The worm started to transform. What Arov thought was just a worm turned out to be a larva, and it had now begun its complete metamorphosis.
Arov drew his dagger again from the sheath on his thigh.
The dagger plunged deep, slicing the larva into five parts.
The process repeated over and over because there were so many larvae. Some of them had successfully transformed into butterflies.
Not beautiful butterflies, but horrifying monsters, each nearly a meter tall, with sharp mouths and body parts resembling deadly weapons.
"Damn it, you didn't tell me this before!"
[Child of Fortune: Just think of it as training v(￣∇￣)v]
Arov said no more. He took out a short sword he had stolen from the storage room on the fifth floor.
Since the weapon was tucked away in a corner and not noticeable, he had taken it as a backup weapon—but now it seemed like it would come in handy.
Arov took the first step and rushed at the butterfly before him. However, with dozens of them swarming, they quickly started to gang up on him.
Anticipating this, Arov first grabbed three of his spare daggers and hurled them simultaneously.
Each dagger struck a butterfly's head directly, killing all three instantly.
"Fourteen to go."
Arov swung his short sword, striking one of the butterfly's wings.
The creature screeched in pain, but Arov shifted the angle of his sword downward in an instant. With a fluid motion forming an L shape, he slashed through the creature's abdomen, severing it from its body.
Slowly, one died.
One of the butterflies extended its long, wide, spiked legs as if preparing to deliver a deadly embrace.
Arov executed a perfect backflip, and before his feet even touched the ground, he delivered a horizontal slash that severed the butterfly's head.
Another one down.
Before he landed, Arov kicked the decapitated butterfly's body, using it as a stepping stone.
His body launched toward the swarm of butterflies, which were still stunned by the display before them.
But then they began spewing poisonous ripples from their mouths.
The poisonous waves glowed a bright green, signaling their lethality to anyone who saw them.
However, Arov's expression remained calm. He immediately activated Amir's Cloak, rendering all of his enemies' projectile attacks futile.
Seeing this, one of the butterflies lunged its sharp, spiked leg toward Arov. But as if it hadn't learned from its predecessors, it felt as though it had pierced through a cloud.
Though Arov's body phased through the butterfly's leg, his sword remained tangible, plunging into and shattering the creature's head.
This was one of the tricks Arov had learned.
He could make his body pass through any obstacle. This ability also applied to the equipment he wore or carried.
However, by "excluding" part of his equipment—such as his sword—he could attack his enemies without himself being harmed.
"This cheat is really something else."
Arov grinned deeply, still not using his full power.
"Time to end this, you pieces of trash."
The remaining butterflies felt a terrifying killing intent run down their spines.
They turned and tried to flee, but it was futile. Even if they flew to the very top of the room, their fate would be no different from that of their companions lying dead on the ground.
Arov retrieved the daggers embedded in the dead butterflies one by one, throwing them again to take down five at once.
"Good thing I brought five spare daggers. Turns out they're quite useful now."
Arov dashed forward and killed the remaining butterflies in one go.
The room was now filled with a nauseating and rancid stench.
The problem now was how to dispose of the corpses.
Being as meticulous as he was, Arov always took care not to leave any trace behind.
"The real issue is all this spilled blood. I can bury the bodies using Amir's Cloak, but the blood? It's so hard to clean, even burning it wouldn't work. I wish I could use fire magic right now."
He had gotten too carried away, and the butterfly blood had splattered everywhere.
[Congratulations! Your level has increased!]
[Congratulations! Your level has increased!]
[Congratulations! Your level has increased!]
...
[Congratulations! Host has unlocked a new system feature: *Vacuous Attribute*]
The string of level-up notifications felt like a refreshing breeze, momentarily distracting Arov from the nauseating smell around him.
[Arov Quills
Race: Human(?)
Level: 6
Title: Humanity's Hope, Hero, Bearer of Fortune, Demon King.
