Chapter 54_ Cork Island (7)
Lexus and Igris took the vanguard, as a sea of different types of magic shot out from Lich Mumud and Ainz's magic rained down from behind.
'How an insolent human being dares to…!'
Hell Gao's glare was now firmly fixed on Lexus. He quickly decided to kill that human first. The black-armored undead creatures were summoned forth by that human! If that human died, then these things would disappear, too. To kill Lexus, he began chanting a spell.
"…"
The momentum of the flames that engulfed Hell Gao's body grew stronger. Hell Gao's eyes burned red as he glared at Lexus. "I thought all humans of the present day are trash. It is shocking."
Hell Gao who had just gone berserk had regained his composure.
"You wouldn't be inferior even if you were living in the same era as Muller."
How many people in the world have been praised by a great demon? Hell Gao highly praised Lexus, and he even mentioned Muller who sealed him. He felt at ease. Hell Gao rotated the staff he had been holding as an ornament and created dozens of reverse pentagrams around himself.
"However, you are still young. Muller was in his later years when he sealed me."
The 9th great demon, Hell Gao, was a powerful presence in the worldview, but he was surprisingly used to a sense of helplessness. It was because he experienced a sword that couldn't be broken, a sword that couldn't be blocked, a sword that couldn't be avoided.
This was why he quickly regained his cool despite the perfect combination of Lexus and his summons.
For the last hundreds of years, he wandered hell in a spirit form and repeatedly thought about it—how could he combat such irrationality? The answer he found was surprisingly simple. It was to face irrationality with more irrationality. Flames intersected over dozens of inverted pentagrams and then blazed.
"It is still an incomplete magic, but can you afford to handle it when you, too, are incomplete?"
"...!"
Lexus looked at the magic circles that surrounded him and widened his eyes. Hell Gao assumed that the spell had frightened him, causing the demon to grin. However, his grin stopped when he heard Lexus' fearless voice.
"That's so cool. The basic spells in my arsenal are also great, but the visual effect of high-ranked spells is really pleasing to the eye."
The beastly breathing rang in Lexus' ears as he heard a growl filled with hatred and anger.
"Khuk!! Insolence! Looking down on me until the end....Die!"
Then there was a silence as if someone had pressed the mute button. The flames burning in the magic circles suddenly disappeared. In an instant, 33 different kind of flame spells struck Lexus.
"...!!"
The great demon didn't know what Lexus had done, and when their gazes met, he flinched, remembering the nightmare from centuries past.
"You're the master of hellfire, right?"
Lexus nonchalantly spoke while his body was engulfed in flames that moved like living creatures. What made Hell Gao feel uneasy was that, Lexus was not even affected by the hellfire of Hell Gao. This was Hell Gao's magic—fire itself and yet the human who claimed he was a Sword Saint was not affected even the slightest. Not even Muller had this kind of resistance to the flames.
"Then let's test things out who had better dominion over flames."
"Don't look down on me!"
Hearing Lexus' mocking tone, Hell Gao grew furious. He didn't care about the waves of flames that poured out every time the sword was stabbed. The flames were hot, but they were trivial to the Master of Hellfire, whose resistance to fire attributes was over 100%. There was just one problem.
[Fire resistance is reduced by 20%.]
[Fire resistance is reduced by 20%.]
[Fire resistance is reduced by 20...]
The problem was that his fire resistance decreased every time Lexus' sword touched his body.
'This?!'
A chill ran down Hell Gao's spine and he felt an ominous feeling as he saw the flames in the mouth of Lexus. The flames were reminiscent of a scene from mythology. They were different in scale and intensity from the flames that had been seen thus far.
Fire Dragon's Breath.
[You have dealt a massive damage.]
[Hell Gao's defense has completely failed and has received 700,000 damage.]
[The Blight of Misery's option effect has been activated. Fire Dragon Breath's cooldown time has been reset. If reused within three seconds, no resources will be consumed.]
The power of the Breath reproduced by a human was weak compared to a real Dragon's Breath but...
'A breath of a fire dragon?!'
