2nd Phase – 1
Ignoring the Creature that Devours the World, who started thrashing around like a wild animal after hearing its own words mirrored back at it, I turned my gaze to the women who looked at me with a myriad of complex emotions.
Especially Eclipse and the Pope had tears welling up in their eyes. While others didn’t shed tears, their faces screamed disbelief in a positive direction.
‘Thank goodness.’
I was worried that something irreversible might have happened if it was too late. Thankfully, it seemed that such a horrific situation hadn’t occurred. I turned my gaze back to the Creature that Devours the World.
“I’m alive! Got it! Then I’ll kill you as many times as it takes until I breathe my last!”
Its voice cracked harshly. It was much worse than when I had slammed a thought into its head. A sword identical to the Wingless Nightmare appeared in its hand.
I also took the Sacred Catalyst into my embrace and gripped the Wingless Nightmare with both hands. The Draconic Language that had been on me since my resurrection was completely lifted. It might be that it thought I was dead and simply released it.
Moreover, with the memories from Brightest Darkness 1 returning, I had fully regained my physical abilities from back in the day, so this time would be different from the last, when I had to helplessly roll and parry.
The first to move was the Creature that Devours the World. It approached me with a face filled with fury.
‘I don’t know why it’s angry after killing me, but…’
Whatever the reason, I was grateful that it came at me on its own.
I parried the Wingless Nightmare aimed at my neck with my own Wingless Nightmare. A prickly sensation coursed through my arm. My legs neither wobbled nor faltered.
‘It’s bearable.’
In the past, just parrying would have sent my body flying or floating through the air due to the sheer power of the attack, but not now. I could hold my ground.
The Wingless Nightmare in its hand changed shape. The grip enlarged, the cross-guard widened, and the blade thickened while also lengthening. It was the Greatsword from Brightest Darkness 2.
The Greatsword swung horizontally. I rolled diagonally to dodge the sweeping blade, getting behind it. I heard a crash as the ground shattered.
As I stood up, I glanced back. The area sliced by the Greatsword was literally in pieces.
Of course, it was of no use to me. I was long past the back of the Creature that Devours the World. The moment I finished rolling, I stood up and thrust my sword into its back.
If it were a game, a bang! would have rang out at the impact. In the Brightest Darkness series, it was traditionally known as a ‘backstab.’
Since I had executed a move that Eclipse had translated into the game, the enemy’s actions wouldn’t be fixed as they did in the Brightest Darkness series.
‘Attacks still work.’
The True Death contained in the Wingless Nightmare pierced its fake essence, but the blade didn’t break the skin. However, as its uniform ripped, a light drop of blood formed from the scratch on its back.
Seeing that confirmed it for me. With my current state, even if True Death didn’t fully take effect, I could exhaust and kill that thing. I just needed to make sure I didn’t break in the middle, which was an easy task.
I had been bored with not giving up.
—bang!
The Creature that Devours the World unleashed a shockwave. It was the same technique that Lucia had used. With still no sign of a wind-up, I flew through the air with a twisting feeling in my stomach.
Before I could even get up, it was right on my tail. My arms were severed, my legs were cut off, and my torso was torn apart. Blood sprayed everywhere.
Roll, roll, the last severed head rolled away feebly. My dismembered self, cut into dozens of pieces, was being stared at by the creature’s bloodshot eyes.
—twitch.
The severed pieces of flesh began to regenerate.
“I have the feeling you’re making a huge mistake.”
First, the head and neck reconnected, the decapitated torso merged back, the broken legs mended, and the severed arms sprouted. The limbs that had stopped moving were back in business.
Even though my uniform was still soaked in blood, my body itself had returned clean. I had no idea how that worked with the clothes recovering too.
“You say you’ll kill me as many times as it takes? Go ahead and try. I’ll gladly die tens, hundreds of times if necessary.”
With a thud, I stood up with the Wingless Nightmare reinforcing my body. The sword’s tip sank into the ground.
“But know this.”
I locked eyes with it. Its bloodshot pupils twitched.
“No matter how many times I die, if I leave even a scratch on you…”
Straightening my bent knees, I drew out the Wingless Nightmare. The blade once again aimed at the Creature that Devours the World.
“I’ve won.”
“How arrogant!”
