LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 22: Three-Headed Devourer! (2)
Kai hadn't been this stunned in so long that he even stopped the Ad Infinitum from burying this feeling.
He looked with wide eyes as the short-haired, white-skinned, and wormy, black-eyed Selene Blinked, reappearing at her place with the other two girls. There the three stood, eying everyone with their mind-numbing gazes, daring someone to move.
Black, donning his butler uniform, came to stand near Kai, sandwiching Tina between them.
"No flesh," Black commented, the ends of his mouth twitching ruefully. "She's just using her intangible form to assume shapes, keeping her three consciousnesses separate. Kinda like I did with Darcie when I first arrived here. She's grown…"
Kai nodded. "She's grown, indeed," he commented. "And she's also gone stupid… Assuming shapes, and then using the Skills… Show off!"
As if taking insult, the three girls looked over their shoulders and frowned.
-Oldies should keep their mouth shut!- the short-haired Selene snapped.
-It doesn't suit a man of your age to talk about little girls behind their backs…- the white-cloaked and yellow-eyed Selene shook her head.
-Hearing you call me a Show-Off…- the blind Selene closed her eyes, -… hurts, Master.-
It happened then.
A shift in the world. The logic of reality bent at the whim of little girls. Rules got overwritten as if they were mere scribbles on white paper.
Kai's heart shuddered, an extremely familiar, sweet, and… lucky feeling seeping out of him in trickles.
"SELENE!" He thundered, his wrath shuddering all hearts.
The three girls put their hands over their mouths and giggled. -LOL! He's mad…-
Black smiled wryly. "Take it easy," he said with Calm. "It's only temporary."
Kai controlled his breath, eying the dull-gray notification hovering in front of him.
…
[
Contestant Kai Stormborn, you have been affected by a Curse
Effect: Luck -5
Time Limit: 1 minute
]
…
Kai noticed the value of his Luck falling from 56 to 51 instantly.
If he didn't have Master Curator to support him, wouldn't losing 5 points bring his Luck down to a mere 1…
But the most shocking thing wasn't losing points in his Luck. It was the fact that the girls… the devourers… hadn't used a Skill at all.
As if he still couldn't believe what he had seen, Kai's gaze again fell upon Stats hovering above the girls' heads.
They all were the same.
…
[
Magical Beast: Three-Headed Devourer
Note: Because of unknown, unspecified, and unquantified factors involved in evolution, the Magical Beast has undergone a tripartite division of consciousness, becoming three separate entities, but still being represented by the same Stats.
The Entities are:
1. Life Devourer
2. Space Devourer
3. Time Devourer
Grade: B- (growth)
Type: %$#$#$%$@
HP: 300
MP: 400
SP: 350
Attributes-
Strength: 25
Agility: 35
Stamina: 30
Perception: 30
Intelligence: 40
Breath: 35
Abilities-
1. Intangibility
2. Petrification
3. Unlucky Gossip
4. Bloodline Manipulation
5. Legendary Contender
Skills-
1. Soul Scattering Poison
2. Hypnosis
3. Blink
4. Devour
5. Space Lock
6. Time Shift
7. Dimensional Barrier
]
…
Kai looked at Life, Space, and Time written in the Stats and even he felt a bit apprehensive towards them.
Magical Beasts, equivalent to the floor of a Contestant, were already a bit stronger.
The gap between the power levels between Magical Beasts and the Contestants only increased as one ascended the Primordial Tower. That's why, with an increase in Grade, the number of Magical Beasts decreased exponentially.
Within the Mirror Dimension, the strongest Contestant only belonged to the 8th floor, which had an equivalent grade of C.
With Selene evolving to B-…
"Take your real form," Kai told her. "Stop playing…"
-Oh, please…- the Life Devourer Selene rolled her black eyes, uncountable, tiny worms wriggling inside them. -It's just killing, no? Hey… No-Eyes… open them. Show everyone those white balls… Pff! Balls! Haha!!!-
Kai and Black shared a concerned glance.
Between them, Tina had gone so silent that even her thoughts had abandoned her.
The Time Devourer Selene narrowed her yellow, pupilless eyes, looking at the girl in the middle. -Using Petrification en-masse will put much strain on us,- she hissed analytically. -We can lose these forms…-
The short-haired boyish Selene's eyes widened. -Nope!-
The Space Devourer Selene sighed, standing in the middle and looking nothing but regal. -If Master desires so,- she said, mumbling and brooding with her eyes closed, -then I can attempt it.-
Kai almost facepalmed.
It seemed to him that a part of Selene had remained conscious while evolving within the egg. Rintaro and Red Sun had been keeping an eye on her while going back and forth from the White Serpent Tower to the Labs, letting her pick up on strange words.
Meanwhile, all the Contestants had lost their composure, seeing an 8th-floor Contestant dying just like that.
"Ahhhh!" a 2nd-floor Contestant from Order shrieked, her version of haven becoming a prison of death in a moment.
The shriek became a chain, then, with more and more inexperienced Contestants running for their lives. They had joined the Night of Truce believing it was as they had heard of it - A place to take a step back and enjoy…
As the hideousness of their situation slapped them awake, they began bombarding the Mirror Dimension with all kinds of attacks in vain.
Booms and bangs rang out, lighting the unbreakable barrier with multicolored lights.
-I will take care of the weaker ones,- Selene hissed, her long white hair misting behind her.
With her eyes still closed, she popped out of existence and reappeared behind hundreds of 2nd to 6th floor Contestants.
Skill - Blink!
Kai's eyes narrowed suddenly. When the Life Devourer had used the same Skill and killed Choker he could tell her range was almost a third of what Space Devourer showed him now.
Their divided Consciousness affects the usage of the same Skill, Kai concluded, the Ad Infinitum already working upon a solution in his mind.
Near the Mirror Dimension's walls, where the attacks landed and got blasted off, the Contestants noticed Selene appearing behind them.
The weakest became unconscious on the spot under the effect of the massive gap between their and Selene's Stats. Those who were a bit stronger, ran for their lives, their Perception going haywire.
Then there were Contestants from the 5th and 6th Floor who had seen so many deaths by now that they had become numb to the fear of dying itself. They still wanted to live, though. But more than anything else, they wanted to try everything before death came for them.
"Haaaaaaaaa!" a 6th-Floor Contestant let out a shout, formed a fist, and charged toward Selene.
Hummm!
As he ran, a humming noise reverberated from his fist. In the next moment, with a burst of energy, an orange-colored sword popped out from his fist, lighting up everything in the colors of sunset.
Spirit Sword - Yu Yu Hakusho!
With all his might behind it, he sliced.
The sword formed of Spirituality passed right through Selene, silvery-white mist coiling and churning wherever it made contact.
As if striking the bell of doom, she opened her eyes and stared at the man with her blind, stony gaze.
Thud!
A dull-gray colored statue fell with an utterly lost look on its face. Selene stepped over it, the mist rippling off her girly form setting down.
The tragedy of the Night of Truce… had just begun.
*******************
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