The bubbling of the reddish black figure of light stopped. Its light grew dimmer and adjusted to the entity it enshrouded.

And now I saw it!

The massive grizzly towered over me. Thick, rusty iron chains were bound over its entire body, acting as armor.

The chains didn't seem to bind the grizzly in any way. They curled around its limbs, torso, and head, making it seem as if the streaming chains were its mane.

The loose ends of the chains slithered up into the air. Dozens of them twisted and squirmed like snakes, protecting its iron-chained body.

This was the moment when I understood what Zhihui meant with the name of my opponent. 'It isn't an iron chained Blood Grizzly. It's an Iron Chained Blood Grizzly!! … It was part of its name and title!'

*zzzt* *zzzt*

Suddenly, my phone vibrated and I gave it a glance:

…

[[Iron Chained Blood Grizzly]] (Elite)

[Status]: Aggressive

[Level]: 20

[HP]: 10'000

[MP]: 200

[Category]: Animal

…

'What? 10'000 HP and it even has mana?!' I screamed internally, discarding the thought why this message only appeared now and not at the fight with the vampire.

Instantly, two crimson-red eyes, thirsting for blood, opened amidst the cauldron-black chains on its head. Its intense glare drilled deeply into my soul.

A shudder ran down my spine, leaving me rooted to the ground. With my head looking up, I gazed at the Iron Chained Blood Grizzly.

In its eyes I could see power and terror deeply engraved in it. Its streaming mane of black chains clattered and clanked, piercing the silence of the hall.

The former carefree atmosphere was teared apart. Horror and terror creeped into the hearts of Bai Mei and me. Neither of us dared to utter a noise in this gloom, nor breathe, nor voice.

A thin mist of blood crawled out from under its paws, coating its limbs in red smoke. A putrid stench of rotten flesh assaulted my nose. I gagged; I coughed; not able to rid myself of the smell lingering in my nose.

The Iron Chained Blood Grizzly bared its ugly fangs. It bellowed in rage and fury, tearing the space asunder. The bellow sounded as if it came from deep within its guts, grumbling and rumbling.

Spit flew out from its mouth, shooting in my direction. The floor shook; marble tiles cracked and burst in their miseries.

The bellow rippled like thunder through the air and pounded against my ears. Instinctively, I clutched my ears in pain.

My heart desired it to stop – but it didn't. The pain of the roar raged and raved through my consciousness. My nails drilled into my scalp, hoping to shut out the noise.

I shot my eyes wide open and howled my pain out; but no voice left my mouth. Only a ghastly noise came over my lips.

It got harder for me to breath. My lungs felt deflated, not able to grasp a single breath from the storming air.

Is seemed as if an icy fist clutched my heart; its nails drilled into my lungs, stealing my breath. My heart was getting slower; yet the pounding at my rib cage felt more intense.

I tightened the grip on my ears. But I couldn't shut out the onslaught of sound.

Then it stopped… It finally stopped…

I loosened the grip on my ears and felt a wet sensation on my palms. Holding them in front of me, I saw why.

Blood!

There was blood on my hands.

Suddenly, a thought struck me: "If I'm level 10 and the sound did this to me…then Bai Mei…"

Swiftly, I turned my head in horror to check on how Bai Mei is doing.

Gone! She's gone!

The master of this palace, Zhihui, and Bai Mei were nowhere to be seen. I was completely alone with the monstrosity of an Iron Chained Blood Grizzly.

Looking back at the monster, it snarled –it growled.

The chains rampaged through the dead air. They whipped at the floor and pounded spider-cracks into the tiles.

Its teeth were still bared and saliva dripped down from its miserable mouth. The Iron Chained Blood Grizzly fixed its bloodcurdling eyes at me. It clearly targeted me as its prey.

Savagely, it lifted its front paws, standing up into an upright position. It was already enormous when it stood on all fours; but now it towered higher than ever before.

Its head nearly touched the ceiling, which was already on the height of a small house. The beast growled from deeply within, shaking the ground and my body.

Like a meteor, it fell forward onto its front paws, stomping the marble tiles into dust and smithereens. A ground-shaking earthquake left the ground trembling in fright.

'You want to play with me?! Let's play!!' I screamed in my heart and tightened the grip on the spear.

I strengthened my heart and glared at the beast. Even though I seemed much weaker in the stats, I was determined that I could breach this gap with my fighting skills and experience.

Swiftly, I summoned the illusory gene before me. I tipped on the cockroach emblem, sending it into the gene, and watched them burst apart.

A blue-glow of light emerged from my torso and took the form of a tight fitting armor. It wrapped around me in a warm embrace, letting me feel safe.

'You want it? You get it!' I whispered in my thoughts.

And to let the beast know that he has an opponent now, I pounded the spear-shoe against the floor. The doom-doom-doom of it hitting the marble tiles echoed through the otherwise silent hall.

The drumming of the spear filled me with resoluteness. It gave me the feeling of power and strong will.

But it wasn't pleasing for the Iron Chained Blood Grizzly. The mysterious pounding echoing through the hall incited its rage.

The grizzly's eyes widened. It bared its fangs wider than ever before. A deep, grumbling snarl came from deep within it.

It was mad!

Jumping in its rage forward, tiles were lifted into the sky, teared out from the floor. Immediately, the beast was sprinting at me with its mouth gaping wide open. Saliva drooled onto the side of its snout.

In wide strides I moved into its direction. The strides turned wider –faster! Seconds after, I was sprinting towards the beast.

The beast's stomping pounded the tiles to smithereens. My steps were swift and silent, not wasting too much energy.

While hearing the snarl of the beast, I grinded my teeth, tightened my clutches on the spear, and flexed my muscles.

Even though the Iron Chained Blood Grizzly and I were on a course of collision, neither of us showed intention to stop or slow down. Nobody wanted to show neither weakness nor fear!