*cough!*
*cough!*
The blood spewed mixed out with the soft stream of pinkish water flowing down the forest. Rubedo rested against a tree, half of her body calcinated and horrid.
"S-Sisters... I..."
A shadow walked before her with steady and slow steps that resonated like subtle water splashing. Without any mercy or contemplation, Ray did a frontal kick straight to Rubedo's face without mediating much; her pitiful attempt to block was nothing more than an ephemeral yet amusing joke.
*BOOM!*
Rubedo's nose exploded in blood; her head blasted against the tree behind her; she groaned and splashed several times, sent like a rag doll splashing on the water until she came to a stop... crawling away, back to Nazarick. Back to her home.
"S-Sisters..."
Ray landed behind and walked up to her, pulling her by the leg, destroying her delusions.
"You're out of mana now. Rubedo, wasn't it? You know, I have mixed feelings with you. I hate you... fighting you was so painful" He grabbed her by the neck and forced her to look at him.
"But I also love you. It was mysteriously amusing... for a long time, I haven't been afraid of death, but you made me realise I can still be afraid of pain... you're so painful, Rubedo. You even attacked Tsunade right in front of me. You're one evil bitch~" He laughed, wondering why he felt so much anger inside for her, attributing it to the marginal amount of pain she made him experience with that ridiculous ability of hers, destroying and tearing his insides apart over and over again like he had been eating sharp glass.
"Ugh, y-you destroyed... my home! Who hates who the most?!" Rubedo struggled, pushing his head away, grasping his hair and pulling it, all for nothing. Her mana was finished, and her 'HP' had almost depleted. While her enemy looked just like he looked the moment, the fight began.
Her crimson eyes shivered when she stared at his golden ones, those two exotic stars. Ray had only rags on his godly body with tanned skin and shining golden tattoos. She had torn everything apart.
She, the strongest being in Nazarick, was totally helpless. During the fight, she desperately sought to limit his energy. But in due time, with immense despair, she came to realise that there were no limits.
"I'll devour you now, Rubedo... hopefully you will give me anything good".
"N-No... I-I don't want to die".
"Oh?"
In an unexpected turn of events, she begged for her life. A woman who wasn't even a living being. She took a bite of his wrist to free herself and collapsed on the water, crawling away... back to Nazarick.
"My sisters, Albedo... Nigredo. I want to let them know... I'm not as cold... I can feel..."
But Ray wouldn't let her talk. He wouldn't let her make him feel more like shit than he already did. A catastrophe that could have been avoided, he encouraged it by just the sheer desire for Chaos Points.
It had nothing to do with disrespect, honour, or ridiculous venal feelings. He didn't see any of them as enemies and felt no enmity towards any of them.
'I destroyed Nazarick... for you, Ely. Dear, I will do anything for you... just wait for me, okay? I'll become stronger very quickly, even if I have to consume everyone in this world and the next. It doesn't matter...'
If it was for her, to become the villain was an axiom, not a belief.
He grasped the back of Rubedo's head and executed the technique he received from Solution, the one which had evolved during his ascension to Godhood: Predator.
*RUMBLE!*
A golden vortex decomposed Rubedo's body and soul into motes of flames, particle by particle, as they entered Ray's body.
[+13.000 Chaos Points].
[Congratulations, you have obtained
[The skill
[Congratulations, a new consumable skill has been added to the shop. Summon Ultrabionic Nanomorph, 7200 CP].
...
[Shop:]
[Ten Tailed-Fox Bloodline, 3000 CP].
- Higher Bloodline of the mythical Ten-Tailed Fox.
- Soul Authority 100%.
- Skill: Illusion Domain.
- Skill: Limbo.
- Skill: Senjutsu.
- Lifespan +100.000 years.
[Summon: Ultrabionic Nanomorph, 5000 CP].
- Summon up to five Ultrabionic lifeforms to the battlefield; a hundred chaos points shall be consumed for each of them every hour.
**
**
I got her, I got thirteen thousand chaos points, and I got her crazy-ass skill. It was over... after a long, painful fight, it was finally over.
I didn't pay much attention to the screen that popped up in my mind; right now, all I wanted to do was check up on the girls, get everywhere that we could get and then leave and get some rest. I still feel the phantom feeling of my organs being torn to shreds from the inside countless times.
She was a nightmare.
...
When I reached the clearing, it was all flooded with this pink hot water that was a bit itchy for some reason. The girls were all sitting on a tree branch, Tsunade was healing Yasaka. I was surprised something actually managed to injure Yasaka.
"Girls".
"Master, is it over?" Kuu jumped on me, checking me up left and right. All my wounds had already healed. I did the same with her, and she looked spotless.
"My lord, I have failed you" Azrael bowed down to me, and I saw from the side of my vision two of her wings were regenerating; she also had a lot of small wounds that were also regenerating.
As for Yasaka, Tsunade was healing her right arm, and it looked okay.
"Are you okay, Yasaka?" I held her other hand, and she nodded, a bit discouraged for some reason.
"Did something happen? You're not okay?" I rubbed her cheeks, and she leaned onto me, her ears dropping.
"Ray-sama, It is as Azrael said. We failed you. One of their last monsters sacrificed himself to create a lake of acid. We could have all either died or sustained heavy injuries if Tsunade wasn't here. She created a lot of water to dilute the acid, but now we don't know anything about the bodies or the treasures..." She sighed.
"Listen, all I care about is that you all are okay. Thanks for your help, Tsunade; I too am relieved that you came".
If she hadn't, I don't know how I would have been able to deal with this while fighting Rubedo.
"*cough!* it was nothing; you can repay me later", The sannin giggled. Is this woman talking about 'repayment' now?
...
"He is the only one I could recover, my lord".
Azrael dragged a body; it was Cocytus. I was astonished to see that his body was almost pristine with no damage; it even looked like he was alive but not moving even one finger.
"I left his body but devoured his soul, master... that's just an empty carcass", Kuu declared haughtily, and I hugged her hard.
"E-Eh?!"
"I'm proud of you. I may have been a bit overconfident with our powers, but we all did better than I expected. They were all very strong".
"Then, make sure to reward me properly later".
"Uh-huh", I rolled my eyes; she didn't even need to ask me.
...
[+9000 Chaos Points].
That was it? Why can't I summon that gigant Ice warrior!?
[It seems the rewards you get from calcination are completely random...] Horus affirmed.
I remember the same happened when I used predator, so... what is the difference between Predator and Calcination?
[We will have to keep experimenting until you find out. How about you try using calcination on this pond?]
'This pond?' I stared at the pink pond. More like a pink sea, to be honest.
[You should be able to feel it with Energy Records. This pond is actually a living being. Even if he has been diluted due to the amount of water in the vicinity and more than likely has no leftover consciousness, this is still a living being].
"..."
I looked at the puddle's edge, which was far into the clearing. A few deers were tentatively testing the area. One of them approached to take a lick out of the pond, which collapsed the next second.
I think I understand now. This pink pond is even more dangerous than we are attributing it. Although the 'acid' has been diluted, it is still very strong to the average lifeform.
I did what Horus asked of me... I didn't think it would take me four hours to consume everything.
[Congratulations, you have obtained a skill
[Adaptation has failed].