Chapter 36

- GRAH! - The orr of three heads was my answer. 

Cold rage fills my entire being, flowing into my fists, infusing them with strength and otherworldly power.

The Asura class is a special way of life. And before, with my many powers and abilities, I didn't use half of its properties. Except for the titan's strike, which I had built into my martial arts system. In a hundred years of fighting, I had never found the answer to how to develop the class, how to learn how to use rage to its fullest extent. Without realizing it, I had become dependent on the system, on that part of my soul called gamer protocol. 

The situation with Lord Sound was the same, if not worse. I could see it clearly now. It was now, facing a strong enemy and stripped of everything but my fists and rage, that I had become a true Asura-one who could defy even gods and demons. 

The fat hand of the three-headed Alpha breaks the stone floor where I was a short time ago. 

Several small puncture wounds appear on the monster's body, from which blue blood began to flow. Biokhi immediately springs into action. She is covered by Botsoom's shield, ready to stand to death but cover the synthetic. 

My fist hits the solar plexus. My sensitive nose smells the scent of burning skin-it's Qui-Gon using his lightning bolt to fry the monster's back.  A swift shadow flickers in the creature's legs, trying to slash the joints and rob the Alpha of mobility. Peru-Peru's faint healing mist gives him confidence, for if wounded, it will immediately restore life. 

I jump away from the monster and run around it in an arc, maneuvering and dodging the boss's unexpectedly fast blows. The rooster's eye bursts. 

"Well done, Biokhi."

-Cururu!!! - The rooster crowed. 

Alpha activates the [Call of Alpha] ability!

Throughout the hall, portals open up and ugly monsters jump out of them. Only if you have a good imagination can you realize that a meter-long lizard with a blade beak, small wings and a tuft on its head is a chicken. 

A 215 level Death Chick.

The Jerk; The Ram; The Pain of the Nesushka

The five monsters appeared in completely different places in the hall and immediately tore into Biokhi and Peru-Peru. 

Anger grows inside of me. 

- You take care of the little ones, I'll distract the main man. - I growl, not recognizing my voice. 

I don't care that we never did enough damage to take off a single drop of health. 

An orange light flashes at the edge of vision. The monsters' shadows thicken a little, and there's a screech. It looks like Diana has already killed the first one. 

This displeased the Alpha very much. He brushed me off, knocked me away with an airwave, and began to swivel his heads around, looking for the killer of his harem. 

- Don't get distracted! - Taking advantage of the freak's hiccup, I leap to his cock head and deliver a rage-charged blow to his neck. Now he's been penetrated. The green streak of life above the rooster's head came into motion. The ones above the wolf and deer's heads turned gray. The heads themselves closed their eyes, and the monster's name changed. 

Alpha Rooster 250 level. 

Elite Boss

  Challenge to Fight; Duelist's Multiple Jabs; Feint of the Male; Noble Death; 

Some sort of transformation began with the boss. I jumped away, running to the orange shield that three monsters were already hitting. Two of the laying hens were lying around with their heads cut off. 

The shadow of one monster lengthened and a swift figure jumped out of it, stripping the monster of its head in one motion, then Diana, dived into the shadow of another monster. 

One of the chickens was distracted from its attempts to break through the shield and rushed toward me. I took a step to the side and, timing it just right, hit the monster in the back of the head, fracturing its skull, then added a powerful kick, crushing its head.

Meanwhile, something was happening to Alpha. His rooster's head was screaming like a madman, dangling like a seizure. With a flapping sound, it came off with a decent chunk of flesh and flopped to the ground. 

- Diane, we don't have to. We watch and we don't do anything yet. It's dangerous. It's too easy if you can hit him at times like this. - Explained my view of the situation. 

*Yasuna is right. If they attack the dividing Alpha, it will trigger the algorithm to use the [Ritual Dance of Fury] ability. That's a guaranteed death.

The two pieces of flesh bubbled into a multitude of bubbles to form into monsters. Alpha Cock became a skinny humanoid, about three meters tall, with a feathery body and three-toed hands and feet that reached the floor. The head was still a cock's head, but it had shrunk in size and had acquired a sort of gentleness, with a look of haughtiness and superiority in its gaze. The monster straightened up, proudly puffing out its chest. The second monster had lost weight. Muscles protruding from the fat were visible. Two heads, one on the right and one on the left, gazed around the space with a cloudy gaze, not noticing their smaller counterpart.  The heads focused their gaze on the yellow defense, and one of the monster's paws rose.

