Chapter 119: The Infinite Crow
———Wiina———
<1: 47 pm>
*Slash* *Zap* *Smash*
The three of them attacked the giant skeletal minotaur all at once, delivering the finishing blow that caused the curse of the undead to become undone, letting its body crumble into a pile of bones.
“Haaa… Take that, you bulky bastard…” Lynda doesn’t mince her words, looking at the pile of bones with a smug grin on her. Karra and Glery are subdued in their reactions.
“Good work you three, you got it done just on time.” I said, wondering how I’m going to act in the next few minutes. “We don’t have a lot of time before we have to go back to the ship, you three really push it with your stamina.”
Seriously, I already teleported the others back. I get Karra wanting to still hang out with me, but there’s not a lot of excuses for her, let alone the duo. Why are they still here? Knowing that they will and knowing why they will is a completely different matter.
*Rip* *Crackle* *Crack*
“W-What is that!?” Before they could even ponder on the idea, the space around us seems to crack, like actual tears in the space itself starting to appear and causing the three to justifiably start panicking. This is far from normal, even with magic as the norm.
*CRACK* *CRASH*
A violent reaction occurred as something that wasn’t meant to be here invaded the time period. I swiftly make my way over to the trio and shield them from the stray magical blasts that resulted from the barbaric way this person reached us.
A pale arm appeared out of the cracks in space, dragging itself out of the rift and pulling herself out of it, landing on the ground without causing another explosive aftermath.
“Haaah… Maybe traveling straight into a manipulated space like a dungeon is a bad idea, you got that written down?” The visitor said, staring at me with one of her red eyes, the other one concealed by her long messy hair.
“You are even more scandalous than before, how is that possible?” I can’t help but comment. Sure, she has a shirt, but it’s opened up and mostly torn down, and she wore a chest binding and shorts that can barely be called shorts. “Not to mention, you look absolutely miserable. Do you need a self-care book or something?”
“Who cares, all that matters is that it covers the important bits. I don’t need to wear them to shield myself from the elements.” She replied with a shrug and a smug grin.
“As far as I’m concerned, you are barely recognizable with your current appearance. I can’t imagine your acquaintances here even connecting the dots.” I replied. She really let herself go with that absolutely trashy fashion.
“As if that really mattered. Regardless of what I wear, most people here wouldn’t recognize me anyway.” She said with an unchanging expression. “Also, it feels like it has been a while since we last met. How have you been?”
“Unless you want to argue semantics, it shouldn’t count at all. Don’t act like that sort of greeting will mean anything.” I firmly said, glaring at her with disapproval. “So, why are you here?”
“Oh, I think that should be obvious to you at this point.” She said, maintaining that smug look of hers, then shifting her attention to the three people stuck in this room with the two of us. “Hmm… I recognize her, but who are those two?”
The three of them hold tightly to their weapons once it is clear that she is giving them unwanted attention.
“Tch. Leave them alone, bloodsucker.” I said while pulling out my weapon. I don’t care if she’s an old friend, if she plays weird tricks I will not play nice.
“Yeesh, I forgot how feisty you were. No, it’s not like you have gone softer over the years…” She commented, not intimidated by my tone. How typical, even in a face of danger, she keeps up that jovial and nonchalant tone of hers. How does she keep that kind of attitude for so long? “So, I never did get to ask, how did you figure me out so easily anyway?”
“It’s written all over you, for one thing.” I said, still not putting my weapon away. “Secondly, this place has your imagery all over it, right from the first boss.”
“And you accept it so easily? I guess a being of your level wouldn’t think of any possibilities as too absurd.” She said with a sense of mockery. “Anyway, I’m just here to see where my toy ended up. Perhaps I should plan a bit better and try entering from outside, but it was already written.”
“Wiina, who in the world is she!?” Karra asked, clearly finding it hard to stay quiet. “Where in the world do you know her from?”
“It’s a long story, I’ll fill you in on the details later, but I suggest all three of you go back to the ship first.” I said, ready to teleport them back to the ship before continuing the conversation.
*Bang*
“Ah!” Karra screamed out as she registered what just happened. She blasted my left arm almost clean off, leaving it barely hanging by the joint. I healed it back up quickly, restoring the damage to myself and also the clothing.
“I don’t think the fight would be fun without an audience.” She said with a rather bloodthirsty grin.
“And here I thought you were merely checking this time period out.” I said, pointing my sword at her.
“Well, that was the initial plan, but then I realized I never fought you in this state before. I wonder what the result of that will be like.” She smugly replied. Well isn’t this a problem. Not necessarily because I believe I’ll lose, it’s just that I’m not confident in her restraint. She might end up hitting her ‘beloved’ audience.
“...I feel sorry for the future, truly.” I said with a defeated sigh.
*Dim* *Crackle*
“Aaaah!” She starts powering up, a dark aura starts to surround her and blow the three spectators away. Even just this alone is already too much for them!
