Eren took a deep breath and slowly let it out before pulling the dagger free.
It had been intense, not physically, but mentally.
Watching eyes full of life slowly lose their light was nerve-wracking.
It made his stomach churn with an unpleasant feeling.
Whoosh
The dungeon gate for his exit appeared, and he started walking toward it, but stopped midway when he heard a faint cracking sound.
Crack...
Crack...
Eren's eyes narrowed as he turned back.
Beneath the disappearing body of the Tri-Verdant Chimerafowl, a huge egg was revealed.
Thin fractures were spreading across its surface.
Crack—
A large piece broke off and fell to the ground.
From within, something wet, small, and disturbingly unnatural pushed through the opening and came into Eren's view.
"...!"
Its body was pale pink and featherless, its skin thin with faint veins visible beneath the surface.
Two tiny heads twitched erratically, as if they were trying to synchronize, while three miniature black snakes writhed weakly on its back.
The creature let out a faint, broken chirp.
"Krr… krrk…"
For a brief second, it stayed there, watching Eren, as he also looked at the creature with a bewildered gaze.
Then, in the next instant, it bolted away.
"KIIIII—CHRRR—SKREEEE!"
It let out a high-pitched scream and leapt suddenly.
It ran straight toward the steep mountain ridges, darting through cracks and ledges, and disappeared within a few moments, leaving Eren stunned.
"…What the hell was that?"
"Is it…!"
Eren stopped mid-sentence as he remembered certain skill details.
[Final Genesis: Sovereign Brood
This skill automatically triggers when the host's life force is depleted at a rapid rate or when the host senses imminent danger. It creates a single sovereign egg that transfers all genetic traits, accumulated combat experience, skill imprints, and adaptive mutation capabilities, along with a certain portion of memories.]
"It's reborn!"
Eren immediately spread his senses and found that the presence of the newborn boss had already leapt from the cliff and was riding the strong wind downward.
"I just killed it and it already came back… Haha…"
Eren was thoroughly amazed and didn't even want to chase after the newborn, despite knowing that the boss monster could become even stronger in the future.
It would soon develop resistance to curses.
Since Eldritch monsters prioritize survival and adaptability, the creature would now perceive its vulnerability to curses as a fatal weakness, an imperfection. It would attempt to evolve specifically to counter such attacks in the future.
This was one of the key differences between these Eldritch creatures and the races of other factions.
While others prioritized strength and domination, these monsters prioritized survival, constantly preparing for the worst-case scenarios.
That was how low-intelligence, uncivilized monsters managed to establish their own faction among thousands of races far more advanced than humans.
It was like the struggle between cockroaches and humans from Eren's previous world.
He simply shook his head with a slight smile as he exited through the red gate using his concealment.
"H-Hey, look! Another red gate?!"
"What the fuck is going on here?"
"Check for any presence using stealth! Who knows, monsters might have the ability to hide in plain sight!"
Outside the dungeon, not only the teams of hunters guarding the surroundings but also guild members stood on high alert, aiming at the entrance of the gate.
But within a few moments, the red gate vanished, and everything returned to normal.
"Sir, this is exactly what happened before!"
"No presence has been detected either, sir!"
"We also got reports from hunters who came out of hard and normal difficulty dungeons—they said there were no changes inside while they were raiding…"
Everyone reported their findings one by one to the old man standing in the middle.
The old man simply looked at the woman, the mage of the core team of their guild.
She shook her head.
"I didn't find any presence…"
The old man, the guild master responsible for protecting this dungeon, fell silent for a few moments before ordering,
"Close this dungeon temporarily and inform the Association about this strange phenomenon… And send these hunters away…"
He began issuing orders to everyone present.
Meanwhile, Eren had already sneaked out and was running toward the next dungeon location.
'Thank goodness they didn't close the main gate this time…'
Since the abnormality detected by the guild was not severe, many people didn't fully understand what had happened, and with many hunters still inside, the main gate wasn't shut down, making it easy for Eren to slip out using his concealment.
Within an hour, Eren had already entered another dungeon gate, and the same commotion erupted once again around the entrance of another dungeon's red gate.
Inside the Molten Scale Abyss dungeon, a burning underworld where molten lava carved through jagged black terrain.
Cracks in the ground pulsed with a dim, fiery glow, and every breath carried the smell of sulfur and ash.
From the information on the forum, it was said to be a place that originally belonged to a fire elemental landscape but was later devoured by abyssal creatures before it was turned into a dungeon.
At the highest point of this dungeon, a colossal lizard-like entity rested.
A towering, four-meter-tall beast, its body covered in dark, jagged scales that absorbed all light from the surroundings.
Despite living in a magma domain, its body released a chilling shadow aura, and its eyes glowed dim red.
[Umbra Scale Tyrant Lv.25
Strength: 280
Agility: 275
Spirit: 210
Constitution: 260
Beast Skills: [Void Shatter Roar], [Umbral Heart], [Void Carapace], [Umbral Tail Severance], [Natural Regeneration], [Void Domain]]
The creature was currently looking down upon countless lizards with similar appearances but smaller in size, roaming and crawling along the scorching ground.
More than hundreds of these lizards crawled everywhere, yet none dared to get close to its boundaries, as the boss monster exuded an overwhelming presence.
There was no emotion in its red eyes.
They were slightly half-open as it observed the entire ecosystem beneath it without any urgency.
Such an aloof creature suddenly jerked its body in a sense of dread.
SSSHHKKK!!
"GRRR—!!!"
Its low growl was immediately cut in half as two green daggers firmly pierced into the back of its neck out of nowhere.
The boss monster didn't have time to react and couldn't understand what had just happened.
Its low howl was cut short.
It tried to attack the human figure that had suddenly appeared on its back with its long, flexible tail like a whip, but that motion was also cut short.
"SHHHK—!!"
The dark energy that had intensely surrounded its body instantly dispersed, leaving it unable to make any movement.
It couldn't roar, move, or use its active skills within less than a second.
A dreadful feeling overwhelmed its heart as it realized it couldn't call for help from the smaller lizards.
The surrounding monsters beneath the cliff didn't even realize what had just happened.
The foreign energy decisively entered its body, trying to devour it from within.
Its natural regeneration fought the corrosion curse with all its might, leaving the other curses to take effect.
Eren watched the struggle of another boss monster calmly while firmly holding a dagger in each hand.
Just like before, this boss monster also let out its last breath before its life ceased to exist.
[You have slain Dungeon Boss, Umbra Scale Tyrant...]
[Gained 5900 Life Points, Umbra Tyrant Core ×1, Void Scale Plates ×15, Void-Tail Fragment ×3, Blood of an Abyssal Predator ×2, Abyssal Void Furnace x1, Mid-grade spirit stone x1500...]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered...]
[Random number... 111]
[Gained 654,900 Life Points]
[Umbra Tyrant Core ×111]
[Void Scale Plates ×1,665]
[Void-Tail Fragment ×333]
[Blood of an Abyssal Predator ×222]
[Abyssal Void Furnace ×111]
[166,500 Mid-grade Spirit Stones]
Since the constitution of this monster was less than that of the Tri-Verdant Chimerafowl, it died even quicker.
"Three down... 17 to go..."