"Peika!"
[Nom, nom.]
"Nom, nom!?"
The light filling up the palace disappeared completely. Something exploded in Peika"s mouth, and crimson blood dripped down from Peika"s mouth. Fl.u.s.tered, I stared blankly at Peika. Meanwhile, the palace changed significantly. Lilith"s mana that dominated the area lost power completely, and though not perfect, it was Peika who was taking in that mana.
[Gulp.]
"Gulp!?"
Peika swallowed what was in her mouth. Immediately, Peika"s body grew longer, her scales became more luscious, and another horn shot up from her head. It seemed eating Lilith helped her growth immensely.
"PEika, are you okay?"
[Un. She was almost dead from Master anyways.]
Peika spun in the air in response as she approached me. From that, I realized that Lilith hadn"t recovered from her injuries and that she was just tricking me. Still, to think she could hide her injuries so well…
"How did she do it?"
[I"m surprised she could trick Master, but it"s useless against this Peika-nim! I"ll protect Master from strange women like her, huhu!]
Peika must have forgot what form she was in, as she boasted and laughed. But it was true that I could defeat Lilith thanks to Peika, so I thanked her as I patted her.
"You made this an easy win. Thanks, Peika."
[Huhu, I should say the same. Thanks to that woman, I feel like I"ll get back my real body soon!]
"You mean your final seal?"
[Yes, Master.]
Peika grinned. The flesh and blood covering her teeth made me freeze. Lilith, who had given me so much trouble, had such a pitiful end.
Without Peika, she would have driven me to a corner. She still had that much magic power left, and her charm was truly terrifying to the point of affecting the world"s laws. However, Peika ignored all of that.
Peika"s ability surpa.s.sed my imagination. Even with Absolute Soul and Peruta Circuit, I couldn"t see through Lilith"s trick, but Peika did so easily and even ate her. Was it because Peika was an elemental? Was it because she was female? Perhaps it was both or perhaps it was neither.
But one thing I was sure about was that there was something special about Peika, something more special than Dortu who was already so extraordinary.
I knew I would find out eventually. When her final seal came undone and when her real self was revealed. With a furtive smile, I asked Peika.
"Do you want to try eating other monsters?"
[No! Eating random monsters will make me sick!]
Peika grumbled like a picky eater, and immediately afterwards, a fanfare rang out.
[You succeeded in defeating Lilith alone. Like with Crimson h.e.l.l, you defeated a world"s enemy no explorer has ever defeated nor has ever seen. Until the day the dungeon disappeared, your achievement will be honored among explorers. There will be no dungeon explorer who will dare to go against you. You obtained 5 skill points as reward. Current skill points: 34]
[You obtained the t.i.tle, "Lilith Killer." All stats increase by 5. The effect of the t.i.tle will apply even when it is not equipped.]
[You cleared Beyond"s 35th floor. You obtained the qualification to challenge the First Dungeon"s 86th floor.]
[You obtained 5 bonus points. Your maximum HP and MP increases by 2%.]
[Experience has been added to skills you frequently used to progress through Beyond"s 35th floor.]
[You received the unique reward left hidden for the First explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat increases by 10.]
[Secret. Lilith"s Horn.]
Horn? But Lilith didn"t have a horn?
[Of Lilith"s body parts, her horn contains the biggest amount of her power. The dungeon has kept the horn cut off by the Hero.]
I needed a long time until I could fully understand what this meant. When I finally came to the simple answer, I couldn"t help but drop my jaws in shock.
"Lilith"s power was already limited…?"
And she still had that much charm? This seemed like a bad joke. Among all the worlds" enemies I"ve met, she had the most terrifying special ability. I inwardly thanks Peika one more time.
If I faced her with other members of Revival, I would have had a harder time, as Lilith would surely have turned them against me.
"I see, so depending on the enemy"s special ability, it"s sometimes better to have just a few people or even just me. Huu… At least it"s all over now."
[Good job, Master!]
[Congratulations, Master.]
After the fanfare confirming the end of the battle rang out, Peika and Sharana had returned to their elemental form. I wasn"t one percent sure, but Peika looked a bit different even in her elemental form… Right, it was almost as if a young girl had become an adult.
"Well, if it"s important, I"m sure Peika will tell me."
I chose to remain silent.
[I am Dortu. That was an unpleasant woman. She made Dortu fell unpleasant.]
On the other hand, I could tell from Dortu"s voice that he was vexed. Since he didn"t have a materialized form, I couldn"t pat him to console him. I could only do so with words.
"You still did well, Dortu. It was just that her ability was weird. From now on, we won"t be…"
… Mm, I guess I can"t be certain. Among the countless worlds, who was to say there wasn"t someone with the same ability as Lilith?
"From now on, we"ll get stronger so we can better deal with an ability like that in the future."
[I am Dortu. Master is cold.]
Hearing Dortu"s dejected voice, I couldn"t help but laugh.
In any case, the battle was now over. Although Crimson h.e.l.l and Lilith had their powers suppressed by the dungeon, I succeeded in defeating two worlds" enemies. With how strong they were, I certainly had many benefits.
