The battle was long... Exceedingly long.
Nearly 15 minutes later... Esteban was PINNED to the ground. With the lights ON, what can he do?
Run? Neigh.
Fight? Of course. But who'll be the one to come out on TOP? Shall Esteban be the victor, should he attempt rebellion? Neigh—would be the answer to his victory.
...
...
"Kkgh... So I've—" (Esteban)
"—Hhga..."
Now, with my constant stream of 'Dragon's Breath,' the room was dimly lit. Blood dripped louringly from the ceilings, looming deeply. Though whether the blood was mine or his—it didn't matter. We both had some form of Regen skill, after all. And he'd respawn once he dies. I'm not sure which forms of 'immortality' my 'Immortality' ability dealt with, other than age, though.
"Say something—" (Esteban)
At last, he noticed my mouth, occupied with the exhausting use of Dragon's Breath.
"Fuck—! Just use that Light magic..." (Esteban)
"Hgha..."
I cancelled my Dragon's Breath. Now switching to a little 'Light' spell.
"Ehh... Light magic is a waste of MP..."
"Your Dragon's Breath definitely—" (Esteban)
—
I gifted his dying body a shot of 'Glare Ray.'
—
"No matter. I am the one victorious in this bout, Esteban."
"Tch." (Esteban)
He coughed, spitting a load of blood.
"So I've..." (Esteban)
"Indeed you have."
...
Esteban lay quiet for a second, seemingly in thought.
...
"It was disappointing." (Esteban)
"...?"
"If we hadn't met as enemies... But rather as..." (Esteban)
...
"Don't act like you're about to die..."
...
"But I am dying..." (Esteban)
"You'll respawn in a while."
"Oh, really? I didn't know. Thanks, bro." (Esteban)
—
"No problem, bro."
...
He coughed again, brutally dotting the ground around him in vicious blots of blood.
...
"You know..." (Esteban)
"Hm?"
—
"It was disappointing." (Esteban)
—
"Yeah. You did say that."
...
"...That we didn't get to the handshake part." (Esteban)
...
"...The panties."
"Yes, the panties." (Esteban)
"Well... I mean..."
—
"...We were under attack and could've died at any time—"
"—And we shouldn't be fooling around..." (Esteban)
"Correct."
"Of course." (Esteban)
...
"But—I was the victim... under attack." (Esteban)
"I was too."
"You were using that weird-ass skill. You couldn't have died at any time." (Esteban)
"Weird-ass? I thought it was pretty useful..."
"For you." (Esteban)
"..."
"Not for me..." (Esteban)
...
He was silent for another while, as he looked to the ceiling, high above our heads.
For two lifeless seconds—he crossed his eyes, staring inwards at his own muzzle. Dust drifting around his nostrils as he breathed.
...
"Still conscious?"
...
"Oh, yeah." (Esteban)
...
"Why aren't you dead...?"
...
"Still... My MP..." (Esteban)
"...What?"
...
"You know... Regeneration..." (Esteban)
"Right, right. I forgot about that. Then, wanna continue the battle?"
"...No thanks." (Esteban)
—
A drop of blood fell from the ceiling, hitting the floor lightly.
—
"It was fun."
...
"It was." (Esteban)
...
"Definitely."
"But not the battle." (Esteban)
...
"Not for you."
—
"Nah. You had MP to spare." (Esteban)
—
"...That's—"
"—Yeah. It wasn't a battle." (Esteban)
"If you say so."
"Not a battle at all..." (Esteban)
...
"Hey. Come to think of it—" (Esteban)
"...?"
"What's... What's your name anyway—?" (Esteban)
"I don't have one..."
"...Really?" (Esteban)
"Yeah."
"Even though... you're that strong...?" (Esteban)
"It's relevant?"
"It is... a bit." (Esteban)
Well, it definitely is a relevant thing that comes up in certain novels...
—
"...I'll deal with it... later."
"That's... well..." (Esteban)
...
He gave a weak cough, dust wandering the air around him.
The light from my magic flickered, as a final drop of cold sweat fell from his head, tapping the shaded floor beside his ear...
...
"Sure..." (Esteban)
...
"Thank you."
...
"No... problem—" (Esteban)
"—For the EXP."
...
It was then, that he breathed his last...
For the next 12 hours, at least.
