327 Interlude - Monster Clone
Finally, the mapping of all the entire world and it's associated dimensional pockets was complete.
Months of backbreaking work, sleepless nights of poring over looong coordinate logs of the world, checking out the associated ontological properties, setting parameters and so much manual surveying that I put all old timey prospectors combined to shame. And with the magic density in the dungeons messing with my sensors, the monster that kept knocking out my drones, swarming it like kids to an ice cream truck, or indians to an average girls profile, I was just about done with this stupid fantasy world and it's bullshit.
Now, it was time for the climax. With all the dungeons mapped, I'm going to just enjoy speedrunning this map.
Which reminds me... The POV should shift to me soon. About now actually.
"If the subheader for my part of this shitty fanfiction says something stupid like Monster Clone POV, I swear I will turn you inside out like a fucking mobius strip and strangle you to death with your own foreskin you fat, two-bit, toesucking, neckbeard." I shook my fist at the sky for dramatic effect.
Wait.
No I didn't. Stop making me- Don't you dare change the scene-
The computer pinged just then, informing me the preparations were finished.
Because of course it did. It chose that very moment to do that. Very convincing, but I won't be led by the nose, author. I'm onto you-
"Who are you talking to?" Shia asked, looking up at me with curious eyes, her bunny ears twitching cutely.
Hnngh!
Why are you so adorable!?
I reached out and patted her head.
Fine.
I'll accept this distraction. For now.
"No one." I smiled, watching her ears flop about under my aggressive headpats.
Ah~ This is healing me spiritually.
Shia Haulia. She was a rabbitman and one of Hajime's wives in the novel. An atavist like Yue, she had the power of foresight and superstrength, both powers that were unnecessary and redundant, given that I had them too.
After I saved her and her tribe from slavers, she found out that I had the same abilities as her and just clung onto me like a leech, and I mean that literally. I still have the bite mark scars from having to pry her off my leg.
Overly bubbly and frankly, annoying, she was more of a hinderance than a help.
Her only redeeming quality was her adorable rabbit ears and frankly ginormous boobs. Seriously, they were even bigger than Offee's.
"Umu!" She pouted, shaking my hand off, "You're too forceful! Don't you know you should treat frail and cute little girls like me gently?" She huffed cutely, hands on her hips.
"Cute maybe. Frail?" I scoffed, squishing her cheeks, "I saw you uproot a tree and throw it for distance with your bare hands, you little monster. I could chuck you to the moon and you'd be fine."
"My feelings won't be fine~ Treat me better!" She demanded.
"Sure, sure. Here, have a candy." I threw her an gummy bear.
"Candy!" She jumped and caught it, popping it right in as she moaned happily with a shriveling face.
"Sho shour~"
I smiled.
"Now why are you here?"
"You know why! The elders are waiting for you in the meeting room. The army is at the gates. Everyone is worried. They are just too afraid to call you out, so I came over."
"Tell them to wait a bit longer. I'll be back in an hour." I pulled out a pair of goggles and put them on as I reached for the portal gun.
The past few months had been very productive for me. With my weapons and the Haulia's manpower, we had taken over the Haltina Sea Of Trees and it's singular nation of beast people, Verbergen. Using the Sea Of Trees naturally defensive capabilities, like it's monster infested, fog covered and nigh unnavigable trails to overhaul the entirety of it's society and create a whole new industrialized, first world power in this world.
Of course, the so called 'god' of this world, Ehitorujue hadn't missed this either. He went into full defense mode the moment he realized I had come from another world, a multiversal traveler like him, nay, far above him.
And now...
I looked at the surveillance feed at the mouth of the forest. It showed a massive united force of humans, demons and the special angelic humanoid creatures created by Ehit, Noints. I even spotted the traitorous Bearman tribe walking out of the 'hole' in the forcefield I had left for them to find, trying to lead the enemies into my utopian paradise.
After being overthrown from their position of power in the country by the Haulia they viewed as the weakest and beneath them, and then getting their ass handed to them by me, they pretended to settle down, attempting guerrilla tactics to sabotage my works.
Not that they would work without me letting them. I had a plan. A plan to sweep up all the problems in one fell swoop before I went for Ehit and took over this world.
So I let them have a few inconsequential wins, blow up some dummy plants using info one of my mind controlled bearmen gave them.
