Omniscient Necromancer POV

I was about to get angry at myself for staying out of the battle too long and costing us a Rank-C Summon, but I realized I had no time for anger when I saw Laufus First charging forward without a second thought right after Laufus Second was killed.

Running at an astonishing speed, Laufus used a small ramp to propel himself upward.

The attack he intended to make on the right head looked like it would be identical to the one with which he had previously wounded the left head, but at the last moment, his stance shifted, and he raised his sword high—above his head.

Finally, the right head acknowledged his presence then, but it was already too late.

[Laufus First is using the skill <Force Imposition>]

I widened my eyes in surprise, because I thought only Odran would want to use a skill like that, but it made sense that during a heavy, slow strike with his sword joined together, Laufus would also want more attack power.

The attack was magnificent.

The sword struck the Guardian's right head, and a shock wave spread out.

At first, it seemed that the sword would not be able to cut through the Guardian's tough and solid skin, but in an instant, Laufus began to descend along with the sword, cutting through the right head's face like butter and destroying one of its eyes.

Laufus could have caused even more damage, but when dozens of spears of light began to appear around him, he withdrew his sword and returned to solid ground.

"I won't let you!" I exclaimed, jumping back into the battlefield.

The attention of both heads was directed at me because of my shout, and they both screamed with hatred, a sound that sounded like a machine trying to artificially imitate the roar of a beast.

Laufus looked at me and was about to run to my side, but one of the heads still had him as its target and shot a jet of flames directly at him.

Surprised, Laufus buried his blades in the ground and endured the whirlwind of fire as best he could.

"Selrik, change plans! Finish off the right head! I'll finish off the left head!"

It was then that Selrik appeared behind the Guardian, and we both moved like lightning in opposite directions.

Selrik lunged to the right, spinning his two daggers like chakrams, while I used one of the Skeleton Soldiers' backs to propel myself upward and fly toward the left head.

Before the Guardian even looked back to notice Selrik, the Guardian's right head fell with a huge crash to the ground, freeing Laufus. At the same time, I took advantage of the brief moment when the left head's attention was taken by the crash to bury my sword in its neck, using all the strength I had to cut through something harder than any tree.

If I had told myself a few weeks ago that I would one day be able to cut something as tough as a building's structural beam with just one attack, I would have disbelieved it to the death, but now I knew I was capable of doing it!

With a sharp clang, the second head fell forward and hit the ground, also making a loud thud as it hit the floor.

Only one head remained.

The Guardian was no ordinary creature, and as I had imagined, its impending defeat drove it even crazier. The head began to spin and change expression several times at an even faster speed than the first time.

"Finish it!" I shouted.

Selrik, however, was landing, and I was also falling. We couldn't end it like this!

At that moment, I saw a flash cutting through the air to my left, and Laufus appeared a few meters above the Boss. For a moment, the Guardian finally stopped changing its expression and looked at Laufus, and that's when I knew I had won.

When I blinked, the central head was already separated from the body—which was slowly falling backward.

[Laufus eliminated 'The Guardian (Rank B)'!]

[You have received +5000 Soul Fragments!]

[You have received +10 'Primordial Rocks'!]

[You have received 'Key to the Second Floor of the Tower of Giants'!]

[Your summon absorbed the Guardian's 'Flame Mastery lvMAX' skill.]

A sigh escaped my lips as I felt the pleasure of victory and rewards fill me.

Then, when the Guardian's body fell to the ground and caused a huge earthquake, I smiled and looked at Laufus and used [Characteristic Swap].

[Characteristic Swap skill found a target.]

[Which skill do you want to copy from your target?]

[Available Skills of Summoned 'Laufus': Sword Talent lv9, Impulse lv3, Knight's Determination lvMAX, Force Imposition lv1, Flame Mastery lvMAX.]

Among all these skills, it was obvious that I wanted the one that didn't suit Laufus and would be very useful to me.

[Skill 'Flame Mastery lvMAX' acquired.]

I raised my right index finger and tried to use this [Flame Mastery]. To my surprise, it was extremely easy to create a small ball of fire that spun on the tip of my finger, burning intensely.

It was impossible for me not to get excited about this, because it was basically like having the 'Fire Elementalist' class as my second class now.

However, I had to be careful who I showed these unusual abilities to. In 'The Journey to the Beyond', there weren't many who could use abilities so different from each other, so using them in public would cause a lot of surprise and commotion.

"But I feel like I'm really getting strong..." I muttered as I stared at the fire.

When I extinguished the fire, I looked at my summons and shouted,

"Now, everyone, clear all the golems on this floor before we move on to the next one!"

The Skeleton Soldiers raised their swords and began running in different directions. Meanwhile, I walked over to the Guardian's corpse and extended my right hand toward it.

[Activating Necroarcane Stigma...]

[Target: The Guardian (Rank-B).]

[Processing... 10%... 20%... 50%...]

[Failure!]

[The Guardian's spirit resists the summoning!]

"Uhhh~ It was almost successful on the first try, but I couldn't expect a Rank-B creature to be so easily obtained," I thought aloud as I threw my head back and smiled. "Okay, okay. I have two more chances."

I extended my right hand toward the Guardian's body and used my Stigma once more.

[Activating Necroarcane Stigma...]

[Target: The Guardian (Rank B).]

[Processing... 10%... 35%... 57%... 69%...]

[Failure!]

[Activating Necroarcane Stigma...]

[Target: The Guardian (Rank-B).]

[Processing... 1%... 15%... 67%... 90%...]

[Failure!]

I took a deep breath, frustrated. "Shesshh! What a disappointment. I really wanted a big Summon like that. It would be intimidating to my enemies if I summoned something like that right at the beginning of a battle."