Chapter 274
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 274
Chapter Title: Don't Get the Wrong Idea.
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Raid (Raider).
A large-scale assault where dozens or even hundreds of attackers band together to conquer a dungeon.
With more people involved, the rewards get split thinner, so these raids were typically reserved for the deepest dungeon levels—especially against exceptionally powerful boss monsters.
It was also a hurdle every high-level player had to clear at least once on their path to greatness.
But there was one problem.
The target of this raid wasn't a boss monster.
It was Gula.
'These XXX bastards!'
Gula was seeing red, her rage boiling over.
Of course, larger monsters often required raids to take down.
And given that he was now a colossal beast, it was somewhat reasonable for the Green Dragon Clan to form a raid party against him.
...If her intelligence level were truly on par with a monster's, that is.
'How damn lightly do they see me to pull this crap?!'
Pattern recognition was key in raids.
It only worked against mindless monsters that knew nothing but charging at foes.
Try that nonsense against a person?
It just made things far more dangerous.
Ignore the tanks in a standard raid setup of tanks, dealers, and healers, and pick off the healers first? The whole raid falls apart.
In that sense, it was only natural for Gula to lose it.
The Green Dragon Clan using this method was basically calling her a brain-dead idiot.
But Gula couldn't just unleash her fury willy-nilly.
No matter how idiotic the raid, the ones pulling it off were no fools.
'Seven Transcendent-level experts... Are these Seven Dragon Society bastards trying to snipe all the elites?'
Four elders alone.
Plus three prestigious family heads.
Gula ground her teeth, realizing all seven were Transcendent-level masters who hit-and-ran with ruthless precision.
The Seven Dragon Society's Transcendents were monsters rivaling Grand Duke-level players.
One-on-one, maybe. But seven at once? Even for him, that wasn't easy.
'Fine. Time to wipe you all out!'
Even so, Gula grinned ferociously.
The old saying went: five or more Grand Dukes could challenge even a Monarch.
Think of cases like Law Court's Grand Duke, who once fought Summoner Monarch to a draw.
It sounded plausible enough.
Gula just scoffed at it, though.
Sure, based on 'surface-level' abilities, the math wasn't entirely off.
One problem, though.
No Monarch lacked an ace up their sleeve.
Skills getting exposed meant vulnerabilities exposed.
Thus, Monarchs with overly famous Absolute Skills had to develop counters to protect their thrones.
Infinite Monarch Lee Cheongi had her 【Overload】 as a last resort.
Magic Monarch Karl had crafted 【World Break】, her ultimate destruction spell.
Naturally, Gula had one too.
Originally incomplete, but honed to perfection over years of bitter exile after losing her base.
The trump card that even made Maia abandon killing her and flee.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
『Predatory Evolution』
Power amplified to the limit
The power of 『Predatory Evolution』 surged stronger.
Layering factors from more monsters onto the three already active ones, Gula's body underwent drastic changes.
Six foreheads split open from Hydra factors, birthing King Beholder eyes.
Doom Akan's armor and spines fused with Invisible Spider Queen's hide.
Giant Eater's massive frame blended Kraken's strength and Sonic King Kong's agility.
Seven, eight, nine...
From Dungeon Floor 91 to 99.
Each boss that even Grand Dukes staked their lives against— their traits overlapped.
Finally, as the heart of Chimera Drake, the boss he'd battled on Floor 100, reformed in her body.
No longer resembling a Hydra lurked there.
Only an ultra-colossal beast, distinct from any monster yet embodying their collective savagery.
⚔ TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE ⚔
【Behemoth】
Ultimate monster form synthesized from devoured factors
No discernible weaknesses
The Absolute Skill 『Predatory Evolution』 had drawn out every devoured monster factor to forge this flesh.
A perfect beast with no flaws, Gula sneered chillingly at the Green Dragon Clan's elites.
[Hahaha, time to show you punks what a true Monarch's power looks like!]
No matter how many Transcendents.
They were no match now.
Especially mimicking a sloppy raid like this— turning them to paste would be a breeze.
At least, that's what Gula firmly believed.
Krurrr rumble!
[...!?]
...Right up until the ground split with a crack beneath him, moments after completing her evolution, her feet sinking deep.
A subway line right below, perhaps.
His suddenly ballooned size and weight had finally exceeded the ground's limits, causing it to collapse.
Depth: dozens of meters.