Alpha activates the Air Ram ability. 

Botsom clenched his jaws. Now he would take this blow and endure it. He would not fail his suzerain again, would not retreat. 

- I'll distract the big one, you guys take care of the rooster.  As soon as he hits the air, let's go. Biohee and Gon, don't get distracted by the big one, focus on the rooster. Maybe that's the way to kill it, one by one, by taking off the heads. Diane, take guard, and as soon as the rooster falls, hit the moose's head right in the neck. 

Two-Headed waved his hand, and a column of compressed air hit the barrier but didn't break it. I was ready to begin, but reality made its own adjustments. 

- Kokoko. Kuruko," he clucked proudly, pointing at me as he ran toward the two-headed man. 

Alpha Rooster challenges you to a duel!

An unknown force grabs me and moves me right up to the rooster. The beast raises his beak proudly, his crest falling over his left eye. 

- Ko! Ko-ko-ko-ko-ko! 

A red barrier surrounds me and the enemy. 

Rumble. Alpha jumped and nearly crushed the group. I try to send an order through the comms, but the strange barrier is shielding and creating some interference. 

- Cuckoo. Koh! 

- You mean I'm not coming out until I kill you? 

In response, a strange needle that appeared in the monster's long paw struck me in the chest. A quarter of my life is gone. 

The pain ignites the rage. I ducked, avoiding the lunge, and sprinted toward the rooster, crouching on the ground. I started hitting the monster relentlessly, and it dodged, trying to break the distance. God forbid at least half of my blows hit the dodgy rooster. Flexible as mercury, the monster brought its needle-armed paw backward. The needle itself glowed, and the breath of death washed over me. 

On the left is Death. 

On the right is Death. 

Above is Death.

From below, Death.

In front is Death.

Alpha Rooster activates the ability [Duelist's Multiple Jabs]

I rush forward without thinking. Pain pierces my arm. My leg goes numb. My body is shot through and through in several places. I don't know how many lives I have left, and I don't care right now. At full speed, I smash my fist into the rooster's face. My body hurts. My eyes blur, but I take a step to the side and, putting all my hatred into my fist, punch the monster in the eye with my left. Its head jerks back. Saliva and blood spurt out of its beak. Step back. I withdraw my right hand. Exhale. Strike! 

The proud rooster slams into the barrier. The beast's chest is ripped open, but he's not dead. I see respect and pride in his eyes. 

Alpha Rooster activates the [Noble Death] ability

The streak of life above the monster fades. I look around warily, and I don't understand a thing. The barrier disappears, and that's it, nothing else happened! 

As soon as I thought that, a red glow surrounded me. As I was about to die, I noticed my health starting to replenish. A truly noble monster. 

I approach the Rooster.  Next to him lies his strange needle. I look at it. 

Impala

Artifact Type: Living Weapon [Symbiote]

The power of the artifact depends on the percentage of unity with the host. Improvement is possible. 

Type of damage - Stabbing

Damage: 1-4 X Power invested in the blow

Spell: Ignore 75% Defense; [Spirit Shot].

Artifact History:

This living weapon was presented by Alpha Rooster to his opponent in recognition of his victory. What will he do with it? Destroy it? Give it as a gift? Reshape it? Unknown.

"I'll figure out how to deal with you after the win. It's too bad I won't be able to use it myself because of the penalties." - From the needle comes an emotion of sadness and hope. 

I shake my head, pushing the obsession away. The barrier is still holding, and I can't see how the others are doing. But so far, everyone's alive.

***

Biokhi released arrow after arrow, not paying attention to anything else. Her task is simple - to kill as many of these acid wolves as possible. Nearby, the teacher, like a seasoned Sith, is destroying dangerous enemies with bright blue lightning. Not far away is a barrier, behind which the creator is one-on-one with the monster. But that shouldn't worry her. She has a goal. And she will fulfill it.

As soon as Master moved halfway to the healthy monster, events galloped. Master grabbed her baby body in an armful and leaped aside. Peru-Peru, covered in pink liquid, flowed to the side. Botsom alone didn't budge and took the full force of the two-headed monster's leap. His shield burst under the impact of the giant carcass, and the knight was dragged a couple of meters across the ground, but he did not fall. With his shield and sword raised, Botsom stepped towards the giant. Peru-Peru, using her pheromones, restored his life that had gone into the red zone. 

