Chương 205: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 205 - Battle in the Depths of the Maze

Su Nian issued similar orders to the other monster leaders, and they got to work immediately. With the Hive Mind active, the link between Su Nian and his subordinates was now nearly identical to the party channel players used. Messages passed clean and instant. By the time Bugs Bunny reached the depths of the passage, the fierce battle was already over. That left Bugs Bunny feeling genuinely disappointed.

It had heard that observing the human way of procreation was good for producing higher-quality Blaze Rabbits, and it had been looking forward to picking up a few pointers. Freya was still unconscious. Kayal had used a skill to alter her memories, and she hadn't stirred since. As for Kayal himself. He had taken up a combat stance long before anyone arrived. The moment he entered this passage, he had known pursuit would come.

He'd spent the entire journey using his [Plunder] ability to strip skills and strength from every warrior he encountered. Now, standing in the dark with all of that power coiled inside him, he felt invincible. The Healer Hero was never just a one-trick healer with a single [Recovery]. And if he was being honest, he owed Freya a proper thank-you.

Without the torment she'd put him through, without the potions battering his mind and spirit to the edge of breaking, his [Degrade], [Optimize], and [Plunder] abilities would never have awakened. What stood in this corridor now was the true Healer Hero. He had the confidence to take down the master of this dungeon if it came to that. The Blaze Rabbit leader in front of him? Bugs Bunny? A scarecrow. A paper tiger.... The human showed no fear.

That alone was enough to make Bugs Bunny feel its authority was being challenged. The Black Dragon had once taught it: a man who is not imposing commands no respect. As a proper monster, when you hit someone, you hit them hard. That was the only way to build real prestige. Bugs Bunny had taken that lesson to heart. So it decided to hit this arrogant little human very, very hard. The muscles across its body tightened another notch. Bones and joints popped and crackled as the tension ratcheted up.

Its enhanced physiology had already rewritten the structure of its skeleton and muscle, fleshy vents opened along specific points on its body, drawing air in, and the muscles swelled around them. The already two-meter-tall rabbit expanded further, until it looked less like a creature and more like a standing wall of flesh.

"ROAR!" Bugs Bunny split its mouth wide open — nearly ear to ear — and let out a crack of thunder. The shockwave rolled outward in every direction. Then it launched. BOOM. It shot forward like a loosed arrow. One cauldron-sized fist, trailing fire, drove straight for Kayal's face. This was Bugs Bunny's own invention: Blazing Charge Fist. At the moment of activation, it sparked the fire element inside itself and set its paw alight. The flames didn't hurt anymore, hadn't for a while, so it had nothing to lose.

Kayal smiled. Not nervous. Contemptuous. He charged to meet the fist instead of dodging, clamped both hands directly over Bugs Bunny's knuckles, and said one word.

"Degrade." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. BAM! The punch connected anyway. Full force, dead center. Kayal left the ground like a snapped kite string. He hit the obsidian wall hard enough to leave a dent, slid down it, and landed with blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Recovery." He spat the bloody foam onto the floor. Green light washed over him, and his body knit itself back together. His mind, though, felt the price. A wave of exhaustion pressed in behind his eyes, the kind that came before a blackout. A few more uses and he'd collapse whether he wanted to or not. He could barely believe how much energy Degrading the rabbit's paws had cost him. It had nearly hollowed him out completely. Across the corridor, Bugs Bunny shook its paws with a puzzled expression.

It wasn't sure what had just happened. Something that human did, some skill, had made its two perfectly good fire-wreathed paws feel like a pair of cooked rabbit feet dangling from a market stall. No matter. It still had its legs. Lethality-wise, those were at least equal to its fists, if not worse for whoever was on the receiving end. BOOM. It stomped down. The obsidian floor shuddered. That alone said everything about what those legs were capable of.

An instant later, Bugs Bunny was a blur, and then it was directly in front of Kayal, thick muscle-corded leg swinging like a battle axe, wrapped in a whirlwind, connecting with his face. CRACK! Several teeth and a spray of blood left Kayal's mouth at the same time. He triggered [Recovery] before his vision went fully dark. The dual pain, the kick and the ability's cost, made his skull ring like a struck bell. But he was alive. Barely, but alive. If he hadn't had Recovery. That single kick would have ended him.

He had two uses of Recovery left. Two uses of Degrade. That was it. Everything came down to the next few exchanges. Kayal had never once considered using Plunder on the rabbit. Just Degrading its paws had nearly shattered his mind. If he tried to absorb a creature of this size and power, his body and spirit would both give out before the ability finished.

"Come on," he said quietly, rising to his feet.

"Come on..." The rabbit was blindingly fast, but speed didn't matter if he could read the movement and make contact. Touch it, and he was halfway to winning. On the other side of the corridor, Bugs Bunny watched the human stand back up. Its first thought: this one is durable. Its second thought: good. It had been a long time since a fight felt like this, unrestrained, full-force, genuinely satisfying. The only sparring partner it ever had was Grey Wolf, and that freak had a way of making every session miserable.

Bugs Bunny had never properly let itself go. Now was its chance. It forgot, entirely, the task the Black Dragon had given it. Wind blasted across the corridor. Kayal felt it hit his temple, felt the hair at the corner of his forehead blow back, and he ducked. BOOM. The kick hit the maze wall instead. Dust cascaded down. The obsidian didn't shatter, but it cratered inward, a visible dent left by the impact. Kayal's heart was hammering.

If that had landed on him, his skull would have come apart like a dropped watermelon. But it hadn't.

"Degrade! DEGRADE!" He lunged. Hand shot out. He grabbed Bugs Bunny's leg. The ability fired. A needle-stab of pain tore through every nerve in his body at once. His vision blacked at the edges. He barely got one hand on the wall before his legs buckled, but he held himself up. And the giant rabbit, expression gone blank with shock, crumpled to the ground.

"Hehehe..." Kayal's laugh came out jagged and a little unhinged.

"You're strong. But so what? In front of my [Degrade]... you're mine." He pulled the dagger from his belt, stepped over to the fallen rabbit, and pressed his knee down. He lined up the tip with Bugs Bunny's eye, the softest point, the one that mattered. One good thrust and a half-turn of the blade. That was all it would take. This thing would never get up again. Then something landed beside him. Red. Round. The size of a dining table. He looked at it. It looked like... a stink bug?

It was, unmistakably, a stink bug, except this one had a pair of spiral horns that looked like they'd been borrowed from a dragon.

"I just put down a Blaze Rabbit," Kayal said.

"You think I'm afraid of a bug?" He kept the dagger moving toward Bugs Bunny's eye with his left hand and drew his longsword with his right, hurling it at Little Red in one smooth motion. Savage Throw, one of the skills he'd Plundered from a warrior earlier. Thrown with that technique, the sword hit like a sledgehammer. More than enough to skewer one strange red beetle. Great idea. Reality disagreed. Little Red wasn't stupid.

It sidestepped the sword without urgency, watched it clatter off the wall, and then turned around. Pointed its rear end directly at Kayal.

"Pfft —" A cloud of red mist erupted outward and swallowed everything. When it cleared, both Kayal and Bugs Bunny were on their backs, eyes rolled to white, foam bubbling at their mouths.

"Little Red." Grey Wolf stepped out of the shadows, arms already open.

"Well done." It had built up a decent tolerance to the poison by now. It scooped Little Red off the floor, Little Red, who was still strutting around like it had personally won a war, tucked it into its arms, ignored the eye-watering stench completely, puckered up its wolf snout, and planted a loud smacking kiss right on Little Red's face. ➤ Next: Dark Forge