Path of the Slayer B1 C21. Mole Lord

The javelin went awry after taking a magnetic push from behind. Instead of flying straight and true as I’d imagined, it flipped end-over-end and smacked the Mole Lord broadly in the face.

The Portal Boss let out an undignified shout and swiped at its snout, which had come out a little crooked in the exchange, but not by much.

That was certainly not a part of the plan, but to be fair, I hadn’t given myself the chance to practice throwing with Path Magnetism. I’d barely gotten any practice with anything magical before.

Senior Codex had stayed completely focused on sword work and Path Energy efficiency. While that was a viable tactic to stick with, I had other things to train up.

As the Mole Lord took aim with its scepter once again, I launched another javelin with my left hand. This time, I focused on pushing the entire rod forward from tip to end instead of just pushing the end of the javelin.

The projectile ended up cutting straight into the ground at the Mole Lord’s feet, burying deep for no effect.

In return, I took a flying gem shot to the chest and got knocked off my feet. I lost 10% of my Path Energy, but that was because of Pain Eater Gluttony activating.

The Great Skill helped me absorb the damage and get me back to my feet quickly with another javelin in hand.

Again, I launched it while focused on affecting the entire weapon with magnetism. I aimed higher, too, and the projectile flew far harder than anything I’d ever thrown before.

It also flew right over the Mole Lord’s head, nearly taking the crown of mushrooms and gems it wore.

Man, I really sucked at using Path Magnetism. Maybe I should’ve gone for Path Acid or Path Darkness.

“Pathetic,” the Mole Lord said nasally. “You’re best served as my next meal, you wretch!”

I was glad my face was darkened within the helmet’s open visor. The outright embarrassment would’ve shown.

Swinging its fancy gem scepter around again, the Mole Lord shot another gem bolt at my chest. This time I dodged aside, if only barely.

Out of frustration, I used Path Magnetism to yank all the remaining javelins out of the quiver with their ends connecting to the palm and fingers of my metal hand.

I awkwardly aimed the javelins toward the boss while my half ripper served as the launcher’s base.

Then … the unexpected happened.

Hellion tugged on my Path Energy, and before I could think to stop him, I noticed little crimson teeth flickering into appearance on the tips of each javelin.

I lost some considerable Path Energy, but now every cursed javelin had little autosaw energy blades spiraling on their points.

Eyes widening, the Mole Lord spun its scepter into the air. The scepter shone with a green light, and the ground broke apart. Tall blocks and thick barricades of rock rose, covering the Mole Lord with only a few gaps in between.

I’d nearly let my entire load go – but then I thought better of it. Instead, I focused on one autosaw-enhanced javelin in the bundle and launched the cursed projectile on its own.

As it flew fast and somewhat on target, I noticed pieces of the javelin fragment away like it was getting chewed apart mid-flight. The front half remained by the time it struck a stone block, drilling right through.

The Mole Lord let out an awkward squawk, and I smelled the splatter of blood hitting the floor. Hellion growled ever louder, and I cut loose even further.

I sent flying javelin after javelin, the cursed projectiles fragmenting while harboring the ill-intent of Hellion’s autosaw magic. Upon impact, they drilled through, riddling the stone blockades with holes that led to large portions of them crumbling.

Behind all of that, the Mole Lord let out yelps and squeals of pain and fear. Though I was sure nothing heavy struck a solid blow on the Portal Boss, at least not yet.

By the time I ran out of javelins, the monster’s blockade was broken shambles at its feet. The Mole Lord itself was covered in blood and many wounds that wouldn’t close despite the boss having Rank 3 Vitality.

The cursed javelins, even with only fragments striking true, had done their job in making bleeding wounds linger. 

“You horrid mongrel! I will eat you alive!” The Portal Boss roared before slamming down its scepter repeatedly in what seemed like a fit of rage.

When the entire chamber shook with the tantrum, it became apparent that the Mole Lord was doing something. It was time to close the distance.

I was halfway to the Portal Boss when the ground erupted in front of me with rapidly chomping teeth. The mole warrior threw itself forward like a runaway carriage.

Instead of dodging, I extended a six-foot energy autosaw from my half ripper knuckles.

