Her wings, being so large, give her an enormous margin of protection. I’m slowly pushing her back in close combat, but the biggest problem is that I haven’t managed to injure her as much as I’d like. She regularly makes mistakes with her attacks, yet she can compensate with her ridiculous defense.

  I’m not having an easy time either. All my defensive capabilities aren’t enough to protect me from her dozens of needles. This monster is still obsessed with turning me into a porcupine. She’s already broken sections of my armor several times. I haven’t suffered any serious injuries… for now.

  I’m forced to retreat because of a powerful wave of wind mana. I have to maneuver my body midair to stabilize myself and dodge the wind needles. This damn harpy doesn’t let me think of any plan. I’m under constant pressure from her.

  I manage to get past all her constructs, deflecting most of her attacks with my swords. The Thundersnow Fangs are my greatest defensive card. I can redirect many of the needles without spending much mana or effort, but if I use them for defense, I can’t use my greatest offensive advantage. It’s incredibly annoying.

  “No victory without sacrifice…” I decide to do something crazy in these last four minutes. I’m going to neglect my defense a bit and focus purely on offense. Let’s see who can wear the other down faster.

  I fly straight at the harpy, deflecting every attack I can, and for the ones I can’t avoid, I just have to trust my armor. My other defenses aren’t strong enough to destroy the needles, but they can weaken them. My ice armor withstands most of the hits. Only one pierces my shoulder, and my death mana destroys it before it becomes a problem.

  I stop holding back. I decide not to worry about my safety or what people might think. Sooner or later, everyone will know all my tricks. I’ll become strong enough to scare them just by hearing my name.

  My first slash isn’t a normal swing. I’m forcing my body to break its limit. I know better than anyone the risks, but it doesn’t matter. The speed and power of that first strike catch the harpy off guard. She manages to place her wing just in time, but her defenses shatter from the impact.

  A small cut appears on the monster’s wing. It isn’t deep or serious, but I finally broke through that defense. A small smile forms on my face. Now I actually have a chance to kill her.

  My other sword is already coming down vertically toward her chest. The harpy’s other wing blocks the path and another small cut appears. This time the monster isn’t the only one injured. Two wind needles stab into my back. I lose the exchange, but I can heal.

  Grade four monsters have impressive regeneration. Even without a strong life affinity, their bodies naturally stop bleeding faster and can heal within minutes if the wounds aren’t deep. Even severe injuries only take a few days. As long as they have mana.

  The small wounds on her body have already stopped bleeding, but they’re still there. That’s enough. The more small injuries I cause, the less mana she’ll have available to attack me.

  Multiple wounds have appeared around her wings and legs. I’ve even managed to cause a couple of deep ones on the rest of her body. On my side, I look healthy, but my mana consumption is insane. I’ve been injured dozens of times—maybe over a hundred in just these minutes. Using gravity to generate stronger blows is also taking its toll. My body is in constant recovery. Muscles and bones break and repair almost nonstop.

  I teleport backward, keeping a good distance. I was on the verge of dying from her next attack. Her wing is now heavily reinforced with death mana. In the middle of the fight, she changed her focus. She improved her affinity combination. I think I’m the reason—I forced her to reach this point.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Each needle is now black. They’re still mostly wind affinity mana, but part of their construction has been altered to include much more death mana. Every time one hits me, my body starts a struggle. My death mana is still stronger, but now it takes more effort to break her constructs.

  Her new approach lets me hurt her more. One of her wings is badly damaged. I can see clear signs of pain in every movement.

  I teleport back in front of the monster. Her wing is already moving, my sword as well. They collide, and immediately we both have to focus on the next attack. Dozens of strikes are blocked in seconds. My swords must stop her wings or I’ll lose a limb. In the middle of it, we both take minor damage.

  I shift my body slightly to the right. I have no way to avoid her wing. My left arm is completely torn off from the shoulder. A split second later, my sword connects perfectly and I tear off the very same wing she used to rip my arm away.

  The death mana is much more concentrated now. I can’t heal immediately. First I have to annihilate her Imra, mana, and Laws. We’re both missing a limb, but neither of us cares. We keep attacking with everything.

  I’m forced to dodge her wing aimed to split me from shoulder to waist. I counterattack, trying to drive my sword into her chest. I grit my teeth in pain as more than ten black needles slam into my back. My blade sinks slightly into her chest, but a powerful pressure of wind stops me from going deeper. Even using gravity, I can’t push forward.

  In the middle of our fight, something happens. My body feels a little different. The harpy’s needles bounce off when a kind of purple light covers my entire body. The monster in front of me is surrounded by the same light. I can’t move even an inch. The same seems to be happening to her.

  We’re both forced apart. Our bodies descend to the ground at an alarming speed, yet I feel no pain when I land. I’m quite stunned. Before I can even ask anything, I realize what happened.

  Time’s up. The thirty minutes just ended. We’ve been stopped by an external force, probably that omnipresent voice. The mini-game is finally over. I feel a bit happy for lasting the full time, and at the same time frustrated because there was no winner.

  Honestly, I’m not sure I could’ve beaten the harpy in the end. Most likely we would’ve both collapsed at the same time, or the winner would’ve been decided by the smallest margin. The monster in front of me is smarter than I thought. She adapted to every situation, though not as fast as the anomaly.

  We both stare at each other. The monster’s smile is a clear sign of her intelligence. She knows what’s happening and seems happy to have found an opponent at her level. That smile shows how much she enjoyed fighting on the edge of death. I understand that feeling, so I smile back.

  I’m sure this monster is completely different from all the others I’ve seen in this dungeon. She must be a special case.

  “Congratulations on completing the mini-game!” The same robotic female voice reaches my head.

  “You managed to endure the maximum time! Your rewards will be calculated and delivered at the end of the event.” At the end of the event? I can’t complain for now. I might get something interesting.

  It’s a bit disappointing not to get the last medal of honor in this mini-game. I thought I’d complete all three. That means I’ll have to look for more treasure chests or boss monsters.

  I feel spatial mana take hold of my body. Looks like it’s time to be teleported out. I give the monster in front of me a wink. A creepy smile appears on her face again.

  I have a feeling we’ll meet again someday. My instincts tell me so.

  “I had a lot of fun. Keep growing and come find my real self. I’ll be happy to see you.”

  My eyes widen when I hear her speak. I hear a mocking little laugh. She’s clearly making fun of my expression.

  Before I can answer, the spatial mana pulls me away. I don’t have time to ask anything. “Real self?” I have no idea what that means. Was this harpy just a part of a true monster? I’ll ask Susan when I get the chance.

  I’ll go look for her. From her words, I have to assume this “clone” is much weaker than the original. Maybe grade 6? I should at least reach diamond rank if I want to fight her. Though maybe I could just meet her without the intention to fight. Maybe she’s a very intelligent grade 6 monster, like Sus.

  I hadn’t noticed something. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize all the other students had frozen in place, staring at me. Some look afraid, others look like they’re watching a superstar, and only a few see me like a normal person. I completely forgot about all these people.

  I look at them seriously. I don’t mind defending myself if they intend to attack. I can feel some Imra with bad intentions. That threatening feeling disappears instantly when they realize I noticed. I give them one last glance before teleporting out into the middle of the forest. It’s time to keep exploring. I don’t have time to waste on people this fearful.