30: Chapter 30 The Fallen King

Agale sat upon his throne, his crimson eyes fixed intently on Su Chen below. The dark aura surrounding him suddenly turned violent.

Moments ago, he had looked down upon Su Chen with contempt, treating him as an insignificant ant. Yet, in the blink of an eye, his two trusted Dark Gold Knights, along with their golden warhorses, had been utterly annihilated within ten seconds.

Finally, he cast aside all underestimation, his tone icy. "I never imagined an ant could possess such strength."

Su Chen tightened his grip on the cross greatsword, his gaze sharp. For the first time, he aimed his Detection Technique at Agale upon the throne. The luxurious stat panel of an Epic-level BOSS instantly materialized:

[Monster: Agale (Fallen Monarch)]

[Level: Lv40 Epic BOSS (Calamity Reborn)]

[HP: 1,000,000 / 1,000,000]

[Attack Power: 5,000]

[Constitution: 10,000]

[Core Talent: Royal Supremacy (SS-Rank) — A tyrannical domain that forcibly reduces all attributes of any non-submissive targets by 20% (no upper limit).]

[Skills: Vampiric Domain, Monarch's Wrath, Blade of Depravity, Dark Imprisonment, Frost Slash... (23 skills total)]

Looking at the SS-Rank talent on the panel, a fierce greed flashed in Su Chen's eyes. A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "The SS-Rank talent Royal Supremacy, and so many top-tier skills... Today, you'll leave them all for me!"

Without hesitation, he immediately activated the active skill he had been holding in reserve, uttering in a low voice, "Hand of Heaven Stealing!"

The skill activated, silent and without the slightest ripple. Su Chen's target was precisely locked onto one of Agale's skills — Vampiric Domain.

[Ding! [Hand of Heaven Stealing] activation successful! Skill successfully stolen: Vampiric Domain!]

[Skill: Vampiric Domain]

[Effect: All allied units within a 1000-yard radius gain 10%-20% Lifesteal. The higher the damage dealt, the higher the Lifesteal percentage.]

Su Chen's heart leaped with joy. This skill seemed tailor-made for him. With his terrifying burst damage, a single successful hit could achieve "full HP from one strike," drastically increasing his margin for error in the ensuing battle.

On the throne, Agale frowned slightly. He raised a hand to touch his chest, his brows knitted tightly. "Strange... why do I feel like something is missing inside me?"

He sensed a peculiar anomaly, as if some power had vanished into the void.

Yet, upon careful inspection, he found nothing amiss. In the end, he could only shake his head, attributing it to a delusion. "It seems the deaths of those two useless subordinates have unsettled my mind."

As his words fell, Agale slowly rose from his throne and began to descend.

With each step he took, a dark domain materialized beneath his feet. With the first step, Berserk Domain (Attack Power +30%);

The second step, Evil Domain (Damage Reduction +25%);

The third step, Slaughter Domain (Damage stacks upon killing enemies);

The fourth step, Death Domain (Inflicts continuous damage per second to surrounding enemies);

The fifth step, Monarch's Domain (All Attributes +20% again).

After five steps, with five overlapping domains, Agale's aura instantly soared to its peak. Darkness and frost intertwined around him, an overwhelming pressure rushing forth. "Since you were capable of killing my subordinates, you have earned the right for me to personally take action. Experience well the wrath of a monarch!"

Su Chen felt his entire body grow heavy. All attributes on his stat panel instantly dropped by 20% — the effect of the SS-Rank talent Royal Supremacy had taken hold.

"All attributes reduced by 20%? Truly tyrannical." Su Chen's gaze sharpened, but not a trace of panic showed. He decisively activated his core buffing skill. "Peerless!"

With that low shout, Su Chen's body erupted in dazzling golden light. The aura around him surged violently as a system notification sounded:

[Ding! Skill [Peerless] activated! Speed, Attack, and Attack Speed greatly increased! 100% Critical Hit triggered! Immune to all crowd control! Ignores slowing effects!]

The disadvantage of the attribute reduction was instantly offset by the Peerless state, even surpassing his normal capabilities.

Su Chen's figure flickered, transforming into a streak of golden light. Agale, gripping his rune-engraved frost greatsword, turned into a black shadow. The two collided in an instant.

*CLANG—!*

The deafening sound of metal clashing rang out. The rune-engraved frost greatsword in Agale's hands smashed down viciously. The ground shattered instantly, rubble flying. A tremendous shockwave formed, sweeping through the entire palace hall.

Relying on the extreme speed of his Peerless state, Su Chen easily evaded this strike.

The two immediately entered a phase of high-speed combat. Their figures constantly crisscrossed within the palace hall, sword shadows and golden light intertwining. Every collision was accompanied by violent tremors.

Agale's movement was exceptionally agile, far surpassing any previous BOSS.

Su Chen's first basic attack missed. Without the slightest pause, light flashed at his feet. [Flash Stab] activated instantly, and his figure appeared behind Agale in a flash. Gathering all his strength into the cross greatsword, he brought it down with devastating force.

[Ding! [Peerless] state triggers 100% Critical Hit! [Flash Stab] 10x damage doubled, dealing 20x burst damage!]

[Ding! Attacked Epic BOSS Agale. HP deducted: 86,000 points!]

The 20x burst damage directly pierced through Agale's defenses. His health bar instantly dropped a significant chunk. Howling in pain, he roared, "Impossible! How could you possess such high damage?!"

Enraged by the pain, Agale abandoned all restraint. Gripping his rune-engraved frost greatsword with both hands, he raised it high. The blade gleamed with piercing cold, countless runes lighting up. With a furious roar, he unleashed an Epic-level AOE skill: "Gale Shock!"

The moment the skill activated, endless frigid air erupted from the greatsword, engulfing the entire main palace hall.

The air temperature plummeted. Countless sharp ice spikes materialized out of thin air, bursting forth from the ground. Dense and numerous, they covered an area of a thousand yards.

The once-majestic main palace hall was instantly transformed into a desolate, murderous plain of ice spikes.

The ground was covered in thick, smooth ice, making every step treacherous. Countless ice spikes pointed skyward, severely restricting Su Chen's movement.