"Final Breath."

I activate my newest skill and feel it start to take full effect.

This is the stat-boosting ability I witnessed the final boss on the 19th floor activate just moments before our battle was over.

It gave the monster an incredible boost in all stats and even its mana control.

I grit my teeth as I feel the skill take over.

It begins to drain the MP from the Strengthening Fragment lodged in my chest. The red and golden glow from my other stat-boosting skills gets overridden by an ominous black aura.

More and more MP starts flowing through my veins. My head begins to ache and I feel a sharp pain in my chest.

My advanced fire magic is consumed by this new skill and shifts its coloring to a jet-black hue as well.

I let out a yell, as the skill [Final Breath] fully activates. The pain is unbearable...

Then...

I don't feel the boring sensation in my heart at all from moments ago...

My headache is gone.

I... don't feel much of anything at all.

My eyes dart back and forth. The red fog that was so thick moments ago that I could barely see a meter in front of me now seems like just a thin mist slightly blurring my vision.

Falling rocks and crackling fire can be heard in perfect clarity from over 50 meters away, and the exact position of the behemoth lurking within its mana-imbued veil of fog seems so obvious.

I take a step forward.

It seems like time has slowed down...

All my senses are heightened drastically, but it all feels so natural. The mana being absorbed from the Fragment in my chest is flowing through me at almost 4 times as much as moments ago. Yet, it doesn't even feel like I'm consuming mana at all. It just feels like I don't need mana at all...

"This is... [Final Breath]..."

I hold my sword in my right hand and watch the red glow and dark flames morph into jet-black darkness to match my aura.

The wind dagger in my left does exactly the same.

My All-Seeing Eye expands its range and I can feel the entire Boss Room with perfect clarity once again.

Ember is high in the sky and there's hot lava pools surrounding me on all sides for kilometers.

I take a deep breath in and out as I pick up the pace, and start sprinting towards the direction of the newly located Floor Boss.

Everything around me is silent.

The only echoing noises I can hear are the slow footsteps of my own run and the steady breath coming out of my nose.

I can see the entire battlefield in my mind's eye... Everything has become crystal clear all of a sudden.

The red-skinned Behemoth is less than 50 meters away, reforming its stone armor. There's still fire burning on its shoulder and arms. Plus, my last attack shattered a good portion of its helmet and armor on its back.

Half of its face is exposed revealing one of its beady black eyes. The monster's gaze is locked on me as I approach.

It's injured, but nowhere near defeated.

The power building up inside of me right now is like nothing I've ever felt before.

I feel at peace...

The near-unlimited energy from the Strengthening Fragment mixed with the controlled power of my Final Breath's stat-boosting skill has made me feel as though I'm invincible....

This can't last for long, and the side effects won't be pretty, but I'll use every opportunity I can get right now.

Piles of bricks, shattered stones, and burning tables fill my mind's eye as I run through the red fog. I activate wind magic beneath my feet to increase my speed, but black energy comes out instead.

It propels me forward all the same.

Now, cracking the hard castle floor with every stride I come closer and closer to the Behemoth before me.

My inner mind's vision shows me the scene in black and white. The only thing that stands out is the dense shielding around my target's body, it's bright red.

I hear the beast let out a roar as I draw near.

It senses me and begins swinging its arms as I jump up into the air to meet its attack.

Earlier in our fight, I would have been on full guard, ready to Dungeon Walk away at any second, preparing to dodge its incoming swing, but now is different.

I know exactly where its attack will land. My All-Seeing Eye's boosted proficiency from the [Final Breath] skill has made the Floor Boss' movements seem slow...

I smirk, twisting in the air to narrowly avoid its blade with ease.

Just like earlier in the fight, my right foot lands on the glossy surface of its arm. I begin running downwards toward the monster while charging up my own weapons.

It all happens in an instant.

The moment I begin to think about imbuing my blades with mana, they're charged to full.

Dense black aura fills them both in an instant, and It's hard to even calculate how much they carry. Nearly 5000MP each, but this mana feels much denser and more deadly than anything I've ever felt before.

I can feel its mana shielding crack beneath my feet and I watch fracturing stone armor fly into the air as my steps crumble its bladed arm.

The fiery hole in its helmet lets one black eye peek out.

The monster isn't frightened though... it just stares straight ahead...

I'm completely calm as well, gripping both weapons tight and running down the arm of the beast, swinging both swords across my body with the intention of landing a dual energy strike on its neck.

At the same moment, I feel the shielding from its entire body begin to weaken. I'm less than 5 meters away.

It's an odd sensation.

The monster knows I'll hit it soon, but it's decided to lower its guard...

I keep my eye on the prize and continue running down its stone arm. My footsteps destroy the rock even more with each stride as the shielding below fades away.

Its large black eye stays locked on me, and the Boss doesn't move a muscle.

I am running at it with speeds over 3 times as fast as before, so even if it tried to move, it'd be futile... Maybe this is why it stopped.

It knows it's the end.

"No... that's not it."

I can still sense the energy in its body moving around. It leaves the rest of its body completely unguarded while focusing all of the shielding around its neck and head. It becomes denser and denser as I fall closer.