It swung its sword again. I neatly parried it and closed the distance. Unlike our previous fight, I had no need to worry about being attacked this time.
In Brightest Darkness 4, if I died, I would return right at the spot I had fallen, so why would I not take that? Dodging the attack provided a chance to slice it again.
“If you want to die that badly, I’ll grant you that wish!”
From the Creature that Devours the World, all manner of techniques unfolded. The dagger in its hand changed to a blue hue, and a blizzard storm whirled towards me. The surrounding area froze over, and icy air seeped into my lungs.
Seeing its own technique used against me, I could only imagine how Lize was reacting.
I had no need to struggle to deflect everything. I parried what I could deflect and took the hits while swinging my sword. My body tore apart while another scratch marked its skin.
Next up was a crude-looking longsword. A vertical wind sliced me in half. I swung my sword as well. Another vertical scar marked its body.
Flames bursting from a Japanese sword incinerated my lower half entirely. Another wound appeared on its thigh.
Lightning scattered from the Greatsword, scorching my body entirely. The tip of my sword grazed its forearm.
The flail crushed my body, and the rapier pierced through me as the red lines continued to appear on the Creature that Devours the World’s skin. One death for one scratch was a hell of a deal for me.
With each death I faced, the number of those red lines increased proportionally.
“You relentless pest!”
The Creature that Devours the World spat out its fury as it swung its weapon.
Light burst from the Holy Sword, murky yellow Divine Power, murky silver Divine Power, countless spells. My body was sliced into countless pieces, a sight too numerous to count.
The speed of its attacks was unfathomably faster than before, and the power was absurdly strong. It felt like it was pretending that previous battles were merely to trap me.
“…Is that all you’ve got?”
Yet, I stood again. Looking at it with both of my legs firm beneath me.
I had already experienced having my head blown off, being shredded into hundreds of pieces, and being burned alive. If it was only going to end with something as pathetic as that, I wouldn’t have bothered to start.
My arms, which had completely melted away, sprouted back. I shook my index finger side to side. That’s a no for you.
Seeing that, the Creature that Devours the World lost its composure and charged at me with a new weapon; I paused for just a moment, then swung my sword. The slightly misaligned Wingless Nightmare interfered with its attack.
Somehow, I was now reading the patterns of ‘the Creature that Devours the World,’ not just the boss from Brightest Darkness 4.
Every action, every timing of weapon switches, even the moments when attacks came. I memorized everything like a pattern. Gradually, its attacks began to become readable. The number of times I dodged its attacks began to rise.
—bang!
And the fruits of that effort paid off as I rolled to dodge Lucia’s shockwave. Without any wind-up, the technique was evaded, and it looked greatly flustered.
“I told you.”
I swung the Wingless Nightmare toward its neck. Though I hadn’t quite severed it, nor pierced through its essence with True Death, beads of blood gathered along its skin.
That could now be called a wound instead of a scratch.
“If I die a hundred times and hit you once, then I’ve won.”
The Creature that Devours the World kicked me. With that one kick, my insides shattered, and I flew away, tumbling. While I was dizzy trying to get up, it growled.
“I understand your goal well.”
—crack!
Its body began to revert to that of a dragon. The ground it stepped on cracked, and its massive body, comparable to a small mountain, blotted out the sky.
Thoughts rang out in my head.
—If death is your wish… I will grant you that…
“A dragon form, huh? You made a huge miscalculation. What were you thinking while fighting me?”
I sheathed the Wingless Nightmare that I had held in my right hand back at my waist. The sudden decision to put down my weapon created an odd tension in the air.
That was simply the final boss from Brightest Darkness 4, so I thought I should fight as I would in the game. That’s why the Draconic Language that restricted its flight was effective.
If that’s the case, the closer I felt to this situation to Brightest Darkness 4, the more potent and longer-lasting the effects of the Draconic Language would be.
In any case, it could create a fake essence, making my sword swings imbued with True Death meaningless. It was much better to enhance the effects of the Draconic Language significantly and aim to overturn the very laws of the world.
“Before I was dragged here, I was just doing the Darkest Light Mod Barehand Run. Since you have my knowledge, you’d know what that means.”
Using True Death comes next. I looked into the Creature that Devours the World’s massive red pupil and murmured as if giving an order.
“Move.”
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