abcnovels
Chapter 54: First Floor Boss Fight!
Chapter 54: First Floor Boss Fight!
Ryuji stepped on the corpse of the fire-type lizardman, pulling his axe from its flesh. He turned on his feet before lunging towards the second two bursts of fire rushing across his sides. The heat burned his cheeks and shoulders slightly.
The light of the flames blinded him.
"Ugh... damn rats!"
However, his eyes were not the only active senses. With his demonic-enhanced vision, Ryuji could see the outline of the rushing flames—lowering his shoulder, he smashed into a fire-type, slamming its back into the wall, the cold sensation of its scaled body pressing against his face, while the hot embers from its lips formed a ball beside his face.
'This little monster!'
Ryuji's hand grabbed the throat of the lizardman, tightening around the sac that seemed to enable them to create flames. The lizard struggled. A booming kick caught the side of his ribs, prompting Ryuji to release and roll on the floor before jumping back up and swinging his axe once more.
"Argh... urgh..."
As Ryuji's axe chopped the heads of the two lizardmen, the sounds of cracking scale and flesh mixed with the gurgling of blood, leaving a bloody mess on the floor. The heads rolled, a sickening sound accompanying their motion.
'Three down.'
Only one fire-type remained as Ryuji wiped his eyes, only a stinging sensation remaining. He saw the situation of Yumiko and Erika and watched them while dashing towards the last fire-type that ignored him completely.
***
Yumiko's agile body flung between the lizardmen.
She used their shields and thick scales to latch her feet onto them and hurl herself around them, launching short, sharp gorilla attacks with her tail and claws.
"Haa!"
With a ferocious swipe, she gouged the poor lizardman's eyes out before Erika's blade sliced its throat a moment later to ensure death.
"Watch it."
Erika sighed as she ducked under Yumiko's incoming tail before stabbing her dagger through the chest of an approaching lizardman, angling it into the heart. Her eyes narrowed with a faint smile, the feeling of the soft muscle tearing filling her body with excitement; a moment later, Yumiko's hands pushed forward and tore open the throat of another lizard, using the blades from her gauntlets.
"Ryuuji~ I want to kill more."
The moment blood poured over her face and ears, she became feral, her body flipping and darting around the combat area as she massacred the lizardmen, biting, slicing and tearing them apart.
Erika watched in fascination at the prowess of the Yumiko split into three; her attack lacked style but seemed to contain a feral grace while sticking to a certain technique.
'As expected of a purebred. However, how did a normal human tame a purebred of her species!?'
The lessons given to the top heroes were of a higher level compared to those given to heroes like Ryuji. Thus, Erike knew that there could be zero chance Yumiko was a normal beastkin with her golden fur, strange abilities and bloodlust.
'Adding the calamity star...'
Erika knew the future demon emperor was the only one who could hold the star, so why did the king keep them alive? 'Or was it to ally with the next demon king to grow more powerful?'
"Maybe they don't know which one is the true holder..."
"What are you mumbling about, human?"
The battle-loving Yumiko had returned from her slaughter, leaving a pile of lizardman bodies behind her. As Ryuji also crushed the skull of another fire type, looking over to Yumiko and Erika with a bloody and burned body, the light in Yumiko's eyes faded as her figure calmed down.
"I will help dismantle their corpses," Erika added, feeling a little embarrassed that Yumiko and Ryuji killed most of the enemies.
'I need to become more reckless, stronger and rely on these two more.'
***
While Erika dismantled the corpses, Yumiko rushed to Ryuji, who sat on the stone chair that the fire types guarded; another type might have existed in the past or maybe in the future.
However, the pair didn't care as she leapt onto his lap and began licking his cheeks, removing the blood and ash from his skin and slightly healing his burns.
Ryuji held her body as her tail wrapped around his arm, and claws sank into his skin and padded him lovingly.
"Ryuji~ It was so fun!"
"That tickles."
"Nn, stop hurting so much. What if there is an enemy that kills you in one blow?"
He leaned closer. "Thanks to your love, I will survive." His lips kissed her cheek before turning his pupils to the change in his current state.