Strength: 344 (Title: 150, Buff: 150)
Agility: 357 (Title: 150, Buff: 150)
Vitality: 339 (Title: 150, Buff: 150)
Dexterity: 354 (Title: 150, Buff: 150)
Mana: 332 (Title: 150, Buff: 150)
Luck: 360 (Title: 350)
Trait: Sight Beyond Space-Time, Child of Fortune, Devil Change.
Equipment: …
Vacuous Attribute: 170]
Not bad. Each level added five attribute points to every stat, except Luck.
[Vacuous Attribute
Special attribute that can enhance the user's stats, traits, and various abilities.
Current amount: 170]
"Wait, does that mean Sight Beyond Space-Time can also be upgraded?"
A blue panel hovered, covering the rest.
[Yes.]
[Sight Beyond Space-Time
Tier: God (Low) >>> God (Mid)
Cost: 5,000,000,000 Vacuous Attribute]
"This… Isn't the price a bit unreasonable?" Arov muttered.
Five billion Vacuous Attribute points? That would mean he'd have to kill 500 million monsters like those butterflies just now.
And that was assuming each monster gave the same amount of points…
In truth, Arov was lucky. The 17 butterfly monsters he had just killed each provided a full 10 points—a generous reward for such a low-tier creature.
The real problem wasn't the cost but whether the monster population could sustain Arov's absurd future needs.
Shaking his head, Arov checked the upgrade cost for his other traits.
[Child of Fortune
Tier: Myth (Earth-World Peak) >>> God (Low) Cost: 1,000,000,000 Vacuum Attribute]
Earth-World Peak?
"What does this word mean?", said Arov with a questioning expression.
[That means that this Trait has reached the maximum limit that the world can produce. The stronger the Mythical Trait a world produces, the more expensive its elevation becomes to become part of the 'Divinity' that is exclusive to its existence. Each Mythical level Trait has the ability to alter and directly intervene in reality. Even low rated Mythical abilities can threaten existences with higher abilities]
Doesn't this mean that I have gained another cheat-level ability? No, all Mystical abilities are cheats.
A golden panel suddenly appeared.
[Son of Fortune: Be proud to have me (￣∇￣)]
Just imagining his expression was enough to make me want to punch him.
But Arov is still happy to have cheat-level abilities beside him.
"Of course, you are the best!", Arov raised both thumbs up.
[Son of Fortune: Hey, I hear a note of insincerity in your voice (눈‸눈)] "Just your imagination.", he brushed the gold panel away with his fingertip.
Arov tried to see the Trait Devil Change ability he had obtained, but the unexpected made him at a loss for words.
[Devil Change
Level: Growth >>> ???
!UPGRADE REQUIREMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN MET!]
What's this? Is it because this ability is a growth type, so it doesn't have a definite limit?
As if reading my intentions, the blue panel returned.
[Yes, and also no. Yes, because this type of growth Trait has such vast potential that it can be said to be almost limitless by system standards. However, not really, because a Trait like this actually depends on the creator of this ability, the existence behind it can set the limits of this ability to what extent it is up to that existence. But because this ability is a Hell-type Trait created by @) #! -$)?, the limit is existence itself]
"???"
[Son of Fortune: So, who is @)#! -$)?, which you mentioned? ಠ_ರೃ]
The gold panel chimed in.
[I don't know, I don't know]
Answer the system.
So now the goal becomes from more to more++(?)
As if awakened by something, his body jolted for a moment.
"Then, is the Devil Change ability safe to use? Considering it's used by a human like me."
[It should be safe, because of a strange mutation, you were supposed to be an Abyss creature, but suddenly shifted to one of the Hell races]
[Son of Fortune: Abyss and Hell, I thought they were one, are they different? (∵)? ]
[Yeah, different. There is no definite information yet, but it has been confirmed that the Abyss is stronger than Hell]
"Hish... What is this? It sounds like I've entered the 'Last Boss' room that should be untouchable."
This place became increasingly terrifying, even the system could not know the existence behind the Abyss or Hell.
---
1425 word