It's putting all of its strength into a final block, while I put all of my own into a final strike.

I smirk, taking another stride and following through with my swing.

Dark black ominous mana leaks from my body, traveling through my blades, and it's released into two crescents of incredible strength.

Everything is silent, and I watch my attacks fly...

Then, I hear a voice. It's the Floor Boss opening our link.

"Another unexpected turn of events. It seems you'll be the one who steals our power..."

Two dense crescents of pure destructive mana come shooting from my weapons and rocket at the horned beast's neck.

Its eye stares deep into mine and speaks again through our link as it senses the end.

"It was an honor to meet a man like you again. It's been 50 long years since a rival for the throne challenged us. The great collapse will be more exciting than I anticipated."

As it lets out its final words through our link, I watch my two blades of dense mana collide with its final layer of dark red mana shielding.

I can tell it's close to twice as powerful as the base-level shielding surrounding its body before.

Liquidated stones wrapped in the threads of mana from its manipulation skill are intertwined to make a barrier strong enough to stop any one of my earlier strikes without fail.

I let out a laugh mixed with an excited yell as I follow through and fall towards the monster's open helmet watching my dual strike.

Trails of dark mana connect my incoming attacks to the aura that surrounds me. It feeds the attack with more and more power.

The two crescents grow as the final remnants of the Strengthening Fragment within me are completely absorbed.

My arms and legs begin to fall numb as the full attack finally leaves my blades and makes contact with the beast's shielding.

My eyes widen as the behemoth's entire pool of mana collides with all of mine.

There's an incredible flash of white light as I watch my dark wind crescent shatter its shielding like a hammer hitting fragile glass.

The fire crescent following takes this opportunity to slice through the beast's neck without a hint of resistance. It glides through the monster's tough red skin and thick muscles with ease.

My wind attack explodes as the fragments of its shielding disrupt the strike. This causes a chain reaction of black slides of wind to disperse and interrupt the blade of fire halfway through the Boss' neck.

The explosion of Black flames is magnificent...

All I can do is watch in awe as I'm thrown backward by the force of my own attack.

The final sight before me is the monster's black eye closing and its lips curve up to make a thin smile as it's completely consumed by black flames and blown to pieces.

For every mili-second that passes, my senses become more numb. Mana leaves my body at a rapid rate. I fly through the air, sensing the dome of shielding around me finally disappear. A black ball of fire envelops everything within a 50-meter diameter.

It's my own flames, so I'm not burned, but I can feel the extreme heat...

It's... comforting...

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

I smirk and start to close my eyes as the familiar [Level Up] notifications ring out in my mind.

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Combat Magic [Advanced Earth Summoning]

[YES][NO]

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Combat Magic [Advanced Mana Manipulation]

[YES][NO]

More blue text fills my vision as I begin to lose consciousness and fall through the air.

I choose [YES] for each and open my status before my eyes completely shut.

[Status Open]

____________________

Name: Jay Soju

Level: 422

Hp: 85/2115

Mp: 60/2115

Strength: 1122 [+1290][+987][+561][+1784][+561][+561]

Speed: 1224 [+734][+612][+1946][+612]

Agility: 1321 [+594][+1189][+661][+2100][+661]

Defense: 926 [+370][+713][+463][+1472]

Mental Strength: 1041 [+625][+416][+468][+926][+822][+521][+1655][+521][+521]

Skills:

Absorption [Special Grade]

Swordsmanship

Combat Magic [Advanced Fire Summoning]

Inspect [Special Grade]

Enemy Detection

Body Hardening [Special Grade]

Self Regeneration [Special Grade]

Spacial Magic [Item Storage]

Plunderer

Telekinesis

Appraisal [Special Grade]

Conceal [Special Grade]

Berserker

Dungeon Walker [Special Grade]

Intimidation

Dagger Mastery

Stealth

Bloodlust

Equivalent Exchange

Combat Magic [Wind Summoning]

All-Seeing Eye

Extreme Strength

Dual Wielding [Special Grade]

Telepathy [Legendary Grade]

Final Breath [Special Grade]

Combat Magic [Advanced Earth Summoning]

Combat Magic [Advanced Mana Manipulation]

Items Equipped:

High Ogre King's Ring [+60% Mental Strength]

Cyclops Eye Pendant [+40% Defense]

Dark Elf Boots [+60% Speed]

Griffin's Talon [+40% Mental Strength]

Serpent King's Scale [+45% Agility] [+45% Magic Resistance]

Desert Troll's Charm [+45% Mental Strength]

The Flame Emperor's Sword [Fire Aspect][+115% Strength][+89% Mental Strength]

The Wind Tyrant's Dagger Set:

[Wind Aspect][88+% Strength][+90% Agility][+79% Mental Strength]

[Berserker King's Armor Set] [Blood Bonded] +77% Defense

[Greater Demon's Core] +50% All Stats

Buffs:

[Final Breath: Special Grade] +159% All Stats

[Berserker] +50% Strength + Mental Strength

[BloodLust] +50% Speed + Agility + Mental Strength

[Extreme Strength] +50% Strength

_____________________