Harem Points System: Every Touch Counts!

He frowned, stepping back instinctively as the shadow expanded across the battlefield. The glow of molten fissures reflected off its carapace — a smooth, black-crystal sheen that shimmered with deadly beauty.

"Shard Beetles…" he muttered under his breath. "They came sooner than expected."

The first of them swooped down, its translucent wings cutting through the air like scythes. Its maw — a jagged saw-like spiral — snapped open with a horrible grinding sound. Sparks flew as it bit into a nearby golem by mistake, shearing through basalt as though it were butter.

The golem staggered and fell, its head split open, before the beetle turned toward Xavier with mechanical precision.

More shadows appeared above — half a dozen, then more. Their wings flickered with dim blue veins, reflecting the cold shimmer of the dungeon's mana field.

Xavier narrowed his eyes. "Since the fliers are here… the walkers won't be far behind."

The fliers began circling like vultures, their screeches blending with the thunder of golem footsteps. The air was now a war of sound and motion — molten heat below, biting frost above. From afar, it looked like the world itself was at war with him.

He ducked just in time as a beetle swooped low, its mandibles grazing his shoulder and leaving a thin cut through his cloak. He retaliated instantly — his dagger flaring white as he slashed upward. The blade met crystal carapace — and cracked it clean through. The creature let out a shriek and spiraled into the ground, crashing into a golem's torso.

"So, you're not unbreakable after all."

But there was no time to rest. Another swooped in from the right — then another, and another. They coordinated, their patterns erratic yet intelligent, forcing him to shift constantly between parries and evasions.

He sliced one across the eye, spun away from another's bite, then kicked off a falling golem to gain height — twisting midair to plunge his dagger into a beetle's back. The impact shattered its wing, sending it careening into the earth in a blaze of crystal shards.

He landed in a crouch, breathing out hard, eyes flicking toward the horizon.

Already, he could see the faint shimmer of movement in the distance — rolling mounds of black stone, cold mist trailing behind them. The walking-type Shard Beetles. Their method of attack was worse: they rolled boulders laced with frost, coating the ground in ice before crushing everything under their mass.

"Wonderful," he muttered dryly. "Flying blades above, rolling death below."

But despite his words, his eyes gleamed faintly — the kind of gleam only true hunters carried. There was a thrill there, buried beneath calm.

"I have to finish the golems fast…" he said, lowly, gripping his dagger tighter. "They spawn near endlessly. No wonder the others failed this dungeon."

The ground shook again as another group of golems rose, molten cores pulsing like beating hearts. The swarm of flying beetles screamed above. The entire field was converging on him — a single man against a battlefield of monsters.

And yet, he didn't falter.

The air around him began to distort faintly — his mana surging with subtle but dangerous intensity. He pushed off the ground with explosive force, vanishing into a blur of motion once again.

One golem's head fell.

Another's core burst in molten light.

A beetle shrieked as its wings were severed midair.

The world became a dance of motion — fire and frost colliding, shards and dust swirling like a cyclone.

Even surrounded by countless enemies, Xavier's expression didn't change. He was calm, analytical, every strike chosen, every movement efficient.

When the next wave of Shard Beetles descended, he didn't retreat. He raised his dagger, eyes glinting coldly.

"Then come," he whispered, voice low and dangerous. "Let's see which of us lasts longer."

And with that, he surged into the chaos once more — his silhouette swallowed by dust, light, and the endless roar of monsters.

His boots struck the ground with a rhythm like thunder, every step a defiance against the storm of shard beetles rushing from every angle. He had been holding back till now, testing, measuring… playing. A faint grin curved his lips as realization struck him — none of these creatures, not even the newly forming golems, could truly challenge him if he got serious.

Currently, his strongest affinity was the Moon. Ever since Diana's blessing — her gift of divine resonance and affinity elevation — that celestial energy within him had grown to monstrous levels. Even without the presence of an actual moon in this strange, distorted dimension, its energy thrummed through his veins like living silver fire. It didn't matter that this place had no night sky; he was the moonlight here.

