Chapter 134: Boss Fight 2

The Zone.

It was not a skill that could be learned from a book, and it was not something that could be unlocked just by gathering more Shards. It was a state of absolute synchronization, a rare phenomenon where an awakened individual managed to align their internal core perfectly with the ambient mana in the air around them.

For normal fighters, using mana was a process. They had to draw it from their core, circulate it through their pathways, and shape it into whatever form they needed before releasing it into the world. Even for masters, that process always took a fraction of a second.

The Zone eliminated that gap entirely.

When someone entered that state, their body essentially became a pure conduit for their element. There were no casting times, no circulation delays, and no conscious thought required to manifest power.

The mana reacted to their pure instinct, reshaping the environment around them passively while their physical stats skyrocketed to handle the massive overflow of energy.

It was an overwhelming multiplier of combat power, but it came with a terrifying cost.

The human body was not meant to channel raw ambient mana directly, and staying in the Zone for too long would literally start tearing the user’s core apart from the inside out. It was a high-risk gamble that only the absolute strongest could even attempt without dying on the spot.

And Helen had just activated it without a second of hesitation.

Back in the ruins, the massive cloud of dust from the double impact was still rolling across the shattered path.

The silence had completely vanished, replaced by the violent cracking of frost spreading across the stone while the temperature continued to plummet. Hajin stood near the back of the formation, his breath turning into thick white clouds as he watched the dust slowly start to clear.

’She really did push it back,’ he thought, his grip tightening on his chain while Loccy and Juna stayed firmly planted in front of him.

He had known Helen was strong, but seeing her force an anomaly of that caliber backward with a single strike completely changed his perspective on the Knights.

A sharp, vibrating hum suddenly ripped through the ruins, the sheer pressure of dark red mana violently splitting the dust cloud down the middle.

The boss monster stepped out of the rubble on the far side of the path, its heavy metal frame completely unharmed despite being sent flying through a solid wall.

It slowly rolled its shoulders, the dark aura bleeding heavily from its armor while its featureless black visor locked onto the opposite side of the ruins.

"I have to admit," the monster’s deep voice vibrated across the cold air, "I did not expect a human to force me back."

The dust on the other side of the path settled, revealing Helen stepping out of the rubble.

Her pale blue eyes locked onto the creature, the glowing lines across her skin pulsing slightly while the floating ice spears drifted in a slow orbit around her armored body.

She did not look tired or injured from the crash, her expression completely flat while the frost continued to spread outward from her boots.

"You talk too much," she said, a cold mist slipping from her lips with every word.

She did not even raise her arm, simply stepping forward while the floating spears instantly shot across the path faster than Hajin could even track.

The first spear hit the monster’s chest with the force of a cannonball, exploding into a massive bloom of jagged ice, while the other three instantly followed, chaining impacts that drove the monster back another step.

Helen did not stop moving. She blurred forward, her icy blue eyes tracking the creature’s movements as the ambient moisture in the air froze solid under her boots.

She raised her hand and violently swung it down, summoning a dozen massive, jagged spikes of ice directly from the ground beneath the monster’s feet. The spikes tore through the ground, slamming into its legs and torso, trapping it in a freezing cage that rapidly expanded into a solid glacier of pure mana.

Hajin watched from the back, his eyes widening slightly at the sheer output of power.

’She is not just throwing spells,’ he thought, bracing himself against the shockwaves tearing through the ruins, ’she is actually physically altering the terrain as she moves.’

The boss monster let out a low roar, its dark red aura flaring as it shattered the glacier from the inside out.

But Helen was already waiting for it.

She closed the distance in a fraction of a second, the glowing lines across her skin flaring brightly as she manifested a massive battleaxe made of pitch-black ice. She swung the weapon with terrifying momentum, the heavy blade ripping through the dark red aura and slamming directly into the monster’s shoulder.

The impact sent a violent shockwave across the ruins, cracking the ground beneath them.

The monster swung its arm in retaliation, a blind sweeping strike meant to crush her in half, but she simply stepped into the attack. Her armor instantly thickened around her left arm, catching the heavy blow while she used the momentum to pivot sharply.

She drove her palm directly into the center of its chest, unloading every ounce of freezing mana she had built up in a single, devastating burst.

"Zero Degree!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the chaos.

A blinding flash of pale blue light consumed the ruins, followed by an explosion of absolute cold that completely froze the surrounding air.

The massive burst of energy sent a shockwave tearing through the outer ruins, throwing up a dense, freezing mist that obscured the entire crater.

Hajin covered his face, his breath catching in his throat as the sheer drop in temperature bit into his skin.

’That was insane,’ he thought, lowering his arms slowly as the violent mist finally started to clear, ’there is no way anything could take a direct hit like that without...’

His thought died instantly.

The freezing mist settled, revealing the monster still standing in the exact same spot. Its aura was still bleeding from its armor, melting the thick layer of ice coating its body in seconds.

It slowly rolled its neck, the metal plates shifting without a single dent, scratch, or crack anywhere on its massive frame.

"That was a very pretty trick," the monster said, "but you humans always lack the raw power to actually back it up."

The monster did not give her a single second to process the shock.

It vanished from sight, the sheer speed of its movement shattering the ground where it had just been standing.

Helen barely had time to widen her eyes before the monster reappeared directly in front of her, its fist already buried deep into her stomach.

The impact violently cracked the air itself.

Her thick ice armor instantly shattered into a thousand pieces, the raw force of the blow breaking her out of the Zone completely and sending her rocketing backward across the ruins.

She tumbled violently across the ground, her momentum only stopping when she slammed hard against a pillar.

She coughed up a heavy mouthful of blood, her vision swimming with dark spots while the freezing mana entirely faded from her skin.

"Weak," the monster said, taking a slow step toward her while raising its arm for the finishing blow.

It swung its fist down in a brutal arc, aiming directly for her head to crush her against the pillar. Helen could not even lift her arms to defend herself, her body completely paralyzed from the devastating internal damage.

But the strike never landed.

A heavy, resounding clang tore across the ruins, the shockwave from the impact throwing dust into the air as the Captain suddenly stepped between them.

His boots dug deep into the shattered ground, his muscles straining violently as he held his broadsword up with both hands, perfectly catching the monster’s killing blow just inches above Helen’s face.

"If you want my knights," the Captain gritted out, his arms shaking under the crushing weight, "you are going to have to kill me first."