Chapter 110: [No S-Rank can do this. You forget you are FREAKING SSS-RANK!]
The moment Silas released the bowstring, the world screamed.
TWANG!!
Thirty Piercing Arrows became thirty streaks of pink light. Empowered by the Wooden Hunter Bow, each arrow accelerated beyond what its C-Rank quality should have allowed, tearing through the atmosphere with deafening sonic booms. Not forgetting the huge pink circle that materialized behind him, shooting out more true Piercing Arrows.
The barrage descended upon the Solar Tyrant Gallus like divine judgment. Explosions engulfed the mountain, and entire cliffs were blown apart. Ancient crimson trees vanished.
The earth sank several meters under the relentless bombardment, creating a crater that stretched for nearly a kilometer.
Silas remained motionless, bow still raised.
"Did it work?"
[YOU ARE A FUCKING PSYCHOPATH!!!]
"Chill, dude."
[DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU JUST DID?!]
"I’m an S-Rank, you know?"
[No S-Rank can do this. You forget you are FREAKING SSS-RANK!]
"..."
Silas was speechless when he thought about it. The system was right. He had been swayed into thinking that he was an S-Rank, when he was actually an SSS-Rank. He had never seen as S-Rank battle before. Chloe was an SS-Rank, and Gromda was recently a confirmed S-Rank, which he knew had something to do with him.
Smoke, dust, burning feathers slowly settled, causing him to turn his attention to what was about to happen. He would think later.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
The roar shook the entire world, and Silas sighed.
"Of course."
A hurricane erupted from the crater, blasting away every cloud of smoke. Standing at its center was the Solar Tyrant. Its once-radiant golden plumage had become tattered. One wing hung limply. Its chest was riddled with dozens of holes where arrows had pierced through.
Golden blood flowed like rivers down its body, and one eye had been destroyed, but it stood, appearing more terrifying than before. Its body began radiating an overwhelming golden aura.
Its wounds closed while its broken feathers regrew. Mana condensed around it so densely that the surrounding space began to distort. The system’s voice lost all traces of humor.
[Warning!]
[Boss has entered its Second Phase.]
[Solar Sovereign Authority Activated.]
[Combat Ability Increased by 217%.]
"You’re kidding."
[No.]
"I was winning."
[Not anymore.]
The Solar Tyrant slowly spread all six wings, and this time, the sky itself changed. The emerald heavens split apart as a gigantic golden sun manifested overhead.
Heat descended, and the land began melting, lakes evaporated, and the forest caught fire without a single flame touching it. Silas looked upward with a grim expression as the heat bore down on him. His pajamas were already in tatters from all the rolling and hitting. The top part was mostly rugs. At least the pants were still intact. Most of it.
"Now that’s cheating."
The enormous bird raised its head and opened its beak. Inside, a miniature sun condensed. Silas immediately felt every instinct he possessed scream. If that attack landed, everything within several kilometers would disappear.
"Nope."
He stored his bow. Against something like that, there was only one option.
"Guess it’s round two."
Pink mana erupted once more, and this time, it wasn’t merely flowing around him. It exploded. The land surrounding him shattered as countless thread-like streams of mana spiraled into the heavens.
The ground caved underneath his feet while the system immediately responded.
[Title Activated!]
[Exalted Orc Dominator.]
[Authority Synchronization Complete.]
The world darkened as an enormous silhouette rose behind Silas and began growing from its initial twenty feet to a whopping forty. The avatar grew until it towered over the forest like a walking mountain.
It still bore the appearance of the Exalted Orc King, but it had evolved. Its muscles appeared carved from emerald crystal. Ancient runes of glowing pink thread covered every inch of its body while its eyes burned with overwhelming authority.
Behind it floated not four, but twelve gigantic arrows formed entirely from mana. The moment the avatar fully materialized, every remaining Crimson Warfowl throughout the world collapsed from instinctive fear.
The Solar Tyrant itself hesitated. Silas cracked his neck.
"Come on."
The gigantic avatar copied him. The Solar Tyrant screamed, and the miniature sun fired. A pillar of golden destruction shot toward him.
Silas didn’t dodge, but instead, he punched. The colossal avatar’s fist met the shooting sun, and for one second, everything stopped. The collision made no sound, as if waiting for a signal.
Then reality exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The collision ripped apart the heavens. Shockwaves traveled beyond the horizon. Entire mountain ranges collapsed. The clouds disappeared from the sky for hundreds of kilometers.
Silas’s feet dug into the earth as he was forced backward. Even with the avatar, the Solar Tyrant’s attack was pushing him. His grin widened.
"That’s more like it!"
The giant avatar roared and its second fist came crashing upward, causing the beam to shatter. Golden fire exploded across the sky. Without giving the beast time to recover, Silas leaped, and the avatar mirrored him.
A forty-foot emerald giant shot into the air, and the Solar Tyrant met him head-on. Wing against fist, beak against elbow, talon against knee. Every collision sounded like continents crashing together.
The two titans crossed the sky so quickly that only afterimages remained. Silas was laughing, and the Solar Tyrant was screeching.
One punch: a wing broke. A talon raked across the avatar’s chest, leaving glowing cracks. Silas answered with an elbow that shattered the bird’s beak.
The Solar Tyrant retaliated with all six wings, striking simultaneously, and the avatar staggered. Silas twisted, his gauntleted fist shooting upward, and the avatar’s enormous fist followed straight into the creature’s exposed chest.
THOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A shockwave erupted through the Solar Tyrant’s body, causing it to scream in pain. Silas landed on the ground, breathing heavily, while the avatar behind him flickered.
Even maintaining it consumed an enormous amount of mana. The Solar Tyrant, though battered and bleeding, was still alive. Its breathing had become ragged. One wing was gone entirely, and its chest caved inward, but its eyes still burned with defiance.
Silas smiled.
"So..." He slowly raised his fist again. "Let’s settle this."
Behind him, the colossal avatar did the same. Invisible threads spread silently throughout the battlefield. The Solar Tyrant charged with everything it had left.
Silas charged as well, one giant fist, one giant beak, and one final clash. The fate of the ancient predator, and Silas’s first true conquest of an A-Rank world boss, would be decided in that single collision.