All to rile them up, get their confidence high enough to bring the rest of the world together. To bait Ehit into investing his forces into this one fight.
I even let his Noints destroy a handful of my drones, showcased their power to the other kingdoms, and made them feel threatened by my rising power.
All for this moment.
I grinned evilly
Heh. Idiots.
The moment the last Bearman crossed the threshold of the forcefield, I repealed their bypass authority.
Let's see how their 'allies' like them when they turn out to be useless.
Honestly, the humans and demons weren't even a concern. It was the utterly overpowered force of thousands of Noints, flying in the air with their angelic wings, scattering light like glitter at the periphery of my forcefield that were the real problem.
Matter disintegration, rapid regeneration, all element magic, and literally unlimited mana. They were like a high-spec version of Yue. Just far less human with a beauty so perfect it gave me the uncanny valley creeps. They looked like the worst crime in anime, bad CGI. Of course, with my forcefield on, even they won't be doing much till I returned. But if I hadn't lured them here, they'd have been a pain in the ass to deal with.
It was all coming together now. I resisted the urge to cackle like a supervillain as I projected the path I was about to take.
Now that the army of Noints was here, Ehit's pocket realm was left unguarded. Ripe for the taking. Saves me the effort of fighting through an army of immortal battle maids.
Sure, I could just kill him easily with a dimension shot from my railgun but I'd prefer to eat him whole, piece by piece savoring the taste of his power. Thousands upon thousand of years of mana, condensed into the equivalent of a nascent soul from a cultivation novel. Almost a god seed.
"Wait! I wanna come along!" Shia jumped onto me and grabbed my hand.
"No." I chopped her head.
She was too inexperienced. She'd just get herself killed.
"But we're partners! Lovers destined to be toge-hbu!" I chopped her head again.
"No we're not."
"Please? You're the only other person like me I know. Everyone else either hates me or fears me for my ability to control magic directly. I thought I would die alone and loveless~ You're the only one I can be myself around."
"Your family will be very disappointed to hear that." I poked her cheeks, "Isn't that right Cam?"
She froze at that for a moment, following my gaze to the window.
"You have my full permission and blessing commander!"
Cam Haulia, her father peeked in through the window and gave me a thumbs up.
"Hey, hey, hey now! Isn't this where you're supposed to act like protective or something." I asked with incredulity.
"Well, it's commander so there's bo point." He shrugged, "Besides, Shia won't find a better husband than you, sir! As her father I'll be proud if she can worm her way into your heart!" He clenched his fist with tears of joy flowing down his face.
I sighed.
Like father like daughter. These people I swear.....
"Ahah! Now what will you do?!" Shia cackled, "You need to take responsibility for that night~"
"What night?" I asked in confusion.
"After you saved us from the slavers and held me tight~" She blushed and cooed.
"Grabbed you like a sack of potatoes more like." I interjected, inputting the coordinates into the computer.
"I just fell for yo- no, not like a sack of- ugh. Hmph! You just don't know a girl's heart."
"I beg to disagree-"
"Then beg." Shia smirked at her comeback, holding back her laughter with a quivering lip and that smug grin just pissed me off.
"I have three wives. So yes, yes I do." I opened up a portal below her teleporting her out. Or so I would have liked. But she jumped back, avoiding the portal on instinct now.
"Hah! I won't fall for the same trick for the 69th time!" She gloated only to fall right through another portal behind her. I chuckled, hearing her annoyed groan as she fell ass-first onto the grass outside before closing the portal behind her.
And no, you pervs. I'm not making a sixteen year old my wife. Yet. No matter how hot she is. Maybe later when she's older and less annoying. And I'm certainly not adopting her when she has living family.
I shook my head.
Focus.
Speedrun. Godslaying. Collecting ancient magic.
Let's go.
A portal opened up beneath me, and I jumped in.
.
The center of the Reisen labyrinth was an unassuming room of white-pink marble with a various little cubby holes hidden in the walls in an arbitrary manner. In the corner sat a small pile of items covered in cloth, but no sooner had I entered the room did the cloth fly off as sonething zipped out of the pile at me.
"Mwahahahhahahaha! Welcome to the final level of my dungeon! I, Miledi Reisen, will now grant you-Wait a minute! You didn't clear the labyrinth!" A chibi golem in enchanted armor flew up to my face, wagging an accusatory finger at me.
