Arthur’s domain descended on the sanctuary within the barrier, and the spiral tower was finally set aflame. Unfortunately, whatever material it was made from prevented it from burning down like everything else within the mirror world. The poisonous toxins Melania had loaded the arena with were also dialled up to eleven here, high enough that his regular body would’ve suffered greatly if exposed to the environment.
“They really need to change the rules for these sanctioned battles,” Arthur muttered. “This one-sidedness shouldn’t be allowed.”
An apparition of Lady Melania materialised before Arthur. “You're right,” she said. “These arenas aren’t allowed normally. Then again, sanctioned battles are usually mutually agreed upon by both participants. Having such a distinct challenger and challenged is an outlier and is usually formalised with some legal help, the System equivalent of a lawyer, basically. Blame The Council for being so keen to let you die.”
The apparition disappeared just as a beam of light shot out of the tower and struck Arthur on the face. As fast as he might be with his inflated stats, he couldn’t dodge something travelling at the speed of light unless he started moving before the attack was launched, and Melania had perfectly filled her role as a distraction. The beam hit with the force of a small asteroid and sent him flying back into the barrier, whereupon it was joined by an additional seven, one for every limb and his newest appendages. While the beams weren't strong enough to do any damage, they were powerful enough to lock him in place.
Melania’s apparition materialised again. “Are you ready to cut a deal now? These beams will hold you in place for the duration of our fight. Thirty-four minutes. Let's not waste anymore time. I propose a trade: a guaranteed means to let you evolve to B rank. In return, you let me run a few experiments.”
Arthur opened his mouth and let forth a blast of Draconic fire, using the force to push his head out of the beam's fire path. From there, it was easy to free his remaining limbs, though he did get caught again a few times before he was entirely free.
“Why don’t you just give up?”
Arthur ignored the woman and flew towards the tower, marvelling at how naturally flight felt with his new wings. Each beat shot him forward hundreds of metres, three flaps, and he was there. This close to the tower, Arthur could finally understand just why Melania had been so confident. For starters, the building was constructed of materials that were at minimum legendary-ranked, with every brick containing more energy than he’d regenerate in weeks.
Arthur flapped his wings once more and punched forward. His fist struck rock with the force of a racing cruise ship. The tower held strong.
“I’m not even in there, by the way.”
Arthur ignored Melania and attacked again, this time planting his feet on the floor to generate more force and targeting the crystal-glass entrance. The crystal shattered, exploding backwards for a second before suddenly halting in place. Arthur didn’t wait to see what would happen. He bounded into the tower, ignoring the shattered glass that was now attacking him with abandon. They bounced off his skin like droplets of water.
Lady Melania was a woman who pursued the field of science just as much as she did magic. At their peaks, they were pretty much the same thing, and it showed in how the tower was set up. Robots that would’ve given him serious trouble in his human form swarmed from every direction and attacked him. Even if they could do him no harm, quantity was a quality all of its own, and Lady Melania had a veritable army to throw at him.
Every area and surface within the tower was weaponised, and Arthur served as the perfect target. This was probably the first time the tower had ever been breached in history, the first time Melania could see all her toys in action. The data she was gaining today would cost an empire's fortune if it were to be gathered in the real world, and enemies that could survive for so long were few and far between. The observers watching this sanctioned battle were no doubt impressed by his transformation, but Arthur's battle strategy left a lot to be desired. He’d wasted five minutes already, and he was getting nowhere.
Arthur’s mindless assault served a purpose, though. Suddenly becoming four metres tall and gaining an extra limb really messed with his ability to fight. The wings, at least, could be retracted at will, but his tail took some time to get used to, and he’d tripped over it a few times already. His strength and speed were unreal in this form, simple movements causing massive amounts of destruction. Simply existing around him at this point was hazardous to one's health, the corruption he leaked warping reality in strange ways, making it more malleable and open to the impossible.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Finally, Arthur was starting to learn what he was now capable of, along with his limitations. His movements gradually became smoother, not like his human self—his physiology was far too different for that—but more bestial, wilder and more natural. The instincts that had become a part of him ever since he’d first consumed the panther core were finally given the right framework to shine.
The snakes that formed his hair acted independently with no need for input, each lightning-fast strike reaping a life. They were masters of poison, and, as Arthur learned a few minutes into the battle, could breathe fire just as easily as he could. Things weren't all rosy-gold, though.