"Moonshield," he murmured, voice calm but resolute.

Instantly, an ethereal dome of silver light expanded from his body, forming a perfect, translucent sphere of protection. Its surface shimmered like rippling water under moonlight, soft yet impossibly strong. The incoming wave of shard beetles collided against it in a violent spray of sparks and fragmented light. The sound was like a rain of glass shards striking crystal — sharp, continuous, futile.

But what made this shield special wasn't just its defense. Unlike most barriers, Moonshield didn't isolate him from battle — it flowed with him, breathing with his movements, allowing his attacks to pass through freely.

He smirked, eyes flashing a faint silver glow.

"Let's hunt."

Xavier dashed forward. The earth cracked beneath his steps as he kicked off a half-formed golem's stone stump, using it as a foothold to leap high into the air. The golem, still forming from the swirling dust and debris, roared in frustration, its massive arm slamming upward to swat him from the sky.

But Xavier had already predicted it. He twisted mid-air, letting the golem's hand graze the surface of his shield — only for the enormous fingers to disintegrate into glowing fragments as the lunar barrier flared in retaliation. The air around him trembled from the feedback.

The world slowed for a heartbeat.

In that suspended moment, Xavier's gaze locked onto a massive swarm of shard beetles gathering ahead — thousands of glittering bodies reflecting light like a storm of razors.

His right hand rose, fingers spreading open, energy concentrating into his palm. The Moonshield still shimmered faintly around him, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

"Moon Palm."

The words fell from his lips like a commandment — quiet, but absolute.

A colossal beam of condensed moonlight erupted from his palm, wide as a river and devastating in its purity. The silver-white energy tore through the swarm in a sweeping arc, vaporizing everything in its path. The beetles didn't even have time to scream — they simply ceased to exist, leaving behind trails of glowing dust that rained like glittering ash.

He landed amidst the carnage, his boots cracking the stone floor. Around him, the ground was littered with steaming fragments of shattered crystal and golem remains, still glowing faintly from residual energy.

But the dungeon wasn't done.

From the ruptured earth, new golems began to emerge — dozens of them this time. Their bodies were larger, thicker, their cores pulsing crimson instead of dull blue. Shard beetles swarmed above like a dark cloud, merging and fusing into monstrous hybrid forms with blade-like wings.

Xavier exhaled, rolling his shoulders as his Moonshield pulsed once more, expanding slightly.

"So… you're getting serious too," he muttered with a half-smile.

He sprinted forward before the golems could fully rise. His movements blurred — every step leaving a faint afterimage of silver light. A golem swung a massive arm; Xavier ducked low, sliding beneath it, palm glowing as he whispered, "Moon Edge."

A crescent blade of light sliced upward, cleanly bisecting the creature's torso. The halves didn't even fall before they evaporated into dust.

Another golem tried to flank him from behind — but he didn't even turn. With a subtle twist of his fingers, thin arcs of moonlight shot outward from his shield like blades, slicing through the air in perfect geometry.

The golem froze mid-swing, a lattice of glowing lines cutting through its body before it shattered into thousands of pieces.

Still, they kept coming. For every one he felled, two more emerged, climbing from beneath the ground or descending from the walls. The air was thick with energy and dust, the sound of their movements a grinding, mechanical roar.

But Xavier only smiled wider.

"Good," he whispered, his aura flaring brighter. "Let's see how many you can make before you break."

He raised both hands now — the air trembled, and the Moonshield warped, shifting into a rotating sphere of sigils and arcs around him. Each rotation gathered more light, more power, until the battlefield was bathed in silver radiance.

Then — he vanished.

One blink, he was gone. The next, he was among the golems — tearing through them like a phantom. His attacks were no longer individual strikes but flowing sequences, waves of lunar destruction weaving in rhythm with his movements.

Every strike left behind faint trails of glowing runes that hung in the air before detonating seconds later in radiant bursts. The entire cavern became a storm of moonlight and stone fragments.