"What?" Malik exclaimed loudly as the door shut behind him. But he wasn't shocked or seemed to be surprised at what was behind him, but at the scene in front of him.
"The Final Boss of the Feral Horned Wolf is a Human," Malik muttered, thinking the system was playing with him. Reflecting on his gaze was a male silhouette seated on a throne, with a lot of treasury surrounding him.
Despite finding out that his opponent was not what he expected, Malik wasn't deterred. Instead, he continued walking forward as he surveyed the being seated on the throne.
The Silhouette had his eyes closed as if it didn't notice Malik at all, and when Malik crossed into his perception range, he released his overbearing aura — an aura that, when released, could completely stop the movement of a Tier 0 player and reduce the movement of a Tier 1 player by half.
The moment Malik stepped into his perception, he felt the crushing weight of the aura boring down on him, causing him to become unable to move. The aura was so heavy, it was like gravity law itself was trying to compress him into the floor. Malik's whole body lowered almost flat to the ground, nearly falling on his face as he struggled hard to discard the pressure, but it was to no avail.
The pressure was just too overwhelming that Malik couldn't help but want to succumb to it. At this point in time, he heard the mechanical sounds of a notification ring inside his head.
<
The moment Malik heard the mechanical voice, he could feel his heart thumping Ba-dump! Ba-dump! like a war drum, pumping blood into every part of his body, most especially his brain — and in the next moment, the overbearing pressure from the silhouette on the throne shattered like fragile glass, while Malik stood up straight and tall!
"Impossible," the Silhouette on the throne cried out as he jumped up, quickly retracting his aura. His silver eyes gleamed sharply as he contemplated Malik, who was also looking back at him with calmness.
Both of them had completely different thoughts in their minds. The Silhouette was contemplating if Malik was one of "them," while Malik was trying to figure out what exactly this Primordial Chaos Physique was and how it related to Qinger's heart.
Unable to control his curiosity, the male silhouette flashed — whoosh! — and suddenly appeared just a few yards before Malik. Still, Malik was incredibly calm, waiting to see what action the Final Boss of the Feral Horned Wolf would take next.
"You're one of them," the Feral Horned Wolf Final Boss said as he started walking closer to Malik, and the Level 3 player couldn't help but arch his brow.
"One of who?" Malik asked, his tone casual but sharp, not removing his gaze from the silhouette steadily approaching him.
'Is he kidding? He doesn't look like someone that knows what I'm talking about... He looks very young... and so low-level too.'
"How did you manage to shatter my aura?" The Silhouette asked again when he got closer to Malik. At this point, they were standing just a few feet apart. The silhouette was very large and taller than Malik, who was just five feet tall.
Malik shrugged his shoulders before he opened his mouth to speak, his eyes still surveying the body of the Feral Horned Wolf Final Boss. "I think it has to do with my physique."
"Your Physique? What rank is it?" the silhouette asked once more.
"Ehh..." Malik said as he pulled up his status page and checked his physique but couldn't see any rank. "That... I don't know. The system is not showing it."
The Final Boss of the Feral Horned Wolf's eyes gleamed with sharpness as he heard Malik's words. He raised his hand and placed it on Malik's shoulder. At that moment, Malik did nothing to resist as he stared at the new information now floating above the silhouette's head.
[Alpha Feral Horned Wolf] [Lv. 5 Elite Ranked Monster]
HP: 3000/3000
[The Alpha Feral Horned Wolf is an unstrained and uncultured monster who met his waterloo at the hands of a powerful being. Cursed by that being, the Feral Horned Wolf took a human form with only one-third of his power, and his rank was reduced by one. He has been locked in this cave for decades as punishment for his atrocities.]
The Alpha Feral Horned Wolf quickly retracted his hand from Malik when he saw the fiery light burning inside Malik's eyes. He couldn't read through this young man and must have suspected that Malik had already seen through him.
"Your Physique can't be seen by me... It's really mysterious and ancient. For it to shatter my aura, I believe it must be above the Divine Grade — just like that of that man," the Alpha Feral Horned Wolf praised, staring at Malik with his shiny silver eyes.
"Do you mean the man that cursed you, placing you into a weakened state?" Malik asked, raising his left brow, which left the Feral Horned Wolf dumbfounded.
"You could see the curse... You could see the curse!" The Alpha Feral Horned Wolf cried out loudly when he stared at Malik. "I've been suffering every day, silently waiting for you to come put me out of my misery. Every nightfall is a nightmare... I go through hell and I wished for death which never comes. Finally, I see someone who could see my curse — someone that can finally put me out of my misery."
The Alpha Feral Horned Wolf said as his eyes shone brightly and his body expanded slightly, his muscles twitching.
"What's your name, young man, and how do you want to battle? You can choose any weapon of your choice over there — I personally ordered my subordinates to loot them, awaiting this very day."
Malik's senses swept around and he noticed the different weapons lying around the throne. Still, he shook his head. "Malik thanks Senior for his kindness," he replied when he took his stance. His fists folded up tightly as he took a step backward, his gaze never once leaving the silhouette, who was also looking at him with steady eyes.
"Surprising... Surprising... Malik, you're truly surprising," the Alpha Feral Horned Wolf said as he stripped off his shirt and tossed it back towards the throne chair. He was now shirtless, the same as Malik, wearing just Feral Pants and a pair of boots.
Malik noticed that the 4 HP bars hovering above the Alpha Feral Horned Wolf's head had been reduced to 2, and the aura of the Feral Horned Wolf had decreased drastically. Malik didn't know why the Alpha Wolf did that, but he didn't bother to ask. After all, Malik wasn't confident in winning against the Alpha Feral Horned Wolf at full strength, so anything that could alleviate some pressure was welcomed.
"Let's have a noble fight... I should go first," the Alpha Feral Horned Wolf said when he suddenly threw his arm forward.
Whoosh!
His hand cut through the space, as his sharp fingers pierced through the air, aiming straight for Malik's eyes like silver daggers!