The boss's attack hit its target.
.....
Zoro and Rumi stayed in place, flabbergasted by the creature's explosive display of power.
The swordsman was especially so.
He had fought this monster a few times in the past, but never had he seen such an absurd thing.
If he was told this was an S-ranked boss, he wouldn't have a choice but to believe it.
"Adam..."
Rumi was having a hard time holding it together, if not for the shadow monsters surrounding both her and Zoro she would have already rushed in to help her fiancé.
Yes, they were surrounded.
Several hundred of shadow beings faced them at the time, making it impossible for even Zoro to reach Adam on time before the ultimate attack of the boss monster hit him.
"YOU!"
Zoro had enough of this and held Ragnar's vest while pulling the giant guy close to his face, an act that looked ridiculous given the two's contrast in build and height.
"What's your deal?! Don't you see that guy is in trouble!? Get the fuck out of my way before I cut you all down!"
Ragnar was firstly surprised by the green hair's strength, even with his newfound increase in power he fell short of his.
" As my companion said, these were Master's orders and Master's orders are absolute."
He swats Zoro's hand away, standing back up, proudly displaying his full height as that was the only thing that made him "superior" to the officially A-ranked, soon-to-be S-Rank hunter.
For now.
" Also, the only thing that we are allowed to be afraid of is our Master's might. You can 'cut us down' all you want, at the end, we will come back, for our death is eternal, unlike your punny mortal life."
As one of the strongest in the shadow army, if not the strongest, Ragnar stood his ground.
Zoro was about to unsheathe a second sword when Rumi's voice reached him.
" How?!"
"Eh?"
He had to look away from Ragnar to fully grasp Rumi's reaction.
"W-what?"
Only to fall under the same confusion as her.
At the side, Adam's right-hand man smiled widely.
" Didn't we tell you? Don't underestimate a lord of death."
...
Their reactions were to be expected, for when the curtain, no...
The second coming of a sandstorm dissipated, and Adam stood in place, unscathed.
A grin ever-present on his face.
(2 minutes before)
"That was a close call."
Around him, several shadows of his deceased soldiers scattered around, their purpose fulfilled.
"?"
The sand blocked his vision, but even this desertic mass couldn't hide the transparent interface that stood before him.
His system reacted, even though its main function was currently dormant.
[EX-Ranked Power " Adaptive Regeneration" has countered a superior trauma.]
" What the-"
[Sub-skill "Adaptability" is requesting for a change to successfully carry out the intended immunity.]
"-Hell?"
[!]
[Request granted. A stat upgrade has been made.]
[ Strength +50
Stamina +45
Dexterity +20]
" That's... That's a first."
This had never happened before.
To Adam, Adaptive Regeneration was without a doubt his most broken ability.
Any damage his body could take without dying would heal, and he would become immune to it consequently.
This ability had already proven its usefulness.
Back when he got his arm severed by a dire wolf, or even when he faced Ragnar's punch head-on, this power of his would always make him come back to his feet, with a tougher defense and full immunity to the same attacks.
Did this mean that Adam's arm could no longer be severed, even by different means?
Did this imply that punching him would do nothing to him?
No.
That's clearly not the case.
What if right after having his arm severed by that wolf and healing, a second, stronger wolf bit on his arm again in the same manner?
What if Ragnar punched him again on that day? But just a tiny bit harder?
The answer, you can already imagine.
Adam would get his arm severed again in the first scenario, and he would get thrashed to a pulp in the second one.
That's how this power worked.
Provided he could survive it, he would always gain immunity to it.
And that's what happened just now.
Adam was 100% sure that no matter how strong his regeneration was, there was no way for him to survive an attack of that magnitude.
So, he did the next best thing he could think of and shielded himself with over fifty of his shadow soldiers, including the latest scorpions he slayed, which had a formidably thick carcass that got even tougher after becoming undead servants.
Yet, he still took a significantly high amount of damage, to the point where every organ inside his body ruptured and each of his bones fractured into tiny pieces.
But he didn't die, not when regenerating and adapting was one of his main cards.
Still, the damage was so severe he gained stats to support the "adaptation" part of his power.
" I should stop dodging from now on, this is a loophole I should exploit."
Pain?
Fuck pain.
Getting stats without leveling up was too good to pass.
Dusting off the sand from his bare chest, Adam looked up at the giant snake.
Its head towered above everything, majestically showcasing the superiority an advanced being such as it possessed.
