King of Flies (3)
"Fuckin' shit."
I glared at Beelzebub, who twitched intermittently. For a monster, this was the price of charging at me without a shred of fear.
"Still kickin', huh? Tough little bastard."
Monsters were monsters, alright. Beelzebub hadn't died. Even though his insides—flesh, organs, everything—had been scorched to ash, he clung to life. What a tenacious fucking life force.
"Doesn't change the fact that you're dying by my hand, though."
If he wouldn't drop dead, I'd just beat him until he did. I approached the fallen Beelzebub.
Crack—!
"Huh?"
Just as I was about to smash my fist into the eyes of the bastard lying there, limbs spasming, his belly suddenly split open like a tree cleaved in two.
"What the—? Ugh?!"
Viiiiiiing—!
What burst from the gaping stomach was none other than a swarm of flies. Flies again?
My face twisted involuntarily. But this wasn't your average fly swarm.
Kekeke! You maggot! You thought you'd won?!
"No, fuck, you're the maggot, you sayin' I'm the maggot?!"
The swarm clustered together like a person, and Beelzebub's voice emanated from it. Not from the body behind me, but from this.
Phase 2, huh? But I wasn't scared or tense. A tiny fly swarm like that would be easier to kill than the massive body flopped behind me.
"You got no learning curve?"
Crackle—!
I fired off a bolt of lightning, just barely recovered from zero points. It wasn't much—just a pathetic, thin wisp that hardly deserved the name "lightning." But it should've been enough for thumbnail-sized flies.
Fizzle—!
"...Huh?"
Not a single fly dropped dead from the lightning.
Kekeke! You idiot! You think I'd come out like this without a plan?!
"....."
Wasn't that the case? I'd assumed so because he'd been such a dumbfuck up to now.
I've already built up resistance to lightning! Your puny bolts won't work on me anymore!
"Oh, fuck."
Did that mean I had to swat every last one of those goddamn flies individually? That was fucking horrifying.
Hand over your flesh!
"Fuck, you sure love stealin' other people's bodies."
With that shout, it—no, the swarm—lunged at me.
Splat—!
I hastily ripped off one of Beelzebub's legs from his body and swung it at the flies.
Kekeke!
The swarm effortlessly dodged the leg I swung and attacked me.
"Ugh?"
Player 'Horny Guy' has been touched by [Plague Flies].
Inflicted with abnormal status 'Plague'.
Trait 'Disease Resistance' activated.
Plague status removed.
Every time the swarm grazed me, system messages popped up repeatedly. Thanks to my Disease Resistance trait, I never actually caught the plague. But it wasn't a great situation. No pain, sure, but my suit was shredded to rags. I didn't wanna go buck-naked in front of these filthy fly bastards.
'Now what?'
He had no way to kill me, and I had no way to kill him. He'd built up resistance from all the lightning I'd zapped him with. My mass-murder weapon was neutralized—I'd lost my main attack method.
A stalemate where neither could kill the other.
'A draw?'
No fucking way! A draw?! This was my win!
'Work, brain, Dark City's finest!'
I racked my mind for a way to take down Beelzebub. But nothing solid came up.
'Shoulda brought Flame Witch if I knew it'd be like this!'
Even a monster like this would go up in flames from an S-rank hero like Flame Witch. He'd resisted lightning, not fire. But she wasn't here, so it was pointless.
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue and flung aside Beelzebub's leg mid-swing. Useless fucking leg anyway.
"Annoying, but no choice."
Truth was, I already had a way to deal with the swarm. I'd just been hoping for a one-shot method instead of the tedious one-by-one grind.
"World of Zero Gravity."
World of Zero Gravity
Urk?!
The moment the skill activated, the swarm buzzing excitedly around me floated up into the air all at once.
Clap—!
I clapped my hands, squashing one fly.
N-No way...
"Ugh, fuck. How long's this gonna take?"
S-Stop it!
"Heh heh heh. Nah, you little fly fuck."
Clap—!
Kraaaagh!
And so, with Beelzebub's screams as my soundtrack, I diligently clapped away, squashing flies one by one.
*****
"This is actually good practice."
Slice—!
Grk...
Flicking my index and middle fingers split a fly clean in half. Tired of grabbing them by hand, I'd started using a mix of Attraction and Repulsion—the same technique I'd used to bisect Shadow Killer. What'd I name it again? Half-something?
"Oh yeah, Half Cutting."
At first, using Half Cutting on flies was a pain. I'd only ever used it on big targets like monster-mutated Shadow Killer. Easy on hulks, but tiny bugs? The aiming felt off, like no crosshair.
But repetition honed it. Now, a simple finger flick sliced flies neatly in two. Plus, I could dial the power just right—no overkill, just enough to kill a fly.