*Shine*
I send them all into a protective bubble to keep them safe, positioning them at the doorway, hopefully just far enough to not get hit in the crossfire.
“Prepare yourself.” I said, still feeling a bit apprehensive…
“That should be my line!” She shouted out as a pair of wings sprouted out of her back. It would be generous to call those collections of bones as wings, but it seems to be all that remained, now only reflecting its former appearance by the dark energy flowing out of it to give off some semblance of a fully intact pair of wings.
*Dash* *Clash* *Parry*
She fights with her hands covered in energy, and with each swing it forms into a shape of very sharp claws that is comparable to a normal weapon.
I still have the range advantage, my sword has greater reach and our power output at current time is roughly equal.
In terms of speed and dexterity, she beats me in the former case while I hold the advantage in the latter. Of course, it’s not just because of greater flexibility, but also an ability.
*Parry*
“Tch. That power of yours is a pain in the ass. The fact that it’s not the only cheat skill you have doesn’t help either.” She bitterly remarked after I sent her flying by spotting her weak spot during that one specific interaction and capitalized on it. “If you’re not going to shut them off, then I guess I don’t have to go easy either!”
*Crackle* *Rumble*
She starts boosting her power in response, causing the floor to shake under the pressure. With how the dungeon is structured so everything is basically glued to a specific coordinates like they are floor and walls in video games, this should be nearly impossible.
*Dash* *Parry* *Slash* *Block* *Pierce*
We got into another altercation with her clawing out my left hand while I pierced her right shoulder. Despite the seeming severity of that exchange, it’s nothing more than a tiny HP lost.
Both of our biology allows for our body to quickly recover itself, automatically reattaching any lost limbs or regenerating the one permanently lost. Hers is a bit more taxing and less powerful than mine, but in the context of this battle where neither of us are aiming to kill, it doesn’t matter if one heals faster or more efficiently.
What we are trying to prove in this fight is simple. Establishing superiority.
For her, it is the matter of seeing if she could even reach the faint glimmer of the past. For me, it is the matter of keeping her in check and drilling it into her head that no matter the time or place, I will not falter. I don’t fully know the context behind the series of events, but the last thing I want to do is show weakness.
If at all possible, I don’t want to reveal too much of what I am capable of, since we have an audience. I’d like to keep my trump cards as secrets if at all possible.
That duo already knows about my regeneration, though not its full capabilities. With Karra I’m less hesitant in showing, and with this woman, I think she already knows a lot about what I’m capable of.
*Clash* *Parry* *Slash*
“Seriously, that ability of yours is straight up cheating.” She complained as her torso automatically mended the giant gash I created on it.
“I can’t say I know which one you are talking about.” I pointed out. Aside from the precognition ability, there are also things like slowed-down perception and auto-pilot which further compliment that ability.
“How about all of it!?” She shouted out before raising her two arms in the air, gathering a lot of energy into a giant ball of darkness.
*Throw* *Clash*
“Ugh!” She definitely didn’t go easy with that attack. She threw it right at me and I can’t just push it off right away with how much force this attack has!
*Glide* *Swirl* *Slash*
She glides to the other side of the room, facing my back while I try to figure out what to do with this energy ball, hitting me with weak but plentiful amounts of wind blades. It’s more irritating than anything else.
*Swing* *Throw* *BOOM*
“Whoa!” I managed to throw the ball of energy at her, to which she simply flew out of the way and let it hit the wall, causing a massive explosion that let out a massive torrent of energy that probably would’ve caused the three to be sent flying. Even the aftermath alone would’ve been too much for them.
“Yeesh. I know I didn’t expend all of my power for that, but you still took control of it so easily.” She commented. Are we still going to keep going with this charade? I think we’ve seriously wasted enough time as is.
“What a pain.” I commented before looking at the three spectators. I think they’d want to go back to the ship at this point. This fight could definitely dragged on for too long if she insisted on keeping this match going. In fact, it’s plainly clear that she wants it.
“Heh. If you think those words alone can-
*Zoom* *Slash* *Dice* *Blast*
“I was wondering what was taking you so long. So the woman of the hour has arrived already.” Before she could finish speaking, Rico managed to teleport into the room and cut her up into hundreds of pieces before blasting her into paste. There was zero hesitation, zero pause before she just went and did it.
“D-Did you even care whether she survives from that or not?” I asked, actually feeling a bit bad for her.
“She probably will. Vampires are tough stuff, and she is no slouch in that regard.” She confidently said.
“Uogh… What was that for?” It took a few seconds of what seems to be excruciating regeneration, but she managed to pick herself back up, albeit completely naked since her clothes are all torn off.
“Put some clothes on!” I shouted before constructing a towel and threw it right in her face.
Great, now things are getting really awkward because of Rico’s interruption. One time you act seriously and you’re making things more complicated than it should've been!