The boss also looked down at him, curiosity long gone from its reptilian eyes, incredulity taking its place instead.
This was its strongest.
For reasons unknown to it, this encounter had pushed the creature to a breaking point, where it felt at the very peak of its existence.
'Just when I thought I could break free...'
Reality, like always, acted like the bitch it was, breaking the last speck of hope that this power-up had given it.
"" So, I guess this is it? ""
It could tell.
The human in front of it had become stronger.
Stronger in a bizarre way.
And it wasn't wrong.
Going by the book, and Adam's assumptions regarding stats, he had gotten the absurd equivalent of 23 levels, which would make him an S-ranked Hunter.
Yet, he was still level 39.
" Yeah, nothing you throw at me right now is going to do the job anymore."
"" I guess so.""
A few seconds passed, seconds where none of them stopped staring at each other.
Until the giant creature spoke, its voice void of emotion.
"" Be quick. Be it beheading, burning, being cut down to pieces, I've lived it all, just do it fast please, I don't like pain.""
And that was the drop that filled the glass.
"Since when?"
""Uh?""
The boss's lifeless eyes regained some light, curiosity gaining the best out of it.
" Since when have you been conscious of your existence?
Since when did you start feeling pain?
At what point did you become so... alive?"
"" ...""
The first two questions arouse something within the monster's core, a sense of mutual understanding it had never felt before.
But the last one, what did this human mean?
"" That's a foolish question, human. I have always been alive.""
" No. The bosses I have fought could not be considered to be alive. They were living puppets, chained down by their desires to kill whoever dared to step on their ground. The stronger they were, the wittier they got, but you are different, even more so than Ragnar."
The Giant Snake ignored some parts of the speech.
But could you blame it?
' You are different.'
Those words echoed throughout its entire being.
What did it have that others did not?
Strength?
Perhaps those bosses he faced were weaker.
Intelligence?
Maybe, after all, even the minions in its domain could barely articulate words, and they were B-ranked.
Like a moth attracted to a light bulb, so was the creature's countenance to Adam's words.
"" H-how...am I any different than them?""
Before it knew it, its size decreased exponentially, reaching to Adam's height.
Its golden eyes stared at Adam's green ones like they were seconds ago, but this time their distance was almost null in comparison, barely a meter.
"Emotions."
"" E-emotions?""
Adam smiled tenderly, its hand reaching out to the now not-so-ferocious human-eating snake, rubbing its head with great care.
" Apart from Ragnar, none of the bosses I've ever fought showed emotions. They desired to kill me, they desired to eat me, to fight me. At first, I thought that since Ragnar was an Ogre, a monster species with human-like traits, I would only see a similar pattern of behavior with humanoid monsters, but I was wrong."
The snake closed its eyes, feeling great pleasure from the mere gesture of being patted.
' This feels good~'
That's what receiving affection for the first time felt like.
"I don't know if I'm overthinking things here, but I know you are special, and I want you in my army."
He pointed toward the now 700 shadow soldiers, with Ragnar in the front, kneeling around them, their heads down.
"" Mmh.""
The snake looked toward the shadow fellas and hummed in mild surprise.
""They are dead.""
" They are, but I can assure you they are more alive than they were in their dungeon."
"" Aren't they your puppets too? What's the difference between you and a dungeon then? They may not be bound to this hell like me anymore, but they are bound to you.""
Adam's smile widens.
While his right hand continued patting the creature's head, his left one pointed to the ground, right behind its back.
"Hehe~ I think you already have the answer little one."
""What do you mea-""
The snake almost fainted from embarrassment when it turned around, an emotion it rarely expressed.
Its tail was wagging.
"" Is this one of your powers?! I knew you humans were sneaky, but you are the sneakier of them all!!""
Though it sounded angry, its head never left his hand, finding the sensation to be heavenly.
Adam laughed loudly, finding this little snake to be cuter the longer he interacted with it.
"So, wanna join me?"
It took a moment for the snake to process the question.
""Will I be able to eat a lot?""
" Sure."
Ragnar drank beer like a Viking would, so why wouldn't he give it food?
"" Will I be able to take naps?""
"As long as we are not fighting any enemy you can have all the sleep you want."
Within his shadow was a world where his servants lived. They had houses, playgrounds, food, water, or anything they wished to have.
Gaining intelligence and emotions opened a whole new world for them in terms of entertainment.
