CHAPTER 128: BACKFIRE

With the very last shred of strength left in his battered body, he forced his neck to twist.

His head turned sluggishly, and his blurry vision cleared just enough to register the nightmare rushing at him.

Riley.

Charging forward with terrifying speed, his body propelled by the surging shadow aura around him.

Both daggers were raised, gleaming faintly beneath the dungeon’s dim glow.

They weren’t aimed at his chest. Not his abdomen. But his neck.

Riley’s eyes met his own.

Eyes full of loathing. Burning with disgust. And beneath it all—hatred so sharp it carved deeper than any blade could.

The demon’s blood ran colder than his wounds already made it.

Riley’s lips pulled into a grimace, his voice low but resolute as his thoughts sharpened to a singular point.

’All I need... is this one attack. Just this one.’ His body tensed, his muscles locking into perfect form as his focus narrowed on the demon’s neck.

[Rockbound]!

The skill flared to life in an instant.

Thick, jagged rocks burst out from Riley’s elbows, traveling downward like a living avalanche until they coated his forearms completely.

The stone encased his wrists, his hands, and then his daggers themselves, reinforcing their blades with jagged, serrated layers of rock.

Each weapon grew heavier, deadlier, a brutal hybrid of steel and earth.

His skin turned a shade darker, and he felt a sudden rush of power course through his veins.

Riley’s arms swung forward, both daggers tearing through the air with vicious intent, the rock-coated edges aimed squarely at the demon’s throat.

The demon could only stare, his body frozen, his instincts screaming the inevitability of death.

The daggers descended.

And then—

BOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

The demon roared with a voice that shook the dungeon itself.

His entire body convulsed, the darkness clinging to his frame twisting violently.

A pulse of pure, unrestrained darkness exploded outward, far more devastating than anything he had unleashed before.

Bwoosh!!

The shockwave erupted in every direction, a thick, crushing surge of power that shattered stone and tore apart everything in its path.

Riley’s eyes widened in shock as the pulse slammed into him like a battering ram.

"GHHHHHH—!!" he grunted, blood spraying out from his mouth.

The force tore him from his trajectory, the impact blasting him backward violently.

His body was hurled across the dungeon like a ragdoll, meters and meters away, spinning midair from the sheer ferocity of the explosion.

CRRRSHHHHH!!

He hit the ground hard, tumbling and skidding as the air was ripped from his lungs. Dust, rubble, and shards of stone flew in every direction.

The dungeon itself shook violently, as though on the verge of collapse.

The floor cracked apart, great jagged lines running across its surface. The walls buckled, chunks of stone raining down. The ceilings trembled, loose rocks falling like a storm of daggers.

The demon’s darkness raged through the chamber, devouring everything in its path.

And as the last of the shockwave reached Riley, still mid-roll on the floor, he twisted with all his strength and swung his rock-coated daggers in a wide arc.

SHHHHHKKK!!

The impact cleaved the lingering force in half, dispersing enough of it to keep him from being crushed outright.

The remnants slammed into the walls behind him, detonating in a spray of destruction.

BOOOMMM!!!

The walls caved in from the impact, and the dungeon trembled with violent shudders as rubble fell all around them.

Riley’s chest heaved, his body battered, his ears ringing from the chaos. Dust filled the air in thick clouds, choking visibility.

But even through that haze, he could still see it.

The demon, still standing.

Riley’s chest heaved, every breath a ragged struggle as the echoes of destruction still rattled the dungeon around him.

Dust lingered thick in the air, settling slowly, yet his vision was clear enough to see the monster still standing in the distance.

His eyes slowly widened. His fists clenched against the trembling ground.

Both of his daggers had already been blasted out of his hands by that overwhelming pulse.

He could still hear the faint, hollow clang of them clattering somewhere across the rubble-strewn floor.

His hands were empty, quivering, nails digging into the stone.

His body wouldn’t obey him anymore.

He trembled weakly, every limb heavy as lead.

Blood ran hot down his lips, spilling out every time another cough wracked through his chest.

Each spasm sent a new wave of pain tearing through his insides, and his lungs screamed for air, only to choke on the metallic taste of his own blood.

"Ghhhhh—" Riley gnashed his teeth, bloodshot eyes burning with fury.

His vision blurred at the edges, but his hatred sharpened everything in front of him.

The trembling of his body wasn’t only from the damage—it was from rage.

’Fucking demon...’ his thoughts screamed viciously, pounding through his skull louder than his heartbeat. ’Why won’t you just die... just fucking die!’

And then he saw it.

Blinking right before his bloodstained eyes, a red notification hovered.

—3819! [Critical Hit!]

It mocked him. A reminder that even after landing a devastating blow, the monster still hadn’t fallen.

That it was still alive, still standing, still breathing after everything Riley had poured into his attacks.

Riley groaned and tried to rise, his arms shaking as he pressed them to the ground.

His legs quivered violently as he forced them to straighten. He made it halfway, but the moment weight bore down on him—

THUD!

He collapsed back to the ground, his chest slamming against the stone with a wet cough.

Blood sprayed across the floor, dripping steadily from his lips.

His blurry gaze lifted weakly, narrowing on the shadowed figure ahead.

The demon was almost unrecognizable now, his form swallowed in an even thicker veil of darkness than before.

The blackness surged around him like a storm made solid, twisting, writhing, cloaking every inch of his body.

And then—

BOOOOMPH!

Another pulse of darkness burst out from him.

This one wasn’t violent like the last, but slow, deliberate—controlled.

Yet even in its gentleness, it radiated such force that Riley’s battered body was shoved backward across the cracked floor.