Chapter 14: Fierce Battle with Mercenary Tao
Flame Fiend tore his gaze away from the exploded inn. The scent of roasted flesh from a few charred corpses made him lick his lips. He was the type of Reincarnator who had completely abandoned the moral code of his original world. If the Nexus didn't explicitly forbid it, he was willing to try anything.
But suddenly, his superhuman senses screamed a warning. He whipped his head around, just in time to see a figure in a pink robe, his back to him, with one hand already plunged deep into the massive body of [Mountain Fiend].
"Ugh… it hurts!"
Blood gushed from Mountain Fiend's mouth and nose. He hadn't even seen Mercenary Tao move before a fatal blow struck him in the chest.
Tao stood before the seven-meter-tall behemoth, one hand buried completely in the fatty flesh of his chest, his feet dangling in the air. In his other hand, he still clutched the small black pill.
Mountain Fiend's body trembled violently. Suddenly, a powerful life force erupted from within him, and a wave of pale blue chakra burst from the wound.
Caught off guard by this unknown energy, Mercenary Tao vanished, reappearing ten meters away in the blink of an eye. His long braid, which had been wrapped around his neck, fell loose and now hung down his back.
He stared coldly at the giant, who now had butterfly-like wings of blue light sprouting from his back, and at the red-haired man who was wreathed in flames. Tao had never heard of any martial artists or bounty hunters with abilities like these.
The casual arrogance on the faces of Mountain Fiend and Flame Fiend was now completely gone. This Mercenary Tao was the real deal. His speed, his power… it was beyond mere "strength."
"Be careful! He's a [Cataclysm]-class monster!" Flame Fiend licked his lips. His face was now completely covered in dragon scales, drastically increasing his defense and further amplifying his magical power. A sea of fire spread out from beneath him, instantly engulfing an area of several hundred meters.
Screams of terror echoed in the distance as townspeople fled in panic—the perfect testament to his power.
"Mercenary Tao, you are indeed—"
Fwish!
Tao's figure vanished from before Flame Fiend's eyes. There was no sound of displaced air. Tao's movements were as light and graceful as a crane, but incredibly fast.
Flame Fiend's golden, slitted pupils darted back and forth. In the next instant, Tao was right in front of him.
He instinctively crossed his arms to block, just as a fist slammed into them.
Thump!
Although his thick, scaled arms had successfully blocked the punch, a sharp, piercing force bypassed his physical defenses—defenses that could shrug off most conventional firearms—and struck him internally.
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave ripped through Flame Fiend's internal organs and burst out of his back, extinguishing the sea of fire that stretched for hundreds of meters behind him.
Tap.
Mercenary Tao snorted, did a few backflips in mid-air, and landed gracefully, re-wrapping his braid around his neck.
"Psychics? A bunch of flashy posers."
Flame Fiend coughed up blood, swaying on his feet. Seeing this, Tao turned to leave. He glanced at the pill in his left hand, which had been slightly crushed in his grip. Just then, he felt a dull ache in his stomach. The poison was taking effect.
Without much hesitation, Tao swallowed the black pill. Normally, such toxins posed little threat to him; he could simply use his ki to accelerate his metabolism and purge them. But the sudden appearance of these two strange fighters felt… unusual. He had a nagging feeling that someone else was watching him from the shadows, an almost imperceptible killing intent he knew all too well. Because of this, he took the antidote.
"Hah… as expected of a Dragon Ball derivative world. Even an early-stage boss is this powerful…"
Tao froze, then slowly turned around. The red-haired man, whose heart and lungs he was sure he had just pulverized, was standing up again. Though his face was bloody, his presence hadn't weakened much.
Flame Fiend's heart was also pounding with residual fear. He knew he had gotten cocky after taking out a member of [Azure Sky] in his last mission world, which had led him to provoke Moon Fiend. This mission, [Assassinate Mercenary Tao], was a team-based objective, which meant Tao's power level was scaled to match their entire squad. This was not a foe he or Mountain Fiend could defeat alone.
But… he had a reason for his recklessness. He had trump cards for survival. His Dragon Slayer Magic was at a high level; he could dragonize almost his entire body at will. By instantly transforming his internal organs into those of a dragon, he had avoided having his heart and lungs shattered by Tao's blow.
ROAR!
The shadow beneath Tao's feet suddenly expanded. A massive figure plunged down from the sky with a deafening roar.
CRUNCH!
Mountain Fiend smashed into the ground, obliterating the town square and creating a crater hundreds of meters wide in an instant. Standing over seven meters tall, he was now burning his body fat and converting it into chakra, his entire form radiating power. In his [Butterfly Mode], empowered by his immense chakra, his mobility and destructive force now completely surpassed Flame Fiend's. He stood in the center of the ruins and let out a bestial roar.
Although Mountain Fiend possessed a [Chakra]-based ability system and had specifically enhanced the secret techniques of the [Akimichi Clan], his personal fighting style was much more feral. He was a Reincarnator who had to constantly suppress the terrifying beast that raged within him.
Mercenary Tao's face darkened. The world's number one assassin had struck twice, and both times his target had survived. It was a humiliating blow to his pride.
He slid his left foot forward and slowly sank into a martial arts stance, his entire body's ki condensing and focusing. His hands were held loosely in front of his chest, his fingers slightly curled, his eyes filled with a cold, murderous light.
In the next instant, Tao vanished. The massive Mountain Fiend also leaped into the air, but Tao caught him in mid-flight, striking with a powerful punch.
BAM!
The force of the blow erupted from Mountain Fiend's back. He roared in pain, but his expression suddenly shifted to one of terror. From below, a crimson beam of laser-like fire shot upward, piercing clean through his stomach and searing Tao's shoulder, catching him off guard.
Wincing in pain, Tao quickly flipped in mid-air to dodge, but the searing beam tracked his every movement. Flame Fiend didn't care about Mountain Fiend's life; he was seizing the opportunity to kill Tao.
But Tao suddenly stopped in mid-air, defying gravity, then reversed his trajectory and shot back toward Mountain Fiend. He kicked off the giant's chest, using the momentum to launch himself toward Flame Fiend. His braid was more flexible than a whip, lashing out and wrapping around Mountain Fiend's hand to help him alter his course.
Flame Fiend, still spewing a torrent of dragon's breath, didn't even try to dodge. He simply aimed the blast straight at the incoming Tao.
As he shot through the air, Tao snorted, and pointed with two fingers. A powerful wave of ki instantly gathered at their tips.
DODON RAY!
A powerful wave of energy pulsed at his fingertips, and in the next instant, it shot forward.