CHAPTER 119: HOLDING BACK

The crystalline armor cracked and split apart, shards scattering across the cavern floor, as deep cuts carved into its flesh beneath.

—1589![Critical Hit!]

Blood burst outward in streams, spraying violently across the stones as the creature staggered back with a pained roar.

The beast grunted in agony, the sound guttural and harsh, its entire frame shuddering as it reeled from the attack.

Meanwhile, Riley sank deeper into the shadow below, his figure vanishing once more.

The beast’s glowing eyes darted downward, frantically searching for him, its roars echoing with anger and unease.

Then, in the next instant, Riley reemerged—this time above the beast’s eye.

His figure stuck out from a small patch of shadow on the monster’s own face, just above the crystalline ridge protecting its skull.

Only his head and one arm had surfaced, but that was all he needed.

His gaze locked onto the beast’s eye with sharp intensity, and his arm stretched outward, dagger glinting in the dim glow.

The monster boss’s mind went blank with shock.

Its pupils dilated, and its massive claws scrambled upward instinctively, trying to push him away.

The idea that its own shadow—its own body—could be used against it was something it could not comprehend, and yet, the threat was very real.

It roared frantically, the cavern trembling once more, as it swung and shoved at the small figure clinging to its face.

However, before it could react, Riley stabbed his dagger into its eye with a wet squelch.

For a second, the entire cavern seemed to echo with the sound of the monster boss’ flesh being split open.

A sharp sting coursed through its body, and the horned boar shrieked in agony, its guttural bellow reverberating off the jagged walls of the dungeon.

Blood, thick and steaming, spurted from the mutilated eye, running down the side of its tusked face in crimson rivulets that dripped onto the stone floor below.

The monster convulsed, throwing its colossal head back and forth with reckless violence, shaking so furiously that its horn scraped against the walls, leaving trails of sparks in its wake.

Its massive hooves stomped wildly, cracking the ground beneath it.

The pain drove it into madness, a frenzy that consumed what little intelligence it had.

Its only thought was to crush, to destroy, to obliterate the one who had dared to injure it so grievously.

With a desperate thrash, the beast lowered its skull and hurled itself sideways, slamming into one of the dungeon’s crystalline walls.

Boom!

The impact was thunderous. Crystals shattered, scattering fragments across the ground like shards of glass.

The horned boar continued to smash its head repeatedly against the unyielding wall, blood smearing across its surface, its bellows growing more frantic with each strike.

It sought only one thing— to rid itself of the torment gnawing at its eye, to crush the tiny predator that clung to it like a parasite.

But by the time its blood-soaked skull struck the wall again, Riley was already gone.

He had vanished the moment before the beast could attempt to dislodge him, slipping seamlessly back into the shadow beneath its massive frame.

His form sank into the darkness like water accepting a drop of ink, leaving not even a ripple behind.

The monster paused mid-thrash, confused, its wounded eye darting about in a blind frenzy. It didn’t understand—couldn’t understand—where its enemy had disappeared to.

And then Riley reemerged.

From the gloom at the far end of the chamber, just a few feet up against the wall, his figure casually materialized.

He leaned there as if resting after a stroll, one leg bent lazily against the surface while his hands twirled his daggers with absentminded grace.

His expression was calm, bordering on amused, his eyes gleaming with cold calculation.

"Shadow hop sure is a cool ability," Riley mused under his breath, his lips curling into the faintest smirk.

It wasn’t without cost. Each hop pulled at his mana reserves, draining chunks of it in swift succession.

He could feel the strain building with every use, a dull ache at the edges of his core. But it wasn’t unbearable—not yet.

He could manage it, and the sheer excitement and freedom it offered him was worth the price a hundred times over.

The horned boar roared again, the sound so deafening that dust shook loose from the cavern ceiling.

Its bloodied eye wept crimson freely, painting its face in grotesque streaks.

The jagged crystals embedded in its flesh suddenly pulsed with radiant light, glowing brighter than before, as though the beast’s rage was fueling them.

The light danced along its cracked hide, refracting into scattered beams that made the dungeon’s interior flicker like a maddened kaleidoscope.

Snorting furiously, it turned its hulking body toward Riley.

Each hoofstep thundered as it charged, stone cracking beneath its weight.

