With no way to recover his Magic Power, Lu Cang had to make a choice.
If he wanted to guarantee his survival, he couldn't drag this out any longer.
He had to kill this Lord first!
A relentless barrage of Ice Cones!
Lu Cang didn't know exactly how many more Ice Cones it would take to kill it.
So, the optimal solution was to pour all his remaining Magic Power into his attacks!
BOOM!
A spinning Ice Cone bored into the Giant Snake's lower jaw, drawing blood before exploding!
An Ice Burst!
Just as one Ice Cone exploded, the next spinning one stabbed into the wound it had just opened!
He struck it again and again!
'Is this the Life Force of a Lord Level creature?'
'It's too tenacious...'
'It's on a completely different level than the monsters from before.'
'A thousand times stronger, at least?'
'The lesser monsters outside could be instantly killed with just two Fireballs.'
'And this boss... how many full spells has it eaten already?'
'If I were to only count its health, it must be over ten thousand times that of the lesser monsters... '
'And its attack power...'
'With my Constitution, a single graze would probably be fatal.'
'Magic Power...'
'I'm starting to run out.'
But the Giant Snake's body was still writhing.
'Its entire head is frozen solid. How is it not dead yet?'
He'd fired thirty consecutive Ice Cones since the snake had entered its second phase.
With every cast, Lu Cang was meticulously conserving his Magic Power.
He tried to achieve maximum Power with minimal Magic Power consumption for each Ice Cone.
And thanks to this meticulous effort...
...each Ice Cone he cast was surprisingly providing him with 150,000 Skill EXP.
'You really don't know your own limits until you're pushed.'
But to ensure the Ice Cones remained lethal...
...no matter how much he tried to conserve, he had to use 2% of his Magic Power to cast the Ice Cone Skill.
Now, an Ice Cone Skill cast with 2% of his Magic Power was even more lethal than when he had used 3% at the start.
'I have the Divine Level Skill Evolution Talent.'
'I should be able to keep improving, keep evolving forever!'
'But am I really going to die here, just as I'm getting started? In the very first Dungeon I've ever entered?'
Indignation swelled in his heart.
He wrung out the last of his Magic Power.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BANG!
But then, the unexpected happened once again!
The Giant Snake, which had been nearly frozen solid, once again shattered the countless layers of ice encasing it!
Its mangled, rotting head turned toward Lu Cang...
"Die..."
"Just die!"
"Why won't you die!"
Lu Cang's indignation turned to rage. He didn't understand why things had turned out this way, why he was about to die so senselessly...
'Why?'
He condensed every last drop of his Magic Power!
[Ice Cone Skill Skill EXP +100,000]
[Ice Cone Skill Skill EXP +100,000]
[Ice Cone Skill Skill EXP +100,000]
[Ice Cone Skill Skill EXP +100,000]
...
He compressed it.
He compressed the Ice Cone to an even greater hardness, making it spin faster and faster!
'It doesn't need to be big, just long and thin!'
His Magic Power poured out ceaselessly.
All the while, notifications for his Skill Proficiency increase echoed in his mind.
The Skill Proficiency gains this time were immense.
An Ice Cone in the shape of a long needle materialized beside Lu Cang.
Its high-speed rotation stirred up a bone-chilling cold that filled the entire cave.
His Magic Power was gone.
'But it's still not enough.'
'I can still overcast! I'll wring out every last bit of my power! If I can't kill it, I'm dead anyway.'
The Magic Tide was drained to the last drop.
In its place, a Void opened within him.
A place where not a single drop of Magic Power remained.
It was exhaustion...
...nothingness.
A powerful wave of dizziness washed over him!
BANG!
In that same instant!
The ice needle beside Lu Cang vanished!
SQUELCH!
A long spray of blood and ice shards erupted, a crimson pillar gushing toward the cave ceiling!
The Giant Snake's skull was completely pierced through. More than that, the ice needle plunged straight through the existing hole in its head and deep into its body!
