Chapter 303. Lilith (3)
[Crimson h.e.l.l"s Tattoo has been invigorated to its peak. You can steal a faint amount of mana from all opponents you are battling.]
[Once per day, you can completely nullify any magic applied to you and absorb its mana. However, the magic cannot be of EX rank.]
Mm, it was pretty much what I thought. Rather than saying I expected it, it was exactly what I thought I could do with Crimson h.e.l.l"s power. Next, I learned the secret reward, Ultimate Avarice. It felt like a huge fireball entered my body.
"Huu…!"
This was what Crimson h.e.l.l left behind. I thought back to when I absorbed the Beast King"s power and circulated Peruta Circuit to calm my insides. Meanwhile, a message rang out.
[You obtained the unique skill, Ultimate Avarice. This skill doubles the amount of mana you steal from others and helps you convert all hostile mana to your own.]
If Crimson h.e.l.l"s Tattoo had the ability of its mana, this skill was the essence of Crimson h.e.l.l as a world"s enemy. Before the ability of its mana, the reason it could become a world"s enemy, the innate ability it was born with. Although it took on the name of a skill, in reality, it was nothing but a violent lump of energy.
Unlike the tattoo, this power was more difficult for me to control. Still, this was a skill, and Sherafina"s power would help in controlling it even if I didn"t reign it in completely. But against enemies, whom the dungeon"s power didn"t work against, this skill would become useless. In that case, I wouldn"t be able to call it my true power.
I closed my eyes and focused on the energy that just entered my body. Then, I roused the power of Absolute Soul. Crimson h.e.l.l"s power reacted to Absolute Soul and twitched. Soon, it began to move and point its thorns towards me. I blanketed it with my soul, and it squirmed here and there before finally becoming quiet.
No matter how much it struggled, in the end, it was a power that lost and now belonged to me!
There were no messages. That was to be expected. From the outside, it would seem as if nothing changed. But inside my body, I was using Peruta Circuit to make this power become one with the power of Crimson h.e.l.l"s Tattoo. The difference between the powers being separate and one was the same as the difference between heaven and earth.
"Huu… Good."
Feeling the tattoo on my fingers trembling lightly, I let out a breath. When I retrieved my mana, the tattoo lost its light and disappeared, while the energies swirling around my body all found their own place. Almost like they never rejected me, all energies sat quietly at rest.
"Alright, now there"s one remaining problem…"
After obtaining Ultimate Avarice and seeing its information, there was only one thing on my mind. Staring at its skill window, I racked my brain.
Absolute Soul and Ultimate Avarice. They were both unique skills and skills that were engraved into my body rather than being stored in the Collector"s Pocket Watch. Not only did Ultimate Avarice perfectly support Absolute Soul"s ability, but it also amplified by it by a terrifying amount. If these skills became one, the result could only be fearsome.
… Should I do it? If it succeeds…
"… No, let"s not."
They already showed fantastic symbiosis. Although I had never suffered a loss from combining skills, the risk was too big to bet on this precedent.
In truth, I got the urge to just do it. Even if I lost Absolute Soul, I felt like I could recreate it on my own. Still, I waited. Using Skill Synthesis was inevitable, but it wouldn"t be with Absolute Soul. I might change my mind later but now was at least not the time.
… A bit more. I just had to grow a bit more. The answer might be in this dungeon or perhaps the Demon Lord, who must be biting his nail waiting for the day he could cross over to Earth.
When I came out to the Floor Shop, I met with Loretta who was waiting for me yearningly.
"Shin-nim!"
"Sorry, Loretta. I"ll talk to you after I come back from Beyond. I feel like I"ll lose my momentum if I stay and talk with Loretta."
"You"re leaving straight away? Meanie!"
Loretta"s smiling face changed like a cat that was doused with water, but I wanted to challenge Lilith when my strength was at its peak. If I stayed and talked with Loretta, I felt like I would lose all the tension in my body, so she was currently no different than poison to me.
"Uuu, it"s great knowing that I have such a big effect of Shin-nim, but it"s also a very complicated feeling… I want to be with Shin-nim more."
"And if you"re with me?"
"Then I want to touch you! Ask me what I want to do next!"
"Never."
I retorted to play along with her just once, and Loretta didn"t let me down. Dumbfounded, I asked.
"Are all elves that honest to their desires?"
"No, it"s just me!"
"I"ll be off."
"Hiing."
Leaving the tearful Loretta behind, I jumped into the gate. Although I didn"t fight from Beyond"s 31st floor to 34th floor, 35th floor would be different.
Not only the Succubus Queens, but the Incubus Kings also warned me. The one who led Enesis to invade Elesia, the world enemy.
Lilith was waiting for me.
The moment I entered Beyond 35th floor, I felt that the air was a bit sticky. After taking a big breath, I raised Peruta Circuit"s speed. I also felt it while I was fighting the Crimson h.e.l.l, but worlds" enemies all seemed capable of creating their own personal domain.
A domain that was suited to empowering them while weakening the enemy. I felt like I could do something similar once I reached the absolute peak of Peruta Circuit and Absolute Soul, but that wasn"t possible currently.
"I didn"t even open the door yet."
Unlike the First Dungeon, Beyond didn"t have any limitation on the number of elementals I could bring out. As such, I summoned all four elementals, infusing Ruyue into my armor, Sharana into my body, Peika into my spear, and Dortu…
[I am Dortu. I will protect Master.]