The mole warrior’s teeth clashed with the long autosaw with sparks flying and smoke hissing until the inevitable happened. Hellion’s magic cleaved through, splitting the teeth out of the way and sinking into the fleshy mouth.

The tip ran straight into the roof, grinding its way upward before hitting the brain.

Before Hellion and I could soak in the fresh Vitality and Path Energy we were getting, another mole warrior launched at me from behind. Meanwhile, the ground bulged upward from under me before erupting into rapidly chomping teeth.

I was fast enough to respond to the threat coming behind me, ripping Hellion’s autosaw blade out of the mole warrior in front of me and swinging it to the back.

I wasn’t fast enough to stop from getting my leg chewed on, which nearly got torn apart before Pain Eater Gluttony kicked in, reducing the damage.

Even with the damage reduction, I shouted with pain as I reached behind me with my left hand. I took the greatsword off my back and slashed down at the mole warrior that had one of my legs in its freaking mouth.

In my blood-fueled haze, I activated Sword Player Flurry after the third hit. My greatsword swings became a death-bringing blender that freed my leg.

Hitting the ground, I supported myself on one leg while Path Energy worked fervently to fix up my damaged limb. I kept my head up, my gaze sweeping around me, my senses sharpened, as two dozen mole warriors surrounded me.

“Yes, now you will know fear, worm,” said the Mole Lord from outside of the enclosing ring.

“Alright, you got me. I’ll get serious,” I said.

“Wait, what?” The Mole Lord sputtered.

Path Magic activated: Relentless Surge, Tyrannosaurus Roar.

Great Skills activated: Barbaric Musician Grace, Sword Player Flurry, Multi-Striker Potency.

I ignored the sharp drop in Path Energy in favor of howling with all of my might. As the monsters froze up and hesitated, I felt Relentless Surge boost my body in all the major ways that counted.

I also felt Barbaric Musician Grace boosting my dexterity, which made the prospect of dual-wielding a greatsword in one hand and a long energy autosaw in the other much easier.

I chopped the nearest mole warrior’s head into gory pieces with rapid strikes, alternating between my greatsword and energy autosaw. Then I lunged into a flying multi-striker slash that ran my autosaw through multiple mole warrior bodies.

Hellion slurped up a flood of Vitality. I worked my way through mole warriors to refresh Relentless Surge.

In the middle of the frenzy, I discovered that Barbaric Musician Grace could keep going as long as the noise I made was coherent enough, at least to me. I had to imagine all of my attacks on a beat, too.

The roaring autosaw served as the undercurrent to everything. By doing that, my dexterity remained ridiculously high, which made it much easier to trigger Sword Player Flurry again and again. 

Unfortunately, Sword Player Flurry was a specific enchantment for sword swings. But that didn’t stop me from using the momentum of a one-handed greatsword swing to boost a follow-up strike from my energy autosaw, if timed correctly.

That was where Barbaric Musician Grace came into play, looping everything back together even if all the pieces were normally individualistic.

It was like playing a symphony of violence.

I flew around the battle like a maniac, aiming specifically at the mole warriors while leaving the Portal Boss to panic and summon more. My Path Energy reserves went up to 100%, and by this point, I was confident enough to push myself even harder.

Path Magnetism was still active, and upon my whim, I magnetized my greatsword to make it swing even harder and faster with a push and pull of magic. That was much easier and intuitive to do than using it on javelins – but the sudden boost in sword swings threw me off my rhythm.

I switched tactics.

I channeled Path Magnetism through the half ripper arm. I made my swings faster and harder for the energy autosaw. The first few attempts came out jerky while trying to weave it all together with my greatsword.

Again, if it wasn’t for Barbaric Musician Grace, I would’ve ended up with an autosaw in my face. I had no idea if the half ripper magic could hurt me, to be honest.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to test that. I found it easier to weave the autosaw swings in between greatsword swings with sufficient practice, even with Sword Player Flurry activated.

The rate at which mole warriors died jumped up significantly. The Mole Lord couldn’t summon them fast enough.

Then there was only me and the Portal Boss, which left Multi-Striker Potency out of the game. But the moment I nicked the scrambling monster with my autosaw, I called upon another power.

Path Magic activated: Apex Fervor.

“You can’t do this to me! I’m meant to rule and be fed! I am a Portal Boss crowned by the System, and everything in this Realm serves me!” roared the Mole Lord, its scepter shining while raised into the air before slamming down.

