Monarch of Profound Toxin

"I can't see a thing!" Gul coughed as they stepped through the fracture and into the second corrupted world. "And I can't—" she continued but was abruptly cut short as a fit of coughing overwhelmed him. "And I can't… breathe!"

Andihar couldn't even get those words out as he heaved in the miasma.

"Oh, get over yourselves, guys," Eik muttered, rolling his eyes and conveniently ignoring his own first few distressing seconds in the miasma. "Don't make a bigger deal out of this than it really is. Put up an aura barrier and get behind me."

Following his directions, they fell in line and began to advance away from the fracture as it spluttered and died out.

"This… whole world really has been taken over completely by this foul stuff," Andihar mumbled, his eyes scanning all around despite the obscure veil.

"And the stench is just as bad," Gul added.

Eik just nodded. He was running his senses on their highest setting now that the two S-rankers had come along to play.

Within seconds, a gasp escaped Andihar's throat as he brought his blade to bear, already clad in his signature golden armor. Crystal sprouted from his shield as he whirled around to face their rear, sensing something yet unseen within the murky darkness.

In that same moment, a sickly pale face burst forth from the miasma, its vicious grin gaping with saliva and teeth. Like all other spawn of the Lord of the Moon, it had hideously gaunt human features. However, that was where the similarities ended for this one.

A neck no thicker than two of Eik's fingers ended in an emaciated rib cage from which ten disgusting tentacles grew and carried the horror deftly across the ground. It couldn't help but giggle as it descended upon the elf.

Andihar met it head-on with the Azure Aegis. Like a reflex, tendrils of Profound Toxin slithered from the edges and wrapped themselves around the monster before hardening into near unbreakable crystal.

This gave Andihar the opportunity to hack away at the monster's slender neck with reckless abandon as it struggled against the bindings. Adapting to any combat scenario with practiced ease, the weapon shifted its shape from gigantic blade to that of a thick sword sword, perfect for tight but devastating damage.

Sensing a second abomination approaching, Andihar pivoted the shield still holding fast the first and now dying attacker to receive the assault. Like a bunker, he expertly utilized the slightly increased breadth of the shield to hide his body in a crouch, catching the newcomer with a blade that now grew to the length and width of a spear before it could make contact.

A streak of darkness slammed into its face and wrapped itself around its head, obscuring its features in much the same way the miasma did. Frantically clawing at both the thin blade in its stomach and the substance on its head that seemed to be causing rapid deterioration as well as hindering its vision, the monster died once Andihar expanded his blade again without pulling it out.

Three more decisive chops at its neck finished the job.

"These swarmers aren't nearly as powerful as the truly dangerous one we've met before. We can handle these, Gul!" Andihar laughed mirthfully as he bashed his shield into a third monster.

"Indeed, Andihar!" the pierced clan leader agreed. "I've been growing tired of feeling inferior to my damned grandson-in-law! How enjoyable it is to be able to flex my power again!" He was already raising shadow soldiers both from the ground and from the two monsters they had just turned into corpses.

Two more bounded out of the opaque layers, the first deflected off Andihar's shield and into the embrace of five shadow soldiers while the second slammed head first into the Azure Aegis. Like the first spawn, tendrils snaked out and seized the bastard tightly, their sharp points piercing its skin and digging into its flesh.

Although it was a significantly weaker version of the original substance, the shield allowed him to inject genuine Profound Toxin into the opponent, immediately spreading sickly discoloration from the wounds.

"Die, vermin," the elf muttered as he cleaved it in half with a charged strike.

[Acquired Azure Aegis — Lv. 74]

[Acquired Azure Aegis — Lv. 75]

[Acquired Azure Aegis — Lv. 76]

[Acquired Azure Aegis — Lv. 77]

"Hell yeah!" Andihar cried. "Leveling up feels so good!"

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As he weaved dark energies around two spawn kept at bay by his summons, Gul watched Andihar's great excitement with his own great grumpiness. With a frown, he glanced back at Eik who had just been enjoying the show with a relaxed smile and his arms folded over his chest. A simple but masterful flex of aura kept the miasma at bay just enough to offer the two S-rankers a small area of visibility in which to fight.

"What about this old man? Your own grandfather, almost. The beefy elf gets to have that much fun just because he kind of died once? I've kind of died a few times as well. You just weren't there for those."

"Yeah, good point!" Eik agreed and slammed a hand into the old man's back without any further warning.

The surge of foreign Ak'ki that suddenly assaulted his body disturbed the dark energies he had been controlling so severely that his skill that kept one of the spawn held fast unraveled. Seeing an opportunity for a counter attack, the spawn leapt at a preoccupied Andihar.

But the elf saw it coming and, instead of turning away from the enemy already trying to break through his shield, triggered the first evolutionary trait of Azure Aegis—Crystalline Expansion. At once, more and more crystal burst outward in a flat structure that essentially quadrupled the width and doubled the height of his already large shield. It was enough to create a barrier that surrounded him at slightly over one hundred and eighty degrees from shoulder to shoulder.