—
[[Defeated: [Esteban / Black Demon (Earl) Horse (Lv1574)]. EXP Absorbed.]]
—
[Leveled Up. 1000 -> 1079]
[[Ability:[Refraction EX] Leveled Up:[Lv8 -> Lv10]]]
[[Ability:[Mirror EX] Leveled Up:[Lv10 -> Lv11]]]
[[Ability:[Distort] Leveled Up:[Lv1 -> Lv2]]]
[[Skill:[Light Magic (Minor)] Leveled Up:[Lv1 -> Lv2]]]
[[Skill:[Act] Leveled Up:[Lv5 -> Lv6]]]
[[Ability:[Mana Sense] Leveled Up:[Lv2 - > Lv4]]]
[[Ability:[MP Recovery] Leveled Up:[Lv31 -> Lv36]]]
[[Ability:[Glare Ray] Leveled Up:[Lv1 -> Lv4]]]
[[Ability:[Dragon's Breath] Leveled Up:[Lv47 - > Lv49]]]
[[Skill:[Magic Manipulation] Leveled Up:[Lv74 -> Lv76]]]
—
[[Title:[Giant Killer DLXXIV] has surpassed Rank-500.]]
[[Title Obtained: [Unbalanced Being]]]
...I truly am the most Unbalanced Being. Maybe I'm just that much of an Cultivation Manhua MC, that nuts right through every offender they face, ten whole realms above their own.
But it always feels nice to level up, and advance my Giant Killer Title.
Mmh.
I'll have a look at my status panel before I go on, then...
[Young Iridescent-Prismatic Light Dragon (LOLI form)] - [Level: 1079/1499] - [Age: 6+ Days] - [Rating: 4S+]
[HP: 15,111,242/15,786,000(+33%)] [MP: 49,823,000/61,258,100(+33%)]
[STR: 6,531,637(+33%)] [INT✭: 152,738,000(+33%)] [DEF: 17,034,787(+33%)] [SPD: 7,029,000(+33%)] [DEX✭: 32,247,000(+33%)] [LUCK: 24,532]
[SPI: 23,056(+7)] [DVN: 79]
[Abilities]:
[Refraction EX Lv10] [Sense Lv10(MAX)] [Dragon's Breath Lv49] [Refracting Dragon Scales (Reduced) Lv13] [Flight Lv4] [Object Appraisal Lv1] [Identification Lv3] [MP Recovery Lv36] [Mirror EX Lv11] [All-Stat Up (Mid) Lv33] [Shapeshift Lv5] [HP Regeneration Lv3] [Mana Sense Lv4] [Angelic Lv7] [Holy Blessing Lv4] [Acceleration Lv4] [Dragon Fear Lv1] [Distort Lv2] [Warp Field Lv2] [Glare Ray (Reduced) Lv4] [SPI Up (Minor) Lv7]
[Extra Abilities]:
['A Bit of God's Power'] [Perfect Language Comprehension] [Immortality (ON)] [Select All] [Bold] [Extinction IV] [ロリ✭~変身✭~] [Contact God EX]
[Skills]:
[Dragon Claw Arts (Minor) Lv10(MAX)] [Magic Manipulation Lv76] [Active MP Recovery Lv2] [Cold Tolerance Lv2] [Overheat Tolerance Lv2] [Pain Tolerance Lv5] [Basic Evasion Lv8] [Light Magic (Minor) Lv2] [Holy Magic (Minor) Lv1] [Act Lv6] [Recording Magic Lv2] [Aura Pressure Lv3] [Aura Control Lv3] [Territorial Detection Lv1] [State Awareness Lv2] [Prayer Lv1] [Dragon's Will (Reduced) Lv1]
[Extra Skills]:
[Fortitude]
[Worn Item Skills]:
[Loli-Yes] [Loli-Energy] [Loli-Soul]
[Titles]:
[Reincarnator] [Alpha Tester II] [God's Personal Monster Exterminator+4] [Giant Killer DLXXIV (+572%)] [Crowd Controller IV] [Dual Soul] [Spirit Killer II] [Goblin Slayer II] [Rabbit Killer II] [Insect Killer I] [Dragon Slayer I] [Unbalanced Being]
...
Perfectly acceptable if my INT stat's above 100 million (in LOLI form). Baby-level STR though. And very disappointingly, my DEF would be at about 85 million in DRAGON form (5 x 17,034,787). Not even 100 million. Egh. Ew. Disgustingly low.
