Part-243

  However, even in this mode, James was not invincible. His stamina was draining rapidly. He could feel his legs growing heavier with eaent, his breaths ing in ragged gasps. Yet, the Crisis Mode refused to let him rest, pushing him beyond his limits.

  “Just a bit more…” James thought, watg the st two goblins step back, wary of him.

  One of them tried to attack from behind once more, believing him to be too fatigued to react. But James anticipated it, catg the goblin's wrist mid-swing and wreng it forward. With o surge of strength, he drove his sword through the creature's chest.

  The final goblin, trembling in fear, attempted to run. But James, though exhausted, wasn't about to let it escape. With an almost effortless swipe, he sliced through its legs, bringing it to the ground, and then delivered a decisive blow to its head.

  As the st goblin dissolved into bck smoke, James felt the Crisis Mode deactivate. His body immediately buckled uhe strain. Also he saw there is 12 arrows were stu him. He colpsed onto the floor, his vision darkening as he felt every ounce of his energy drain from him.

  “Too much… I pushed myself too much,” he muttered before the world around him faded to bck.

  James slowly regained sciousness, the dim glow of torches flickering against the cold, stone walls of the dungeon. He felt a dull, throbbing pain throughout his body, every muscle screaming in protest as he attempted to move. For a moment, panic surged through him—he was still in the dungeon, alone, and weakened. It looks like, just like everytime he didn't died and respawned, he somewhat survived.

  “I 't… stay here,” he thought, f himself to sit up. His wooden sword y beside him, cracked from the excessive strain of using the **Earth Divider** skill multiple times. He reached out to pick it up, but his firembled, aruggled to get a firm grip.

  “You idiot,” he muttered to himself, frustration bubbling up. “You knew you weren’t ready for this se, a…”

  But deep down, he uood why he had pushed himself this hard. He wao be stroo prove to himself that he could hahe dungeon’s challehat he could protect his friends and face the dangers waiting outside this byrinth. But now, it seemed, his overfidence had nearly cost him his life.

  Summoning every ounce of strength he had left, James stood on shaky legs, using his sword as a crutch. He o get out of the dungeon and back to safety. He took a slow, agonizing step forward, his body screaming in protest, but he gritted his teeth a moving. The dungeo was only a few hundred meters away, but in his current state, it felt like ay.

  As the st flicker of light from the Lamp of Time dungeon faded away, James felt the familiar rush of energy envelop him. He had returned home, and just like every other time, his wounds healed, and the arrows that had pierced him moments before disappeared as if they had never existed. He let out a sigh of relief, his heart still rag from the adrenaline of the battle.