In an instant, the creature's entire body froze solid, becoming a massive ice sculpture.
This was the last thing Lu Cang saw.
His vision went black. But just before he lost consciousness, he faintly heard a series of voices in his mind.
[Magic Enhancement Technique: Magic Tide has evolved.]
[You have learned: Magic Void (Tier Two) (Forbidden Technique)]
[Magic Void Skill EXP +100,000]
[Magic Enhancement Technique: Magic Void (Level 10) — Automatically activates, drawing more Magic Power from the Void.]
...
Iz pushed open the stone door and walked in, catching Lu Cang just as he was about to hit the ground.
He let out a soft sigh.
"My apologies. If I hadn't pressured you like this, you might never have faced a true crisis. Your Talent is just too strong."
Iz lightly snapped his fingers.
The Elements in this space grew dense once more.
Iz looked at the Giant Snake.
"Your task is complete as well."
SNAP—
[Demon Frenzy (Tier Four) (Level 100)]
The Magic was dispelled.
CRASH!
The Giant Snake, which had been frozen into an ice sculpture, crumbled into fine, glittering dust and collapsed.
The Giant Snake itself wasn't actually that powerful.
Iz had simply used the Demon Frenzy Magic to make it much, much stronger.
...
'My body... feels so light...'
'But I can still feel it.'
'So warm.'
'There's no trace of that cold feeling.'
'Did... did I win?'
'I didn't die again and get reincarnated into another world, did I?'
Lu Cang slowly opened his eyes.
What he saw was a cascade of soft, jade-green hair.
A familiar face.
Kumironi.
Lu Cang shot up!
Instantly on guard!
He leaped to his feet on the sofa.
Kumironi, however, simply looked at him with a gentle smile.
"You're awake."
"Mm, I think I need to help clear up a few misunderstandings between you and Iz."
Lu Cang kept his right hand aimed at Kumironi, not letting his guard down.
His voice was low as he asked, "Misunderstandings?"
Kumironi toyed with a strand of her hair, a helpless look on her face as she sighed. "Little Lu Cang, Iz didn't leave you there because he wanted to kill you."
"He did it to help you break through your Magic Limit."
Lu Cang's guard remained up.
But at the same time, he began to inspect the state of his own body.
The Magic Tide was gone.
The Magic Power inside him no longer ebbed and flowed like a tide. In its place was a tiny void, like a black hole.
Within this void, his Magic Power was contained.
Lu Cang couldn't sense the limits of this void; he only knew he could draw Magic Power from it at will.
And the total amount of his Magic Power...
...was about fifty times greater than before.
That was more than five thousand times the Magic Power he'd had when he first awakened...
"See...? If Iz hadn't shown any malice toward you, you wouldn't have felt like you were in a life-or-death crisis, would you~"
"Only when you feel despair will you give it your all and awaken your full potential."
Lu Cang's body began to relax slightly.
"Besides, if he really wanted to kill you, he wouldn't have brought you back for me to heal..."
"Who would bring back someone who hates them to the bone?"
What Kumironi said did make sense.
Only then did Lu Cang notice that his body, including his right hand, had completely recovered. Any feeling of discomfort was gone.
In fact...
...he felt his Constitution was even stronger than before. His originally somewhat scrawny frame had even started to show some muscle.
His physical condition was much better than it had been before he entered the Dungeon.
As for his Magic...
[Magic Void (Level: 92)]
[Ice Cone Skill (Level: 100) (Awaiting Evolution)]
[Fireball Technique (Level: 91)]
[Wind Blade Skill (Level: 86)]
[Lighting Technique (Level: 55)]
[Thunder Strike Skill (Level: 43)]
[Cross of Light (Level: 39)]
Magic Tide had been replaced by Magic Void, his Ice Cone Skill had reached Level 100, and a prompt to evolve it had even appeared.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Just then, a knock came from the door.
Kumironi softly said, "Come in."
And Izparut pushed the door open and entered.