It might as well throw its scepter away.

Apex Fervor boosted my agility and striking speed, giving me time to spare when I dodged around the grand-slamming attack. The earth rippled under me, but I still benefited from Relentless Surge and other powers that propped up my agility.

Relentless Surge was on its way out, so I took advantage of my positioning and cut loose with a frenzied attack that kicked up into wild territory once I activated Sword Player Flurry.

I lost myself in the frenzy. I weaved strikes from my greatsword and autosaw in a blinding red fury that struck completely on target.

I didn’t know how many strikes I was landing. And I was barely conscious of everything I did to keep the flow, which slowed down the moment Relentless Surge ended on its own.

I readjusted quickly while my other powers remained engaged and interlocked together.

It didn’t end until the upper half of the Mole Lord’s body fell with a splat to the side of me. The lower end was mostly missing except for the legs.

I was covered in gore, with a black greatsword held in my left hand and a big energy autosaw roaring from my right hand. I slowly turned to look down at the gasping Portal Boss, with its dark eyes looking up at me in horror and pain.

Why did it look at me as if I was the monster?

With blood bubbling up from its throat, it tried to say one last thing.

I shoved the energy autosaw through its mouth and turned its entire head into a gory mess. Once that was done, I willed for the half ripper to deactivate.

Of course, Hellion fought me, but I handled the disagreeable treasure patiently while I was riding high on a wave of my own. My heart was beating so loudly it filled my ears with noise.

It took me a few minutes to calm down before I paid heed to the notifications from the System.

[Congratulations, Pathwalker! You’ve slain the Rank 3 Mole Lord Portal Boss! Bravo!]

[You’ve slain all foes in a significant encounter. Reward: 50% Path Energy!]

[You’re currently the Temporary Realm Master of Raining Ruin Hell Realm. You can leave that behind and inherit the Temporary Title of Hungry Mole Cavern Realm Master, if that’s to your choosing.]

[You currently do not meet the requirement to combine this Realm with a Domain.]

[You currently do not meet the requirement to turn this Realm into a Pocket Realm.]

[You currently do not meet the requirement to turn this Realm into a World Realm.]

[Do you wish to become Realm Master of this Realm?]

“No,” I said.

[You’ve turned down the offer to become Realm Master for this Realm. Please exit through the Portal you’ve used to get here when you’re ready.]

A rippling red Portal appeared next to me. Through that, I could return to the Raining Ruin Hell Realm.

I should have time to spare, too. But there were still other things here that acquired my attention. I went back into the notifications.

[Congrats! For slaying the Mole Lord Portal Boss, you’ve earned one Realm Treasure Chest!]

[Congrats! The gear of the Mole Lord Portal Boss is yours!]

[Congrats! Path of the Slayer leveled up! 16 to 20!]

No new power, but that was fine. I learned a lot from that fight. More than I could imagine. And there was room for improvement.

On top of all that, I had a treasure chest to open up and a green gem-encrusted scepter that remained as my trophy from the Mole Lord. More importantly, my Path of the Slayer was higher in Level, which made my Path Energy stronger, which made using my more advanced powers cheaper.

If all that wasn’t great enough, my Path Energy was back up to 100%, and I still had Path Magnetism active.

“This place is loaded with metals,” I said, using my magnetism to feel out the stuff. “Too bad it’ll be all Common material mainly.”

I was going to brush it off when I stopped to think. This was the Portal Boss chamber, right? Even if the Realm overall was Common, the materials found near the Portal Boss would certainly be of higher quality.

I supposed I would mine after all as long as I was quick about it. Path Magnetism was still a tricky power to take advantage of in combat outside of the simplest maneuvers.

But its utility was practically amazing for me. If only I had more time to practice, to theorize, to push the boundaries of what I could do.

The pressure on me was intense.

Setting aside my spiraling thoughts, I turned toward my apparent loot. Once I gathered all I needed – packing the loot and the Uncommon ores into my storage ring – I went back to my temporary home. Time was of the essence.

There were eight hours left before the Portal to the empire closed. The gold adventurers hadn’t arrived. Maybe they wouldn’t arrive at all.

Yet, I could feel death breathing down my neck.