Chapter 23: Double Effect
"If even third graders can't go against your schemes, you must be a pretty unusual existence," Nith said, buying time.
The monument's lips spread wide. "I wouldn't say so. All existences here are within the scope of the first-grade force. It's the environment and numbers that are on my side. Nevertheless, their group had more people, but I turned them against each other with temptations.
"In the distant past, people known as players had me at their fingertips. For whatever reason, I was confined in an endless loop of battle, loneliness, and misery. The losses against players outweighed the delight from my victories, for I had lost far more."
Of all three existences in the marbled scene, only Nith had a complete understanding of what had transpired two thousand years ago.
At least he knew what this toad meant by the endless loop—he was respawning.
Unlike the monsters that regularly died in the danger zone, the stone toad's intelligence matched that of humans, and his powers extended toward every creek and nook of the Swamp Islands.
"Sounds terrible," Nith said, still buying time as he racked his brain to come up with an idea to prevent their demise. "Are you scared of death?"
"Me? Frightened of death?" the toad asked in a low, amused voice. "Are you trying to tell me that I haven't fought fair and square? That I should have allowed you to clear all the floors without any intervention, let you rest before coming to me, and fight you at your strongest? Those times are over! Haha!"
He may still be limited to the swamps, but the danger zone's final boss had much more freedom and a variety of choices in how to proceed against the invaders.
He was no longer just an existence waiting for people to stand at his feet, weapons and skills at the ready.
Meanwhile, Nith stared at his status, searching for options. Even his newly obtained title wouldn't save them, for it was too new.
[Calamity (F)—a title given to existences able to bring forth calamities at their weakest point, significantly impacting countless lives. This title questions one's morality and whether there's a good side to calamities. You have received a single skill from it—Double Effect (F)]
[Double Effect (F)—you're able to double the effect of your skills.]
'There's still some Eclipse Venom left in the air and on the floors… If I gather all of it and double the effect of strength, and focus it on my left hand, will it be enough to defeat this damn monument?' Nith asked himself.
The monument, weighing on Nith's mind, said, "I see no value in keeping you alive any longer."
Refusing to comply with the monument's verdict, Nith instinctively rose to his feet and gathered all his strength into his left hand. Eclipse Venom's aura heightened, sculpting his left hand into a claw, from which poisonous toxins billowed.
Despite his muscles screaming in protest, Nith put all his weight and balance into that single thrust, punching the stone's bulging stomach with everything he had!
BANG!
Upon contact, Nith's balled fist conjured a web of cracks on the toad's body, which spread in all directions, covering its entire front.
The toad groaned. "You… little… human!"
"NITH!" Kyouka screamed, seeing how Nith's hand unnaturally curved and how his forearm bent in the opposite direction. The same purple veins scaled his arm, suppressing his ability to move it.
Nith fell to his knees. His head hung low as he rasped, his throat dry and lungs aching with each gasp. It was a miracle he hadn't collapsed face-first before the last boss.
This miserable sight caused Kyouka to mindlessly run toward him and shield him with her body. She spread her arms wide and pierced the monument with her eyes, despite fear shaking her legs and squeezing her heart.
"Remember the sacrifice deal?" the toad asked. "You can go. Sacrifice him."
"NEVER!" Kyouka responded without thinking, her reaction drawing a scoff from the last boss, who wanted Nith to suffer even more in his final moments.
Suddenly, the third graders' swords clattered against the marble floor. Seizures seemed to have come over them, their rattling growing louder with each second.
"What are those swords reacting to?" the last boss asked, narrowing his eyes.
A cold wind swept through the arena, carrying fragments of dark mana. Across from Nith, Kyouka, and the toad, the black fragments started circling around like a tornado. A few seconds later, a blue-haired woman, clad in a black dress with black feathers jutting out from her shoulders, emerged.
As she stepped forward, the waves of black mana dispersed, fully revealing her to the shocked toad and confused Kyouka. Nith was in no state to comprehend what was happening.
Without warning, the swords zoomed toward the unknown woman.
In response, two dark orbs manifested around her, stretching into the form of ravens, which darted toward the swords, gobbling them up.
"Who might you be? Why have you come here?!" the stone monument shouted.
"Dwell in silence," she said. "You are the least significant here."
The toad's eyes bulged. "Am I?"