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Chapter 190. Peony Subjugation Battle Part 8
Chapter 190. Peony Subjugation Battle Part 8
I zoom past the scenery like an arrow.
By jumping from building to building at a bullet-like speed, I leave behind the collapsed cityscape and the giant Marimos floating in the sky.
UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
This is honestly amazing.
The power behind my legs is so great that I travel over a hundred meters with every jump.
So this is what it means to have the physique of a High Orc.
Shadow Imitation doesnt end with simply imitating the appearance of a defeated foe.
It also copies the status of the defeated monster.
I check my status.
*****
Kudou Kazuto
Newtype LV5
HP: 2200 (712)/ 2200 (712)
MP: 130 (320)/ 130 (320)
Strength: 902 (379)
Endurance: 680 (390)
Agility: 790 (803)
Dexterity: 230 (775)
Magic: 110 (185)
Magic Resistance: 80 (185)
*****
This is how my current status looks.
The numbers in parentheses are my original status while the numbers outside are the ones applied to me right now.
(These are some ridiculous numbers)
Although it still falls short of Soras status, the HP, Strength, and Endurance that I have right now are much higher than the specs that I gained after evolving into a Newtype.
My Agility has been enhanced more so than the others, but it is pretty much the same as Rufens.
If its status didnt drastically drop every time it got doused in water, Rufen would have definitely been classified as one of the strongest monsters.
It feels great to be able to wield so much power.
(But this wont last for long)
Shadow Imitation is a powerful skill, but it does have its shortcomings.
My status has gone up explosively, but theres a time limit to it.
Shadow Imitation only lasts for around 15 minutes.
Once the duration is over, there will be a 5-miniute cooldown period before I could use Shadow Imitation again.
Thats more than enough time though.
With that much time, I should be able to settle things with Peony.
The bigger question is whether or not my body will last until then.
The status that I have right now is something that Im borrowing through Shadow Imitation.
In other words, my status is being forcibly raised.
That means
My bodys screaming already
My muscles are screaming in pain.
Its like that time when I forced my body to move using shadows.
Even if I could raise my status, it doesnt mean that my body could handle the sudden surge in power.
To begin with, this isnt how Shadow Imitation is meant to be used.
Shadow Imitation is a skill that demonstrates its true worth when it is used for ambush and deception.
Its a skill that lets its user imitate the appearance of a defeated foe. Put another way, Im only supposed to imitate a weaker opponent.
Im not supposed to imitate someone whose status far exceeds mine, but thats precisely what Im doing right now.
Undue power erodes the body.
The price that I have to pay to borrow this power is nothing to scoff at, but I must endure it.
If I give up now, Id be wasting the efforts of Sora and everyone else.
Kyu!
A faint light wraps around my body.
Its from Kikis Support Magic Buff.
It feels like my body has been partially relieved of its burdens.
Thanks, Kiki.
Kyu! Kyu!
Youre welcome!
While clinging to my neck, Kiki issues a reply.
Shes been fastened to my body using the Shadow, but its impressive that shes clinging on.
GIGIGI!!
GIGI GIGI GIGI!
Two giant Marimos block our path.
Out of the way.
I deploy my Item Box, crushing the two nonentities before us with tetrapods.
(Ive defeated quite a few of them, but my level isnt rising at all)
Do these guys not drop experience?
I was thinking of leveling up by defeating a lot of them, similar to what I did with the Ants, but that doesnt seem to be working.
GIGI!
GI!
GIGIGI, GIGI!
Hm? What?
The giant Marimos have congregated to one place.
Just as Im wondering what their plans are, they begin devouring each other.
Cannibalism?
No, thats not it. This is
The giant Marimos have merged in the process of eating each other.
They have essentially converged into one.
The final product that results is a huge sphere spanning a diameter of roughly 10 meters.
GIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!
The ultra-big Marimo screeches the moment its born.
Then, it opens its innumerable mouths and stretches out its tongues.
I see. After realizing that they cant overwhelm us through quantity, theyve decided to come at us with quality instead.
That said,
that was a bad move.
I summon forth a large wave of tetrapods around me.
You see, with my currently enhanced status, I can do something like this.
Hurl em!
I grab the tetrapods that have begun to appear and hurl them one after another.
Hurling massive objects continuously.
Its a devastating technique that fully utilizes the High Orcs strength.
Because of the added speed, the destructive power behind the tetrapods is much greater than when I normally release them from the Item Box.
GIGAA!?
GIII!!
FooOOOOD!?
They wouldve had a better chance if they had rushed at me individually instead of merging.
