Chapter 027
"All it has is its speed!" exclaimed Mordred. "Press the attack...!"
"That's not all...!" bellowed Baphomet, raising his hoofed foot and stamping the ground. Doing so caused a visible, fast-moving shockwave to pass through the Floor, instantly knocking down everyone who failed to jump in time.
Taking advantage of the opening he had created, Baphomet teleported to the downed Presea, presuming her to be the weakest in the group due to her tattered clothing and injuries.
"Die...!" exclaimed Baphomet, swinging his scythe in a wide, leftward-sweeping arc.
"Presea...!" shouted Leon, instinctively ejecting from his mechanical body as his nonexistent eyes reflected Baphomet's attack.
"Urk-"
Hindered by her abysmal Agility, Presea could not react in time to evade Baphomet's attack. To the goat demon's shock, however, his attack failed to cleave her as he intended. He managed to cut deeply into her left arm, but as he swept his blade and followed through with his sweeping motion, she was dragged along, staring at him with a blank expression.
Entering into Presea's body, empowering and making her even more durable, Leon temporarily took control, manifesting one of the backup hatchets he carried for Shino and aiming mercilessly at the Baphomet's dick. He managed to turn his body and initiate a short-range teleport, but the hatchet's blade managed to find purchase in his left thigh, sinking up to its handle thanks to Presea's overdeveloped Strength stat.
"You damnable wench...!" bellowed Baphomet, tearing the hatchet from his thigh as he shouted, "What are you!?"
Pointing to herself, seemingly oblivious to the bone-exposing gash on her left bicep, Presea tilted her head and asked, "Me...?" as if to confirm that Baphomet was referring to her.
Taking advantage of Baphomet's momentary stupefaction, Modred came in like a wrecking ball from the periphery of his vision, slashing her sword and producing a vibrant blue arc that cut into the goat-headed demon's flesh even though he blocked it. The wounds were only surface level, but Baphomet's carmine eyes blazed with fierce crimson light as he abruptly opened his mouth and expelled a thick plume of black smoke directly into Mordred's face, enveloping her entire body as a result.
"Shit! He blinded me...!" exclaimed Mordred, leaping back while swinging her sword in another wide arc, this time producing several blades of Mana that flashed in random arcs to deter Baphomet from giving chase.
With black smoke still leaking from his mouth and nostrils, Baphomet teleported behind Mordred, jamming the butt of his scythe into her lower back and spine in an apparent attempt to cripple her. The attack landed, but with a paltry Strength stat of 108, he only succeeded in startling her, nearly suffering bifurcation in the process as she spun around and sliced at his waist, shouting, "I can still smell your hairy ass!" with a vicious grin on her face.
Teleporting far away from Mordred, Baphomet snorted before stabbing his scythe into the ground, responding, "Let's see how you fare against this...!"
Forming his hands into a series of seals, reminding Leon of ninjutsu but with actual symbols appearing in the air, Baphomet began preparing one of its trump cards, a powerful, wide-range magical attack known as Lord of Vermillion. Gakuto moved to intercept, shouting, "I don't think so!" but while his fist appeared to land, he phased through the Baphomet's body, stumbling due to his heavy armor and the fact he had put his full weight into his punch.
"You're all going to die...!" bellowed Baphomet, his voice emanating from twenty-five illusory clones, given form by the remnant spirits of the slain Baphomet Jrs. Each gave off a nearly identical magical signature, so not even Mordred could tell which was real until Kisara, ostensibly thanks to her [Feline Faculties], shouted, "The real one is hiding behind the throne like a fucking coward...!"
Choosing to trust Kisara's exclamation, Mordred raised her greatsword overhead and channeled most of the Mana she had left into it. The blade immediately began to crack under strain, as it wasn't made to channel such large amounts of Mana, but due to the quality of its craftsmanship, it managed to hold out just long enough for Mordred to swing a veritable column of magical energy down upon Baphomet and its throne, causing an explosion of blinding blue light and a powerful shockwave that forced everyone in the chamber to shield their eyes and brace themselves.
Fortunately for Leon, he didn't have eyes to shield or cones and rods to have fried, so while the light produced by Mordred's attack was blinding, he could see perfectly fine the moment it cleared. As a result, he was able to confirm that Baphomet and its throne had vanished, replaced by a fifty-centimeter-deep channel that ran from the tip of Mordred's slowly falling apart greatsword to the far side of the chamber.
"Is it over...?" asked Ed, him and his brother emerging from behind a stone pillar along the chamber's periphery.
Before Leon could answer, a large notification window appeared above where Baphomet's throne once stood.
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[Congratulations on defeating the Floor Guardian of the First Floor: The Great Lord of Evil, Baphomet! As an Initial Clear Reward, all participants receive the Title: [Demon Lord Slayer], increasing all attributes by +10 and damage against Demons by 10%!]
[Contribution Rankings]
MVP: Mordred Pendragon
2nd Place: Shino Kuribayashi
3rd Place: Presea Combatir
4th Place: Kisara Nanjo
5th Place: Gakuto Shimazu
6th Place: Alphonse Elric
7th Place: Edward Elric
[Contribution Rewards]
MVP: Yggdrasil Berry
2nd Place: Oridecon x 2
3rd Place: Elunium x 1
4th Place: Evil Horn
5th Place: White Potion
6th Place: Orange Potion
7th Place: Red Potion
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"Am I supposed to eat this...?" asked Mordred, holding what looked like a solid gold bell, complete with a clapper, but was actually a fruit.
