Only I Am A Reader

i𝚗𝚗𝚛e𝚊𝚍.𝚌o𝚖

If enchanting the weapon with more sharpness and lethality was all that Sword Qi could do it would have never been revered at the first sign of a Martial Master!

When it was all constricted to close-quarter combat, it was naturally more effective to just use that form. However, in a situation where close contact was threatening the true value of Sword Qi shone even more.

'A Magical Swordsman it is.'

Since this was mostly used when hunting Monsters and True Beasts in Murim, it was also fitting for Leo to use it against a monster like the Lava Golem!

The first thing Leo did was coat his whole body with Internal Energy in case something unexpected still happened, but he at least didn't want to reveal that Tank aspect of his abilities.

He was going all in with the attacker Role!

Swish!

With a simple swing, Scarlet Sword Qi left the white tiger as strokes of white blended in with it. Instead of losing 'health' while attacking these kinds of spiky monsters, ranged attacks were the best…

And ranged Sword Qi worked just fine!

Receiving the full brunt of the slash, a quarter of the Lava Golem's body slipped down smoothly!

'Thankfully, there are no more evolutions.'

After dealing a test strike in case the Lava Golem still had more, Leo's second Sword Qi slash was sent directly to the Core!

Bang!

Once its Core was cut off, the Golem exploded with all the heat it contained, proving Leo's point in staying away even further.

Thankfully, as soon as anything from that explosion reached Yulia, it turned into frozen crystals. Her golem itself was already falling apart after being frozen solid.

'It's still getting colder...'

More than half the cave was also iced, showing a part of Yulia's unrestrained ability. As limited as her control over it was, her ice's temperature continued dropping down at a steep rate.

'Two more already?'

Leo hadn't dealt with the Lava Golem as efficiently as he could, but it was still disposed of in record time. Yet, two more golems climbed out of the ground… Already in their lava form.

In essence, lava was just molten rocks, so it made sense within the nonsensical frame of an Anomaly. The reason it was dangerous was the high temperature that it carried, a strength not too different from that of Yulia's Ice.

"Focus your attacks on the Source, Leave them to me!"

With a Sword Qi slash already flying toward one of the golems, Leo encouraged Yulia to ignore the golem in her range as he aimed for it. Though her hazy eyes still made him wonder if she would act on it or not.

The glowing part of the floor was already starting to bubble from the heat, making it a hazard on its own.

Most importantly, however, unlike the golems which he had already dissected, Leo still didn't know how to deal with the source.

He needed a more hands-on approach, so ranged Sword Qi wouldn't suffice. On the other hand, Yulia's freezing ability was the perfect counter.

The combination of her frost and his Sword Qi had the best chance at ending this quickly!

'She can make it faster.'

Leo was confident that he could do it all on his own if he unleashed his Frost Internal Energy, but the efficiency would likely fall back.

There was no need to reveal more of his abilities when a better option was already available.

"They are doing… You can do it! There should also be a Core within that part. You need to destroy it to end this, but its location keeps on changing!"

Watching from outside, Rubin was speechless for a second before cheering up for the shocking newcomers. They were just as surprising as the Anomaly's sudden rise in difficulty!

Now that things had reached this stage, waiting for them to figure things out on their own would be pure stupidity.

Let alone giving practical advice, if that didn't mean sacrificing herself, Rubin would have personally jumped in to help. This wasn't a test, to begin with!

"If you can't do it, just hold on for now. Alex went out to call for help and he will definitely be back soon!"

Naturally, both of them couldn't stay frozen in place. Even if Alex couldn't directly help, he still had to do something…

"Leave it to me!"

Snapping out of her trance, Yulia slid toward the target by freezing her path. At the same time, Leo took a few more steps forward and unleashed his second Sword Qi stream.

Bang!

After waiting for the explosion to end, Leo rushed towards the Source following Yulia. The arms of the next pair were already visible but she had already unleashed a veil of Ice upon them!

Yulia's hands were almost glued to the ground as she kept unleashing her ability, the heat was trying to melt the Ice from the inside, but she wasn't going to let this Anomaly have its way!

A couple of steps later, Leo held the White Tiger down like a dagger and started stabbing at the Source.

Destruction from both ends helped a portion of liquified minerals escape but their spread only hastened their freezing. Just by standing next to Yeon, Leo was reminded of his daily meditation sessions in the Blast Freezer…

"A little to the left. No, a little to the right… Above, no!"

Rubin almost had a mental breakdown trying to relay the results of her detection, but she just couldn't do it fast enough. It was useless unless she was the one personally holding the sword.

'Focus…'

Naturally, Leo still hadn't given up on his senses either. While he might appear to be haphazardly moving his sword without looking, he was actually regulating his breath to sharpen his perception and aim more steadily!

All while destroying anything that tried to climb through!

Finally, Leo's eyes opened up, reversing his grip over the White Tiger, back as it should be… Before plunging down at the ever-so-active Source!

Kacha!

The sound of hard glass shattering resonated through the cave, bringing with it a close to this chaotic misadventure…