Chapter 225: The Abyss (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 225: The Abyss (5)
It was a scene that could only be described as grotesque.
The snake's corpse, which had been growing cold, suddenly twitched. It then violently vomited a gush of dark red blood and ruptured entrails.
「Authority now imbues the avatar of The First Tempter.」
「Danger, Danger, Danger, Danger, Danger.」
「Players in the area are advised to evacuate.」
...If it's so dangerous, then stop it.
The penalties from the message window didn't seem to have much effect on the creature. Of course, the only reason I was still alive might be thanks to those penalties.
Krrrrk-
Its once-hard scales began to peel away.
It was shedding.
Watching it, I immediately moved.
My whole body creaked from overusing the Buddha's Palm, but experience told me this was the time to act.
Ignoring the warning signals blaring in my head, I drew up my ki. Unlike a crab shedding its exoskeleton, a snake only sheds the outermost layer of its skin, the stratum corneum.
In other words, shedding its skin didn't mean its defense would weaken.
Of course, that didn't mean there were no openings at all.
Just before a snake sheds, the protective caps over its eyes turn cloudy.
Simply put, the snake-head, whose vision was already poor, was now completely blind.
Having recovered some of my internal injuries with the holy water, I used the Formless Step to approach it once more.
Even if it had revived and shed its skin, it was still just an avatar, not the Constellation's true body.
What could it do if its guts had burst?
The swirling Vajra Qi created a golden wave. I reached out, feeling a sense of omnipotence as if my eyes had been truly opened.
But my palm never reached it.
Thwack!
“?!”
Kraaaash!!!
Sent flying by the tremendous impact, I slammed into a wall. I nearly lost consciousness for a moment, but I quickly came to my senses and checked my condition.
The pain was so intense I couldn't even scream properly, but surprisingly, my body was in decent shape.
Unlike before, when I took a blow while half-defenseless, my body, now circulating with abundant Vajra Qi, was tougher than I could have imagined.
Of course, it wasn't an Indestructible Vajra Body or anything.
Well, it's not impossible to reach the state of an Indestructible Vajra Body, but mastering the Formless Vajra Art allows one to escape the interference of all creation. So why bother?
It's far better to achieve the 'Formless' state of constant invincibility than the Indestructible Vajra Body, which only offers infinite physical defense.
Anyway, I shook off the stray thoughts and wiped the blood trickling down my forehead with the back of my hand.
I struggled to my feet, lightly stretching as I checked my condition again. My right side was fine, but my left leg was trembling slightly. The same went for my left arm.
Is it because I blocked with my left side?
Fortunately, no bones were broken, so it didn't seriously hinder my movement.
Objectively speaking, though, some of my muscles were torn, and I should have been resting immediately.
I wanted to, but I didn't have the luxury.
“...Is that a snake or a dragon?”
A dry laugh escaped my lips.
The creature's appearance after shedding its skin easily surpassed my imagination. Not only had limbs sprouted from its torso, but every flap of its massive wings kicked up clouds of dust.
I swallowed dryly and steadied my breathing.
In this situation, any emotion other than appropriate tension was a luxury.
“A Constellation shedding its skin just to catch a single human... I guess that's just what you'd expect from a snake-head.”
I provoked it lightly, trying to bait it into attacking first. If I rushed in recklessly, I'd just get beaten up like before.
「The First Tempter sneers.」
「“Khahaha, spout whatever nonsense you wish. As long as I can kill the Saint, I don't care if I'm banished from the Tower.”」
“...A Saint?”
「The First Tempter glares at you.」
「“Don't play dumb. That sacred and disgusting holy light... it's definitely his power.”」
I instinctively grabbed the rosary around my neck.
At the faint radiance of divine power leaking from it, the creature's face twisted in disgust.
Now I understood why it had been coming at me with such killing intent. If I'd known this would happen, I would've kept the rosary in my inventory.
It's my loss to complain about it now.
Besides, I couldn't be bothered to worry about every little thing like that, nor did I want to.
