[CH399+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 556

At the echoing sound of the fiery bird's screech, the five circling vultures turn my way and don't hesitate to send red-tinted attacks directly at me.

I easily dodge them and twist through the air, sending crescents of mana into each of them, but make sure not to injure the magnificent bird behind them.

Even when pushing my senses out as far as they can go, I don't sense any anomalies like this one nearby, so I want the chance to study it before killing it or damaging it to the point where it can't use its power in an unaltered state.

Less than a full second passes, and I move through the air defeating its orbiters before coming face to face with the massive red bird right outside its aura's range.

Waves of gravity ripple against me, making the sound of a high-pitched bell vibrate in my ears while I collect the MCP from the fallen monsters surrounding it.

The crimson eyes of the monster lock onto me, and it flaps its wings while hovering in place, sending a dense wave of red light, similar in strength to that of the attacks Trax threw during our fight in the ring.

I smile and airstep out of the way, sending a moderately dense mana blade into the flames at an angle.

The collision disrupts the red slash, and another epicenter of gravity waves is formed, hitting my barrier with greater intensity.

"Yeah, long-range attacks it is...."

I airstep to the opposite side of the bird while it tracks me with glowing eyes and sends another wave of fire void of mana my way.

I perform the same motion, releasing a pure mana strike into the flames and disrupting the flow. This time, however, I change the strength of my attack to be slightly stronger.

The next wave it throws, I try a weaker release.

Over and over, I circle the bird at a distance right outside its red glowing aura and continue to deflect its attacks while using varying strengths of mana control to gauge how strong its energy really is.

Without it coming up on my senses, this is the only way to figure out its true strength.

After three full minutes pass, and almost fifty attacks, I finally come to the conclusion that its estimated strength is that of a 950-1000 hunter, on the verge of ranking up again.

Many of the lower level Vice and Veridian Region hunters in the woods below could not defeat this creature in a battle.

However, the possibility of a few of the Apex Elites taking this creature out wouldn't be too tough of a challenge. Even Trax, or Callum, using their ranked-up buff could probably finish it off alone.

Unlike the massive surge of intensity the lightning user showed in the ring when he ate one of these red stones, and also like all of the other birds I found on this mountain, after countless attacks this monster's red light doesn't dim at all.

It shines with the same beautiful crimson radiance as it did when our battle began.

"Alright, now let's see how you fare against one of my attacks back..."

I charge up a blade of mana, slightly stronger than the blades it's been throwing at me, and let it fly aimed straight at the bird's neck.

My suspicions are that it will have some kind of special defense, or there will be an eruption of gravity used to block this strike too heavy for me to handle at close range, so I jump backward after letting it go but am very surprised at the attack's results.

The blade of mana collides with the flames that surround the bird just like any of its other attacks.

Both energies are disrupted, but there is a portion of mana leftover that makes it through.