The hall trembled as the monster's shriek tore through the air, the sound so sharp it made several of the raiders instinctively cover their ears. Cracks spread along the stone walls as loose debris rained down, splashing into the magma pond below.
Within the centipede's massive maw, something began to form.
A grotesque sphere of acid swelled between its blade-lined teeth, pulsing as if alive. The liquid glowed an unnatural corrosive green, shimmering like molten glass caught under sunlight. The heat around it distorted the air, and a low, dangerous hum filled the hall.
The monster leaned back, its enormous body flexing as layers of magma armor shifted and hardened. Its muscles tensed.
Boom!
The acid sphere launched forward like a cannonball.
It tore through the air with terrifying speed, leaving streaks of sizzling vapor behind it. Droplets flung off the main mass mid-flight, splattering against the walls. Wherever they landed, stone hissed and collapsed, steel supports melting as if made of wax.
Several raiders flinched backward.
"That thing…! It melted reinforced stone like nothing!"
Ashan didn't flinch.
He tightened his grip on the gunbai, his stance calm and grounded. His masked eyes reflected the incoming sphere, not fear, but mild curiosity, as if judging its trajectory and density.
At the very last moment, he moved.
The gunbai swung through the air with a deep, resonant thud.
The instant it struck the acid sphere, the world seemed to pause.
The sphere changed direction violently.
Like a redirected comet, the acid blast screamed back toward its owner. The monster reacted just in time, twisting its massive head aside as the projectile barely missed its face.
The acid smashed into the wall behind it.
BOOM..!
A massive crater formed instantly, smoke and corrosive steam billowing outward. The surrounding stone collapsed inward, glowing red-hot at the edges.
Ashan tilted his head slightly.
"Feels weird, doesn't it?" he said coldly. "Getting hit by your own spit."
The monster screeched in rage.
Fury poured from it like heat waves. It opened its mouth again, then again, launching multiple acid spheres in rapid succession.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each projectile screamed through the air, overlapping trails of destruction. The hall lit up in sickly green flashes as the attacks came faster and faster.
Yet Ashan stood unmoved.
He swung the gunbai again and again.
Each strike was precise.
Each impact redirected another acid sphere, sending it crashing into the walls, the ceiling, even back toward the monster itself. The rhythm became almost hypnotic, the hum of motion, the heavy thud of the gunbai, the violent hiss of vaporized acid.
To the onlookers, it felt unreal.
"He's… batting them away? That thing's supposed to melt mana constructs!"
Roswayn swallowed hard.
"That weapon… that's not normal, indeed."
"How boring," Ashan murmured softly, eyes glinting behind the mask. "Is that all you've got? Show me everything."
The monster stopped attacking.
Its body heaved violently as it drew in ragged breaths. Its massive body began to convulse, every segment trembling at once. Hundreds of slick, insect-like legs scraped and shuddered against the stone floor.
A deep, unnatural sound escaped its throat.
Whoooosh…
A wave of thick yellow mist erupted from its mouth, pouring outward like a flood. The fog was dense and heavy, crawling along the ground and climbing the air itself. The scent was sharp, bitter, and suffocating.
Crackle.
The mana barrier Draven had cast began to erode.
Lines of light fractured across its surface as the toxic haze ate away at the mana itself.
Draven's eyes widened.
"Damn it!" he shouted. "That mist is consuming the barrier! It's even stronger than the golem's magma attack!"
He immediately reinforced the spell, manipulating wind to push the toxic cloud back. Gusts slammed into the mist, forcing it away temporarily.
But it didn't disperse.
It pressed forward again, devouring everything in its path.
Draven clenched his teeth.
"I'm using mana to manipulate the wind," he realized grimly. "That mist feeds on mana itself."
His gaze snapped toward the battlefield.
Ashan was completely engulfed.
"What is he doing?!" Draven thought. "He's not defending, he's walking straight into it!"
Then,
Draven froze.
So did everyone else.
The mist wasn't touching him. Not a single wisp crossed the invisible boundary around Ashan.