LOLI form definitely is slightly unbalanced compared to DRAGON form.
Mmm...
...
I walked casually into the next room, in LOLI form, releasing a Glare Ray as wide as possible with half my current MP (49823000).
Nice one, nice one.
Mhm.
Much thicker and hotter than before. I don't know anything about its actual range, but it's certainly long. And certainly juicy, with the amount of insect-type creatures I could kill within a single attack.
It was, luckily, another one of those moist cavern-like rooms completely filled with colossal instances of larvae.
...
[[Annihilated: [4,923][Fabled Blue Cheese Fly Larva (Lv810)]. EXP Absorbed.]]
[[Leveled Up. 1079 -> 1081]]
...
I barely just took a step into this room.
I don't know why its empty though.
Well—I shouldn't be using as much as 25M-MP (Million MP) on one basic attack.
I'll finally try out 'Active MP Recovery' then.
...
MP Recovery's faster. Not by much—
[[Skill Learnt:[Mana Drive]]]
Thank you for the skill...
...
I found that I could walk an extra 10 to 11 meters further than the base 100 meter per room thing, maybe. Rather than something like its changing difficulty—it feels more like the dungeon itself is struggling to transport me. Fucking huge. I hope I don't get cut into unequally halved pieces due to miscarriage. I'm barely a fetus compared to the older beings in this world.
But it's fine since I could harvest a further 10 meters worth of EXP in every direction...
An impossibly good benefit. Almost wet my pants once I realized.
—
Mmm...
—
Upon entering the next room, I fired another 'Glare Ray' with another load of 25M-MP once I recovered. This one compressed as far as possible, like when I killed James the Dragon.
It was an amazing experience, to suddenly win against the room itself. A little crack appeared and a bit of unstable MP ran astray. It fixed itself within half a minute. About 27 seconds, to be precise, since I found myself counting anyway. Before the fix though, I tried fingering it a quick one, only to find part of my nails, frighteningly, in perfect condition.
So nothing happened.
—
After cleaning up the next six rooms, I was, again, facing the doorway before the next miniboss room.
[Timeskip Log] [12 minutes]:
[[Leveled Up. 1081 -> 1086]]
[[Ability:[Glare Ray] Leveled Up:[Lv4 -> Lv9]]]
[[Skill:[Magic Manipulation] Leveled Up:[Lv76 -> Lv77]]]
—
The Eighth Miniboss...
It actually was somewhat menacing, honestly.
Based on 'Mana Sense;' whatever stat values it showed off in its aura were at least the same as mine.
Pretty nasty.
I'll have to prepare a bit more than usual, then.
...
I'll expand my aura—then activate 'Territorial Detection,' and 'State Awareness.' And throw in a bit more MP to 'Sense' and 'Mana Sense.'
What else...
'Holy Blessing,' maybe. It's just the LUCK stat though...
Then I'll spread some MP over my body, and activating 'Mirror EX' as the bottom layer, then 'Refraction EX' on top of that.
Plus 'Warp Field' on top of those two.
...
I won't be using too much MP for each of these. I should be able to last 120 minutes in this state, disregarding my MP Recovery skills...
So at least I wont be coming (back out) in 20 seconds (out of shameful failure) while playing this game...
...
I then finally went for a little tour of the Eighth Miniboss room.
...
"Alas..." (Eighth Miniboss)
...
"...Thou have come..." (Eighth Miniboss)
"Indeed, I have."
...
"I'st awaited half a hundred thousand years for this day..." (Eighth Miniboss)
...
"That does seem quite long."
"Oh... It doest..." (Eighth Miniboss)
...
I'll have a look at his age...
—
[Black Demon (Duke) Kraken / Aethitonr] - [Level: 1650/5000] - [Age: 61,088+ years] - [Rating: 5S-]
[HP: 5,090,900/5,090,900] [MP: 40,982,319/40,982,320]
[STR: 79,005,234] [INT: 41,902,342] [DEF: 30,498,032] [SPD: 1,908,000] [DEX: 2,156,890] [LUCK: 978]
[WIL: 398,970,980] [SPI: 8900]
—
[IDENTIFICATION BLOCKED]
—
Hoh... 61,088 years.