If they had adopted the tactic I used to defeat the High Orc and rained poison on top of me to the point where I couldnt dodge, it would have put me in a dangerous position.
Im lucky that my enemies arent really bright.
After wiping out a lot of the giant Marimos in one go, I leap forward once more.
Peonys body is right around the corner.
(Strange.)
Its awfully quiet.
Peonys roots and vines havent attack me in a while either.
The distance between us is getting shorter and shorter, which is only making me grow more anxious.
And now were here.
Ive arrived at the base of Peony, which is also the enemys main camp.
Now that I look at it again, its insanely big
Seeing it up close, I once again realize what a huge monster it is.
Weve come all the way here already. Why isnt it showing any reaction?
I focus all my attention and approach the hollowed out portion of Peonys roots.
That must be it.
Deep inside Peonys hollow base, theres something that appears to be its core.
Titans core was shaped like a hard piece of stone, but Peonys is more like an ovule thats one meter in diameter.
Compared to its enormous body, its core seems very small.
Hmm?
What catches my attention, however, is the thing thats sitting on top of the core.
To put it simply, its a wooden puppet.
It doesnt appear to have a face, and its joints are connected by balls, much like a mannequin.
Such a thing is sitting on top of Peonys core.
The wooden puppet notices me and stands up immediately.
The oppressive feeling coming out of this guy is incomparable to that of the giant Marimos.
The lower half its head splits open like a mouth.
Hungry
The wooden puppet makes its move, appearing right in front of me in the next instant.
!?
You look delicious.
A large chunk of my right arm gets ripped off.
Mogumogu. The puppet makes some chewing gesture, and it takes me a few moments to realize that it has taken a bite out of me.
This little!?
I jump back in a hurry.
This ones dangerous, far more dangerous than the giant Marimos.
DeliciousDELICIOUS! AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!
A chill runs up my spine as I watch the wooden puppet go nuts and perform a dance as if it has just found the most delicious sweet.
Its so eerie and oppressive; its as if Im facing off against a miniature version of Peony.
What sort of skill is this?
First the giant Marimos and now this wooden puppet.
How many skills does Peony possess?
The sole silver lining is that my skills and instinct are telling me that this is Peonys last line of defense.
Fine.
What I have to do remains the same.
I must defeat this puppet and crush Peonys core.
Thats all there is to it.
KYAHA!
The wooden puppet makes its move again.
Its fast. Too fast.
My eyes cant keep up to its movements.
.But so what?
Focus.
If I cant see its movements, I must predict them.
Not even a moment of carelessness will be tolerated.
Right here!
AKYA!!
I dodge when the wooden puppet jumps on me.
Then, I land a counter with my fist.
Gu
So hard.
Ive hit it with the strength of a High Orc, but its still extremely hard.
Its as if Ive slammed my fist against a boulder.
The wooden puppet crashes onto the ground with such a momentum that its body bounces back up several times.
However, it immediately gets back up afterwards.
Are my attacks ineffective?
Wait, leaving that aside
Mugumugu
Ah?
The puppet is chewing something again.
I glance at my hand in disbelief, only to realize that the tip has been ripped away.
You gotta be kidding.
Im quite certain that it was the perfect counter.
I distance myself from the puppet and regenerate the parts that have been eaten.
Fortunately, both of the body parts were something made from my Shadow.
Hence, theres neither pain nor blood.
That said, having ones Shadow consumed by another is clearly abnormal, and Im getting anxious because of this.
AHYA!
The wooden puppet leaps forward again.
Absolute Shadow!
The Shadow beneath my feet stretches out and restrains the wooden puppet.
However, a moment later, the puppet tears apart the rope that has been made from my Shadow.
Agumugumugu.
In fact, it has even begun to feast on the Shadow.
More
The wooden puppet grins, and its mouth widens like a crescent moon.
LET ME EAT MORE!!
! Get away, you monster!
Kyu!
I create some distance between us, and a faint light from Kiki wraps around my body.
The wooden puppet tries to bite onto me again, but Reflection activates that very moment.
Bachin~!
Its body bends backward.
Ang?
A rare opportunity has presented itself.
I quickly attach the pile bunker to my right hand, fix it in place with the Shadow, and fire.
The recoil from it is no joke, but I withstand it thanks to the High Orcs powerful body.
More!
I give chase to the wooden puppet that has been blown away.
Using my Item Box, I construct a wall behind the puppet, stopping it in its track and closing the distance between us in a single breath.
Pile bunker!
AGAAA!
The wooden puppet suffers yet another impact.