"Yeah, yeah."
I decided to leave it to him.
[Are you ready?]
I heard a voice, a truly captivating voice of a woman. I repeat. I still haven"t opened the Floor Master room.
[Elementals will be useless against my power.]
I ignored her. I didn"t believe that seduction was Lilith"s only power. Just like Crimson h.e.l.l said on the 85th floor, if Lilith took my life quicker than Sherafina could act, I would actually die. There was nothing wrong with thoroughly preparing for whatever might happen.
"… Good."
I took another breath and surrounded myself in a whirlpool created by Peruta Circuit. The whirlpool"s radius was just small enough to barely surround me, but that was enough. Absolute Soul was also in full effect. To protect myself against Lilith"s strongest bewitchment, I had prepared my best.
"Thank you for waiting! I"ll come in as you wish!"
Just like always, I kicked open the door and marched in.
Inside… was a lavish palace. Filling up the large hall were jeweled décor and golden sculptures. If not for the fact that they were made out of gold, I would have believed that these sculptures of beauties and good-looking men were alive.
"Wow."
I couldn"t help but exclaim in wonder. Hearing my voice, someone snickered.
[Huhu, you"re really interesting. How did a kid like you come all the way up here?]
I turned my head. From above, there was a swinging chair hanging by several chains dangling from the ceiling. Just like the palace hall, the chair was adorned luxuriously, and sitting on it was her, Lilith.
"Huu."
I subconsciously took a deep breath. It was to suppress the urge to run into her embrace, but it also served to swallow more of her mana permeating this area.
Peruta Circuit slowed down and Absolute Soul"s energy subsided slightly. At that moment, my ten fingers shone with a faint light and touched the energy that just came under my control.
It was Crimson h.e.l.l"s mana. This twisted lump of greed desired to make all mana into its own pool. Because of it, it was the sole existence that was unfazed by Lilith"s charm.
[Don"t tell me you were already going to bow down?]
If Crimson h.e.l.l were alive, it would have undoubtedly laughed and mocked me as such. I gritted my teeth and accelerated Peruta Circuit once again. I thanked my fortune for defeating Crimson h.e.l.l before meeting Lilith.
I stood tall and stared at her. Crimson h.e.l.l"s violent mana filled my body through Peruta Circuit, relentlessly absorbing Lilith"s sticky mana and making it its own.
[Oh, you withstood it.]
She sounded surprised. She didn"t just sound surprised, she acted surprised too, widening her diamond-like eyes and putting her hands over her mouth. Each of her movements and each of her glances was purely lovable. It was almost as knowing how to be loved was in her instincts.
[Not to mention, you looked at me straight in the eyes. Child, what do I look like to you?]
"Don"t you have a mirror?"
I gritted my teeth as I replied. Even now, Lilith was naturally showering me with her charm. Terrifying. Truly terrifying. I could barely hold on even after I used Crimson h.e.l.l"s power. I felt like I could finally understand why the skill I created using Skill Synthesis had the name "Lilith" in it. In fact, I felt it was lacking, unworthy to bear the name of Lilith.
[Look around, does it look like there"s a mirror? So tell me. Do you have any idea how long it"s been since I saw my face?]
I was supposed to be her enemy, but Lilith pestered me lovingly like I was her boyfriend. She even bowed with her hands cutely on top of each other. In front of her enemy!
But even knowing that this was the golden opportunity, I couldn"t move my body. Her charm did not allow an unhonorable ambush. I was certain that even the Demon Lord would be in the same situation in front of her.
"Your red-blonde hair is tangled, covering your forehead and cheeks. It"s also flowing down over your chair like you"re Rapunzel."
[Ah, right. My hair color was red!]
Lilith clapped her hands like she finally found out and raised her head shamelessly. She should have been able to figure out her hair color by herself.
"You have big irises and I see some black patterns trapped in them. It looks like they"re related to the foundation of your charm. Overall, you have big and deep eyes that are misty. You won"t get dry eyes, but they"re unnaturally moist, so you should go see a doctor."
[Right, right. I was born like this. So, aren"t my eyes beautiful?]
Lilith laughed teasingly, while she bent over and shoved her face closer towards me. The chair she was sitting on began to slowly swing up and down. Closer, farther, closer, farther. I felt an instinctive thirstiness. Every time Lilith went farther away, impatience rose from my heart and I struggled to suppress it. Work, Crimson h.e.l.l"s Tattoo! Ultimate Avarice!
"Do I need to go on?"
[Un! I want to hear more!]
"But I don"t plan to."
I held my spear and aimed it at her face. Otherwise, I felt like I would charge towards her and shower her with kisses. Thankfully, I had learned to move before it was too late.
[Hurry up and tell me. How tall my nose is, how full my lips are, how much they sparkle, how my figure is, how large my b.r.e.a.s.t.s are, what shape they are, how slender my waist is, and how wide my hips are. I want to listen to them all.]
"There"s only one thing I can say."
The chaos flames I shot out from the tip of my spear flashed past her due to her chair"s reaction and hit the ceiling. The chains connecting the ceiling and the chair began to burn with chaos flames, turning soft and tender.
I opened my mouth and announced to Lilith, who was looking at me with a shocked face.
"Fight me, Lilith."