Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: The Hidden Key
Everyone swore they wouldn’t leak any information.

Ethan didn’t press the issue. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone talked. But even if others killed the final boss with their own strategy, they’d only earn a four-star clear.

What came next, wouldn’t require the whole team.

Just him and Lyla.

“You guys take this path,” Ethan instructed, gesturing toward the left route. “Clear everything on the way to the boss and wait for us there.”

Skyblade nodded and led the team forward.

Ethan, meanwhile, turned to Lyla and motioned for her to follow him down the right path.

Everyone knew this side was empty. No enemies, no loot, just a dead-end cliff. Nobody understood why Ethan was heading that way.

When they reached the edge of the path, Ethan pulled out the Grappling Launcher he had purchased from the Engineering Store and handed it to Lyla.

“Watch where I aim. Follow me up,” he instructed.

[Grappling Launcher]

Use: Fires a rope that can be climbed.

Uses Left: 10/10

Ethan aimed at a ledge high above and fired.

Thwip!

The rope shot upward, its arrowhead sinking into the rock. Ethan climbed first, with Lyla right behind him. When she reached the top, she realized they were standing on a hidden platform.

From below, the angle of the terrain had completely concealed it from view. A cave entrance was nestled against the mountainside.

Ethan glanced at her. “Just focus on dealing damage. Don’t kill the target.”

Lyla nodded.

Without another word, Ethan shifted into bear form and stepped inside. The cave wasn’t deep. After just a few steps, they spotted a dying campfire.

It was empty.

Lyla frowned.

But before she could ask anything, Ethan suddenly charged at the far corner.

She squinted and saw something lurking in the shadows. A faint, shifting blur.

Thanks to her level 28 detection, she spotted it—

The Demonhunter.

This was the same monster Ethan had seen after killing the giant turtle. With every other mob in the dungeon cleared, this was the last remaining enemy.

And to achieve a five-star rating, they needed to capture it alive.

Ethan’s charge stunned the Demonhunter, knocking it out of stealth. Before it could react, Ethan slammed his paw into its face, dazing it further.

Lyla’s arrow followed immediately after. Ethan had warned her not to go all out. First, they needed to gauge how much damage she dealt.

If she accidentally one-shot the target, they’d be screwed.

The Demonhunter was a level 25 Elite. It had a massive 250,000 HP. Seeing the hefty health bar, Lyla stopped holding back.

Meanwhile, Ethan held aggro, absorbing every hit. For his Bear Form, the damage was pathetic—only a few dozen points per attack.

Each time his health dropped too low, Ethan would shift into Tree Form, cast a healing-over-time spell on himself, and then revert back to Bear Form to continue tanking.

The Demonhunter stood no chance.

When its health dropped to 1%, it suddenly leapt backward.

“Stop attacking!” Ethan shouted.

The monster raised its hands in surrender.

“Warriors, please—spare me! I’ll give you all my treasure! I can even tell you a secret of immense value!”

Ethan shifted back into human form and smirked.

“Hand it over. Now. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to finish you off.”

The Demonhunter hesitated, watching them carefully before slowly walking over to a treasure chest. With cautious hands, it unlatched the lid.

Ethan stepped forward, and reached inside. Inside were three gemstones and a necklace.

“The treasure is yours, warrior! Now swear you won’t kill me, and I’ll reveal the sec—”

Before the Demonhunter could finish, eighteen arrows tore through the air.

Lyla had instantly executed him.

Ethan had already sent her a private message—kill it before it speaks. It was part of the dungeon rating system.

If the Demonhunter had revealed its secret, they would lose the chance for a five-star clear. But they couldn’t skip this encounter either. If the chest wasn’t opened, they wouldn’t qualify for five stars.

And if the Demonhunter finished talking, its name would turn green, making it untargetable. That would mean one less kill, and again, they’d fail the five-star rating.

Ethan motioned for Lyla to move.

They rappelled down the cliff and sprinted back toward the main path. By now, Skyblade’s team should have already reached the final boss.

When they arrived, Ethan’s guess was spot on. He checked the time, it was just past 7 AM. Ethereal’s servers shut down at 8 AM. They had just over 30 minutes left.

Ethan quickly laid out a battle plan. And then, they pulled the boss.

—

Final Boss: Falconer Triss Eugene

HP: 3,700,000

The first phase wasn’t difficult. But as its health dropped, the pressure mounted, time was running out.

At the 10-minute mark, the boss reached its flight phase.

“You pathetic humans! Die!” Triss Eugene roared.

With a mighty leap, she soared into the air. At the same time, a massive shadow fell over the battlefield. A colossal warhawk dived from above, and Triss landed perfectly on its back.

The ranged players immediately opened fire. But the hawk was simply too massive—

Every attack landed on the bird instead of the boss.

Immune!

Immune!

Immune!

A stream of immune messages floated above the hawk.

Even Lyla’s Aimed Shot was useless.

“Damn it! We’re screwed!”

“What do we do? We made it this far!”

“Shit… Even the pro team Blade Syndicate hired couldn’t clear this part.”

Just as despair set in—a massive turtle shell flew into the sky. It came from Ethan. He had shifted back into human form, Hardened Shell in his hands.

The spinning shell hurtled toward the warhawk, growing larger and larger.

Boom!

A thunderous impact rocked the battlefield. The hawk let out a piercing screech, flailing midair. Then, It plummeted.

The entire raid team froze.

“What the hell…?”

Ethan’s voice snapped them out of it.

“Stop gawking—finish the fight!”

Triss Eugene and her warhawk slammed into the ground.

A massive damage number floated above the hawk’s head—

-5,648,952!

Instant kill. The hawk died on impact.

Triss Eugene, meanwhile, was left with only 1% HP.

The team swarmed her. Less than two minutes later, she collapsed.

Victory.

Silence fell over the group. Everyone stared at Ethan like he had just pulled off some kind of black magic.

He only smiled.

No one had expected it. The key to defeating the final boss…was a random drop from the giant turtle.

Without the Hardened Shell, the dungeon couldn’t be cleared.

And Ethan had known it all along.