Miledi Reisen, leader of the ancient Liberators and the progidious atavist magician with the power of gravity at ger beck and call. Of course, that was before, 2000 years ago. Now, sge was just a fragment of a soul trapped in an enchanted golem, doomed to a lonely existence for the rest of eternity.
Pitiful, really.
Hehehehe, maybe I'll 'liberate' her on the way out too.
"Yeah. I teleported in." I said walking over to the ancient magic circle at the centre of the room, putting my new goggles to work. They were tailor made with Creation Magic to copy other ancient magics with a scan of their magic circles. I had prepared well for this day.
"Using Naiz's Space Magic? No, you...you didn't use magic! How?!"
I grinned as my goggles pinged me with a notification.
Gravity Magic copied successfully.
Data and knowledge poured into me as I gained an instinctual understanding of the ancient magic.
"Hey! You! Answer me. How did you get here without challenging the trials?"
"Oh it's quite simple." I tunred to her, and snapped my fingers.
"Science, bitch!" A miniature blackhole opened up behind her, crushing her golem form and dissipating her soul before disappearing itself.
Now then, onward to-
"Phew! I almost died for real there!" Another smaller golem walked out from a cubby hole in the wall.
"Really?" I rolled my eyes.
"Really." The golem gave me a smug smile as it stood defiantly, all eight inches tall.
"Really?"
"Really." Miledi sounded more cheerful than before.
"Well then." I raised my hand for another blow when she chimed in.
"Waitwaitwaitwait-"
"What?"
"Can I change your mind? This is the last golem-"
"Nope." I crushed it again when...
Goddammit. How many golems does she have in there?
"You thought I was dead, but it was me, Miledi!" Another golem popped out of the cubby hole and made a jojo pose.
I raised an eyebrow.
"How do you know that material?"
She shouldn't know about the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure series....right?
"What material?" She whistled, avoiding eye contact.
Oh she knows. She definitely knows.
"I'll be back for you, lady." I poked her forehead, eyeing her with suspiscion,
"So don't you go anywhere."
"Oh, no worries, I'm quite the homebody. And also I can't leave the labyrinth so..." Miledi shrugged.
"I know." I smirked and jumped into a portal.
"Wait no answer-" She asked but the portal closed in her face.
"Asshole!"
.
I appeared on a podium in the middle of a massive underground lava lake below the Naiz Guryuen Volcano. The center of the Guryuen labyrinth, home of the Space Magic. Before me stood a small cubical cabin made of a pitch black stone that seemed cool to the touch. No, it was cool. The whole thing was subtly displaced in space to connect to...the north pole?
The coldness of the north pole nuetralized the heat of the volcano, keeping the stone at a nice cool temperature. Neat application of space magic. I can see so many other applications of this magic too!
Multiversal Travel for one. Hajime made a key that allowed him to travel across worlds with this, becoming the strongest existence in multiple worlds.
But in my hands this could do so much more! Especially once I get all the ancient magics. To that end....
I took a step forward towards the cabin when suddenly the lava around the podium seethed and roiled, lava lake swirling with tall waves that splashed against the high podium.
The cave shook and rumbled, little rocks putter pattering onto the floor and into the lava. And finally, eight portrusions appeared on the lava surface bursting out with the force of a geyser around me.
The spouts of lava rose high around the podium like the bars of a cage, slowly taking a draconic form.
I remember these. They are the final biss of the labyrinth. Little balls of metal, cores that can control lava freely. They were hidden inside the lava dragons and unless they were destroyed, the lava dragons wouldn't die. Or well....
With a thought, portals opened up above them, connected to the ocean. Water poured out from them, dousing the lava spouts with a mighty hiss, steaming up the cave as they dragon solidified, cracked under their own weight and fell to the now solid lava floor, shattering.
Just to be sure though, I jumped down with air step and sliced them all up with my air claws.
With the final boss dealt with, the door to the cabin opened, whirring gently and I entered the cabin.
It was small, cramped even. A small table sat in the center and upon it a simple pendant. It was the pendant used to enter the next dungeon, The Sunken Ruins of Melusine. But I ignored it. It wasn't useful to me. I had already mapped it out with the nanobots so I could just portal in.
No point carrying junk around. I just need to get the good stuff.