"Ahh... where's my limit, anyway?"
Already OP, and still growing! How strong was I gonna get?!
"Scary shit! I'm a fuckin' monster!"
With fine control, Half Cutting's uses were endless. Like secretly snipping bra or panty straps without a soul noticing. Worth grinding mastery for that alone.
Lost in the zone, I Half Cut every fly floating in zero gravity, bisecting the whole swarm.
"Done?!"
Confirming no live flies left, I stared at the air expectantly. System message incoming!
"...Fuck."
A full minute passed. No message. Why?! No live flies anywhere!
I scanned around—no buzzing.
"Hate usin' my brain... hate flesh prisons..."
Wanna GTFO this shithole basement. But no clear meant no exit.
I deactivated World of Zero Gravity. Fly corpses rained down.
Ugh... gross!
Kekeke! Can't find me, can you!
"Ugh, fuck. That goddamn laugh."
The second gravity returned, one "dead" fly buzzed up. Hearing that shit laugh again soured my mood hard.
"Come down nice-like and die proper. Gettin' bored now."
How long did I have to roll with these flies? Needed out ASAP.
It's not over, maggot!
"Haa... too lazy to argue now."
Viiiiing—!
Beelzebub was a persistent fucker—man, no, fly.
"Fine, show me your tricks."
I crossed my arms and watched.
Normally, you don't let enemies power up. Tokusatsu might wait for transformation, but reality's a merciless bitch—no time-outs. But I gave Beelzebub his moment.
Honestly, for a "Demon King" or "Fly Emperor" with all the fancy titles, he was just annoying and easy. Total chump.
'Time to show him an insurmountable wall.'
One of only seven Demon Kings, getting humbled by a human he despised? The despair would be exquisite. I'd crush him with hopelessness, then grant a pathetic end.
Viiiing—!
The tiny-fly Beelzebub flew up, merging back into his original body—the one with a missing leg and split gut.
Viiiing—!
"Huh?"
More than one survivor, apparently. I turned at the wing-flaps behind me.
"...Eugh."
I recoiled. Flies were crawling out of the mouths of the comatose Gwen Mansion folks. They swarmed to form Beelzebub's core.
Shlrp—
Each fly merged, glowing. The gut sealed, the leg regrew. Shell gleamed with extra chitin. Smaller now—20m to 5m—but still huge.
Kekeke! Brace yourself, maggot!
"Grnngh! This the final phase? Last one for real? If there's more after, you're gettin' beat to death. Got it?"
Flutterflutter—!
Kiiiiieeeek!!!
Beelzebub vibrated his six pairs of wings, hovering slightly, then roared and charged.
"Ooh."
Smaller body meant sharper moves—faster speed, whooshing limbs. But against my level-10 transcendent flesh? Child's play.
Player 'Horny Guy' has been touched by [Plague Cloud].
Inflicted with abnormal status 'Plague'.
Trait 'Disease Resistance' activated.
Plague status removed.
"Gettin' old."
One annoyance: plague debuff spam on every contact.
'Hold up?'
Then it hit me. Beelzebub spread plague on touch alone—a nightmare foe.
If it was the Hero Association fighting now?
'They'd wipe without a fight.'
They held against Siren thanks to Valencia's experience. But plague? No chance.
'Not just them.'
S-rank villains would fold too. Without me, Beelzebub would've claimed Dark City.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Sudden pity for him. Quest said he'd crashed here eons ago via dimensional rift. Long-ass time. Then I ruined his long con. Stock plummeted.
"...Tch."
Felt kinda bad for tanking his grind.
"Won't save you, though."
Why! How! Why won't my attacks work! Who the hell are you?!
Beelzebub, hammering away full-force to no avail, screamed.
"Me? Told ya. Steel Armor."
Lies! No human can resist me! No human can take my life! You... you're no human!
"Hah hah ha. Old saying: go nuts nicely. Shut your bullshit and die."
N-Nooo!
I leaped up.
Crunch—!
Kraaaaaagh!
My straight-line fist pierced his chest.
Crunch—! Crunch—! Crunch—! Crunch—!
Each punch deformed his body further. He screamed, but my fists didn't stop.
"Hoo! Time to end it."
S-Spare...
"Your Majesty. Don't beg for life. Keep your kingly dignity."
N-Nooo...
"This cheeky fuck, I was gonna give you a proper send-off at the end, and now you're beggin'? No dice. Die."
Crunch—!
I stomped his begging head. No more screams—
Player Exclusive Quest: [Monster: Otherworld Demon King - Beelzebub] Execute the Judgment!
🎉 Status: Cleared
—and the quest cleared.
"...Feels like I'm the one protectin' Dark City, not the heroes."
The thought crossed my mind as I eyed the system message.