Chapter 20 - More Transformations

[Vali. Vali. Vali!]

Koko looked at her opponent suddenly starting to scream and scratch at his helmet in confusion as she tilted her head, why is he screaming, and if it's so itchy under the helmet isn't it better to take it off before trying to scratch it? Feeling like he wasn't going to stop anytime soon Koko looked around the clearing and eventually found his friends who were rolling around on the ground while laughing for some reason.

Walking over to them Koko scratched the side of her head with her Punching Rig as she asked.

"Um, aren't you going to help your friend scratch his itch? I think he's close to going crazy over there and he's not taking off his helmet so he can reach it." Koko pointed at her opponent doing... whatever he was doing in the distance.

Kuroka and Bikou who were laughing their asses off heard the lady approaching and discreetly tensed their bodies before they heard her question and froze for a second.

"..."

"Pfft-"

"Pahahahaha!" They both doubled over before laughing even harder.

About a minute later Kuroka slowly walked over to Koko while her body was still shaking in laughter and put a hand on her shoulder as she tried to speak through it.

"If... If you're trying to kill us by making us laugh too hard, you're on the right track, nya." As Kuroka doubled over in laughter again, a small part of her mind was inspecting their mysterious guest. The past few years after she escaped from the underworld Kuroka had seen alot of people, whether good or bad, and had very quickly learned to tell them apart.

This combined with her senjutsu made her a very good judge of character and after probing Koko for a bit she found out that Koko in general basically operated on her desires, desires that could either be just random ideas she liked or something she needed at that point in time. Basically Koko only did things she wanted to do no matter how flippant and she had a feeling it would be next to impossible to make her do something she didn't want to.

This made interacting with Koko simultaneously very simple and extremely difficult. Essentially? As long as you didn't annoy her she'd ignore you until you two interacted but if you did annoy her, she'd stubbornly hold onto her dislike for you until she decided she didn't dislike you anymore whether that was tomorrow or years later being entirely up to Koko's whims. It was like interacting with an extremely powerful child that you couldn't scold because she'd just punch you.

More importantly however, Koko wasn't actively good nor malicious she just did what she did because she felt like it and currently, she held no real hostility towards any of them which is why Kuroka was fine with approaching her.

Sending Bikou a glance over her shoulder she saw him nod slightly as his tensed body relaxed as he picked up his staff before he stood up and walked over to them, small chuckles still escaping him.

The three of them looked at Vali rampaging around the clearing as Albion was trying to get him to calm down for a few minutes before he started slowing down.

Panting, Vali's body was slumped as his eyes frantically looked around before locking onto Koko's figure while his body was shaking from rage.

"Do you think you can mock me? The Strongest White Dragon Emperor to ever exist!? Fine, let's see how you'll deal with this then." Vali gritted out hoarsely.

[Are you really sure Vali? You can't use it for long without losing your reason, even when you fuel it with your demonic power instead of your lifespan] Albion asked for confirmation.

"Ouh, let's do it. Albion!" Vali's aura suddenly exploded in strength, sending out a shockwave that shook the surroundings as he started chanting under his breath, his aura growing in strength with every word.

"I who am about to awaken-"

In the distance standing besides Koko, Kuroka and Bikou's eyes widened before they started shouting frantically.

"Stop it Vali, you're not used to that state yet, nya!"

"Vali, what the hell are you doing!? You'll wreck the whole area!"

Vali ignored them as he continued chanting, his aura now getting oppressive in it's weight as it pressed into the surroundings as the wind picked up forming a small tornado around him. Seeing this Kuroka and Bikou quickly exchanged glances before Bikou booked it in the other direction. Kuroka hesitated slightly before turning to Koko who was looking at Vali curiously.

"You should leave, you won't be able to handle him when he finishes, nya." Kuroka urged seriously before she also took off after Bikou.

"Hmm, why? I just found one of my goals for this trip." Koko muttered to herself with a slight smile as she looked towards Vali's still growing aura, approaching something beyond the Ultimate-class. Equipping her mask, Koko eagerly waited for him to finish his transformation as she started limbering up.

"-nd I shall take you to the limits of white paradise! Juggernaut Drive!" Vali finished with a shout as his body was covered in a blue light shielding it from view before his silhouette started growing and growing as his power went off the charts. When the light disappeared what stood in Vali's previous spot was a huge armored being wearing the scale mail but with more draconic features.

"So this is what a being above the Ultimate-class feels like, huh?" Koko's eyes were wide open in excitement as she looked at the armored giant. The being reared back before letting out a massive roar shaking the surroundings before it slumped slightly as it's helmet turned in Koko's direction.

Koko slammed her gauntlets together as she readied herself before Vali's huge figure flickered out of view, instantly appearing in front of her with his arm reared back. Quickly crossing her arms in front of her using her control of her Punching Rig she was soon sent flying with a loud metallic clang. Vali quickly shot off after her before going past her while she was still in the air and reared back again before he punched out accompanied by a beastly roar.

Koko was once again sent flying back towards their original positions. Not letting up, Vali appeared a few meters in front of her before clasping his hands together and slamming them upwards sending Koko's body shooting up into the sky. On the ground Vali lowered his stance slightly before the mouth of his helmet opened and a blue orb of energy appeared slightly in front of it.

The orb of energy gradually grew before getting compressed, before the process repeated itself a few times. Just as it looked like it might destabilize the jaw of Vali's helmet opened even wider before locking onto Koko and firing a huge beam of blue energy tens of meters in diameter towards her.

The beam engulfed Koko's figure before continuing on into the sky piercing a massive hole through the clouds before tapering off. The jaw of Vali's helmet shut with a clack as he looked at Koko's body falling through the sky before eventually crashing down into the ground with a loud noise destroying the ground in a circle around the point of impact sending dust and debris flying into the air.

Vali bent his knees before jumping, shooting through the air and landing a few dozen meters away from where Koko's body crashed. The air stilled as the glowing eyes of Vali's helmet looked into the cloud of dust. A few seconds later Koko's voice rang out from inside it.

"That kinda hurt, you know? However this is good, really good! You're strong! Really strong!" Koko rambled excitedly before suddenly stopping, as if thinking about something for a minute.

"I'll enter my final form in a bit too, just give me a minute. I have to think about what my activation phrase is going to be." Vali's huge figure suddenly started shaking in anger as his fists clenched and a low growl emerged from his helmet. Koko's voice rang out a few moments later.

"Kay, I think I got it! Maybe. I Koko am about to awaken from uh... a nap, maybe? Supremacy of punching and machines, something something. I don't know if I envy anyone and I pursue chocolate milk. I will become awakened Koko and I don't know where to take you."

"..."

"Good enough."

"Kokonaut: Overdrive!" The cloud of dust obscuring Koko's figure was suddenly blown away as a shockwave emerged form her body, her power soared as an electric purple aura flared to life around her body and Punching Rig. A sort of heavy sense of oppression appeared radiating from Koko's body, cracking the ground around her and quickly spreading outwards. As it passed over Vali he felt his knees buckle before he quickly straightened out again with a growl, his glowing eyes locked onto Koko's figure.

Koko looked down at her body that had already regenerated and made a mental note to feed Beo a bit extra when she got back as she stretched, waving her arms around for a bit and shaking out her legs before cracking her neck as she lowered her stance and turned towards Vali making a come hither gesture with her hand.

"Come on, we're just getting started!"