Biokhi then even briefly groaned at the awesomeness of his swaggering partner. He never took another step back, steadfastly taking the monster's fierce blows on the newly lit oval barrier overlaid on his shield. Peru-Peru barely had time to heal the defender, but it was clear he wouldn't last much longer. With each blow, more and more lives were taken by the monster's paws. And then the wolf's head howled and five wolves composed of acid green liquid appeared in the hall. 

Acid Wolf 215 level.

Corrosive Body; Acid Breath; Death for the Pack.

Biohee and Gon looked at each other. The two of them had been of little use before. Biohee's invisible arrows didn't do any damage to the boss. The force jolts had no effect on the giant carcass, and the lightning force didn't help. 

So when these she-wolves appeared, they began to exert all their strength to destroy them quickly. 

Here was one of the wolves bursting with venomous spray. The other. The remaining three trotted toward the couple that was killing them. These monsters didn't have much life left. Their entire tactic was to quickly close in on the enemy and destroy them as quickly as possible. Biokhi's arrows knew no misses, but still she didn't manage to kill all five of them. The last she-wolf, having traveled the distance separating them, using some sort of move of her own and ignoring the lightning of Gon's power, leaped at Biokhi. The girl saw in her open mouth her death. She didn't have time to launch her last arrow and watched the slow approach of her demise like a mesmerized woman. However, Gon was not an extra in this play. Sighing heavily, he used his strength to reinforce himself and rushed towards the creature. With a two-bladed staff, he brought the wolf's head down and covered Biokhi with his body. 

Bioha's eyes widened at the realization that she had just been saved from imminent death. She caught her breath first, and then noticed her teacher's health begin to sink at a tremendous rate. She managed to pick up his body as he began to slump onto his back. The girl panicked, not knowing what to do. The acid was eating away at the teacher's back. 

- Ara-ra. - Peru-Peru shook her head. - What a noble act. If I didn't have Yasu, I'd probably fall in love with such a handsome man. 

The lusty nun sucked in air with her nose, then exhaled a concentrated cloud of pheromones in Gon's direction. 

- Be careful, I can't be distracted from treating the tin can any longer. - The rabbit nodded toward the knight standing in the pink mist, whose shield the creature was bashing into with bloodthirsty interest. 

Suddenly, the red monster stopped and howled in two voices. The red barrier restraining the master gradually began to lose saturation. 

And just as the barrier broke, the Alpha's shadow shook and Diana jumped out of it, striking a slash at the deer's neck with a precise blow, but the girl couldn't escape the counterattack. The impossibly fast movement of the monster, and the girl was sealed into the floor. Health went into the red zone. One more swing, and Botsom, who was standing as an insurmountable fortress, was swept away into the distant distance. 

-AUUUUUUUU! 

-BROW! 

Two heads howled at the same time. 

***

The first thing I saw as soon as the barrier fell was Diana lying doll-like and Botsom falling down in a pile of metal. The creature howled. My gaze locked onto the girl covered in blood. Violet hair spread to the sides. A puddle of blood spread from beneath her body. I look up at the creature that dared to do such a thing. The freak is writhing, its head sputtering with saliva as if the devil had possessed it. The wolf's head falls off and then flies into the air. It soars. Acrid acid drips from its mouth, its eyes burning with a lettuce light. 

Tensing the muscles in my legs.

Alpha Wolf 250 level.

Elite Boss

Life-destroying Breath; Flight; Acid Pulsar; Cross of Three Acids; Life-ending Bite

The monster's body bulges with the relief of muscle, its skin darkening, becoming completely black and glistening with sweat. A faint vapor begins to waft from the Deerhead. The freak's horns turn white to such a brightness that it's impossible to watch. 

The rage creates a fighting frenzy inside of me. It's not cold anymore, it's literally burning. I clench my fists. Smoke begins to billow from my arms and legs, with flashes of bright red flame.

Yasuna activates the [Wrath of the Titan] ability

The deer spreads his arms out to the sides and laughs. His eyes run down his body. A Wolf's head hovers over his left shoulder.

Alpha Deer 250 level.

Elite Boss.

Iron Stag's hardness; Perfect Clone; Handsome's sweaty series of punches; Slippery Jerk

I can see the pink mist thickening over Diana's body. 

Somewhere in there, Botsom rises with difficulty, picks up his sword and his shield. He doesn't see the floor boss. Before him is a very different monster, the one that dared to challenge his prince - the Imperial Troll*.

There is confusion in the knight's mind, he no longer realizes where he is or what he is. There's an enemy ahead. Somewhere here is the suzerain. And loyalty leads him.