「The First Tempter murmurs in a low voice.」
「“This is my final offer. If you give up your life quietly now, I swear on my true name that I will reap your soul without pain.”」
I flipped the middle finger at the creature spouting its long-winded bullshit.
“If you're going to lie, at least hide your killing intent.”
Boom!!
Its fist struck the exact spot where I had been standing.
Now that it was no longer in its snake form, its speed had clearly dropped. Thanks to that, I could dodge without much difficulty, but the problem was the interval between its attacks.
Bang, bang, bang, BOOM!!
There was no room to even plant my feet. The next attack came the instant the last one ended. If I let even one hit land, I would surely lose consciousness.
If I hadn't been hit while it was shedding earlier, I would have been in real trouble.
Ignoring the cold sweat trickling down my face, I kept moving. If I stopped for even a moment, I'd be done for.
「The First Tempter grins viciously.」
「“A human who holds divine power is a special delicacy. I'm already looking forward to seeing what you taste like.”」
No matter how many times I saw it, I couldn't get used to that face.
It was like something out of the uncanny valley—its appearance, a mix between a ferocious reptile and a human, made me frown instinctively.
I responded with a fig sign, tucking my thumb between my index and middle fingers. I didn't know its exact meaning, but the creature seemed to understand it was an insult, as its attacks grew even more ferocious.
So perceptive for no good reason.
But thanks to that, my plan worked.
Because it had recklessly picked up the pace, a small opening appeared.
──!
A wave of golden energy shot through space—an Air-Splitting Palm—and struck the creature's head. However, because my stance was unstable, it was weaker than before.
「The First Tempter's face contorts.」
「“You mere human...!”」
Its maw opened wide.
In that instant, my instincts screamed danger more intensely than ever. A chill ran down my spine, and I immediately threw myself to the side.
FWOOOOSH!!!!
Right after, it spewed a breath of purplish-black energy.
Seeing that, I abandoned all pretense of footwork and ran, stomping the ground hard enough to leave craters.
Footwork techniques weren't designed to dodge such brutish attacks anyway.
Just as the breath was about to engulf me, I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
But it wasn't enough to reach the ceiling.
Of course, I hadn't jumped with the intention of clinging to the ceiling in the first place, so it didn't matter.
[Levitation]
I used the Levitation magic built into my boots.
Floating in mid-air, I narrowly escaped the breath's range. It didn't seem to be a typical fire breath. Even with the rosary, the toxic energy was enough to make my skin sting.
If I had taken that head-on, I would have melted.
The silver lining was that it couldn't turn its head freely while spewing its breath.
If it could, dodging it in such a confined space would have been impossible.
Watching it from the air, I launched another Air-Splitting Palm. Thwack! Since my feet weren't on the ground, the impact was pitifully weak.
The creature flapped its wings as if to mock me.
...Don't tell me.
A sense of dread washed over me.
BOOM!
Just as I feared, the creature shot up at an incredible speed, its fist smashing into the ceiling. If I hadn't used Thought Acceleration, I would have been flattened like a pancake.
I dispelled the magic, landed on the ground, and caught my breath.
「The First Tempter furrows its brow.」
「“...You, why are you unharmed?”」
It stopped attacking and stared at me, a look of confusion on its face.
Ting-
[Resisted Curse of Corruption.]
[Resisted Curse of Erosion.]
[Resisted Curse of the Soul.]
[Resisted Curse of Chaos.]
“...A curse?”
Seeing the screen in front of me, I briefly looked inward, observing my body.
Just as I thought, an unidentifiable purplish-black energy was spreading around my mana circle.
I instinctively knew it was a curse.
Fortunately, the energy dissipated without managing to invade the mana circle.
What was that?
I had a rough idea of how I'd been cursed. The breath attack from before must have had the additional effect of spreading curses.
Since it wasn't magic, I couldn't reverse-calculate it, let alone notice it. If the app hadn't told me, I would have remained clueless.
Did the rosary block such a high-level curse?
No, that can't be right.