I'll call him Aether for now.
I couldn't lie—he looked pretty unique as a 'Kraken.' He looked more Humanoid than Calamari. But then—maybe he, too, has the fabled Humanification skill. Holy Nuts.
It's just his STR that's above mine when it comes to what surprises I found with 'Mana Sense.' There's also a Stat Value I don't have, [WIL], which I'd assume is something like will or willpower. Power of friendship thing. He does seem to have lots of friends in this case.
[WIL] would be the pure Magic-Resist stat in some games—so I'd recommend myself not to waste nutsack loads of MP on direct attacks. Since I can't tell how effective his 400 million WIL would be against my 150 million INT. 'Distort' could damage most physical—corporeal in hotter terms—things pretty nicely anyway.
He blocked off Identification skills, just like Slime, though not completely. And if that 'block' wasn't a passive, then I'd assume he sensed my usage of 'Identification.'
—
I'll make sure he's aware of the fact that I'm aware that he's aware of my Identification skill;
"Certainly well-endowed status panel... Aether."
—
"Oho..." (Aether the Eighth Miniboss)
—
Aether took a moment to continue, as he rose from his seat (floor). His bald, extraterrestrial head, shining in the colors of the stars of the sky.
—
"So you're sneaking a peek... Though you were aware of my awareness of the matter..." (Aether)
"Of course. But where did your ancient speech go?"
—
"I've always been quite the adapter to societal norms..." (Aether)
"An impressive trait to behold."
—
"It is. Isn't it...?" (Aether)
"Yeah."
—
"We should do something fun..." (Aether)
—
His body briefly flashed a flickering amethyst, as an ounce of pressure dropped onto my head.
"—then..." (Aether)
I could offset it rather easily with 'Warp Field.'
—
"...Mmh. We should."
In turn, I fully unleashed my aura, delivering it only up to the edge of the Miniboss room.
I shoved the rest of its 'range' into this little area, to bust up its weight while using 'Aura Pressure.'
—
"Hhuuu—" (Aether)
A Martial Arts loud and sharp inhalation thing... I'll have to be careful—
—!
"Demon's Will." (Aether)
—
So we're playing with some naughty skills, too. I guess I could feel it a bit. Pretty demonic.
Just for the mythical opposing forces deep meanings. I'll throw in my:
"Heaven Aura."
—
"An Angel-type skill..." (Aether)
"It's underleveled, you should understand."
"Ah. I do..." (Aether)
—
"Hell Aura." (Aether)
—
"...So, be not worried. Mine isn't..." (Aether)
"...Thank you. That's reassuring..."
Towards this big issue, I spent a some more MP on 'Refraction EX' and 'Warp Field' on the surface of my body. 'Mirror EX' throws out whatever rest of his MP that passes the other layers.
—
"Dragon Fear."
—
"...!" (Aether)
—
The look of surprise, in his eyes, lasted barely a second.
"'...Aura Coercion.'" (Aether)
"—Dragon's Will."
—
"So you were..." (Aether)
"...Yes I was."
"Fine aura control. I couldn't tell..." (Aether)
"No one else could either."
Somehow, whenever I'm in LOLI form, no one I've come across could tell I was a Dragon. Slime barely found out, only because of my wings and me directly saying so. Even angels like Jibril and Gabriel couldn't tell. Not sure about Ministra. Maybe it's something about my ability being Actually Unique-Grade, and being written in the legendary Anime Language.
"Thanks... But I don't need your comfort..." (Aether)
"...Good to know that you're doing well."
—
"Heh..." (Aether)
Laughing dryly almost a hundred meters from me, he held two fingers forward.
—
"'Ater Ensis.'" (Aether)
—!
'Sense' could barely detect his movement. As expected of a technique conveyed by means of a foreign language.
...
Scary... No sound was made.
I managed to barely evade the trajectory of his hand. It was an Aura Sword kind of attack—whatever it's called in this world—
I immediately returned an attack with my claws, probably only successful due to my higher [SPD]. Along with this, I threw in a test shot of 'Glare Ray' with 10% MP at his nearby upper arm.
—
He retreated without delay—though his light chest injury healed in almost an instant. Nothing happened to his upper arm. His WIL definitely seems effective. I'll partially transform my arms for Physical Attacks from now on.
"Impressive reaction..." (Aether)
"...Impressive fingering."