Even so, it hasnt fallen.
In the caseIll continue until you break!
Not yet. I must bear with this for another while.
Pile bunker!
Once again, I ram the pile bunker into the puppets stomach region.
Along with a dull sound, a crack appears on the puppets body.
Pile bunker!
This time, the crack spreads to the rest of its body.
PILE BUNKER!!
Finally, after being attacked 5 times in a row, the puppets body shatters into pieces.
Huuhuuu
In the end, what was the deal with this guy?
Whatever, Ill think about it later.
For now, I should focus on crushing Peonys core.
I turn my attention back to the core while thinking so
AHA!
only to see another wooden puppet sitting there.
Is this a joke?
Theres more than one of its kind?
Does that mean Peony can produce as many of these puppets as it wants?
(No, that cant be right)
If Im not mistaken, I sensed a large amount of energy surging back to Peonys core the moment I defeated the first puppet.
That means it can be revived an indefinite amount of times unless I destroy the core.
What a troublesome fellow.
AHA!
The new puppet laughs and lunges at me.
Tsk!
This is bad.
I shouldnt drag things out any longer.
Its time for a change in strategy.
I activate a certain Ninjutsu.
The Art of Cloning!
Unlike with The Art of Transformation, Shadow Imitation allows me to activate other Ninjutsus.
This means that my MP would be consumed at a more rapid pace, but I cant care less about that at the moment.
Come, you wooden puppet!
KYAHAA!
The puppet ignores my clones and runs straight at me.
Thats it. Youre doing well.
Ill have the clones crush Peonys core while I deal with this puppet.
That will bring this to an end.
EAAAT!!
I store the pile bunker in the Item Box momentarily, taking it out against and attaching it to one of my clones.
Chomp!
Guh
Meanwhile, the puppet takes a bite out of my arm.
Pile bunker!
The clones sacrifice themselves and slam Peonys core with the pile bunker.
Biki!
A crack forms along the core.
(Not enoughone shot isnt enough!)
Much like the puppet, the core seems to be quite hard.
All my clones disappear due to the recoil from the pile bunker.
The core wont break unless I hit it another time, but my hands are full already, and summoning another batch of clones would
Wan!
Thats when Momo pops out from the Shadow.
Momo!?
Wan!
Momo nods and rushes towards Peonys core.
Shes saying that she would break the core in my clones stead.
Haha, youre truly the best companion I could ask for.
Alright, Momo! Lets do this together at the same time!
Wan!
Leave it to me, Momo barks loudly.
Thank you, Momo!
I stored the pile bunker into the Item Box before taking it out again so that I could reattach it to my right arm.
Then, I ram the pile bunker at the wooden puppet thats biting my left arm.
Pile bunker!
AGA..!
Its not only the wooden puppet that suffers damage.
Some of the Shadow enveloping me gets blown away along with a part of my flesh.
My left arm has become a wrangled mess, so much so that my flesh and bone are exposed.
A terrible pain assaults me.
But so what!
Endure the pain! Dont collapse! Focus! Fight!
PILE BUNKER!
AGYAAA!!
Even as its getting pounded by the pile bunker, the wooden puppet does not give up on eating.
What a scary appetite.
Peonys double. Theres no better way to describe it.
Ive finally understood why Peony has used this skill.
Despite the situation that it is in, Peony wants to continue eating.
Its body has become tattered, its regeneration no longer works, its core has been exposed, and most of the giant Marimos have been defeated.
Undeterred by all that, Peony has created this small body double to satisfy as much of its appetite as it could.
Peony has screamed that it doesnt wish to die, and yet it has chosen to fight in order to satisfy its appetite.
It has long crossed the point of being excessive. In fact, its downright pitiful.
Why? Why would it go so far to
Want to eat
A voice suddenly echoes inside my head.
Want to eatNoNo more killingFoodNoDont want to dieKill
Are thesePeonys thoughts?
Are Peonys thoughts flowing into me again? Like that time when I cast Tracking?
Somethings different though.
I sense something other than its desire to eat.
No more killingNo more eatingWill dieNo
Eat. Eat. Eat. EverythingFoodpriorityFood.FOOOOD!
Although they both seem to belong to the same voice, I hear two contradictory thoughts echoing inside my head.
One of them is the muddy thoughts that Ive heard from Peony many times before.
As for the other onecould this be the original Peonys thoughts? As in its thoughts before it was consumed by its appetite?
()
I hear the click of something getting connected, and pictures start flowing into my head.
Are thesememories?
There was once a forest located in another world.
