solid ground cracked under the pressure of his feet. At the last moment, he added weight to his armor and soul weapon, further enhancing his destructive power. 

His ax slashed the open air, bringing destruction and death with it. The Goliath wanted to dodge but with such a speed it was forced to defend itself. 

It tried to grab Aito's weapon with its hands coated in that weird grey matter, thinking it would protect it. Grave mistake. 

SLASH! 

The fearmonger screamed in pain when Soulcleaver hacked through its fingers already badly injured by Lucius's skill.

Aito's skill Cleave added more penetrative power when used for short-distance fighting. He followed his attack with a side strike, slicing one of the Goliath's arms. 

"Stay away from me!" The previously arrogant monster ran away like a wimp wetting itself. 

Aito clicked his tongue at the cowardice of that thing, then used his ring to create a real illusion. A stone wall appeared in front of the fleeing Goliath, blocking its path. 

"W, w, wait!" The fearmonger said, trying to strike a bargain. "Is it power you seek? Spare me and I'll grant you more power than you ever had! I'm certain the Fearlord will even take a liking to you!" 

Soulcleaver vibrated under the condensed wind being compressed around its blade. Aito hacked the air. The Goliath groaned when one of its wrists was cut deep. 

"Wait up!" The creature trembled in fear.

"How could a creature…" 

SLASH! 

"… weaker than me…"

SLASH!

"… offer power? You know no shame."

SLASH! 

"AAAHHH!" Today, the fearless Goliath screamed in pain at the face of his worst possible enemy and died a miserable death. 

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