Chapter 386: Experience vs Adaptation Part 2
"...!!!" Before I can fire off the spell, she slices my hand off with a single movement of her Hikishin-covered hand. My regeneration manages to take care of the problem relatively quickly, but I don't have any room to use magic.
"U-Urgh!" She starts punching me in different spots, driving me back and pressing me hard. Each punch is heavy and shatters any defense I might have, until the roulette finally lands on a [Martial Arts Master] skill. It took five thousand spins just to get something fight-related.
'Ten seconds...' For ten seconds, my combat ability became that of a master. Qyraen's movements grow clearer to my eyes. I deflect her punch with a sweep of my arm to the side and drive a knee into her.
She blocks the knee with her own knee, but I use that opening to throw a punch. She catches my fist, and I use that to push off, using her leg as a lever as I spin my whole body and land a kick to her face with my other leg.
"..." When she lets go of my hand, I use my tail to grab her arm and spin her around completely. I land a punch directly against her spine in an attempt to break it, then whirl into a kick aimed at her head.
She uses her wings to right herself and lands a kick that I catch. Just as I'm about to throw a strike to break her leg, the time runs out and I take a blast of light that blows my head apart.
My body staggers backward as she fires more light shots, opening holes of light. As my body regenerates, I realize that just two regeneration skills aren't going to cut it.
I decide to stick with two regeneration skills, one defense skill, and two attack skills. Without a defense, the regeneration is going to struggle. I start spinning all three of the remaining skills, scoring one that boosts resistance. With that, the beams of light hitting me don't deal as much damage anymore, and I'm able to regenerate.
"[Astral Nebula]" I use magic, and a gray mist spreads out around us. The scenery seems to shift as if night has fallen. Qyraen rushes toward me with an axe, hurling it as I dodge.
"Huh?" Out of nowhere, I'm grabbed by the ground. I'm left confused as she spins me, and I realize there are two of her.
'A-An illusion?' I'm violently slammed against the ground. One of the regenerations ran out of time, and the other has only three seconds left. I desperately spin for skills, trying to get another regeneration one.
'This one?' One with an interesting name shows up, but I don't have time to use it. And even though the name indicates it's very strong, I'd rather spin it away to survive, rolling four times to try and get one more.
'One second!!' After ten thousand extremely fast spins, another regeneration finally appears, letting me hold out for the next forty seconds. Qyraen stops bashing me against the ground and throws me upward, hurling me out of the gray mist.
She flies up fast, hitting me from every direction with her fists and magic. The fight is insanely lopsided.
'I-I think I found a good one...' In the end, what seems best is two regeneration skills, one defense skill, one combat skill, and just one magic skill.
When I manage to get a solid combination of five skills, I'm able to spin in the air, grab Qyraen, and slam her against the ground, pointing a finger at her and firing a super-concentrated red laser beam that pierces through her shoulder from one side to the other, hitting her wing.
"!!!" I spin in the air, pushing off with my tail and crashing down onto her stomach, crushing her against the ground. I spin away the laser skill, quickly grabbing another spell.
"[Atmospheric Explosion]" A violent blast of air is generated point-blank in front of Qyraen. I'm shoved back by the wind as Qyraen gets to her feet. Since she has no clothes on, I can see cuts all over her body. She uses fairly advanced healing magic to close the countless wounds that had practically disfigured her body and face.
"..." She coughs blood, taking a step back. I immediately sprint toward her. I can't take too long because each roulette skill has a duration of ten to sixty seconds max before I can no longer use them.
"[[Atmospheric Explosion]]" She copies my magic just like she did before, and my entire body is hit, but the defense skill manages to absorb the damage with only superficial cuts.
Up close, I hit her with a martial arts strike to the shoulder, followed by a sweep that literally spins her body around, leaving her hanging upside down in the air.
I bring both hands together and deliver a spiraling blow to her stomach. The strike generates a sonic impact so intense it makes my own ears bleed as it launches her far away. She crashes into some rubble that collapses over her body.
"Haa... Haaa..." I pant, feeling my body demand payment. Regenerating doesn't erase all the pain and the physical and mental exhaustion I'm feeling.
'Oh, this one's good...' On the regeneration roulette, I get a skill that saves me from guaranteed death, and it's going to stay active for the next two minutes. Sure, I've already spun over twenty thousand times and it only showed up just now, but it's interesting, so I keep it in place of slotting in another regeneration.
"..." Qyraen rises from the debris, her wings wounded and black feathers drifting to the ground.
"Y-You're tough to put down," I say, wiping my arm across my face because of the dust.
"...I admit you're stronger than expected. Evelyn really did know how to create a good toy. Considering how weak she is, using her powers makes sense." I can't tell if she's insulting Evelyn, insulting me, or praising the use of Evelyn's powers.
"S-Seriously, why couldn't you just surrender? Do you know how many of your people have died and are dying? You're being exterminated!!" I say, alarmed by her carefree attitude.
"...That doesn't matter. People are born all the time. The lives of these people mean nothing if I get what I want and later annihilate you demons. You wouldn't understand, being nothing but a piece used to fight."
"But Evelyn understands. She's just like me in that sense."
"Stop lying. Evelyn is nothing like you with that super condescending shit attitude!" I say angrily.
"Hahaha, it's funny you think that. The fact that you're here fighting against me is proof... Anyway, I think this uninteresting conversation has gone on long enough, don't you think?"
"Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to end as quickly as I'd like? I'll have to take this seriously." She gives a slight roll of her shoulders, opening her wings completely.
"Weren't you already—" I'm hit by a beam of pure Hikishin that completely erases my body. The skill that would have saved my life is consumed instantly, and I reappear outside the blast's range.
"!!!" I'm left terrified, seeing just how massive the beam of Hikishin was. It literally erased half the kingdom, reaching all the way to the forest and beyond. Even looking out to the horizon, there's no telling how far that attack went. If it had been aimed toward the army, it would have completely wiped out her army and the demons' army.
"Y-You're a monster!!" I can't help but put it into words. A monster. This woman is an absolute monster in every sense.
"You're still alive? How frustrating," she says, appearing right in front of me. I immediately spin for more skills, trying my luck to see if something good comes up.
'I don't have nearly enough magic to waste on attacks that huge... How much Hikishin does this woman have?' I hope an attack that enormous drained her power, but honestly, I don't even feel like the Hikishin in her body has diminished. I feel like she could fire off a few dozen more of those attacks before it would really be a problem for her.
'C-Calm down. S-She doesn't know I can't escape death anymore. She'll probably avoid using something that costly... I just need to take it slow... I can win. I've already proven I can wound her and make her fall back...'
"..." She points in my direction, but this time I'm faster, determined not to let her fire off another attack that dangerous. This time, I'd really die.
With the martial arts skill I got, I kick her hand and aim at her face, firing only a small sphere of Hikishin to blind her eyes.
"..." She swats the sphere away with the palm of her hand, but a jet of mud shoots from my hand into her face — a skill that seemed pretty useless, but since it was unexpected, it catches her off guard, hitting her eyes.
She falters, stumbling backward, and I use the chance to sweep her legs. Instead of waiting for a powerful spell, I just keep throwing whatever junk shows up on the roulette. So I throw magic sand, twigs, an extremely weak breeze of air, among other things.
They're weak spells, so they barely cost any magic, and because they're so weak and are simple skills, I don't even need to recite anything.
"You pathetic whore. I complimented you, said you weren't half bad, and you just start throwing debris at me? You're just like that idiot Evelyn." She kicks me, sending me flying as she releases a burst of wind to try and clean herself off, forming a curtain of sand that I use to buy a few seconds.
'That glow...'