A tall tree stood in the middle of the said forest, bearing fruits and giving its grace to the creatures living there.
(e)
The tall tree was content with its life.
It blessed the forest with its graces and was pleased that the forest was flourishing.
The tree continued to grow, and when it came to, it was being revered as a sacred tree and worshipped by the creatures living in the forest.
Could these bePeonys memories?
However, something happened to the forest one day.
Thirsty for resources, a human army had invaded.
The tall tree had been noticed by the humans due to its action of blessing the forest.
From the humans perspective, the sacred trees fruits, branches, leaves, and sap were all top-tier materials.
The forest was razed to the grown, its inhabitants were slaughtered, and it was on the verge of losing its life.
It was then that the God Tree became furious and killed all the intruders.
When the battle was finally over, it realized that nothing remained.
Overcome with grief, it devoured everything in its proximity and gained immense power, cursing the cruel world in the process.
It had obtained the forbidden skill known as Gluttony.
I see. So you were
The power to overwhelm everything and devour anything.
The God Tree embraced its newfound powerand was consumed by it.
Nothing mattered anymore.
The place that it held dear had been burned down, and the ones that it wished to protect had been slaughtered.
Then let it be so.
Instead of bestowing others with its grace, it decided to deprive them of everything.
It would devour everything and anything in its path, leaving itself at the mercy of its unappeasable appetite until the day that its body broke down
(Help)
Were you hoping for someone to stop you?
(HelpEnd this)
(FoodEat everythingEveryNoNo, No, NO!!)
Were you waiting for someone to put an end to your insatiable appetite? To your unappeasable hunger?
((No moreplease put an end to this))
Bachi!
And with that, the connection between us breaks.
AHA! AHYAHYAHYAHYAHYA!!
The puppet in front of me laughs hysterically.
It drools uncontrollably and lunges at me, wanting to take a bite out of me.
Is it just me, or does the puppet seem to be crying?
Now that I think about it, Peonys behaviors were never consistent since the beginning.
Going back and forth between wanting to eat and not wanting to eat, wanting to die and not wanting to die.
Its thoughts conflict with one another.
Peonys original personality might have returned as a result of taking so much damage and being pushed to a corner.
Its thoughts seem to be in a mess because of that.
If that is what you wish for
I shall put an end to this.
An end to your hunger, your suffering, your rage, and your sorrow.
Taking in a deep breath, I lock onto my target and pour all my strength into my arm.
PILE BUNKEEEER!!
The pile bunkers third attack pierces through the puppets abdomen.
Almost at the same time
WAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Momo strikes Peonys core with her Roar and her Shadow.
Along with some cracking sounds, the core and the puppet shatter into countless pieces.
Immediately afterwards
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Peony unleashes a cry of death.
Its tree trunk snaps and falls as if to signify its demise, causing terrible tremors and crushing the buildings in the surrounding regions.
Huuuhuu
Is it finally over?
Is it?
Shadow Imitation gets forcefully undone, probably because my body can no longer hold on.
No, I shouldnt collapse yet.
I must not faint.
Wan! Wan!
Momo rushes back and supports me using her Shadow.
Thanks, Momo.
While swaying from side to side, I take a good look at the place where Peonys core once laid.
A massive magic stone thats around a meter long is rolling around on the ground.
Amazing. Ive never seen one this big before.
Theres also a small seed next to it.
What is this?
For the time being, I store both of them in my Item Box.
A voice then begins to echo inside my head.
<<You have gained experience.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 5 to 6.>>
<<You have gained experience.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 6 to 7.>>
<<You have gained experience.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 6 to 8.>>
<<You have gained experience.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 8 to 9.>>
<<You have gained experience.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 9 to 10.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<As a NewType, the door to more possibilities will be opened.>>
<<Creating skills.>>
<<ConnectingConnectingSuccess.>>
<<A new skill will be generated along with the skill that has been put on hold.>>
<<Changes detected in . Merging skills.>>
<<ConnectingConnectingSuccess.>>
<<The skill Heroic Hymn has been created.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 10 to 11.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 11 to 12.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 12 to 13.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 13 to 14.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 14 to 15.>>
<<Experience has reached a certain threshold.>>
<<Kudou Kazutos level has increased from 15 to 16.>>
<<Confirmed the subjugation of the named monster, Peony.>>
<<Analyzing the contribution of participantsSelecting the MVP.>>
<<Kudou Kazuto has been certified as the MVP.>>
<<Subjugation bonus will be given.>>
<<The lock on The Right to Question has been released.>>
The announcements tell us that at long last, our battle is over.