—Level Up!
[Unknown Class Reached Level 1: Increased Intellect by 8]
Name: Ryuji Vincenzo
Title: Deathbringer (Kobold), Murderer (Human)
Class: Berserker: Lv.9 /????? ????: Lv.1
Rage: 0/40 (80 Reserved)
Rank: C
Attributes
Strength: 34 -> 35
Agility: 19 -> 20
Stamina: 20 -> 21
Grit: 42 -> 44
Intellect: 12 -> 15
***
Ryuji's eyes flickered to the new class, wondering why it remained unknown but could level up. He felt conflicted, wondering what caused it to level up. Was it the strange aura like his other class, or did some action or a series of actions increase it?
'I wonder why it increased; Yumiko's second class hasn't changed, but mine just appeared out of nowhere.'
The thoughts filled him with confusion as he turned to Yumiko, who had moved on to licking his neck.
"Why do you always do that? My neck is all wet and sticky now."
"Hehe, just like me~ come lick me too."
"No, because you want it elsewhere..."
Erika's eyes sometimes flickered over to them, causing Ryuji to wave, but she continued carving the scales.
Now, there was one more room, and the mini-boss would probably be inside there and down the stairs to the second floor.
'I wonder how long until those guys arrive?'
Ryuji wondered if he should wait as they asked or go to the second floor. Instead, he chose to at least clear the boss first; for a moment, he wondered if he could duel it like the last one but decided not to.
'The monsters in here would have killed me in two hits without my high grit. Yumiko and Erika were in great danger fighting those spearmen, though thanks to their high agility, they survived.'
"Erika, are you ready to go? Let's go fight a fun boss, Lizard!"
"Eh?"
Ryuji jumped over the throne without hesitation, Yumiko's body flung in the air, clinging to the throne, while watching Ryuji rush towards the last room opening.
"Rushing to battle again!? Is his stamina endless?"
Erika complained as Yumiko leapt after him with a childish smile. The moment they reached the massive doorway covered in strange hieroglyphics, an enormous figure covered in black crystals stepped out of the darkness. Two male and female lizardmen flanked it, each carrying a massive scimitar and clad in a rare form of armour.
The same black crystal from the boss's forehead appeared to be on their scales.
'Maybe there is a little hope of surviving,' Ryuji thought.
The enormous figure stepped forward, causing the ground to tremble, and a huge turtle larger than five metres appeared.
"Yumiko, Erika! One bite or claw from that big thing, and you'll die. Those lizardmen and women are probably as fast as you both are, so be careful!"
Ryuji stepped forward, allowing Yumiko and Erika time to circle. Thankfully, the boss didn't start the fight until they stepped past the strange arena, which doubled as a throne or altar. He clenched his axe tightly before rushing towards the turtle as its small head darted out, smashing against the stone ground.
Like a flash of light, the Turtle's forehead shot a beam of black light that penetrated Ryuji's chest, a spurt of blood flourishing from his back, his body floating through the air before rolling on the solid ground.
"Ryu--!?" Before Yumiko could shout, the female lizards slashed at her with long scimitars, forcing her to use the hidden blades in her gauntlets to deflect the blows; as for Erika...
The male lizardman cut her thigh before she could evade, making her lose her balance. Her eyes glanced at the blood from her leg before a blade stabbed into her shoulder, causing her to slide back a few meters.
"Tsk...!"
—Riposte Form
She then took a strange stance, her blade versicle to her face and the dagger flipping into a defensive position.
Yumiko, however, felt her eyes wide in shock. 'How can they be so strong!?' Her body no longer reacted, her instincts wanting her to run away with her life.
The only thing that kept her from fleeing was the carefree and serious expression on Ryuji's face as he dragged his body from the ground, a hole still inside his chest, slowly healing like a monster.
"Oh, that really hurt, you damn turtle." Ryuji's eyes transformed, turning pitch black, with small orbs of sapphire blue replacing his iris and pupils while his teeth grew a little sharper and his aura became more ferocious.
"For this battle, I will use 100 rage points to carve your ass into dinner!"