As the huge dungeon boss closed the distance between them, the monster opened its cavernous jaw, its massive fangs glinting under the dim light of the cave.

Leon did not flinch though, instead, he tightened his fingers around the hilt of Excalibur, tracking the invisible golden cross that remained perfectly mapped across the beast’s massive form.

With a single, fluid motion, Leon stepped forward into the path of the oncoming storm and swiftly swiped his sword directly across the cross.

The glowing blade of Excalibur sliced cleanly through the empty air, following the exact horizontal and vertical coordinates of the golden mark.

The weapon cut smoothly, leaving a faint trail of golden light behind its path before Leon settled into a relaxed, low stance.

The monster boss suddenly came to a dead halt right in front of him.

The explosive forward momentum that had threatened to crush Leon into the stone floor vanished in an instant.

Its eyes widened in horror as it stared blankly down at the human, its pupils dilating as a wave of realization washed over its primitive mind.

For a brief moment, the floor fell into a dead silence, the heavy vibrations in the bedrock fading away.

Then, a thin vertical line slowly appeared on the monster’s face. The line was incredibly narrow at first, resembling a faint scratch, but it quickly began to spread downward.

It traveled past its snarling nose, moved down across its thick neck, and divided the bulging muscles of its chest. The fracture continued its descent, tracing all the way across its belly to its torso, splitting its striped fur perfectly down the middle.

Before the giant creature could even whimper, another line materialized on its massive head.

This one appeared horizontally across its face, running right above its long fangs. The hairline fracture rapidly expanded, cutting all the way to its back and wrapping around the sides of its thick skull.

The two lines intersected perfectly, matching the exact shape of the invisible golden cross that Leon had sliced just a moment prior.

Thick red blood began to bleed profusely from the freshly formed lines. The dark crimson fluid welled up and spilled over its fur, cascading down its body like miniature rivers.

With a sickening squelch, the monster boss slowly split into four distinct parts, cleanly cut apart vertically and horizontally along the precise paths of the golden cross.

Its large, four-foot-long fangs were the ones that first dropped to the ground.

The massive teeth, which had easily pulverized the solid bedrock moments ago, made a heavy thud as they were cleanly separated from its jaw.

They rolled twice across the cracked, reddish stone floor, completely devoid of their fearsome, glowing energy.

The rest of its massive body soon fell apart. The four severed quadrants of the mountain of muscle slid away from each other, losing their balance and landing on the floor with loud, echoing thuds.

Dust and blood flowed out, coating the neatly sliced chunks of flesh and fur. The once-terrifying apex predator was reduced to nothing more than sliced up remains scattered across the cave.

Leon chuckled softly at the sight, his golden eyes slowly reverting to their natural dark color. He casually rested Excalibur against his shoulder, looking down at the fallen boss.

"Holy Severance." he muttered.

[Skill: Holy Severance]

[Rank: SS]

[Description: Mark a target with a golden line or cross. Slashing through the mark ignores all physical and magical defenses, severing whatever lies along the marked line. Holy Severance can also cut through curses, bindings, barriers, and other negative status effects.]

[Note: The golden line or cross is only visible to you.]

Leon looked down again at the four large pieces of the boss that were now lying quietly on the floor. The massive chunks of flesh and striped fur sat in pools of dark red blood, completely still.

’What a powerful skill...’ Leon thought.

The most terrifying thing about Holy Severance was that it could not be dodged or even seen by the opponent. Once the skill was activated, the target was caught in a lethal trap without ever realizing they had been marked.

From the exact moment he drew the line or the cross around his chosen target, they were already sure to be cleanly severed.

It did not matter how thick their hide was, or how many layers of defensive magical barriers they cast around their bodies.

As long as he swiped his blade accurately across their designated patterns, the severance was an absolute certainty.

They also could not even see the line or cross overlaying their flesh. To the victim, the air remained completely clear and normal until the moment the blade made its final trajectory.

Because of this invisibility, his enemies would simply be walking targets for him to cut into pieces anytime he wanted.

This was the exact same skill he had used just minutes before entering the portal of the dungeon.

Back then, a lone sabertooth had leaped out from the shadows, about to launch a fatal ambush on an unsuspecting player who had let their guard down.

Leon had intervened, utilizing the exact same skill to slice the sabertooth that was about to attack that player into two halves.

Except that time, he had used only one line, merely traced a single golden mark across the midsection of the beast, severing it smoothly only once as it flew through the air.

Now, facing a far more resilient dungeon boss, he had chosen to use both lines at the exact same time, forming the full, golden cross.

’The only drawback of course... is that it takes a lot of mana to execute properly.’ he thought, panting heavily.

The resource cost was incredibly demanding on his current pool, and this was with the huge boost from Excalibur added to his attributes.

Without that mana boost, he never would have been able to even use the skill in the first place, as every drop of his mana would simply be sucked away before it even activated.

It was very different from Crescent Slash, which barely took any mana at all and could be casted over and over again without leaving him drained.

While Crescent Slash was a reliable, low-cost tool for standard mob clearing, Holy Severance was a heavy, high-tier trump card that required careful tactical consideration before every single use.

Leon turned his attention to the notification that had been floating patiently before him since he killed the dungeon boss.

[C+ Sabertooth Tiger(dungeon boss) killed!]

[+250EXP]

Soon, the exact moment he had been waiting for came, as a familiar notification flashed rapidly across his eyes. [Item Drop: Sabertooth Fang Ring(rare)]

A distinct rustling sound echoed through the quiet cave as a small, silver-colored ring with a highly detailed Sabertooth fang design dropped in the middle of the dungeon boss remains.

[Talent Activated!]

[Extracting Legendary Draw...]

The newly dropped ring shook violently on the stone floor, vibrating with immense energy that caused the nearby pools of blood to ripple.

The silver metal and the fang design began to melt and shift, rewriting its very structure. It then immediately transformed into a deep black ring with strange, glowing green inscriptions drawn all over its smooth surface.

[Legendary Draw: Ring of Aegis]

Leon stretched his hand out toward the newly transformed ring, his fingers open.

In response to his gesture, the black ring rose up from the pool of blood, lifting effortlessly into the air. It defied gravity completely, floating steadily towards him across the short distance of the cave floor.

Despite it lying directly in the dungeon boss’s blood just moments before, not a single drop of the thick blood remained on its pristine surface as it moved smoothly to Leon.

The blood simply slid off the enchanted metal, leaving it flawlessly clean. The ring hovered right before his palm for a moment, before it slid itself over his fingers, fitting perfectly on his hand as if it had been custom-made for him.

Leon slowly clenched his fists, testing the weight of the new accessory.

The exact moment his fingers locked into a fist, he felt a massive, overwhelming rush of pure power course through his veins.

The energy surged up from his hand, traveling straight through his arms and radiating across his entire body, and the mana exhaustion he had been feeling vanished instantly.

[Name: Ring of Aegis]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Description: A divine ring blessed by the Goddess of Wisdom and War, Athena. It grants its bearer the authority to summon the legendary Aegis, a shield feared by both mortals and gods alike. Any attack blocked by the Aegis can be reflected back upon its source up to 10 times more, making those who strike it suffer the consequences of their own power.]

[When equipped, VIT: +3000, END: +3500, MANA: +1500]

[Skills: Aegis Manifestation(SS-rank), Divine Reflection(SS-rank), Guardian’s Dominion(SS-rank), Gorgon’s Gaze(SSS-rank: Sealed)]

[Note: The ring has yet to acknowledge you as its true bearer. Increase your affinity with the Ring of Aegis to unlock its sealed power.]