"No," said Presea, making her way over while chewing on a large apple, a faint magical glow emanating from her wounds as they slowly closed with each bite.
Though she initially raised her right brow, as Presea wasn't known to speak out, Mordred quickly realized what was going on, a cheeky smile developing across her face as she remarked, "Oh, I see what's going on. Having fun possessing Presea's body, Leon~?"
Despite Leon offering a response, Presea remained silent, taking a bite out of her apple before extending her free hand and saying, "Give it to me," in a curt tone.
Furrowing her brows, Mordred was tempted to tell Presea to piss off but ultimately handed over the bell-shaped fruit, allowing Leon to place it safely in his Storage. Doing so allowed him to confirm the fruit's effects, causing a faint smile to develop across Presea's face as she said, "It's a really good item. Very precious."
"Then I'll be expecting compensation..." said Mordred, directing her gaze above Presea's head, her expression and tone making it clear she wasn't joking. As far as she was concerned, the Yggdrasil Berry was proof of her conquest, so while she didn't mind entrusting it to him for Storage, it was her property.
Pointing to Mordred's former greatsword, which was now just a handle and guard, Presea said, "New weapon," without explaining further. That was all Mordred needed to hear, however, a smile returning to her face as she looked at the remaining members of their group and shouted, "Alright, you lot! Same as usual! Spread out and gather the loot from the monsters we killed! Me, Presea, and our Lord will inspect the doors on the opposite side of this chamber!"
Waiting for everyone to respond in the affirmative before moving to carry out her order, Mordred turned around and approached the former location of Baphomet's throne. She refused to believe such a troublesome monster would drop nothing, and she was right as Presea promptly directed her to a half-buried sphere that glistened with a black and silvery hue.
Before Mordred could get too excited, Presea pulled out a nearly identical sphere, saying, "Elunium..." in response to Leon's words and him retrieving the item from his Storage.
"Is it useful...?" asked Mordred.
Nodding, Presea curtly explained, "Makes armor tougher," before holding out her hand, indicating for Mordred to hand the sphere over.
Rolling her eyes, Mordred handed Presea the Elunium, saying, "Speaking of armor..." as she looked around, eventually spotting Leon's mechanized body slumped a few meters away. In response, Presea walked over to it, allowing Leon to place it in his Storage before she returned, presenting her left arm as she said, "Almost done..." in reference to her nearly healed bicep.
"Is that the [Rejuvenation] Skill you picked up from the Archbishop...?" asked Mordred.
"Nn..."
Nodding in affirmation, Presea lowered her arm and proceeded to walk toward the doors at the opposite end of the chamber, prompting Mordred to follow in her wake. The latter was beginning to get a little annoyed, as Presea was supposed to be the one following her around, but she took a deep, steadying breath and forced herself to remain calm.
Reaching the set of stone doors, Presea unhesitantly pressed the palm of her right hand against it, causing a complex pattern resembling the same tree on the previous doors to spread across its surface, emitting a vibrant, bluish-white glow. Afterward, the doors ground open of their own accord, revealing a short passage connecting to a circular chamber and a slightly elevated region with a familiar blue vortex.
"That must be the entrance to the Second Floor," said Mordred, nodding in response to her own assertion before appending, "If you're now able to build things on this Floor, we should establish an encampment outside the entrance or in the clearing preceding this chamber."
Separating from Presea's body, causing her to appear slightly sullen, Leon explained, "It says I'm unable to build things within a Field, Boss, or Event Dungeon. Should I return to the entrance and get a jump start on clearing the area...?"
"That's up to you," replied Mordred. "There aren't any groups other than ours trying to enter this place, so it's not too important for us to establish a checkpoint right this instant. I'm much more interested in seeing what's on the other side of that portal..."
"Then what are we waiting for...?" asked Leon, pulling out his mechanical body and possessing it before taking the lead down the short passage connecting to the portal room. Mordred and Presea followed behind him, the former remarking, "Reckless as always..." but the excited smile on her face made it clear she wasn't complaining...
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Stepping through the portal to the Second Floor, Leon, Mordred, and Presea found themselves atop another hill. This time, however, they were surrounded by verdant forests, and while there were mountains in the far distance, there were also a few smaller ones up close, reminding Leon of the images he had seen of Japan's mountains.
Interrupting the trio's inaugural sight-seeing, a flock of brown-backed, beige-bellied birds abruptly took flight from the nearby forest, initially flying over Leon's, Mordred's, and Presea's heads before doubling back and spreading out in a loose formation. Mordred and Presea immediately prepared to evade whatever might come their way, but due to recognizing what the birds were, Leon found himself at a loss for words, standing still even as the flock battered him with tempestuous winds produced by their wings.
"What the hell are you just standing around...!?" shouted Mordred, rolling to the side, picking up a tiny stone from the ground, and flinging it like a bullet at the nearest bird. The stone was a direct hit to the bird's chest, causing it to fall out of the sky and compelling the others to scatter, but before Mordred could rush over to finish it off, Leon grabbed her arm and shouted, "Wait...!"
"They attacked us first!" countered Mordred, tearing her arm from Leon's grasp. However, instead of continuing with her plan to curb-stop the bird, she snorted through her nose and took a moment to fix her clothes, giving Leon a chance to make his way over and confirm what he already knew to be true, even if the image in his mind was a lot more cartoonish...
'It's a fucking Pidgey...'
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