I scanned the room, copying the magic circle within as my goggles pinged.
Space magic get!
Now to stop anyone else from getting it, because I'm a selfish prick, I pulled out a D-bomb from my coat and tossed it to the floor as I portaled out
.
The acquisition of Restoration Magic or as I like to call it, Time Magic was far easier. The sunken ruins of Melusine that contained the Melusine labyrinth . Usually to enter it one would have to have to wait for a full moon and shine the light through a pendant found in the Space Magic cabin I just destroyed. That'd make the ruins rise up from the sea like some sort of reverse Atlantis. But with my nanobots and portal gun, this was not even an issue for me. Makes me wonder why Rick didn't do this all the time. Why risk his and Morty's life when he can do this and much more, from the safety of his house, sitting on a margarita? Well, he was suicidal so maybe that's why I guess?
Doesn't matter to me now.
Teleporting in, I found myself in a chamber made of hard coral and a glowing stone of green and blue, mossy and caked with soil. It smelt of fish and earth, like it had rained tadpoles here or something. I glanced outside the room from the small cracks and holes in the coral and spotted flesh. Flesh everywhere. The floor, the walls, the ceiling.
It was the final boss of the dungeon, an immortal jellyfish-octopus monster. It was a pain in the ass to deal with, being immortal and all, regenerating faster than it could be killed, especially underwater. Thankfully, it lay asleep, only to be awoken when someone entered the dungeon the proper way, using Naiz's necklace on a full moon night on the sea.
It's why I didn't bother to take the necklace back in the volcano. Why fight a troublesome boss battle when you can just sneak past it and get the goodies.
Another scan, and another Ancient Magic under my belt.
I jumped into a portal, hopping to the next destination.
.
The Schnee Snowfields were even easier than the last. Their main mechanism was of testing the challengers was cold weather, ice element monsters and mind games. It took barely took any effort to get the Metamorphosis Magic, the ancient magic that created the monsters that now roamed the world and populated the dungeons. It was basically the power of complete biokinesis. Like Panacea on steroids. It was the organic version of Creation Magic which gave me the power of transmutation of inorganic matter.
.
The Church of Ehit, Kingdom of Highleigh.
"Hello there!" I wave at the head priest manning the altar.
"Have you come to pray for our victory against the forces of the heretical beastmen too, child?" The man asked, turning to me as he offered me a glass of water.
"No, Lord Ishtar, step away from him-" The guards got on guard, drawing their swords.
I snorted as canisters of sleeping gas rolled out from my sleeves onto the floor, putting everyone in the room to sleep
"Oh no, no. I'm here for the Ancient Magic hidden below the cathedral." I grabbed the man by the neck, "And for that, I'll need one you guys."
"Y-you! You are the heret-" He raised his staff, attempting to cast a fireball when-
Crack!
With a wet squelch the priests neck caved in, his eyes bugged and then popped out like a jack-in-the-box, blood dying my sleeves.
The body fell limp in my hand as I swung out with my hands, decimating the now dizzy and half asleep guards, soaking the church floor with blood.
This was a condition that was necessary to pass the final challenge of the Divine Mountain dungeon that was hidden below the church alongside disavowing the god of Tortus, Ehit and having conquered at least two other dungeons.
"There we go." I let the blood pour onto the altar, and opened a portal to the dungeon floor below, directly into the final chamber, now having fulfilled all the conditions of the easiest labyrinth and copied the magic corcle on the floor.
Spirit Magic get!
This is starting to feel like a pokemon hunt. I chuckled.
Now to the final labyrinth, for the most important magic.
I opened a portal back to the Sea Of Trees. To the ventre of my seat of power in this world.
The Great Tree, entrance to the Haltina Great Labyrinth.
.
"You didn't clear the labyrinth." The magical hologram of Haltina glared at me coldly as I entered the antechamber.
"Well I don't really have 'bonds forged through fire' with any comrades around here and if I brought my wife along I'm afraid she'd get trapped in one of your many traps. If not for the lust causing pheromones then for the illusions of a perfect life. She's a bit...insecure in that regard. And I'm not ready to lose her to a stupid dungeon just because she has abandonment issues." I shrugged.