Heaven Gao was beyond astonished! The absolute power that gave all beings in the world a sense of helplessness.
D*mmit, d*mmit, d*mmit.
Hell Gao was beyond frustrated. Although he controlled the flames and was superior against everyone else, he was still inferior when faced against a fire dragon. Not to mention that he wasn't in his complete state. He saw that Lexus's constantly swinging sword was drenched in red.
'There is no delay?'
He was unable to handle the power of the repeated stabs and the breath that was fired again.
[Replacing physical damage with fire attribute magic damage.]
[The target has received 800,000 damage.]
"Cough...!"
The Breath's power had risen sharply. It was a threat to even Hell Gao, who boasted the top defenses against fire-type attacks. Hell Gao judged that there was no chance of winning a long battle against a Fire Dragon.
"This human had the power of a fire dragon? No freaking way!! Don't give me that nonsense!!"
The moment Lexus was about to unleash his new sword dance, Hell Gao's demonic energy covered the area. However, it have been accompanied by notification that the debuffs he would suffer should be harsher.
[Death is coming!]
[Death is...]
[...]
Every time Hell Gao unleashed his fury, a flashing red notification appeared before his eyes. Although he was just occupying the body of a demonkin, Hell Gao's status surpassed Lexus' which had disabled the Absolute Defense from the start of the fight.
If he didn't have his transcendent senses, Lexus might not have been able to predict the incoming attacks and would not have been able to deflect and parry them all. Not to mention that Hell Gao only needed two hits to empty his health gauge.
"Human, your name. What, is it?"
He recognized the words and answered, "Lexus, Sword Saint Lexus."
"I will remember."
The first human since Muller who has given me such a great sense of helplessness. Hell Gao was unable to say the following words.
[Hell Gao, the master of Hellfire, recognizes you.]
[The title 'Recognition of the 9th Great Demon' has been acquired.]
"Kukuk...! Kukukuk!!"
Was it because the shock was too great? Gao turned pale and suddenly burst into laughter.
「 Fighting that durable beast seems interesting. 」
"Wanna try fighting him?"
Hearing Madra's intrigued comment, Lexus said with a smile.
「 Interesting. Although it's a shame that I can't fight that beast in its complete state, the same could also be said for me. 」
Just like Hell Gao who has lost his original flesh, Madra is in the same boat; their situations are quite similar.
「 Brat, let your teacher have fun while you rest. You did a good job. 」
[Assimilation has been used.]
[You have become one with Madra's ego. Control of your body has been given to Madra.]
[The stats, level and skills will be adjusted to Madra's experience.]
[The list of available skills has changed.]
Aware that all forms of fire would not work, Hell Gao's claws aimed for the small body as Madra swung his sword.
200,000 Army Crushing Sword.
[You have dealt 2,000,000 damage to the target.]
[200,000 Army Crushing Sword]
Rating: Myth
[It is a single blow.
Deals 6 times of your attack power to all enemies in sight and crushes the enemy's attack skills. The crushed skills will lose their effectiveness and disappear.
Skill Resource Consumption: 15,000 mana, 200 sword energy.
Skill Cooldown Time: 30 minutes.]
"So that's the current Sword Saint!"
He could hardly hide his astonishment. It was because his attack skills disappeared the moment the sword made contact with his body. However, it was only a minor damage compared to Hell Gao's health. It wasn't even at 10% of his total health gauge.
[You have proven a combat might worthy of a martial king.]
[If your legends spread, you can be worshipped as the martial king.]
[Martial God Chiyou smiled with satisfaction.]
"How dare a mere bug...mere human, damage the almighty 9th Great Demon!"
Hell Gao's eyes became bloodshot.
[You are being oppressed by Hell Gao's demonic energy.]
[You have resisted.]
Taking over, Madra was boiling with excitement as he finally regained his freedom, albeit temporarily.
"You are a great demon, so I wish to watch you struggle until the end. Dance to your heart's content, and keep me entertained. Though I know how this will end."