The yellow fog halted midair, stopping inches from his body. Each particle trembled, suspended as if caught in invisible resin, then gently drifted away, repelled as if brushed aside by glass.
It was mesmerizing.
The mist curved and rolled around Ashan, forming a swirling vortex that never made contact. The space around him shimmered faintly, bending light itself. The air hummed with a pressure that made the skin prickle.
Reality looked… distorted.
"It's not stopping the mist," Sisilya whispered. "The mist just… can't reach him."
This was the miracle of Infinity.
The tangible manifestation of the Limitless technique.
The poison couldn't bridge the infinite distance between Ashan and the outside world. Every molecule slowed endlessly as it approached him, trapped in a paradox, forever moving, yet never arriving.
To those watching, it looked divine.
As if an unseen god stood beside him, denying the very concept of harm.
Draven's thoughts raced wildly.
'None of this makes sense. His defense isn't resistance, it's denial.'
Ashan's footsteps echoed softly as he walked forward through the poisoned hall. Each step sent ripples through the air, spatial tension vibrating faintly.
"Your poison can't reach me," he said calmly. "You should've known better."
He raised two fingers toward the ceiling.
The cursed energy surged.
Above him, the air split apart as an enormous sphere of water formed. It was vast, dense, heavy, so large it blotted out the ceiling, hanging like a suspended ocean.
Garrick leaned forward, eyes wide.
"That… that water ball.. It's enormous."
His jaw tightened.
"To form something like that in seconds… his mana reserves are monstrous."
Ashan pointed downward.
"Let's see how you survive this."
The water sphere dropped instantly.
It engulfed the monster completely.
The moment water met magma, violent vaporization occurred. Steam exploded outward as the monster thrashed, its magma armor hissing and bubbling furiously.
Ashan narrowed his eyes.
'As expected. Water alone won't be enough.'
He extended his palm and stepped to the side.
"Maximum Output: Frost Calm."
The world froze.
A wave of absolute cold surged outward, overtaking the hall in an instant. Ice spread like wildfire, climbing walls, swallowing the magma pond, and encasing the monster completely.
The centipede froze mid-motion.
Its legs locked. Its body was trapped.
The magma armor solidified into brittle black stone.
Ashan nodded slightly. 'It worked. The protective layer is gone.'
His gaze flicked toward the spectators.
'I can't use my full power with so many eyes watching.'
Then,
Crack.
The ice trembled.
Crack.. BOOM!
The protective layer reignited, melting from within. Magma surged again as the dungeon pulsed, mana flooding into the monster's body. The pond regained its form, consuming the ice greedily.
The monster burst free and inhaled deeply.
A torrent of fire erupted.
The flames bent and curved around Ashan, spiraling uselessly against the Infinity.
Ashan frowned. 'Something's off.'
His Byakugan activated.
The dungeon revealed its truth.
Mana was leaking from the walls, the ceiling, the ground, flowing directly into the monster.
'So that's it,' he realized. 'The dungeon itself is feeding it.'
A slow, dangerous smile formed beneath his mask.
'If that's the case… this becomes easy.'
He glanced at Draven and the others.
'I'll push them out of range.'
Ashan clapped his hands.
A hand seal formed.
The cursed energy exploded outward.
"Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha."
Reality shattered.
A semi-circular, opaque barrier surged outward, covering nearly the entire hall. It stopped just before Draven's mana barrier, sealing Ashan and the monster inside.
Inside the domain—
The world drowned in blue.
The ground vanished, replaced by an endless ocean stretching beyond sight. Pressure crushed down from every direction, cursed energy saturating the air like deep-sea weight. Faint light shimmered from above, illuminating ghostly currents below.
Kreek…
The monster fell.
It plunged into the ocean, thrashing violently as water flooded its system.
Ashan landed calmly on a small island rising from the depths.
Now everything was clear.
"I dragged you into my domain," he said coldly. "You won't absorb mana anymore."
The ocean stirred.
And the hunt truly began.