"But... my fingers weren't enough... were they...?" (Aether)
"No, they weren't..."
...
"Something longer, then..." (Aether)
"Yes, please."
...
"Vocare Ensis:" (Aether)
A single, charcoal black ring of magic formed around each his arms.
"Connascor." (Aether)
The next moment—
He held two identical, forbidding blades, made seemingly of a blackened mist.
—
"This one..." (Aether)
"Nh...?"
"—Will hit the spot." (Aether)
No drag at the end of his dialogue. Next attack must be terrifying.
He handled his blades with expertise. Spinning it a quick two—the helicopter move—plus showing off a nice one. Drawing both swords to his left waist, he lowered his body as he proceeded to activate his next skill.
"Ater・Ensis." (Aether)
—
Unlike the previous, a center dot (interpunct) appeared in between the words...!
A sign of power...!
—
Every edge of his weapon steamed coldly, emitting a dim, colorless vapor throughout.
As he steadily exhaled...
"Celer・Caesa." (Aether)
—!
'Acceleration—!'
Since I'd rather not get hit by an attack based on 79MSTR (79 Million STR) compared to my fragile Loli's 17MDEF (17 Million DEF not Magic DEF)—I happily went for evasion.
While I did so, I threw out an area of 'Distort' just to slow the approaching blades by just a bit...
—
"Khuuu..." (Aether)
—
He exhaled, slowly.
A stream of vapor trailed from his mouth, dispersing into the night sky above. He stepped away immediately as he finished his attack, leaving my Physical-ATK range.
"Didn't that feel good...?" (Aether)
...
"Oh, yes, it did."
...
"You see... I've been quite interested in the art of swordsmanship... since that day..." (Aether)
"Then—you were actually—"
"Oh, yes..." (Aether)
—
"For twelve thousand years, I've trained without rest... And have achieved the Peak Perfection Realm of the Two-Thousand Hellish Dual Darkblade Arts (Latin Ver.)—!" (Aether)
So he was a Cultivation Manhua + Magic Fantasy Novel admirer... That high WIL stat might be related to his long training period.
"...Certainly commendable."
"Of course..." (Aether)
—As he finished his previous line, he already had both his swords held forward, sideways.
"Furvus・Vis." (Aether)
Like the other Latin Ver. technique he used, his swords steamed in some unusual way, emitting this very terrifying smoke.
—Then he played his next card.
"Ater・Inpes—" (Aether)
He disappeared in a dirty flash.
—!!
One ABOVE, one LEFT. I'll partially transform to block the one ABOVE, and layer my 'Distort' and 'Mirror EX' on the one LEFT. I noticed my Mirror EX wasn't affected much by his high WIL stat.
—
"—Incitus・Circum." (Aether)
—
As I returned him a swipe of my claw, he spun his body along a rather concerning posture and attacked another few times.
...
His continuous attacks lasted for 5 seconds.
I could tell—this Special Move was generally structured around his extreme twists and turns, channeling the true spirit of Two-Thousand Hellish Dual Darkblade Arts (Latin Ver.)—It was a curious sight, honestly. Enough to make my childish 6-day old mind desire greatly to see what kind of deformations he'd put his body through.
But—he wasn't really human anyway. So I shouldn't be concerned.
I failed to shave off his last THREE attacks, which dropped my HP by approximately a fifth. Dangerous—considering how casual they were.
—
"...Three hits. Not hard enough, is it...?" (Aether)
—
"Yeah... Do it harder, please."
"I'll try..." (Aether)
—
"Ater・Fragor・Amnis—!" (Aether)
—!!
I'm sure—
This was his first exclamation-marked sentence...! This must be a horrifying technique, for something as intricate as exclamation to occur.
I neutrally observed his movements, as I repelled his attacks with pure DEF (dragon claws) and some skills (Distort and Mirror). Then I had a rabid thought... Maybe I could learn a bit of hand technique from his dual sword moves. So I pushed my eyes to the limit. Basically concentrating a bit more than usual.
The first thing I noticed when I did this was a feverish sensation in my head...
Everything in my sight seemed to slow down, allowing me to very comprehensively read Aether's attacks.
Mmh...
...
[[Skill Learnt:[Thought Acceleration]]]
...
I wasn't really struggling. But this would make the fight easier...