No matter how personally consecrated by a saint it was, the rosary was definitely not powerful enough to instantly dispel a Constellation's curse.
I opened my inventory and took out a book.
[Lelia's Little Key
Grade: Epic
A grimoire containing all the knowledge of Lelia, the Witch of Curses.
Increases understanding of curses.
Increases the power of curses.
Increases resistance to curses.]
[A new curse has been recorded.]
[Curse of Corruption]
[Curse of Erosion]
[Curse of the Soul]
[Curse of Chaos]
A new page turned in the book, one that had been inaccessible until now. On it were details about the curses that had just appeared on my screen.
I never thought it would be able to block a Constellation's curse.
Pleased with this unexpected gain, I decided to study the curses I'd acquired today soon.
After putting the book away, I quickly checked my condition.
My arms and legs still moved.
The burning sensation in my magic circuits had also subsided somewhat. I probably couldn't use magic above the 4th Circle, but as long as it had a weakness on its back, even 3rd-Circle magic wasn't useless.
Moreover, the oppressive pressure and presence I felt at the beginning had diminished significantly. It was probably due to the penalties the message window had imposed on the creature.
...This might actually be doable.
Was it because I had come close to death so many times in this short battle?
A smile crept onto my lips.
I could feel a cocktail of neurotransmitters and hormones—adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins—exploding in my brain.
I had no complaints about being thrown into a situation like this right after matching.
After all, this was the kind of perilous battle I had come here for.
「The First Tempter is enraged.」
「“Are you mocking me?!”」
Lost in its own delusion, the creature roared and charged at me. The penalties were clearly taking a toll; its intelligence seemed to be dropping as time went on.
Its sharp teeth, which looked like they could exert incredible bite force, drew closer.
Crunch!
Using a Hallucination as bait, I dodged its bite and took advantage of the moment its head was lowered.
Surging red lightning energy gathered in one spot, creating a clap of thunder.
Thunderclap Breaking Empty Palm.
BOOM!
「The First Tempter writhes in agony.」
「“Kuaaaargh!!”」
The blow landed squarely on the crown of its head, and it stumbled back, shaking its head in pain.
The Thunderclap Breaking Empty Palm was a palm technique from the Crimson Cloud Thunder Art. It wasn't an exceptionally powerful martial art, but the Air-Breaking Palm it was based on specialized in paralyzing an opponent's muscles and nerves.
Taking a hit at point-blank range, its brain probably wouldn't function properly for a while.
I didn't stop.
I had been waiting for the moment it would expose its head. Its hide had become too tough to land an effective blow with the Air-Splitting Palm like before.
To create an opening to use the Buddha's Palm, I had no choice but to strike its head directly with the Air-Breaking Palm.
And this was the perfect opportunity I had been waiting for.
The merciful hand of the Buddha, which judges all evil, descended once more. Just as the golden wave of energy was about to ripple outward...
“...Huh?”
───!!!
The purplish-black energy erupting from the creature's body exploded. I lost consciousness from the shock and was sent flying.
*
How much time had passed?
My head had been struck by falling debris, and I struggled to open my eyes.
My vision was red.
...I'm getting thrown around a lot today.
Wiping away the blood that flowed like water from a broken faucet, I assessed the situation. Thankfully, I wasn't dead. The creature was also still there, crouched and unmoving.
I had avoided the worst-case scenario, but now my body wouldn't move.
I had hit the wall so hard that my back muscles, including my lats, were torn. On top of that, my scapula, ribs, and clavicle were broken.
My front, which had taken the brunt of the explosion, was relatively okay. I had instinctively focused my barrier there.
Is this it?
Honestly, if the matchup had been better, I would have won much more easily. It wasn't even a dragon, so it made no sense for its scales to repel 5th-Circle magic.
The absurdity of it made me laugh, but I knew that in the end, I would be the one to win.
Just as I decided to end the match, recover, and then finish the creature off...
Ting-
「Fallen Star proposes an Apostle Contract.」
A message that made me doubt my own eyes appeared.