[ D day - 3 ] [ 63 H :34 M :59 S ]
Now, it is the second part of the Dungeon.
He has to defeat the Sparrow boss. If he were a hero, or blessed main character, then he would have a great ace card to deal with the sparrow boss.
Unfortunately, all his luck was used up when he travelled to the past.
Now, he only has one option.
DO or DIE !
Yep, that's right.
Sparrow boss's super power is regeneration, and that regeneration is not even on the 'cuts heal in half an hour' level.
It is at the 'vampire' level where you make a cut and the cut closes before it could even shed a drop of blood.
So, the sparrow boss must die in a single shot, or he doesn't have a chance at all. The operation has a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding.
' Mother ! Father ! If I die on this day after having returned to the past, then I am very sorry. I did my best and failed. I can only hope you will find the letter I left you, and listen to my advice at least twenty percent.' he prayed.
Then, he stepped forward into the attack zone of the sparrow boss.
The sparrow dungeon is roughly a circle, where a giant tree grew in the center, it's canopy spreading all over the dungeon. When he stays towards the edges, the minions attack him.
The sparrow boss's attack area is the hundred meter circle centered on the tree.
The sparrow king's attack pattern is dive and bite.
It's simple, overbearing and overpowered. One bite of the sparrow king could even snap off an elephant's head.
The sparrow king dove down.
It will take exactly 3 seconds for the Sparrow king to come down from his perch at the top of the cavern.
If he starts his plan too early, the sparrow king's two hundred and sixty view on both sides will see the fire in his hand, thus, it will escape.
If he starts too late, his head would be bitten off before the molotov could explode.
The injury for sparrow king will be an external wound, which will only be a maiming injury, not one shot kill. These kinds of injuries heal in seconds for the sparrow king.
He would be dead, while the sparrow king would live on happily.
For this plan to go off well, his crude explosive must explode exactly at the tonsils of the sparrow king. The entire throat must be blasted in a single moment tearing it away completely.
By the time his hand is down the sparrow king's mouth, so would half his body.
Sparrow king's bite force is no joke.
It's on the equivalent scale of crocodiles, at ten thousand kilograms per square inch.
Vikram calmed his thudding heart, wiped off his overflowing sweat, and wet hands. It just would not do if the flame is doused by his own sweat.
He only had one chance at this.
It is a make or break game.
Vikram ran out and positioned himself in the center of the field.
The Sparrow king dived for him.
'Not yet' Vikram thought.
He is standing almost straight, with his knees in such a shallow bent position, unless one is expert at reading physical postures, they would not be able to tell he has bent his knees.
The sparrow king reached the fifty meter mark.
'Not yet' Vikram fought fear from freezing his knees, for he is absolutely sure the chill that is creeping on his back is about to make him freeze in his tracks. Exactly like a deer in headlights.
No… the nervous paralyzation could not come at this moment.. Happy thoughts.. Happy thoughts ..
'Now' he thought, but his knees won't respond properly.
Due to the extremely tense stillness , his knearlierees are locked in a slightly bent position.
'Move! Move ! Move ! MOVE !!!!!' He forced himself, as he squatted down, and held up a beer bottle filled with naphthalene balls, nails and petrol, doused with kerosene.
He flicked his finger on the lighter, and the wick caught fire.
The sparrow king's saliva fell straight on to the wick, almost dousing the flame.
Vikram knew he was finished when he saw that sight.
It seems his fate is only to live till here.
He is probably fated to die in this sparrow dungeon no matter what.
Due to his late response, Sparrow king's beak which was supposed to close at his arm joint is going to close atop his head.
His head will be chopped into two like a watermelon.
Vikram closed his eyes, giving up on his life as the sparrow king's beak touched his head. Gouging through his ear.
KABOOOM!!!!
The molotov went off in the sparrow king's throat. The saliva doused only part of the wick's flame, thus the wick burned through, and the tonsils automatically squeezed the bottle to break.
Vikram, the sparrow king's head, and the sparrow king's body, all fell to the ground in slow motion, with a slight gap between each other.
For a moment, it's as if the universe has decided it's a tie, and was not sure how to declare victory.
Then the sparrow king's body turned into light, while Vikram took what could be his last breath.
The light from the sparrow king's body flew to Vikram.
The heart, which was about to stop functioning, beat one more time.
The head, which looked like a cake which had been bitten into, slowly started to fill out like someone's doing repair work on a concrete crack.
Slowly, Vikram's breath stabilized.
