I Own the Evolution Domain

Novus’ arm trembles a bit as he felt the return of all the force that he put onto his previous punch, said reaction from the barrier preventing him from directly hitting the Golden Slime causing him to pull back.

’Tsk...’ feeing the muscles torn from his bones being broken by the impact, he couldn’t help but click his tongue in annoyance, such expression mellowing out of his face as with his senses, he had come to notice that it is not only him who took damage during that previous exchange.

Small, strand-like cracks began appearing within the entirety of the golden barrier after the brief contact with his punch, showing that despite reflecting the damage back to him, it still took damages significant enough for it to falter.

From this observation alone, Novus felt like there is no more reason for him to worry too much about this opponent, repeatedly telling himself that the only reason he is still struggling to stand on equal grounds against this opponent is the fact that he had yet to familiarize himself with its combat style.

Whether the Golden Slime is sentient enough to feel danger and be cautious or not is still up for him to debate, however, what Novus noticed is with the tiny cracks appearing on the barrier it deployed, even the slime itself seems to feel surprised as it leaped away creating distance between the two of them.

And as it currently looks, it seems like it opts to deal with him utilizing long-ranged attacks instead.

It leaped once more, drawing an arc that circles around himself, an arc that the young man can only see as he utilizes his Sensory Expansion to see the paths of attack aimed towards himself, only a moment passing before he realized that paths began connecting themselves from its origin all the way to his location once again.

"This again?" he couldn’t help but mutter to himself as he felt that familiar pattern, a faint smile appearing on his face as confidence begins welling up his being, prompting him to take a bold leap forward with the full intent of bridging the gap between himself and the monster attacking him.

Mana wraps around his legs as he made the leap, breaking past the air around them as he closed the gap between himself and the slime with quite the ease, preventing it from making its move.

"Die."

He utters a single word as mana wrapped around his arms once more, reinforcing his strength to an extreme degree with the intent of truly landing a punch on the monster’s body, power welling up as wind faintly swirls around his forearm and fist, almost as if the mana dancing around his being is already starting to influence his surroundings ever-so-faintly.

His arm turns into a blur with the speed of his punch, something that no normal being can react to, and something that he felt all too confident would reach the opponent in front of him before it could even deploy its barrier.

The fist stops as it hits something.

And for the second time, bright, golden light glows as the fist stops on its track.

Yet again, he was stopped by the golden barrier seemingly being deployed in the nick of time, causing him to feel all the more amused and interested as he wonders how is it that this slime can keep doing that, despite seemingly being unaware of his sudden attack as well.

With his senses warning him of something however, he knew that he has no time to mull over those thoughts at all, said warnings prompting him to make his next move as a manic smile appears on his face, mana changing how it acts as his own will directly affects its flow.

Enduring the recoil from the golden barrier’s retaliation, Novus grits his teeth as the pain from the exchange made his lips twitch, his arm, bones still shattered and flesh still torn, trembling a bit as it gradually regains true form under the influence of the peculiar, yet nevertheless intimate energy circulating around his body.

[Immortal Energy: 1415/1435]

As his fist and arm heals, a faint smile appears on his face as he decided to change his approach, the mana previously just continuously reinforcing his attack now shifting into something else.

From an instrument of blunt, brute force, the azure energy manifesting itself around the young man turned into a sharp, refined, piercing edge.

From the energy wrapping around and reinforcing his arm and fist, mana began to transform into a familiar swirl, its revolution around his arms gradually growing faster and faster as moment passes by.

And from that swirling mana blade, the faint, hair-like cracks that formed within the golden barrier’s surface began opening up even more, almost as if a dam beginning to crumble and tear itself apart from one small opening that it fails to prevent from manifesting.

As the blade finally manifested into completion, completely piercing through the golden barrier, barely reaching the caster hiding within.

The Golden Slime pauses, realizing that the prey it once expected would be an easy kill wasn’t something that it should’ve messed with all too easily.

Yet even then, it refuses to budge, the pride of being the greatest sub-specie among its kind not letting it back down from the fight it started itself.

"Let’s try this again..." the same smile never left Novus’ face as he continues breaking through the golden barrier, uncaring about the shifts in the environment as golden goo began appearing around himself and the Golden Slime in front of him.

The detached golden goo stretched, then twists themselves into terrifying spears once more, intending to pierce their target with certainty as the caster of the spell, or rather, the skill, ordered, the Golden Slime’s surface shining a bit more as if it grew excited thinking that victory is approaching its grasp.

But just like how no slime possesses a hand to grasp victory, the defeat of its opponent seems to slip past it as well, as the golden spears that it is so proud of began burying themselves deep within the young man’s body, twisting, turning, churning his insides into a paste as it continues to spin.

"Haha... is that... cough... all you got?" enduring through the torture of having his entrails twisted with each spear that pierces his body, Novus taunted as pain floods his mind with screaming that he struggles to keep from escaping.

[Immortal Energy: 1375/1435]

[Immortal Energy: 1335/1435]

[Immortal Energy: 1295/1435]

Blood spurt out of his body from the stabs, flowing towards the golden spears’ spiral, the crimson liquid spilling down the ground, producing a faint sizzle as it hits the leaves down below.

Toughing it out through the enormous suffering, Novus took a deep breath in, causing the spears lodged inside his body to move around, adding in a bit more of pain to it all as he starts to move.

"Rgh... haah... Hup!!" force was exerted from his body, still rooted on the ground despite his current state, flowing all the way upwards, from his torso rendered with holes, all the way towards his shoulders, twisting it a bit and causing his attacking arm to move with strength.

And from the small hole barely enough to fit the mana blade, a large opening came from the barrier being torn apart, exposing the creature hiding behind it.

"Got you..." the bloodied smile on Novus’ face shone as crimson from his body now bathed not only him, but his opponent as well.