One useful feature of it was the transparency of the crystalline formations which allowed him to operate at full awareness.

The incoming spawn tried to circle around the barrier but just as it attempted to pass by, a few more spikes shot and caught it in the side, driven deep as Andihar maneuvered the construct sideways.

In response to his will, a hole opened in the crystal as he stabbed his spear-shaped blade through the narrow opening, striking the first abomination still held fast by the solidified tendrils. Immediately struggling against its bindings, the second spawn caught by the shield was rolled over onto the center, three quick stabs and a final, decisive strike taking its life.

[Acquired Azure Aegis — Lv. 78]

[Acquired Azure Aegis — Lv. 79]

With no more monsters available to kill at the moment, Andihar allowed himself a second to glance back at the scene playing out behind him.

Gul had fallen to his knees, gasping for air as the blue glow of Profound Toxin jetted across his body. Quickly, it faded and the old man climbed to his feet again, still shaken from the experience. With anticipation, he rolled up his sleeve and looked at the glowing script now adorning the skin on his forearm.

[Successfully initiated into the court of the Supreme Divinity of Toxin. Altering S-rank title]

[Reached Tainted Royal Guard of the Supreme Divinity of Toxin — XIV]

[Acquired Toxic Taint — Lv. 1]

In a rare moment, Andihar burst out in laughter. "That title matches your sour demeanor perfectly, my friend!"

Even the normally grumpy old man barely seemed to notice the jab, his eyes lighting up with the excitement of having a new skill to level and a new rank title to explore. It must have been years since he had last felt something like that.

"I wonder what my new skill does!" Gul exclaimed, almost having forgotten the rather dangerous environment they were in the middle of.

"What is it called?" Eik asked.

"Toxic Taint!" the old man told him with reverence.

At that, Eik tried and failed to hold in a snort of laughter. The clan leader shot him a suspicious eye. "What?"

"No, no, it's nothing. Nothing at all, my elderly friend. I just couldn't help but react at how cruelly the System has exposed your most unfortunate hygiene condition."

"M-My most unf—" Gul spluttered. "What in the world are you blabbering about, boy? Speak clearly, will you?"

As nonchalantly as he could manage, Eik pinched his lips together with two fingers to stop himself from giggling, mumbling through the corners of his mouth. "It's something we must all contend with at one point or another in our lives. It's just how it is. We men must support each other through it, and I certainly will never tell."

What met him was a frown of utter confusion as Gul Ougi struggled valiantly to discern exactly how this scurvy dog of a grandson-in-law was mocking him this time. "Whatever," he finally grumbled. The moment his thoughts returned to the new title and new skill, his eyes lit up once more. "Where are the monsters anyway?"

Andihar looked around. "They did stop coming pretty abruptl—" There wasn't even time to get the words out before an abomination leapt from the murky veil and slammed into his shield.

Activating his new skill, Gul immediately understood what it was. As streaks of dark energy slithered from his hands toward the spawn now held fast by Andihar's shield, almost imperceptible strings of deep azure weaved themselves into the substance.

Despite not being the caster, Eik felt the Profound Toxin bite into the monster in concert with Gul's own powers of putrefaction. It made sense that his first skill as a Royal Guard of the Supreme Divinity of Toxin would be an enhancer like that. Those two power types worked perfectly together.

Two more spawn followed, brought down just in time to receive another, followed by another two. Five more in total came, all handled by the two Royal Guards.

As he delivered a final blow to a large spawn that had been stuck to his massive shield, Andihar flicked his blade through the air to rid it of ichor and relaxed his stance.

"Was that it?" he wondered out loud. "Not quite as great a number of enemies as I had expected, to speak honestly." Multiple deep grooves in the ground extended into the miasma—a testament to the power of Andihar's attacks.

Gul sniffed. "Couldn't agree more. I thought you said it was swarming," he said with a glance back at Eik. "This was nothing big. Not to mention that I have barely seen you lift a finger yet, boy."

"Hey, I've been doing stuff!" Eik protested. "That's hurtful!"

"And what stuff is that? Fishing gunk out of your ears?"

"This!" the Supreme Divinity of Toxin huffed and let his aura expand and push back the miasma much further. With every centimeter the dark veil was pushed back, pale and broken bodies were revealed. More and more it expanded until they could see a hundred meters out in every direction. Even just in that relatively small area, thousands of corpses littered the barren ground, to the point where it would have been difficult to find anywhere to set your foot without stepping on cooling flesh.

Andihar and Gul's eyes went wide as they looked all around. "This is… but I didn't even notice…"

Eik grinned. "Now, shall I show you how I finish this?" he suggested as his new favorite ability blossomed into a whirling sphere in his palm.