Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye Chapter 520: The Dusk Seal

The wounded pier-like monster suddenly let out a piercing, agonized scream. The entire area bathed in the light of dusk froze in an instant.

Both Luca—half subrged in the water—and the creature leaping high into the air were suddenly immobilized.

"This isn’t ti stop! I can still think! I have to get out of this—fast!"

Though his body was completely paralyzed, Luca’s mind was still working.

That fact alone ant one thing: he was in terrible danger.

A heartbeat later, the frozen monster surged toward him at incredible speed.

The light in its only remaining eye—a spherical orb glowing with a sickly yellow hue—was rapidly dimming.

Luca realized at once that the creature had used the power of dusk within that eye to trap him.

"How can I break free from the power of dusk? ... The only chance I have is to use the authority of darkness granted by the Goddess of the Night!"

Under the crushing pressure, Luca’s thoughts raced.

He quickly understood that only the power of darkness could resist the stasis created by the dusk’s force.

Instinctively, he tried to envelop the entire area around him in shadow, calling upon that dark authority.

But the attempt yielded no result.

Though a faint veil of darkness ford around his body, he still couldn’t move a muscle.

anwhile, the monster was closing in—its approach faster than a storm tide.

If he didn’t think of sothing now, the creature would reach him and tear his throat apart.

For Luca, ti was slipping away.

Even if he could unleash the power of darkness a second ti, the monster would not grant him the chance.

Just as despair began to sink in, Sophia’s voice rang out through the golden haze.

"Don’t give up! I can still cast! I’ll use frost magic to stop it!"

As she spoke, snowflakes burst forth inside the twilight harbor.

Though frozen in place by the power of dusk, their re presence hindered the monster’s movent—slowing its deadly charge.

Seizing the mont, Luca’s mind flashed with clarity.

He would use the dark power again—but this ti, focus it directly on the monster’s last remaining eye.

As layers of heavy shadows poured into the monster’s single eye—once glowing with a dim yellow light—the radiance within it vanished almost instantly.

The power of dusk was completely swallowed by darkness.

The monster froze, stopping just inches from Luca.

Its fangs were already pressing against his throat.

"That was way too close!"

The mont the creature stopped moving, the stagnation that had gripped the entire area suddenly dissolved.

Seizing the chance, Luca pulled himself back, putting distance between him and the monster.

"Thank goodness for you! If it weren’t for your help, I’d probably be dead by now."

Luca’s voice carried a tone of relief.

"I can only help you this once," Sophia replied weakly. "I’ve already drained every bit of my power. From here on out, you’ll have to rely on yourself."

"You’ve already done more than enough! Leave the rest to ."

There was no trace of disappointnt in Luca’s tone.

In fact, Sophia’s assistance had co as an unexpected blessing.

He had fully prepared himself to face everything inside the Dusk Pier alone.

Once all the monsters were finally slain, he could at last examine the area without worry.

It didn’t take long for him to notice a hollow cavity beneath where the pier had once stood.

The hollow seed to lead underground.

Not long after discovering it, Luca decided to descend.

He knew it was a dangerous choice—the cavity had been right beneath the monster’s body, aning it was probably what the creature had been guarding.

But without taking risks, how could there ever be rewards?

And so, Luca stepped into the hollow.

The instant he entered, a powerful force bound his body tight.

He felt as though he had fallen into a swamp, every movent heavy and sluggish.

Yet up ahead, a dim yellow light flickered persistently in the darkness.

Luca sensed that this glow must be the very source of the Dusk Pier’s abnormalities.

He had no choice but to press forward.

Outside the Dusk Pier, the mysterious figure who had been observing Luca’s every move vanished the mont Luca entered the hollow.

"I think you should probably give up on this mission."

After struggling forward through the darkness for what felt like an eternity, Luca suddenly heard Sophia’s voice echo in his mind.

"Why? We’re so close to finishing this mission! Wouldn’t it be a waste to give up now?"

Luca shot back, panting heavily.

