Born in apocalypse

Even though he only manages to catch a glimpse of the monster, Dhruv sees it in all its glory.

The creature, resembling an evolved version of a polar bear, stands at an astonishing 20 feet or 6.1 meters tall.

Its hulking frame is covered in thick, icy fur that glistens like a sheen of frost under the pale light of the northern skies. Its claws, sharp as shards of ice, extend several inches from each massive paw, leaving deep imprints in the snow with every step.

These razor-sharp claws were not the only deadly weapons it had. Its mouth is adorned with massive, pointy teeth, each the size of a human forearm, jutting out from its powerful jaws, ready to crush bone and tear through the toughest of prey.

In the freezing expanse of this dungeon, where icy winds howl across the desolate landscape, Dhruv stands his ground, surrounded by swirling snowflakes.

His breath forms misty clouds in the freezing air as he eyes the monstrous polar bear lumbering toward him. Its massive form, towering over Dhruv, is proof of its Tier Ⅳ status.

Seeing the distance between them close at an increasing speed, Dhruv begins to manipulate mana his mana as well.

Rooooooaaaarrr!...

The beast roars a hoarse sound that echoes through the icy wilderness, charging to close the last meter at a breathtaking speed. Seeing this, Dhruv responds swiftly.

"Enhanced Metal Shield!"

With a wave of his hand, he conjures a shimmering barrier of metal magic. In seconds, a shield of hardened steel appears between the two monsters.

Booom!

A thunderous sound echoes as the colossal polar bear’s paws collide with the barrier, causing the ground to shake beneath Dhruv’s feet. The impact reverberates through his body as he observes the condition of the shield.

[Azarex now.] Dhruv commands as he sees the shield almost shredded to pieces.

Ready for this, Azarex and his undead begin to bombard the monster with multiple spells. Multiple icicles fly in its direction, but unfortunately, the only thing it can do is annoy the monster.

Rooooar!

Roaring, the bear decides to remove the annoyance first. This decision of the monster gave Dhruv enough time to stabilize his body. Looking at multiple monsters beside itself, it attacks them by charging toward them.*

Boooommm! 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

With a loud sound, the bear obliterates many undead into tiny pieces with just one swift attack of its paws. Dhruv isn’t surprised, as he wasn’t expecting much from them either.

He knows that undead without a will won’t last long in front of a Tier Ⅳ behemoth.

As the clash continues, Dhruv seizes a perfect opportunity to counter. Enhanced blue flames erupt from his outstretched palms, engulfing the polar bear in a torrent of searing fire.

Roarrrr!!!...

The monster roars, but this time in pain. The fire spreads as its fur begins to burn. In the realm of whiteness, the black smoke appears as a sore to the eye.

Even though it looks like the fire is doing damage, Dhruv knows he can’t rely solely on fire against a creature adapted to ice.

Dhruv was right; the monster has some tricks up its sleeve. Turning its mouth to the area where the fire is spreading, the monster takes a deep breath.

Rooooarr!!

With a sound, a blue mist escapes its mouth. The moment this blue mist touches its fur, a layer of frost appears on its skin. Within moments, the flames are gone, but the monster still has some breath left in its lungs...

"Shit..." Dhruv can only speak this much as his words are frozen along with him.

With just a mouthful of mist, the monster turns Dhruv into an icy statue. A smirk appeared on its face as it brought its paws forward to break the statue into millions of pieces.

"Not on my watch, you dirty creature..." Shouting this, Azarex creates a wall of bones between both of them. The monster was again unable to damage this meal of its.

Rooooooooarrr!

The monster is enraged as this puny skeleton tries to stand between its target once again. Swifting its paws, the monster tries to destroy the skeleton. Its attack is for naught as multiple layers of ice shield appear between them

Before the monster can focus on any one of the targets, multiple icicles rain on it once again. This time, Azarex and his undead have taken their time and have enhanced their spell.

White fur begins to be painted with crimson as the icicles penetrate the monster’s skin. While the monster was focusing on the undead in front of it, something far more dangerous was about to cook high up in the sky.

It continues to battle the undead and forgets about someone far more important.

The beast was a fool to believe that it could imprison someone with the blood of a phoenix inside its pesky icy barrier.

’Ouchhh! It’s almost done...’ Enduring the cold, he began to place the final puzzle, completing the three-layered spell. Although Dhruv could get out of the ice with the help of his fire at any moment, he refrained from doing so.

[Azarex, get away from there...] Dhruv commanded, a smile appearing on his face.

Listening to his lord’s advice, the undead lord quickly tried to retreat. Azarex tried to escape, but the monster wasn’t stupid enough to let him do that.

’So, you’re giving me no choice...’ Having no choice left, Azarex implemented the best trick a necromancer can do.

He decided to sacrifice some or if needed all his undead to escape. This untimely retreat appeared as expensive as Azarex had to sacrifice five of his undead to do that.

With a smile on his skull, he shouted, "Done, master."

A smirk appeared on Dhruv’s face as the ice around his body began to melt at an incredible speed. Looking at the monster, Dhruv whispered,

"Multiple Invisible Thunderous Smith’s Hammer."

Listening to his words, the monster appeared confused. Although it could feel a great amount of mana gathering somewhere, it couldn’t see where it was coming from.

Its pupils constricted as its instincts began to scream; perhaps it had felt what was coming. Instead of getting away, it lifted its head and tried to see the reason for its doom...