Hell Gao's eyes scanned Lexus' body. Hearing the sudden change in tone and attitude, he swiftly understood what had happened. Another soul had assimilated with Lexus.
"You are no longer Sword Saint Lexus, who are you?"
Hearing his question, Madra held his chin.
"Me? Hmmm, I guess weaklings only hear about famous people. How unfortunate."
Before Hell Gao could react, a massive storm of sharp sword energies converged towards Hell Gao's neck.
200,000 Army Massacre Sword.
The swordsmanship of the Undefeated King, one of the most powerful legends who was said to possess the greatest potential of all humans. His flawless swordsmanship displays the maximum potential of a single strike. Its might is unmatched.
[200,000 Army Massacre Sword]
Rating: Myth
[It is a single blow.
All enemies in view will receive damage that is equal to 90 times of your physical attack power. Each time a target dies, the damage applied to the next target increases by 2 times. There is no limit on the increase.
Skill Resource Consumption: 30,000 mana, 300 sword energy.
Skill Cooldown Time: 15 minutes.]
"Kuargh!!"
Hell Gao's neck was torn apart by the aggressive waves of sword energy. However that was still far from enough to kill a being who was one of the great demons that ruled above all demons.
"Hahaha! You seem like a tough nut to crack. This is going to be fun. But you ask who I was right?"
Seeing Hell Gao grasping his own neck, a wide smile covered Lexus' face as Madra's sharp eyes met Hell Gao's. An invitation of challenge while mocking his enemy. It was the return of one of the strongest legends in history, the man evaluated by the greatest transcendents, legends, myths, and even absolutes. The humanity's greatest talent.
"Ninth king of Lubana, Undefeated King Madra."
As Madra declared his name, the environment suddenly changed. An illusionary fire that does not emit any heat spreads out to form a mental world.
The bright light fills the vision of Hell Gao, as something manifests an open, barren field with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance. It is a kingdom of rubble littered with thousands, perhaps a countless number, of swords anchored in the ground like grave markers in a wasteland, yet are well preserved.
"A mental world?"
Looking at the surroundings, Hell Gao exclaimed in surprise. Mental World, is the most supreme ability anyone could use. It allows them to realize their innate domain to create a separate space to construct an environment within it. The reflection of this inner world depends on their state of mind and their experiences in life.
[You have entered Madra's mental world, 'Infinite Battlegrounds'.]
Looking at the surroundings, Hell Gao spoke with an uncertain tone.
"This mental world is far from ordinary. Don't tell me you're at that level already."
A high-risk, high-reward maneuver, opening one's Mental World provides a great advantage at the cost of an immense amount of mana. Not even all of the strongest transcendents had their own mental world yet the human in front of him already had a very superior one.
"You see this weapons in the ground?"
Madra spoke with a victorious smile towards Hell Gao.
"These different kinds of weapons were left behind by their owners, who has fallen at my hands in the battlefield."
Close combat weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds are everywhere. Their entire histories, compositions, and designs are all perfectly recorded in Madra's mental world, allowing for instant proficiency with the weapons by inheriting all combat skills and techniques utilized by their original owners. Of course, that wasn't all.
「 To think that his mental world was this wonderful. Truly splendid! 」
Braham admired as he watched the mental world of the Undefeated King. The legendary great magician knew about the mental world so he was thrilled with this spectacle.
"Be honored mongrel. In normal case, only the rulers and those I deem worthy can witness my Mental World. Consider yourself lucky as I wanted my successor to see my greatness even I don't want to use this against a lowlife."
Like something had snapped, Hell Gao's fury rapidly rose the moment he heard Madra's prideful voice of ridiculing him as a lowlife. He raised his head and bloodshot glare landed on Madra.
"How dare a mere human…..!"
His face reddened up like a beautifully ripe persimmon.
'Let me show you an interesting spectacle, then.'
Madra ignored Hell Gao that was now rushing towards him. He signaled towards Lich Mumud, Igris and Ainz to step back.
'That's right. Stay exactly like that. I'm more than enough to deal with an incomplete demon.'