Chapter 360: The Clash of Dragons (1)
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Neji and Rumi tried to talk sense into Rhongomyniad's head, and at first, it seemed to be working. Neji had hope blooming in his heart that he might not have to fight – in the end, they might get her back to her senses with words alone.
However, luck hadn't been on his side lately.
Despite saying "Do not attack them" to Bedivere and Agravain just a moment earlier, the Goddess Rhongomyniad stood up abruptly from her throne as the lance named Rhongomyniad materialized in her hand.
"Looks like it didn't work."
"No choice but to beat her up, then."
The air turned colder, and passive auras started to dance in the air like music to the ears. The mood changed fast, and the attackers sighed.
Though it was mostly just Neji who was a little disappointed that it didn't work. Contrary to his reaction, Rumi looked determined to fight. No, she was looking forward to the fight from the get-go.
Ryuko Tatsuma had been her friend and sparring partner for years, but due to her gentle nature, she never went all out against Rumi – causing Rumi to win all of their fights. But now? Since she was out of her mind, she wouldn't hold back.
In hindsight, Rumi realized being excited was stupid since Rhongomyniad was Tier 25, while she was Tier 22. Still, she couldn't suppress the urge to fight.
One problem was, there was not a solid goal behind all this battle today. As in, what would they do to her after winning? Winning in itself would be hard, if not impossible, but in either case, what to do after she is beaten? Neji didn't have any mind or soul-healing powers.
As if reading his mind, Rumi leaned to his side and said,
"Well, remember the ancient technique of beating the shit out of people to make them return to default settings. It's gonna work, let's trust the process. Don't be a pussy and remember your own rule. Was it in the lines of, 'It's fine for me to beat my girls up, as long as they're not dead'?"
"Haha, right."
Neji gave an awkward chuckle and decided it was time to go all out.
"Rush forward, I will join in a bit."
Rumi nodded and kicked the floor, cracking it as her form blurred past the senses of everyone. While the imaginary battle music grew in the area, Neji also kicked the ground, though he was rushing far from the group.
Quetzalcoatl, who was on the side, took that as a sign to enter the battle and also rushed forward while Agravain and Bedivere went in to try and stop her. But the two knights were also confronted by Fujimaru, Mash, and Merlin.
The rushing Rumi had a small grin on her face as she went towards the woman, Goddess Rhongomyniad, who was apathetic like always. Rumi blinked in space and appeared right above Rhongomyniad, her body spinning, and a Luna Fall falling towards the latter's head.
With no change in expression, the dragon blocked the attack with her lance; however, it wasn't a casual block. An overwhelming wave of power was released from the clash, and Rhongomyniad slid two steps back. Rumi smirked, and Rhongomyniad frowned.
"I-Impossible!"
Agravain, who was clashing with Mash, exclaimed in shock when he noticed the step that his King had taken back. It was stunning to him, and he realized he and Bedivere had to finish the small fries faster and focus on the bigger fish.
"Merlin! Stop this madness, it's not too late to redeem yourself. Join us!"
So Agravain started to ask the great mage for help, but she just maintained a small smile and continued to support Mash and Fujimaru.
An unbearable clash between Rumi and Rhongomyniad began, the rabbit going all out against the dragon as she was busy attacking while Rhongomyniad was busy defending. Rumi slowly led the fight far from the rest of the group.
Despite both being in their 20s tiers, they had different specialties. Rumi was a physical bomb, while Rhongomyniad had stupid magical powers. Which meant that in the combat of close quarters, Rumi had the upper hand. However, that could only last for so long.
Rhongomyniad willed it, and the ground started to shake. The entire castle began to quake, causing everyone to lose their footing.
In seconds, they realized the issue was the Tower of the End, which was the main part of the castle. It had risen from the ground and was rising up to the sky. All to continue shaking more violently to cause the physical fighters problems with their movements.
Sadly, it didn't work so well since Rumi could fly, skillfully at that. So within the shaky castle, Rumi rushed toward Rhongomyniad again and began to attack in a barrage. What was worse for Rhongomyniad was that now that the Tower was out, the second stage of the plan could begin.
– Ddddhang!
Something powerful hit the outer part of the castle, and Rhongomyniad's eyes widened in shock. Looking to the side at a window while blocking Rumi, she noted the flying pyramid beside the tower.
Inside the pyramid, in the far depth, Ozymandias smirked as she waved her hand. The pyramid shot two purple beams at the tower again. The tower shook, but it was violent this time. At this rate, the humans Rhongomyniad had kept stored inside the Tower, like stored ice creams, would all be destroyed.
"Stop this."
For once, Rhongomyniad started to look flustered. To begin with, the plan was to make her emotional. They thought trying to destroy the thing she had been working on for months, so diligently, might earn a reaction from her. That's why Ozy was in her pyramid, instead of in this battle.
– Ddddhang!
"I said stop this!"
When another beam hit the tower, Rhongomyniad growled, and her lance started to glow brightly. As Rumi attacked her again, and her chocolate legs clashed with the glowing spear, her eyes went wide, and a wave of raw mana thrust out of the lance.
