With Eren's single step, the ground beneath him cracked from the sheer force as he propelled himself forward to increase his speed.
Blue claw marks danced around the dark tunnel.
Within three breaths, seven hounds died instantly.
"AWRRHH!"
Despite such a scene displayed in front of them, the hounds charged forward without hesitation under the Alpha's control.
Their bodies swelled with power, granting them a 30% boost to all their physical abilities.
'These hounds really became stronger…'
Eren clearly noticed how their coordination had risen to another level.
They successfully managed to bite him several times all over his body, but still, they only left small scratches even with the power boost.
Whenever he felt overwhelmed by their numbers, he immediately jumped high into the air and smashed the hounds beneath him with his claws.
But this time, the moment Eren jumped, the Alpha moved.
"…!"
It bit onto Eren's entire body mid-air as if it had been waiting for that exact moment, then hurled him into the center of the horde before unleashing another howl.
"AAAAWWWWRRRRR!"
Another wave of spiritual energy infused with sound spread throughout the tunnel, but once again, it shattered into pieces upon contact with his skin.
'This is the third time it used this attack…'
Eren noticed how the Alpha kept repeating the same move and felt something strange.
'Is it trying to gain control over me?'
It suddenly clicked as he once again remembered the skill details of Sovereign of the Black Hunt, a skill that established authority over all lesser beasts, not limited to just hounds.
"Grrrraaaah…"
"Rrrrhhh—!"
"Khrrr—rrr—!"
Eren grew more and more annoyed as he realized the beast considered him a fellow creature and was attempting to dominate him while its minions attacked from all directions.
Each time he killed a hound, the surrounding beasts managed to bite him five to seven times.
Even though they dealt no real damage, it began to mentally wear him down.
"Grrrrrr…"
Eren completely focused his spiritual sense, pushing all his energy into two skills simultaneously.
[Moonrend Claw]
[Minor Lunar Benediction]
An intense blue light covered his claws, while bright moonlight showered his entire body, illuminating the tunnel around him.
Even the hounds had to close their eyes due to the sudden radiance, a perfect opening.
Rrrrip—SKRAAAK!
Shlkrrrkk—!
RRAAATCH!
Splaaash! SPLRTCH!
Gshhhk—splatter!
The sounds of flesh tearing and blood splattering echoed throughout the tunnel.
Eren completely succumbed to his beastly instincts, tearing apart every hound around him.
At the same time, he achieved a major breakthrough in that brief span of time.
His [Minor Lunar Benediction] and [Moonrend Claw] were now constantly active while fighting.
Even the tiniest damage was instantly healed the moment it was inflicted.
His claws remained permanently wrapped in thick blue light, vanquishing a soul with every strike.
Maintaining both skills simultaneously cost him 3 Spirit every 30 seconds, almost negligible, as his Spirit regeneration had drastically increased alongside his growing reserves.
Within half an hour, Eren killed more than forty hounds.
"AWRRHH!"
Unsettled, the Alpha ordered the Duskmire Trackers and Nightmaw Ravagers to move.
Eren naturally noticed the shift.
With a single leap, he escaped the combined assault of three Nightmaw Ravagers, landed on the back of one, and bit off the back of its neck completely, killing it instantly.
"Rrhhh—kyeeehhh…!"
Its body fell to the ground with a heavy thump before being immediately absorbed by the dungeon core.
"GRAA—ghk… ghrr…"
"RROO—nnnhh…"
The remaining two Nightmaw Ravagers cried out before being slashed apart by Eren's claws.
Their physical defense was completely ignored; his attacks directly damaged their souls, killing them instantly.
That left only seven Duskmire Trackers, more than fifty hounds, and the boss monster itself.
But this time, Eren completely ignored the minions.
His focus shifted solely to the Alpha.
Once again, he positioned his body to move with all his might, and immediately vanished from where he stood.
A shockwave burst from where he had stood a moment ago.
The Alpha barely managed to twist its head in time, trying to avoid Eren's claw attack aimed straight at its skull, but Eren's claws still struck its jaw precisely.
CRASH!
The massive beast's body skidded across the dungeon floor before it barely managed to stand steadily again.
Its jawbones were completely shattered by that single attack.
"Hrrnn… kkhh…"
It let out a choking whimper with difficulty and ordered its minions to attack again.
But Eren launched himself once more, like an arrow.
This time, his attack aimed for its neck, but it landed on its shoulder instead, sending it skidding across the floor again before it slammed straight into the tunnel wall.
But the assault didn't stop.
Eren kicked the ground with brutal force and dug his claws deep into its flesh, then bit firmly through its throat.
"…krr… krr…"
The Alpha couldn't let out a proper sound.
It tried its best to launch numerous claw attacks, but [Minor Lunar Benediction] immediately nullified the effects of [Cleaver Talons].
Every time it tried to shake him off, Eren's teeth sank deeper into its throat.
Eventually, it let out a final cry, ceased its attacks, and accepted its fate.
"Ghhuu… uunngh…"
With one final bite, Eren snapped its throat completely and ended its life.
Its wide eyes instantly lost their color.
"Krrr… yelp—kyeeehh…"
"Ghhrrk… whineee…"
The other beasts, who had witnessed their leader's final moments, let out small, mournful cries before running off in various directions.
[You have slain dungeon boss, Gloomfang Alpha...]
[Gained 200 Life Essence... Alpha Core Fragment*1... Gloomfang Heart*1... Shadowstep Boots*1... Low-Grade Spirit Stone*1000... Abyssal Essence Crystal*5... Lesser Elixir*1]
[Random Reward Multiplier triggered...]
[Random number 70569...]
[You have gained 14,113,800 Life Essence... Alpha Core Fragment*70569... Gloomfang Heart*70569... Shadowstep Boots*70569... Low-Grade Spirit Stone*70,569,000... Abyssal Essence Crystal*352,845... Lesser Elixir*70,569]
[Congratulations, you have completed the quest for skill level up... Remaining time: 1:09:11]
[Detected you have enough Life Essence to upgrade authority [Eternal Masquerade] from Level 1 to 2... Would you like to sacrifice 5,000,000 Life Essence for level up? Yes/No]
[Your inventory is full... Cannot store more objects...]
[Detected you have enough Low-Grade Spirit Stones to upgrade Inventory skill from Level 12 to 13... Would you like to spend 20,480 Low-Grade Spirit Stones for level up? Yes/No]
The next moment, as the messages appeared in his mind, an insane amount of items that couldn't be stored inside the inventory began pouring out around Eren and the corpse of the vanishing Alpha.
'What the fuck!'
Eren completely ignored the gate that appeared for him to exit the dungeon, his gaze fixed on the drops piled up like a small mountain.
His heart beat wildly at the sight of the small vials of pink potions scattered around him.
'Elixir!... The dungeon boss really dropped an Elixir!!!'