As The Nether Beast, the skills that he could access in his humanoid form were cut off from him, not entirely, but they couldn’t be utilised with the same precision he was used to. Armaments of the Soul, for example, only manifested as deadly claws, no matter how he tried to shape them, and his Water Shell could only be manifested temporarily as shields. Other skills, like Shadow Step, became far easier to use and cost absolutely nothing now.
His raw ability to manipulate ether, too, was vastly improved, and he could conjure water and shadow in quantities that would’ve left him with a splitting headache in his regular form. The Nether Beast was an animal, through and through, and it came with all the benefits and restrictions that entailed.
Finally, with 27 minutes left of the battle, Arthur decided he’d done enough experimenting. The House Of The End, which had merely been supporting him all this time, was finally given the order to act offensively against his enemies. All the machinery attacking him, despite not being truly alive, suddenly faltered in place. That was the exact moment he used the skill he’d been building towards for the last few minutes.
The Nether Beast trait granted him a single power from each of the cores he’d consumed, an equivalent of sorts to the skills he had access to as a humanoid. He was about to use Samuel's power, one that had almost killed him during their fight. Mirror Force, an ability that allowed him to release the combined force of all attacks he’d received in an omnidirectional blast of energy. It had been charging since well before Arthur had regained consciousness, against what Melania herself had described as nuclear-equivalent attacks.
He could contain no more energy. Taking a deep breath, Arthur detonated.
The mirror world cracked.
For the briefest of instances, it was like a star had descended onto the world. The tower, central point of Lady Melania’s empire and the foundation of much of her strength, did not survive the blast. When Arthur opened his eyes, only one building greeted him. The House of the End, his home that would survive the destruction of reality itself, stood amongst an ocean of rubble.
A wave of dizziness overcame him, and Arthur stumbled to his knees. It seemed his time was running out. The Nether Beast was a creature that guzzled energy in a way that simply wasn’t sustainable, and his latest attack had done something to destabilise the mirror world.
Arthur took in all the rubble. Somewhere out there, Lady Melania was hiding. With twenty-five minutes left on the clock, Arthur wasn’t inclined to go and search for her. Instead, he relied on his house once again. Courtesy to Lantris' timely donation, Arthur was able to convert up to 5% of the blood of any one of his enemies or allies into a substance that had been created within the Cauldron of Creation. The only elixir he’d crafted in there since it had evolved to become a soulbound item was the one he’d used for his second refinement.
It wasn’t exactly a poison, per se, but for an ether-based life form, it might as well have been the most deadly substance in the universe, especially if he could magically inject it directly into his enemy's bloodstream. The house seemed to struggle at first. Lady Melania was clearly doing something to hide her presence. She was the only living thing besides him in the mirror world, though, so Arthur gave the executive order to just infect every living thing the house could within its territory.
Once again, the house encountered an issue. Lady Melania had apparently replaced her blood with something else entirely, which apparently messed with the house's ability. Fuck it, it's similar enough that it should work. The House of the End seemed to think the same, and a second later, Lady Melania materialised into being right in front of him before falling to the floor in a twitching heap.
She’d been hiding right under his nose all this time, though, judging by the state of her body, she hadn’t escaped his supernova unscathed. Her face was a melted mess of flesh and steel, and her right arm and a part of her torso had been blown off. Veins of black twisted beneath her skin.
“What have you done to me?” she groaned, even as her shoulder blade morphed into a giant pulsating eye.
“Call it an experiment,” Arthur replied. “You were always fond of those, weren't you. Unfortunately, you didn’t meet the required standards, both as an opponent and as a test subject.”
Arthur watched in morbid fascination as the woman's chest caved in, her ribs splitting open to leak corrupted marrow. Melania was screaming now, begging him for mercy. Arthur wasn’t sure if she wanted him to spare her or put her out of her misery. He had come here with one intention only, though, and that hadn’t changed. The beginnings of a second face could be seen forming on Melania’s bloated stomach. His monster-core elixirs were as deadly as he feared for normal people.
Grimacing at the disgusting sight, Arthur summoned spectral claws made from his very soul. He would leave the evil scientist no room for survival. Raising his fist, Arthur punched it down right through Melania's skull and into her brain. He did it again and again, continuing long after he’d received an influx of energy from a level up until nothing but a grisly mess of blood and steel remained.
Melania had been felled.
Links to the audiobooks.
Etherious: Originator
-
Here
Here
Here
?Goodreads
Patreon is available with access to 8 advanced chapters.
