Chapter 18: You Dare Show Your Health Bar in Front of Me?

Scorching molten lava dripped from Gul’dan’s body into the volcano, splashing up several meters of fiery magma.

The appearance of Gul’dan caused the skies above the volcano to be shrouded in burning black clouds, with ashes and embers floating through the air.

Under the long exposure to extreme heat, the hardened armor on its body gleamed with a dazzling crimson hue.

Its thousands of fangs seemed poised to devour everything atop the volcano.

The beast let out a thunderous roar toward the heavens, shaking Mount Vesuvius to its very core.

“Vega! Establish a link with me!”

“What? Establish a link? Are you kidding me? You actually plan to fight it?!”

“I have no intention of getting myself killed!”

Vega flapped furiously in the air, shouting at Victor with all its might.

Its mind was in turmoil—if it had known Victor was this insane, it would never have signed a contract with him.

Following Victor might just lead to an early death. Reviving its race? Forget it!

“We’ve come this far already. Even if I don’t establish a link with you, I doubt there’s any other way out.”

Reluctantly, Vega extended a wing and touched Victor’s forehead.

In an instant, a clearer connection formed in Victor’s mind.

[Link established with the Heretic God ‘Harbika.’ Synchronizing…]

[Synchronization complete.]

Victor noticed a crow icon appearing in his status bar, immediately realizing that the link had been successfully established.

“Now that you’ve linked with me, why don’t you boost your teleportation magic and just get out of here? Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Vega hovered around his head, chattering incessantly.

Victor ignored Vega’s escape suggestions. Instead, he felt exhilarated by the searing heat at the volcano’s summit.

“Run?”

A proud smile appeared on Victor’s face, making Vega even more convinced that he had lost his mind.

But Victor wasn’t crazy. He had long wanted to challenge this ‘calamity.’

From the moment he heard the name Mount Vesuvius, he knew he had to come here.

Just as he had expected, the Forge Beast Gul’dan was sealed at the lowest layer of the volcanic crater.

This place existed in a separate dimension, meaning no matter how destructive their battle became, it would hardly affect the outside world.

It was essentially a natural coliseum.

After Gul’dan was first defeated, it was resealed in this space, becoming a dungeon-like challenge for players.

Therefore, even though it was still sealed, its strength wasn’t much different from what it had been in the dungeon.

Looking up at the sky-darkening behemoth, Victor was filled with confidence.

He had defeated this creature countless times before.

And now, he was even stronger than before, wielding Victor’s enhanced body and superior skills.

Not to mention, he had Vega as his cheat code.

Vega was no joke—its unlimited mana was an unparalleled advantage, especially for a mage.

Vega’s single eye flickered with a blue glow, and Victor felt his body surging with magic as vast as an ocean. His status bar showed his mana skyrocketing.

Ten thousand… twenty thousand… it completely shattered previous limits.

Victor knew this was the maximum mana capacity allowed by the game.

[Victor] Lv39

HP: 1000

MP: 999999/999999

With this much mana, this was doable.

Gul’dan continued shifting its body; its long slumber had left it covered in a thick layer of rocky armor, restricting its movement.

It would take quite some time before it could fully break free.

This was the perfect opportunity for Victor to prepare.

He raised both hands, constructing an intricate magical formation in midair.

One complex array after another spread throughout the surroundings.

Above him, Vega watched in astonishment as endless arrays spun and aligned in perfect formation, marveling at Victor’s arcane mastery.

Even as he set up his formation, Victor didn’t stop moving. He tossed several transparent crystals onto various locations around the volcanic crater.

“Victor! Are you trying to turn the entire volcano into your magic array?”

Victor said nothing. But when Vega saw his smile, it knew—it had guessed correctly.

The volcano became covered in cryptic runes, countless magic circles revolving in the sky.

The crystals on the ground began connecting, runes illuminating their surfaces as countless patterns linked, twisted, and intertwined.

A massive spell formation spread over the volcano like a lid.

With a snap of his fingers, various spells of different colors and forms activated, swirling around Gul’dan.

Victor glanced at the status bar beneath Gul’dan.

Frozen, Poisoned, Weakened, Enraged…

A barrage of negative effects latched onto the beast.

With a light stomp, dozens of streams of light from the array poured into Victor’s body.

Attack increased, Water Attribute Attack +7 levels, Fire Resistance…

Victor felt a myriad of energies coursing through his body.

“So this is the effect of stacking buffs…”

He even felt his muscles growing stronger, his reflexes sharper.

He could even see the molten lava dripping from Gul’dan’s body with incredible clarity.

As Victor finished his preparations, he looked up.

At this moment, atop the already towering Gul’dan, a health bar appeared.

And it was so long that it would drive an ordinary person to despair—stretching over a hundred meters, if not more.

Thanks to his buffed perception, Victor saw the end of the health bar.

Lv50!

In the gaming world, there was a saying used to praise top-tier players:

“If you dare show your health bar, even gods can be slain.”

Gul’dan’s eyes flashed with crimson light, illuminating the sky.

It was activating.

The surroundings grew even more perilous, heat rising sharply. Flames ignited in midair, while scorching waves swept across the volcano.

“This is Gul’dan’s disaster-class ability! Scorching Earth!”

The crow on Victor’s shoulder warned him.

Victor, of course, knew what was happening, but he still nodded instinctively at Vega.

Ten identical blue magic circles formed at his fingertips. With a slight movement—

A vast, azure fortress emerged in midair, its core releasing waves that surged across the heavens!

“[Tier-Three Magic: Sacred Tidal Sanctuary!]”

—

Meanwhile, Gwen led the knight order up the mountain, casually slicing down a monster.

She glanced at the fallen creature—it resembled a crab with a molten rock shell on its back.

Even in death, its pincers continued to snap at the air.

Suddenly, the shell cracked, and a glowing red crystal rolled out.

Reacting swiftly, Gwen picked up the luminous stone and examined it closely.

She quickly recalled Victor mentioning his need for such crystals to craft magical artifacts. That caught her attention.

“Everyone, if you encounter these creatures, be sure to collect these crystals!”

She displayed the red crystal for the knights to memorize its appearance.

“Understood!”

The knights responded in unison.

After all, Victor had helped them greatly the night before. Gwen didn’t want to owe him a favor, so she decided to gather some materials for him.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed from the mountain’s peak, reaching every knight’s ears.

Gwen abruptly lifted her head, staring at the volcano’s summit as thick black smoke billowed upward.

Then, an earth-shaking bellow rang out from above, reverberating across the land.

She tensed, gazing at the peak. “Did you hear that roar?”

The knights exchanged uncertain glances, shaking their heads.

“Captain, you must have misheard. It was probably just volcanic ash making noise.”

Gwen frowned. Was she the only one who could hear it?

“What exactly is up there?”

A sudden realization struck her—Victor had gone to the volcano’s summit.

Had he discovered something?

“All knights, advance to the crater! Find Victor!”