– Shiingggg!
"Oh fuck-"
Rumi panicked, and the beam overshadowed her figure right away. When it cleared, something surprising stood between Rumi and the lance. He wore golden armor that covered from his neck to toe, and he had his palm stretched to block the lance's tip. Neji stood with his expression displeased, and his eyes sharp.
"It took a minute, I had to check a few things. No more worries, for I managed to summon the armor."
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Like usual, he didn't receive any quest when the fight started, so he went to the back of the battlefield to check if any quests had indeed been generated or not.
Thankfully, it was as he had guessed. Furthermore, this time the quest was a little special – divided into three parts as it was, and that allowed an instant reward after finishing each part.
Sadly, he couldn't see the entire chain, but only the one he had active at the moment. Part one had already been completed, it seemed, so he could see part two now.
[Quest Chain – Quest (1 of 3) – has been completed.]
[Quest, "Reach the Throne Room Safely" has been completed. You have also completed the Bonus by defeating the two assassin women.]
[You have gained 150 new levels!]
[You have reached Level 2500, and the Debuff has been weakened to 65%! You can now summon the Golden Armor.]
[Proceeding with the 2nd Quest.]
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Quest: The Emergence of Wife Beater Neji | Quest Chain – Quest (2 of 3)
Details: Your love and dear Ryuko Tatsuma has been corrupted by the Holy Lance and is under a false identity. You don't know how to fix her, but talking to her isn't an option either. So you try and beat your way through into her brain. There is no choice for failure, for that means death as the corrupted woman will not hold back. Main
Quest: Defeat Ryuko Tatsuma – Goddess Rhongomyniad at any cost.
Bonus Quest: Defeat Ryuko Tatsuma alone.
Main Reward: 300 Levels. A Random [Dragon] Skill Coupon. 100 HP Potions, 200 Mana Potions, 300 Stamina Potions. Bonus
Reward: 500 Levels. A Random [Dragon] Divinity Coupon. 200 HP Potions, 300 Mana Potions, 400 Stamina Potions.
===
It was a very rewarding series of quests, but sadly he was sure he couldn't do the bonus quest. He wondered how hard the third quest would be if the second's bonus was this hard. He wasn't confident in beating the quest, even with the armor he now wore.
[Golden Armor of Gilgamesh: A noble-phantasm armor that is materialized from your magical energy. A Mythical Rank armor that is more durable than most dragon's scales. +9000 END]
Before the armor, he had 8000 END [-65%], and that only increased when he flared up his Eighth Gate, Mana Mode, and Lightning Armor. So for the current him, the 9000 END boost of the armor was tremendous.
Enough that it could block off a direct attack from the Lance Rhongomyniad.
"It took a minute, I had to check a few things. No more worries, since I managed to summon the armor."
Still, at this moment, despite having nerfed stats, Neji realized he could still be of help to the big players of his group due to these items. It was time to be serious.
Neji looked deep into the eyes of his love, who wore a foreign expression, one he had never seen before back when they were still together.
"…It's going to hurt, but I have no plans to hold back. It's as Rumi said."
Neji apologized from the start and then blitzed her. He appeared before her, his fist curled up to slam into her stomach.
– Keugh!
Rhongomyniad was too surprised to react and spat saliva. Her body shot upwards from the impact, hitting the ceiling and then dropped right back to the floor on her face, falling on the window curtain down with her.
For a moment, Neji paused. Rumi, who was ready behind him, also paused. They stared down at the fallen Rhongomyniad… no, Ryukyu, as her hair had gone messy from the impact and had fallen to cover one of her eyes. The ash blonde hair that was a signature of her hyper amnesia faded, as her hair became bright blonde, like the original Lion King.
This meant that it was working. It worked. Her expression was hesitant as she looked at the faces of Neji and Rumi with crooked lips. That hit seemed to have sent her back to the time when Neji beat the shit out of her, back when she was being controlled by Hisashi Midoriya.
"Ryu-?"
Rumi was about to say something from behind Neji, but then Ryukyu's eyelids widened abruptly. She shot back up from the ground, prepared for battle.
"You two are interrupting me from committing a greater cause... I will have to eliminate you."
With the ghostly music growing louder, Neji sighed and told himself at least there were some effects. The change in her hair meant something, right? So all he had to do was continue the fight.
Then, Ryukyu… no, Rhongomyniad raised her lance and moved so fast that neither Rumi nor Neji could evade the incoming beam of mana. With her lance raised in the air, Rhongomyniad swung her hand down.
"Perish from the face of the earth."
– Shiingggg!
With a cold tone, her golden eyes going slit, she waved her weapon down, and the rooftop split in two, as did the sky above. The wave of golden energy was far stronger than the last one, as it washed down at Neji and Rumi, and they both came crashing down from the tower and into the ground beneath.
Everyone in the near vicinity realized at that moment that this fight was going to be a long and annoying one. Like a cat and a mouse fighting one another.
However, neither party had any intention to lose, unless killed first.
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