He opened his eyes after measly five minutes. For a moment there, Vikram did not understand what's happening.
Only after looking at his scarless left arm did he understand!
The Sparrow king died !
He survived.!!!
It's almost impossible for him to have survived, but it seems he did !!!
This luck will not repeat, he knew.
However, it is exactly for this reason Sparrow king's regeneration is needed.
It is on the scale of SSS level cheat skill.
So much so, if a meat eating predator starts treating him as rations, then Vikram would probably feed the damn thing for eternity.
Vikram shuddered at the thought .. Then, did the evil warding sign all by himself to ward off bad spirits and any and all accidental 'so mote be' spirits which might grant his wish on a whim.
As his hand holding a clump of dirt circled around his head three times he threw away the dirt, and held his hands in prayer to any and all gods listening.
Yep, that includes jesus, quda , Zeus and trinity of hinduism and any accidental goblin gods vacationing here at the moment.
Then, he studied his surroundings carefully.
To his knowledge, this portal should vanish the moment he cleared it, but it didn't.
Instead, a soft red light started emanating from an unknown red orb.
Vikram walked over to the orb.
He picked it up confidently.
After all, he had a super recovery.
Even if the fragment blasts off his hand, it will regrow.
The moment he touched the red orb, it sunk into his body and vanished away.
'Status' Vikram called.
[ Evolution specimen H-2234 ] [ dungeon orb : 1 ] [ Evolution gene modifications : 3]
[ All nighter : C ] [ Enduring muscles : D ] [ Super recovery : Ex+ ]
Oh!
He had known the sparrow king held a super awesome skill, but he never expected it to be greater than SSS+ skill.
S level skills are awesome, but they still compensate somewhat for their over-specialization, as such, they carry restrictions on some of the other genes users could acquire.
For example, a muscle boost physical skill holder could not acquire hard armor type gene modification.
Their skill depends on expanding, and a hard carapace needs a body to stay at the same size.
However, EX skills are as powerful as SSS skills, but they carry no penalty or restriction.
They are awesome all around.
Now, there's not a single thing in the world that could kill him, save for passage of time.
Vikram came out in his bloody clothes. It's seven O'clock. The streets are about to be busy.
The black gate is broken away into crystals of darkness, and is swept away.
The gate at the nearest village with the least number of residents will move here. However, that process will take about an hour or more, so Vikram just has enough time to go home and refresh.
His father was waiting for him once he finished his bath. Thankfully, no one has seen the blood torn clothes, so Vikram stuffed them in a plastic bag, threw them away in the garbage bin.
"Which town is burning that you are up and ready at this time?" His father was as sarcastic as ever.
Vikram did not mind this time around. He felt a strange irony at his fathers' words, because it is more than a single town that's going to burn in the future.
"Dad! Can we talk after breakfast? " Vikram asked.
His father frowned.
"Dad! I know you want to keep the house as a safety net for yourself, but we won't be able to return here. However, freebies are also not good. So, how about we register the house to uncles, as long as they are able to pay half the amount in cash immediately?" Vikram proposed.
"Your mom .. " His father started.
"Father! What do you think that black portal in the middle of the town is ? " Vikram asked his father.
His father went silent all of a sudden.
"What if it is some kind of disaster predicted for the end of an era? Then, do you think we should stay here leaving mom all alone at home? Do you think just Vinod and Virat will be able to look after mom if the portals truly cause some kind of disaster?" Vikram asked.
It's not an impossible thought to believe.
Vikram thanked his culture for being able to spout bullshit like that. Hindu's believed it is currently kali yuga, and it will end in mere four thousand years.
So, an all encompassing disaster is not that hard to believe for any person, especially so, when inexplicable events happen on this large of a scale.
"How about we take preventive measures this time? Lets sell off all the properties here to as much cash as we can carry, and stock up on supplies at home. Don't you think it's the best strategy?" Vikram asked.
" What if it's not a disaster, but just a fluke? Then we will be losing a great deal of money, that's meant towards our retirement." His father balked at the thought of giving away his hard earned achievements for peanuts.
" In that case I will compensate you. If it were a disaster or not, we need to move before someone else has this thought and starts panic buying." Vikram opined.
His father thought for some time.
"Indeed. Even if we don't do it, someone will definitely start something over it. Your mom will be very frightened to be alone. Those brats don't listen to her, and are always out having fun." His father is convinced.
Vikram was left to his own business after that. He has a strong feeling he might hate the next dungeon to appear from the bottom of his heart, so he took his time to prepare.