The crystals gleamed so brightly now that they seemed ready to burst, radiating with some latent energy Riley had yet to see unleashed.

He exhaled slowly, narrowing his eyes as the beast barreled toward him. The faint humor drained from his face, leaving only sharp focus behind.

"No more time for jokes," he thought, his voice steady in the silence of his mind.

At that very moment, a hollow rumble came from deep within his gut.

His stomach growled, the sound low and guttural, resonating like some primal hunger awakening.

His pupils thinned as his eyes narrowed further, taking on a feral glint that mirrored the craving gnawing at his insides.

And then, something happened.

The horned boar’s pounding steps faltered. Its massive body skidded against the stone floor, hooves grinding sparks as it tried to continue forward.

But it couldn’t.

Its entire frame began to tremble, shivers running across its hide like rolling waves.

Its bloodied snout wrinkled as it tried to force itself onward, but its limbs wouldn’t obey.

The massive creature froze in place, mid-charge, its eyes wide with something Riley recognized instantly—fear.

His own eyes widened at first, surprise flickering across his face.

Then, almost immediately, his lips parted in a chuckle, the sound dark yet amused.

"So, it’s finally taken effect..." he muttered to himself.

This was no coincidence. No trick of the shadows, no mistake in timing.

This was deliberate, automatic— a passive force now coursing through him.

[Hungry Demon].

One of its effects was simple yet devastating. Whenever his opponents carried even a shred of fear toward him, there was a chance—a one in five chance—that their instincts would betray them.

That fear would seize their body, paralyzing them in place, locking their muscles as though invisible chains bound them tight.

And now, it had activated.

The great horned boar, an Elite Boss monster with strength enough to terrify dozens of players, was frozen before him.

Its trembling wasn’t merely from pain, but from an instinctual terror, buried deep within its monstrous heart.

Even a creature that lived to kill, that knew nothing but rage and survival, couldn’t resist the primal weight pressing down on it.

And Riley knew exactly why.

Fear.

Even if it was only the smallest spark of fear— born from the gashes in its flesh, from the mutilated eye that still bled freely, from the alien sensation of being stalked by something far smaller than itself— it was enough.

Enough to trigger the title’s effect.

Enough to stop a beast of this magnitude in its tracks.

And Riley’s grin widened ever so slightly, his daggers gleaming in the pale glow of the crystals as he prepared his next move.

He slowly lifted his arm, pointing one of his dagger blades towards the monster boss.

The shadow aura on his arm rippled, then rapidly condensed at the very tip of his blade.

His lips curled faintly. "It was fun... while it lasted."

The words echoed low in the hollow chamber, cold and final.

Swiishh!

A sharp hiss followed. The condensed shadow aura surged forward, launching off the dagger’s tip in a long, needle-like beam.

It was not wide nor flashy—just a piercing thread of condensed death that screamed through the air faster than thought.

The projectile punctured the beast’s skull before it could even let out another roar.

There was no explosion, no violent burst. Just a single, clean strike that tunneled straight through its head.

The monster’s body convulsed. Its crystalline glow flickered wildly, then dimmed.

The ferocity in its colossal eyes vanished, drained as though snuffed out by an invisible hand.

Thud!

The heavy thud of its lifeless body colliding with the stone floor rolled across the cavern like a drumbeat of finality.

Riley stood still for a moment, exhaling through his nose, then gave a dry, humorless chuckle. "Heh." His tongue flicked against his lips, noticing the thin line of drool clinging to the corner of his mouth.

He wiped it away with the back of his hand, but his expression remained unchanged—only that same gnawing, bottomless hunger flashing within his eyes.

Step by step, he staggered forward. The echo of his boots reverberated against the cavern walls, strangely loud in the silence that followed the boss’s death.

Each movement felt heavier than the last, not from fatigue, but from the weight of his body’s endless craving.

’So... hungry.’

The thought came unbidden, crawling into his mind with the same persistence it always carried.

His stomach gave a faint growl, though he ignored it, eyes locked on the fallen beast.

He knew full well he hadn’t needed to drag the fight out this long.

With his current abilities, it could have ended in a matter of moments—yet he resisted that urge, fought deliberately, tested his limits.