He had already defeated the powerful monster. As long as he could reach the source of that dim yellow glow ahead, he was almost certain he could dispel the Dusk Pier’s anomaly once and for all.

"Your condition is terrible! Can’t you feel your life slipping away?"

Sophia’s voice trembled with urgency.

Only then did Luca suddenly realize how cold his body had beco.

And at so point—he wasn’t even sure when—his arms had been covered with countless wounds.

Blood was seeping steadily from every one of them.

"What’s happening? I didn’t even notice I was this badly hurt!"

Luca’s voice carried a mix of disbelief and confusion.

But after a brief mont, he forced himself to calm down.

"Maybe this is normal... as long as I can reach that light ahead, all of this will be worth it."

His mind was made up.

No matter what Sophia said next, he refused to answer. He needed to conserve his remaining strength.

Sophia fell silent as well.

She could sense the unwavering resolve within him.

Once Luca had made a decision like this, no persuasion in the world could change his mind.

As he continued forward, the number of wounds on his body grew rapidly.

The pain spreading from them beca sharper, almost unbearable.

"If I hadn’t noticed the wounds... would I still feel the pain? Could this be another effect of the power of dusk?"

That thought flickered across Luca’s mind, but now was not the ti to dwell on it.

He was already so close to the light source.

He could finally make out its true form—an octagonal seal.

From each of its eight corners radiated waves of dim yellow light, pulsing outward in steady rhythm.

The space surrounding it shimred and overlapped like layers of translucent glass.

Luca stretched out his hand, intent on grasping the seal.

But the instant his fingers crossed into that glass-like space, he felt a horrifying sensation—

his hand was sliced cleanly into eight separate pieces.

Each fragnt of his hand existed within a different overlapping layer of space.

"Pull your hand back, now!"

Sophia’s scream tore through the air, filled with sheer terror.

But Luca didn’t seem overly alard.

Though he could clearly see his hand being split into multiple layers by the distorted space, he felt no pain.

He could still move his fingers—still control his hand.

That ant the spaces, while appearing fragnted, were still sohow connected.

"Don’t panic. My hand’s still moving. The area ahead just has a spatial distortion—it won’t seriously harm ."

Luca’s tone was calm, almost unnervingly so.

Yet beneath that calm, he wasn’t without fear.

He slowed his hand’s advance, carefully testing the resistance ahead.

With his other hand, he gripped the Dragon-Slayer Greatsword tightly.

If the structure of space shifted again, he would imdiately channel the sword’s power—combining it with his authority of darkness—to seal the distorted space within shadow.

That way, he could prevent his hand from being severed should the layered dinsions collapse.

As seconds passed, Luca’s fingertips inched closer and closer to the seal.

Just a few more centiters—and he would be able to touch the dimly glowing sigil.

But those few centiters felt agonizingly long.

The nearer he drew to the seal, the harder it beca to move.

At the sa ti, Luca felt a strange change coursing through his body.

Suddenly, he realized he could only feel his hand—nothing else.

The rest of his body seed to vanish completely.

The dim yellow light emanating from the seal appeared to strip away every part of his being except his palm.

"The light from this seal doesn’t just freeze space and ti—it can even freeze the mind itself! I don’t have much ti left!"

The realization struck him hard, but it brought clarity rather than panic.

He pushed away every stray thought from his mind.

If his consciousness was being paralyzed, he had to focus every remaining ounce of willpower on a single goal.

As his attention narrowed to a razor’s edge, his hand began to move faster—much faster than before.

But in return, the sensation in his palm faded away completely.

Monts later, only his fingertips still existed to him—

the last fragnt of feeling between himself and the dying light of dusk.

"I can’t give up—touching the seal is the only way to survive!"

In that final mont, he staked everything he had.

At last, his fingertip brushed against the seal radiating that dim yellow light.

The instant he made contact, the glow flared blindingly bright—so intense it swallowed everything around him.

Luca felt his spirit and soul being violently wrenched out of his body, torn free from flesh and bone.

All that remained around him was an endless expanse of dull yellow radiance, stretching infinitely in every direction.