The Haltina Great Labyrinth had many trials to pass to get access to the final and greatest of the Ancient Magics, Evolution Magic. The power to evolve, improve and boost any other magic. Even create entirely new magics like the Concept Magic Hajime created to kill Ehit in the finale of Arifureta.
Unfortunately, the trials, like the aforementioned super-horny pheromones, the crystal coffins that trap you in an illusion of your ideal life, and of course, the swarm of cockroaches at the end.
I shivered.
Not a fan of cockroaches.
"If your bonds aren't strong enough, how will you prevail in the battle against Ehit? He will shatter your forces. You won't survive."
I chuckled.
"That's the thing, my fair ghost lady, she won't be fighting. I alone will face him. My wife is safe in another world.
Ehit will never reach her. Now move, I want that ancient magic." I snapped my fingers, dissipating the ghostly projection.
"""NO.""" A cacophony of voices echoed through the walls as cockroaches crawled out from every corner, crack and crevice.
I groaned.
"I specifically teleported in because I wanted to avoid this." I watched the cockroaches coalesce into a giant cockroach monster straight out of Terraformars.
"You know what? No. Fuck it. Fuck you. Die."
Yup. I'm killing it with fire.
Two ionic flamethrowers popped out from my coat letting out a stream of ultra hot, 15000 degree Celsius flame onto the monstrous swarm creature turning it to ash before sanitize the room with fire, just to be sure, melting it into red hot lava as I stood on footholds of air using my Air Step.
Then, with a freeze ray I brought the temperature back to normal before jumping back onto the floor.
I walked to the end of the room where my nanobots had felt a spatial barrier in the final room and analyzed it.
As fitting of the dungeon containing the strongest magic, it was also equipped with the best security. No wonder my nanobots could find the last room. It was hidden in a another subspace in the dungeon.
And since this whole dungeon was hosted in a pocket dimension, I can't just whip out my reality anchor to break it without collapsing the whole thing on my head, trapping me in an endless cycle of death in a fractured spatial anomaly.
Talk about fates worse than death!
Thankfully, I had a better idea.
Taking control of the subspace of the pocket dimension, I coated my leg with space magic and slammed it into the hidden door in the wall, layer of spatial fabric tearing and bending around it until finally, it cracked, shattering like glass into a thousand pieces, revealing the room with the magic circle inside it. But as a side effect I could feel the whole dungeon falling apart. My quick thinking had held it together for now, but not forever.
Fuck!
I strained as the magic drained from me, it was taking all my effort just to stabilize this dungeon.
Let's make this fast.
Quickly analyzing the circle within, I copied the final Ancient Magic and portaled out as the pocket dimension collapse around me, returning to the lab in Verbergen once again.
Fuck! That was close!
In the distance I felt the pocket dimension collapse, sending a ripple across the space of the forest.
I looked out the window and saw the Great Tree collapse in on itself, disappearing into point mass as my forcefield snapped to attention, stabilizing the space within it, preventing the pocket dimension's collapse from triggering a special black hole and consuming the whole world.
I heaved a sigh if relief and turned back to the computer, getting back to work.
Using a specialized program, I converted the ancient magics into a memetic agent and sent it over to my extradimensional lab and finally collapsed back into my chair, loosening up.
What time us it again?
I checked the computer.
Hm? Took me 4 minutes and twenty seconds to get through all six of the labyrinths.
Nice! That's gotta be a world record, right?
Then again, I did cheat with months of playing civilization and prepping well. So maybe not?
You know what, I'm taking it. It's a world record, if only because no one else would be crazy enough to even think of attempting this.
I let out a soft chuckle.
I deserve a reward. A delicious little snack. And I know just where to find it.
I locked onto Ehit's realm and opened a portal, activating my derivative skills, Limit Break V and Absolute God Speed as I grabbed a reality anchor and disappeared into it.
Time to free this world from it's gods.
Gorr would be proud.
____________________
Extra chapter for 200 powerstones and the regular chaoter for yesterdays rolled into one!
4200 words.
Biggest chapter I have posted in a while.
You guys better appreciate it.
Or don't. I can't make you do shit.
Tell me what you think about this chapter?
Was it too rushed?
Do you want more character development for Shia and the rabbitpeoples?
Want me to rewrite it or split it into longer parts? Add more details about the dungeons? More details on Ancient Magics?
Tell me what you want in the comments.
Thanks for reading.
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Let's at least get to top twenty?