And even if they did not need food or water to survive, the feeling of filling their belly with the two was something they still shared with the living.
So yes, it could do whatever the heck it wanted when off duty.
""W-will you use this power o-of yours with me again?""
"If you want me to."
Three things did the creature wish.
To eat.
To nap.
To get pats.
'A fair trade.'
Adam always killed his enemies mercilessly, and all that could remain afterward would be unconditional faith and obedience from their undead souls.
His plan at first was to wear it down and to create an opening to damage its eyes, which he only managed to hit once and barely did any damage to.
Then, using his pyrokinesis he would target its insides, making it implode in a similar manner to when he defeated that first scorpion monster.
But now?
He could destroy the snake he was currently patting as easily as Zoro would.
But he couldn't do that this time.
It needed to be quick, and painless.
"Anansi, be a sweetheart a come here."
From within his shadows, a being emerged.
Its aura was very similar to Ragnar's, signifying their closeness in Rank.
A woman, but not completely so.
Beautiful short-dark hair cascaded behind her nape. Her dark violet eyes, which consisted of two normal-sized ones, and a few smaller-sized ones on each side, reflected a void of obsession and devotion, desire and passion.
Plentiful red lips smiled teasingly at Adam, showcasing the stunning visage of sadistic sensuality her upper body represented.
A bountiful bosom rested proudly on her chest, barely covered by a shadow chest plate, if you could call it that.
If one were to look up, they would be enchanted in a spiral of emotions. Chained down by the honeytrap that was Anansi. And the moment one looked down; it would be too late to escape.
Eight pitch-black spider legs supported her frame. At the back, a sac-like body part rested.
" Ara~ You became stronger, Master."
Ragnar at the side fumed in rage, tired of the spider woman and the disrespectful way in which she talked to Adam.
" You can test my increase of strength later my dear, now do me a favor and use your strongest tranquilizer on this cutie, make sure it is painless."
At the mention of "testing" his strength a strong blush appeared on the woman's face, warm air exiting her semi-parted lips.
"Yes, master."
She moved closer to the snake but stopped immediately in track when it suddenly pounced on her.
Luckily, Adam held it in place, stopping it mere millimeters away from the stunned shadow lady's face.
" What was that for?"
"" I don't like her for some reason.""
"..."
Well, she is not the only one.
If one looked to the side, they would see Ragnar biting his lips to the point where they would bleed if he could actually do so.
Next to Ragnar, stood a tanned-skinned bunny woman with folded arms, whose current eyes sent shivers down Adam's spine.
'I get why Rumi would be jealous but... Ragnar, what the hell dude?'
" She will be your companion soon, so be a good girl and let her do her job, it won't hurt."
" Master is right, you will only feel a sting~"
""Can I trust you?""
He did not answer right away, instead, he grinned from ear to ear.
" Do you have a choice?"
The little snake felt very irritated at the moment but let it pass since the human's patting was so good.
After getting the ok from both sides, Anansi got close to the boss, gently injecting a high dose of tranquilizer from one of her nails into the creature's neck.
As promised there was no pain.
As soon as the tranquilizer kicked in, the snake started to get drowsy, yet, its eyes refused to leave Adam's.
""Please take care of me, Master.""
With that, its body fell backward, only to be caught by Adam, as he placed it-...as he placed her down on the ground.
"I will."
Who would've thought?
The lord of death had a soft spot for cute snakes.
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Ok so once again I don't meet the quota. Shit happened so cut me some slack.
I had pictured this chapter differently in my mind, but I don't resent my decision.
This little snake (which you guys can name in the comments, I will use the nicest one) has had it rough. Bosses and monsters in general may gain intelligence as they get stronger from the dungeon evolution, but they are not emotional beings that would question their own existence. When I thought out this character, as an OC, I couldn't help but feel pity for her. And although a nice fight to reach that climax after the power up would've been more attractive, I fail to see how I would've accomplished that while stablishing an emotional moment like the one I attempted to portray in this chapter. Not to mention that "giving up" is more in character with this OC, considering her pessimistic behavior in previous chapters.
Maybe I'm just that inexperienced in this regard, any suggestion for future events is always welcomed though I'm not planning on doing something similar to this scenario again.
Sorry for the long ass paragraph, just wanted to express why I took the decisions I took.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
P.S: Spider Mommy's picture will be uploaded shortly, and her story explained later on.