Especially in my fight with Lilith, I clearly remembered compressing over 100,000 points worth of mana in my spear. Generally, one"s aura became more visible as it got stronger. At that moment, however, my aura had become unrecognizable my others.
"I"m sure this can"t be done by just anyone."
Lilith"s shocked reaction said everything. It wasn"t a skill, and I concentrating mana was all I had done.
"Peika, is it hard to concentrate mana into one point?"
[Master, do you think you can turn inanimate objects to metal after watching Dortu do it?]
"No."
[But Dortu can do it like it"s the most natural thing.]
[I am Dortu. She is right. Dortu can turn all inanimate objects to metal.]
Peika affirmed Peika immediately. Hearing her, I became speechless. There was no way I could figure out how Dortu turned things into metal.
"But that the same thing?"
[Let me say it more clearly, Master.]
Peika folded her fan and pointed it at my face.
[Concentrating a power into one point is impossibly difficult, especially if that power is mana.]
"Even though it"s so easy?"
[Ask another explorer to do the same.]
With that, Peika didn"t speak further. Thinking about her words, I fell into silence. Mm… No… But… In that case…
"I see… So that"s it."
I couldn"t remember exactly when, but when I was young, I saw Father thrusting his spear. We had both trained using our ancestors" training method and learned how to thrust with the power of the entire body concentrated into one point. At the time, I felt that Father"s thrust was different than mine. Because Father was so strong, I believed his was a more perfect version. But now, that might not have been true.
"This is my ability."
I murmured quietly. Everything made sense now. The first time I manifested the power of the Hero, it was none other than when I concentrated my body"s power into one point and shot it out, the moment I learned Heroic Strike. A power that was mine, a power that I was born with. Too strange to be called a power. Formless, yet definite.
Talent.
"This is my ability."
In the same tone, I murmured the same thing as if to engrave the words in my heart.
I closed my eyes and opened them back up. Nothing had changed, yet everything had changed.
"I found the path."
The attack I once made in front of Sumire. I wasn"t using any mana, but I believed Peruta Circuit"s was naturally reacting in its own way.
But that wasn"t it. That was the most powerful power I could show. Though it wasn"t perfected, it was an attack made by concentrating all the power I could muster. An attack I made subconsciously at a time when I didn"t fully understand the power I had, an attack that was the result of luck.
If I could fully comprehend each particle of my mana, each fiber of my muscles and each drop of my blood, and if I could condense and compress them all into one point… I could go further. When that time came, I would have nothing to fear.
I had finally figured it out. I always had the answer, but I had only now noticed it.
[Master is so cool…]
"Yeah, I know."
I smiled and calmed my internal energy. I knew it couldn"t be in just one or two days. But now that I knew what to do, I knew it was only a matter of time.
"Now then, let"s obtain a new power."
You"ve waited a long time! I reached my hand out towards the reward, Lilith"s Horn.
What came out in my hand was a reddish-black horn that strutted up proudly. Its explanation was also extremely simple.
[Lilith"s Horn (Legend)
Option - If you make a weapon using this horn, the enemy you cut with the weapon will have a random chance of becoming charmed. With a low chance, you can turn the enemy into your loyal subordinate. If you make an accessory with this horn, your charm will increase significantly, and you will be able to use a portion of Lilith"s power as a skill. The horn is too dangerous to use without refining it.]
It seemed Sherafina was worried that I would put the horn on my head. With how kindly she explained the horn"s use, if I was still a Gold ranked explorer, I might have really refined the horn into a weapon or an accessory.
But there was no way I would do so now. Without a shred of hesitation, I tightened my grip on the horn and roused Peruta Circuit. A boundless mana was contained within the horn. What I a.s.sumed to be Lilith"s unique charming energy began to pulsate. I didn"t plan to go easy on it. Immediately and mercilessly, I began to pull it towards me.
From the top, the horn began to turn to dust. Flowing into me, the horn"s energy seeped into me completely. With a thump, my heart made a beat, and the energy instantly began flowing through my veins.
"Huuuu…!"
It felt like my blood was boiling. Though defeated, Lilith was still a world"s enemy. As her power was more special than Crimson h.e.l.l"s power, there was more resistance than when I absorbed Crimson h.e.l.l"s power. Still, it was a power I had felt before! I drew Peruta Circuit and Absolute Soul to the peak. If needed, I was ready to infuse Peika into my body.
However, that wasn"t needed. Though I only had a few seconds of it left, I was still under the effect of Overlord. Within me, Enigma helped suppress Lilith"s power. Lilith"s power slowly bowed its once highly held head and began to fuse with my blood, mana, and body.
Before I noticed, Overlord had ended and Enigma disappeared, yet the process was continuing. It took a long time. A really long time. Really, this energy was too great!
"Hu, Huu…"
Some time later, I slowly opened my eyes. Unlike previously when I learned of my talent, this time, everything had really changed.
With a slightly stiff voice, I asked.
"What"s this?"
[It"s a horn, Master.]
Peika answered in a lovable voice. So that"s what it was. I nodded and stroked my left forehead.
On one side of my forehead was a sharp, dark-red horn that anyone could see with a single glance.