Peru-Peru bit her lip. She was now putting all her strength into her treatment. Her most useless talent had suddenly taken on new colors. The girl had begun to feel her inferiority during all the time she had been living with these menos. In all confrontations, her help was dispensed with. And having a chance to show herself, to prove to herself first of all that she was capable of something, the rabbit put all of herself into one single action - treatment. 

Biokhi stood next to Gon, with her bow at the ready. The synthetic watched the hovering head. Her bow slowly poured with light. The girl didn't notice the arrow, previously invisible, slowly getting lighter. Qui-Gon noticed it, though. The force was prompting, moving him to a certain action, and he trusted it. Concentrating, he channeled a stream of power into the arrow, intensifying the already powerful attack. 

Peru-Peru's treatment had taken effect, and Diana woke up. Her body was a single burning nerve, and she struggled to move into the shadow of the monster's back. There, the Executioner's Daughter*, having impregnated her weapon with the strongest poison available, waited for her chance. 

The deer continued to laugh. 

The wolf continued to hover. 

Botsom continued to waddle toward his opponent, gradually being treated with Peru-Peru pheromones.

Yasuna roared at the enemy. 

Biokhi released the bowstring. 

The impact of the blow to his jaw made the Iron Stag's head sway and his eyes glaze over in a shroud of knockdown for a moment. The fire of rage that blazed from Yasun's hands scorched the giant's iron skin. 

A white, power-packed arrow hits the Wolf. He tries to get away, but the speed of the arrow is too great. Yasuna, using the disoriented Deer as a foothold, leaps toward the agonizing Wolf's Head. An overhead kick seals the dangerous opponent to the floor. 

Alpha Wolf activates the ability [Life-destroying Breath].

A dense green mist, melting everything in its path, surrounds the wounded boss, but collides with a pink mist that heals anything and everything. Peru-Peru, with difficulty, but keeps the dangerous attack within a couple meters of the Alpha Wolf. 

The giant regains consciousness. 

Alpha Deer activates the [Slippery Jerk] ability.

One second. That's how long it took the stag to catch up with the rabbit. 

Alpha Deer activates the ability [Sweaty Handsome Strike Series].

The first blow hits the shield. The girl shrouds herself in liquid pheromones and moves out of range. The second blow penetrates the shield. Followed by a third and a fourth.  The speed of the attack is so fast that only the vague outlines of hands are visible. The thundering sound is ear-splitting. The ground shakes everywhere, the floor cracks.  The hail of attacks is interrupted by Yasuna's kick to the base of the monster's skull. The monster sways forward, a drop of purple poison flying from the monster's shadow into its open eye. 

Meanwhile, the bile-spewing head tries to overcome the pressure of the force that prevents it from rising into the air. The arrows keep stinging Alpha, his eyes already gone, but he hasn't lost his sight. His ears are bloody shards of meat, but he can still hear. 

Suddenly there was a roar of pain. Alpha Stag, who had become completely iron, fell to one knee, then his carcass fell to the cracked floor. 

For the proud wolf, this was the last straw. 

Alpha Wolf activates the [Cross of Three Acids] ability

Alpha Wolf activates the [Life-ending Bite] ability

The head let out a howl of farewell and spread into a boiling lake of acid. Contrary to all laws, the lake did not fill the entire free volume, but rushed to its center, gradually forming a dark green inverted cross with the wolf's head in the center. 

***

Finishing the Stag was no problem. Diana's poison had no problem sharpening the giant. All I had to do was jump around and deliver frequent distracting blows. 

What happened next, I'll probably remember for the rest of my life, because I hadn't felt such a sense of helplessness in a long time. The ten-meter cross that appeared at the place of the last part of the Alpha was something incredible. We were all drawn to it by the power of the enemy's last piece of equipment. In panic, our minds raced. On instinct, I summoned the mask and used the gray attack on the cross... the acid sputtered and reassembled. The attraction intensifies. Qui-Gon embraces Biokhi and using the force tries to stop the attraction, but in vain. All of us, summoning our masks, spitting on everything, try to stop or destroy the technique. In vain, all in vain. 

***

It's happening all over again. His strength was not enough to fulfill his duty. Botsom tosses his shield aside. He takes his sword with both hands and with a fierce scream, in a suicidal attack, throws himself at the dark green cross. The knight's entire body, his armor, and his sword are covered in multiple layers of protection. 

The closer the cross, the greater the force of attraction. 

Botsom's jerk speed increases, he flies into the enemy's technique, and it activates. The cross seals itself, compressing the knight inside it.