CHAPTER 34: THE DESTRUCTION

Lucien didn’t get the time to properly react—neither did any of the monsters. Immediately, the trees began rolling forward under the crushing force of the two titans; their demise was already sealed.

They rolled, and the world came apart.

The ancient Palebranch trees—some as wide as houses, their pale bark gleaming like bone in the filtered light—began to topple in a cascading wave of destruction. The first massive trunk slammed into the forest floor with a thunderous crack that split the air, sending tremors through the earth that Lucien felt in his bones. Then another crashed down, and another, each impact creating a deafening symphony of splintering wood and groaning timber.

The canopy above disintegrated in a rain of pale branches and silvery leaves. What had been a cathedral of towering trees became a chaotic maze of falling giants, their crown-heavy tops crashing down like the collapse of a great city. The very air seemed to compress and expand with each impact, creating gusts of wind that carried the acrid scent of crushed bark and the strange, metallic taste of disturbed magic.

Lucien had no time to watch. He lunged into speed motion but happened to catch a glimpse behind him as the Elite Wights—creatures that had seemed so menacing moments before—were reduced to nothing more than kindling.

One was caught beneath a falling trunk thicker than Lucien was tall, its wooden body crushed with a wet, splintering sound that was somehow worse than any scream. Another tried to flee, its elongated limbs scrambling for purchase, but was swept away by the rolling mass of the two behemoths as they carved their path of absolute devastation.

The ground itself seemed to liquefy under the tremendous weight. Roots that had anchored themselves deep into the earth for centuries were torn free, creating sinkholes and sudden rises in the terrain. The forest floor, once carpeted with a thick layer of pale leaves and moss, was being churned into a muddy, debris-filled wasteland.

Through it all, the two titans continued their apocalyptic dance. Godzilla’s roar mixed with the elder monster’s glass-shattering shriek, but both sounds were nearly drowned out by the ongoing collapse of an entire ecosystem. The devastation spread outward like ripples in a pond, each fallen tree triggering the fall of others in an ever-widening circle of destruction.

Even though Lucien was running as fast as he could, surpassing many Wights, the land was crumbling faster than his legs could keep up. Without realizing it, he entered a slope. Before he could catch himself, he rolled like a wheel and crashed into a pocket of relative safety—a small clearing that had been spared by sheer chance as the destruction flowed around it like water around a stone.

From here, he could see the true scope of what was happening: an ancient forest, possibly centuries old, being reduced to splinters and sawdust in mere moments.

And through the settling dust and debris, he caught glimpses of the elder monster—wounded, struggling, but still alive as Godzilla pressed its advantage through the wreckage they had created together.

Lucien watched with a terrified expression as Godzilla held down the skeletal mammal with one hand, pinning it to the ground amidst the falling trees, then raised another massive fist that looked like a colossal chunk of stone and began to bury it into the Elder Palebranch Kage’s bone-like face.

Each blow caused the entire ground to quake with terror, the tremors ringing in Lucien’s heart. Every time the blow landed, he felt as though they were pounding inside his chest.

A massive rolling tree that crushed through several others, bouncing like a battering ram, suddenly crashed upon the standing Godzilla, sending it hurtling into the slope of the woods.

From his vantage point, Lucien watched as Godzilla tumbled down the slope, the ground groaning beneath its monstrous weight.

Then he shifted his attention to the Palebranch Kage. The monster was mangled—its white ribs were broken, and thick white liquid streamed out of the hollows of its shattered ribs and other parts of its bone body.

Lucien stared at the Palebranch Kage for a brief second, a wild idea seeping into his mind.

’A level 80 monster... what would fusing with it be like?’

Immediately, he shook his head.

There were some things he couldn’t afford right now. Fusing with White Steel had cost him everything, and White Steel was even a named monster—the Palebranch Kage wasn’t. But the Palebranch Kage was a level 80 Elder-ranked monster.

There were Normal ranks, Elite, Boss, Elder, Guardian, Sovereign, Ancient, and Primordials.

He could vividly remember the rest of the rankings now that death stared him in the face, and he regretted not studying more. But it wasn’t like he’d ever thought he would encounter anything beyond a Boss monster.

Fusing with an Elder-rank monster was bound to bring great boons, but it could come at the cost of everything. It was level 80, and Lucien was just level 33.

He didn’t want to lose everything again and start climbing back up. What assurance did he have that whatever he would receive from the fusion would aid him in defeating Godzilla?

However, he was sure that he would level up, gain more stats, and if lucky enough, gain something that would serve well as a weapon.

Lucien decided.

’I’m going to kill it.’

He immediately leaped off the clearing, grabbing onto one of the broken branches of a felled tree. He climbed the fallen trees like he was scaling mountains, working his way closer to the monster.

When he finally reached it, Lucien looked at the creature. The monster’s ribs were like walls beside him, rising and falling with weakness.

Fear gripped Lucien’s heart at the sheer size of the creature. It was far larger than Godzilla, but Godzilla had done most of the damage to it and had nearly killed it.

Even though that was expected since it was level 80, still, looking at its immense size, Lucien couldn’t help but question whether he could truly defeat Godzilla.

He couldn’t help but wonder what rank that monster was. It was a named monster—that was for sure—and named monster ranks were usually difficult to determine unless one had an appraisal skill or the game itself made it obvious, like in the case of the Dungeon Boss.

Lucien summoned the Forsaken Sword in one hand, holding the Palebranch Spear awkwardly in the other. He plunged his spear into one side of the ribs, then gripped the Forsaken Sword in his main hand and began to slash at the bones as he dragged the spear, tearing through them.

He moved closer to the monster’s torso, ripping through the ribs with his spear and hacking down the rod of bone that connected them.

[You have dealt 677 damage]

[You have dealt 688 damage]

[You have dealt 743 damage]

[You have dealt...]

The notifications continued as Lucien carved through the monster, cutting at its insides. He had never felt killing a vulnerable monster be so exhausting.

After a while, he had reached the neck region. After several minutes of hacking at the neck as if he were cutting down a tree as thick as a house, he had finally succeeded.

He looked at the long head of the Palebranch Kage that resembled the skull of a dinosaur, his face exhausted as he panted, staggered, and fell to the ground.

[You have slain a Palebranch Kage]

[Congratulations, you have slain an Elder-rank monster]

[This is the beginning of your journey in the Hall of Legends]

Player Cien has made it into the Hall of Legends, albeit starting at the lowest level. His achievement is: Killing a level 80 Elder Monster at only level 34. No player has ever accomplished this before, hence his achievement shall receive a Tier I Gold rank.