’Everything was calculated... except Matheus’s current condition.’
He had taken a genuine risk.
In the ga, when players reached Matheus after clearing the dungeon and uncovering its secrets ...
He would be bound in golden chains, just like now.
But in the ga, those chains were far weaker.
They shattered the mont the player entered the boss room—marking the start of the battle.
’Ashvarn’s destruction is supposed to happen in the future.’
’Even if that’s still far away... the chains remain intact.’
’Which ans only one thing.’
Ethan smiled.
"If I co here before the appointed ti... you can’t do anything, Matheus."
He rose from the throne and approached the bound boss.
"In Ordeal, there are many cases like this throughout the world. A powerful monster on the brink of death. An ancient being that lost all its strength."
His smile widened.
"They all grant enormous amounts of souls when killed."
"It was one of the best ways to farm souls and level up without risk."
He stopped before him.
"But I couldn’t leave Ashvarn."
"So I had no choice but to bet everything on you."
His eyes glead.
"And I won that bet."
Reveling in his success, Ethan extended his hand.
Blue runes ignited.
A sword ford within his grasp.
Activating the blessing of the Legendary Weapons Master, he summoned it from his strange dinsional storage.
It was a simple katana.
Sharp.
Polished.
But otherwise ordinary.
A sword he had stolen from Asterion’s training grounds.
Holding it, Ethan smiled.
"Shall we begin your execution?"
He stepped forward.
Mathius trembled with fury.
"Do not mock , boy of the Heart. Your pathetic strikes cannot harm ."
Ethan ignored him.
He swung the katana.
The blade left a shallow cut. Barely enough to draw a single drop of blood.
Exactly as Mathius had said—
It did nothing.
The boss’s health bar barely moved.
The damage was so insignificant it was almost nonexistent.
"You see?" Mathius sneered. "You are a beginner. I am a king. There are six full ranks between us. Even if I cannot move... you cannot kill ."
It was, simply put ...
Impossible.
Ethan was dealing 1 damage...
To a being with over twenty thousand health.
"I am fully aware of that," Ethan said with a smile, continuing to stab Mathius’s body.
He stabbed.
And stabbed.
Again and again.
Yet dealt no aningful damage.
Mathius, anwhile, worked to manipulate him—constantly probing for a way to exploit Ethan’s presence.
He wasn’t worried in the slightest.
Even bound, the human before him was so weak he wasn’t worth defending against.
"Stop... and let us make a deal," the boss said at last, regaining his composure, his tone turning refined and controlled.
"Help break free, and I will grant you power—power that will make you many tis stronger than you are now."
His crimson eyes glead.
"I can give you whatever you desire. What do you say... boy?"
Mathius pressed him.
But received no answer.
Ethan remained completely focused on his task, his blade rising and falling without pause.
Under his breath, he whispered:
"14... 15... 16..."
He was counting.
As if waiting for sothing.
"Stop. There is no point in this," Mathius urged again.
But Ethan continued.
"20... 21... 22..."
"27... 28... 29..."
In the blink of an eye, he reached the twenty-ninth strike.
Still, nothing.
Yet when the next blow landed ...
"30."
Everything changed.
Mathius suddenly scread in pain.
Blood erupted violently from his wounds.
Unlike the previous twenty-nine strikes, the thirtieth attack reduced his health bar ... slightly.
But unmistakably.
Seeing that, Ethan’s smile widened with satisfaction.
"So... thirty strikes is the threshold."
His voice deepened.
"For the bleed to trigger."
"What?!" Mathius froze, confused.
He had no idea Ethan had planned this from the beginning.
This was why Ethan had invested all his points into Arcane.
Because Arcane governed bleed buildup.
"Bleed is the rapid loss of blood that occurs when successive strikes accumulate with a weapon capable of inflicting it."
That was why he had brought a katana.
"The higher the Arcane, the faster bleed triggers."
In Alicia Heart’s case, her Arcane had been extrely high.
And since the Ember Hunter had been close to her level, bleed had triggered in only three or four consecutive hits.
But Ethan’s Arcane ...
Was low. But not nonexistent.
And Mathius was especially vulnerable to bleed.
That made it possible.
But it required an enormous number of consecutive strikes.
Thirty.
Under normal circumstances, soone at Ethan’s level could never land thirty uninterrupted hits on a being like Mathius.
"But you’re chained."
Ethan leaned closer.
"That ans I can attack freely."
His voice dropped to a whisper beside Mathius’s ear.
"You know what that ans."
A pause.
"I can kill you."
Mathius’s expression changed.
For the first ti ..
He understood.
"The damage is still small," Ethan continued calmly. "Even with bleed, it will likely take a very long ti to empty your health bar."
He smiled.
"But that’s fine."
His eyes glead.
"We have the whole night."
"So why rush?"
He raised the katana.
And resud.
Stab.
Stab.
Stab.
Relentless.
He built bleed again and again.
Without pause.
Without hesitation.
Minute after minute passed.
And Mathius’s face slowly beca that of a corpse.
"STOP!" the boss roared repeatedly.
"I will give you anything! Just stop!"
His voice trembled.
"What do you want? Power? Weapons? Levels? I will grant everything!"
Ethan laughed.
"Don’t try to bargain with , Unthroned One."
The blade pierced flesh again.
"I will obtain all of those things... the mont you die."
The sound of stabbing and bleeding had beco constant now.
"I will level up using the souls released from your body."
Another strike.
"And I will forge your soul into a weapon using my blessing."
Another.
"And I will grow stronger through all of it."
At that mont ...
The roles had reversed.
Mathius, the level-61 monster was nothing more than livestock upon a slaughter table.
And Ethan ...
Level five.
Weak.
Human.
Was the executioner.
Mathius’s health pool was vast.
And Ethan’s damage remained small, even with bleed.
So it took the entire night.
But that was not a problem.
Ethan’s demonic body granted him endurance beyond human limits.
Enough to stab forever, if necessary.
And so ...
He secured the power he sought.
Power ...
To crush his opponent in Maria’s reckoning.
And finally... To fight properly.
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