"Redemption… destruction… die!"
Valdrick kept repeating those words over and over.
Madness flickered in his eyes, while more than half of his face was already covered in metal.
Caelan could even see thick, pitch-black viscous fluid slowly seeping from the places where metal fused with flesh.
"Die! Die!"
Valdrick let out a furious roar. At some point, two uniquely shaped curved blades had appeared in his hands.
Yet in the face of this ferocious assault, a faint smile never left Caelan's face.
"I think it's time to end this."
In the next moment, he calmly drew his longsword.
At the same time, his tone carried a hint of judgment.
"This is my first time using [Thousandblade Rend]."
"To die by this skill… you can rest in peace."
As his words fell, the longsword in Caelan's hand once again began gathering surging, heart-pounding energy.
Unlike the full-body charging of [Infinite Lightblade], the energy of [Thousandblade Rend] was concentrated solely at the sword tip.
At this very moment, the tip of the blade looked as if it had ignited!
The flowing energy was almost solidifying into a tangible form!
"Thousandblade Rend!"
The longsword swung out, and a fiery red Sword Aura dozens of meters long slashed straight toward Valdrick's position!
But in the blink of an eye, that single Sword Aura exploded into a sky full of Sword Auras!
Countless fiery red Sword Auras, like blazing meteors, rained down toward Valdrick in a torrential barrage!
Not only did the entire palace begin to tremble violently, but even the whole of Old Macallen City started to quake as if the earth itself were roaring.
The commotion once again drew the attention of nearby adventurers.
"What the hell, is this ever going to stop? Don't tell me Old Macallen City is about to revive?"
"Look! It's a meteor shower—red meteors!"
"My god… I never thought I'd see something this beautiful in my lifetime!"
…
At this moment, all adventurers' attention was once again focused on Old Macallen City.
"Do you think some high-level adventurer team made a move? This kind of commotion is way beyond what normal adventurers can do."
"Could it be that the Adventurers' Guild is launching an operation against the ancient city? But… why wasn't there any announcement beforehand?"
"Should we… go take a look and see what's going on?"
"Don't. If you want to die, I won't stop you—but don't drag me down with you. I still want to live a couple more days."
"That's right. Stay calm, my friend! At this level of battle, even the aftershocks could kill us!"
…
The palace—spanning an area equivalent to five football fields—
was completely flattened in an instant under this wave of [Thousandblade Rend]!
Whether it was solid rock or softer trees, everything was effortlessly shredded into fragments by the Sword Auras, like tofu under a blade!
At the same time, countless inscriptions symbolizing the [White Swordsman] began to surface across Valdrick's body.
However, these inscriptions were extremely faint, making them difficult to notice.
At this moment, Valdrick's appearance was utterly miserable.
Half of his body had originally been covered in metal, but now all that metal had shattered into pieces, completely devoid of life.
With the metal stripped away, Valdrick's withered, lich-like body was finally revealed in full once more.
But his current condition was nothing short of tragic.
Large amounts of black viscous fluid, mixed with writhing worms, began uncontrollably pouring out of his body.
At the same time, a long-awaited notification appeared before Caelan's eyes.
[Congratulations! You have successfully slain a World-Class Boss!]
[You have gained EXP: 963,517]
[You have obtained a special item: Fallen City Lord's Gift]
[You have achieved the first kill of this World BOSS and gained additional rewards.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained… bzzzt, bzzzt!]
The harsh crackling of static made Caelan frown involuntarily.
But in the next moment, an intense stench of blood and decay swept over him!
Caelan snapped his head up in shock, only to discover that the white fog around him had somehow been dyed crimson.
Visibility dropped sharply. It wasn't quite pitch-black, but the air felt thick and oppressive, as if soaked in blood.
The smell of blood continued to intensify!
The blood-colored mist even began surging toward the city itself!
At this moment, Caelan—still within Old Macallen City—had no idea what was happening outside.
Still, he instinctively raised his alertness to the highest level.
"Clang… clang!"
Just then, the screeching sound of metal scraping against the ground shattered the eerie silence.
Caelan frowned and opened his quest list.
When he saw that the [Class Mutation Quest] had been fully completed, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
His gaze then shifted to the [Quest Rewards] section.
Unlocking the level cap was nothing special.
What truly caught his attention was the reward labeled [Class Mutation ★1].
So what exactly did this class mutation mean?
Caelan scanned his interface back and forth.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed something unexpected—
A brand-new branch had grown on his skill tree!
What the hell was going on?
Caelan immediately checked it, and what he saw made his face light up with joy.
So that was it.
Class mutation meant using the [White Swordsman] skill tree as a foundation to nurture an entirely new skill tree.
To put it simply, under normal circumstances, Caelan's class—[White Swordsman]—would only have sword-related skills on its skill tree.
But the appearance of [class mutation] effectively granted him a second set of skills from an entirely different class.
For example, the very first skill unlocked on this branch was [Arrow Rain]—
a signature skill belonging to the Archer class.
Wait a second.
I'm a swordsman. I don't even have a bow. What am I supposed to do with [Arrow Rain]—smash people with it?
But soon, Caelan noticed the small explanatory text following [Arrow Rain].
Active Skill: [Arrow Rain]
Fire arrows into the sky, creating a rain-like barrage that attacks the target area.
Advanced Skill: Meteor Skyburst
[Hint: After class mutation, any non-class skills you use will automatically adapt to your class and be adjusted accordingly.]
[Arrow Rain] has been adjusted to [Sword Rain].
Effect: Throw your longsword into the sky, creating a Sword Rain effect that delivers indiscriminate, rain-like attacks over the target area.
Caelan was completely stunned.
If this was what [class mutation] meant…
Didn't that mean that every time he advanced a star level, he would gain an entirely new skill tree?!