The fall's impact triggered chain collapses, burying most of the ultra-colossal Gula's body.
Suddenly, only a long neck and six heads protruded from the earth like some freakish plant.
The Green Dragon elders and heads didn't miss the fatal opening.
Bam! Splurt! Thud thud thud!
[Guhk, urk, kyaaak!]
Fists whipping up storms smashed jaws.
A massive iron hammer caved in skulls.
Immense weight crushed heads.
Nails hammered into maws.
In the blink of an eye, seven Transcendents swarmed, turning Gula's six heads into sandbags for a brutal pummeling.
A barrage that would've left most Monarchs on death's door.
But with her monstrous durability, Gula took it all, eyes bulging in fury.
[Y-You damn bastards!]
King Beholder eyes on six foreheads glowed.
Just as all-piercing destruction beams were about to fire—
Kabooooom!
[Keurgh...?!?!]
Another explosion roared.
Another building tilted.
Another impact hammered her skull.
A merciless building-swing, weaponizing tens of thousands of tons.
Body trapped underground, Gula couldn't dodge, eating reinforced concrete straight on.
Three heads buried in debris mid-fight, her fallen body now fully entombed.
[You lunatics...! Planning to wreck the whole city just to take me down?!]
Splat!
No answer.
Just relentless fists and bludgeons.
Their blazing eyes made it clear: the city's fate meant nothing to them.
The same kept happening.
Every time Gula tried extricating her body, nearby buildings toppled onto him, and they exploited the gaps to hammer away relentlessly.
'...How?'
The one-sided beatdown.
But the emotion flooding Gula's mind most wasn't humiliation or rage— it was bewilderment and doubt.
'How is this even possible?'
Toppling buildings as weapons?
In their own turf, São Paulo no less?
Absurd, but somewhat understandable.
The Green Dragons would do anything for revenge, and they had the cash and clout to cover it up.
The real issue was their movements.
Dozens of counterattempts with her remaining three heads.
Yet they ghosted every attack, blocking or dodging like demons while pressing the assault.
As if preempting every timing and strike before he even moved.
'Precognition? No, even prophecy skills can't pull this off!'
Thus, Gula grew more confused.
He'd fought high-level prophecy users before; overwhelming power crushed them easily.
But this— everything 'read', every action perfectly 'countered'? First time feeling this wall.
Could the world's top seer, White Dragon Princess, manage this?
No, even if she could, it wasn't her style.
Pre-laid traps.
Waiting for prey.
Binding thread by thread until immobile.
Like a spider weaving its web.
This thorough, sticky, vicious method differed from prophets minimizing losses for max gains via foresight.
'Who...!'
Gula instinctively sensed it.
The seven Transcendents were mere 'mouths'.
The true attacker was elsewhere.
Someone predicting and analyzing her hundreds of fusion-born patterns, feeding intel to them.
Turning an impossible raid feasible.
A foe far viler, slyer, creepier than a small-time villain like him.
Feeling that malice, Gula screamed inwardly.
'What vicious bastard is orchestrating this shit?!'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Tap, crackle.
"...".
Was it her innate frailty?
That milky skin was so pale and pristine, it seemed it'd melt at a touch.
His slender frame, fragile as if it'd snap in a grip, couldn't even charitably be called voluptuous.
The scent wafting from her was dizzyingly sweet.
Yet that very purity evoked an urge to soil it, like fresh snow.
The graceful curve from elegant nape, over pert breasts and slim waist, to sleek thighs— lithe without an ounce of excess, begging to be embraced.
That scent, growing sweeter with every breath, stirred a desire to drown in it forever.
It was bewitching.
Like a flower more tempting the frailer it seemed.
Like thin ice craving to be crushed.
Like a drug more addictive for its danger.
So perilously fragile, on the verge of crumbling— that made the beauty all the more intoxicating.
Crackle.
Damp wood sparking tiny embers, the campfire shrinking slightly.
For a moment, Rimon stared silently at the statue-like nude glowing whiter in the flickering shadows.
Then he raised a hand.
Tapped her ear with her palm, tilted her head, and asked Maia,
"What did you just say?"
His ears were fine, so why the nonsense?
His question laid bare her utter bafflement.
Maia repeated herself.
"I said hold me."
"...If you're cold and just want body heat, I'll fetch more firewood."
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not asking for your warmth out of need— I'm demanding a man's body as a woman."
"...".