Chapter 48: The Avatar of Justice, The Demon Lord Attacks
Even though Shirazawa was loath to face the Demon Lord head-on, the plan Shiro proposed seemed to be their best bet. Thus, with a heart steeled for certain death, he finally agreed to the scheme. Once the details were hammered out, the two split up, sprinting in opposite directions.
Through the marking ability of his Wisdom skill, Shirazawa sensed Ariel hurtling toward him at high speed. By his calculations, it would take her at least a day to travel from the labyrinth to his location. This gave him ample time to set up traps.
On the other side, Shiro filled her Spatial Storage to the brim with seawater. According to the original plan, she intended to deal with Mother's helpers first—the Puppet Spiders. And so, a war of attrition quietly raised its curtain.
...
The Upper Stratum of the Labyrinth.
Four Greater Taratects and six Puppet Spiders surrounded Shiro as she suddenly warped into their midst. The moment she materialized, a barrage of fierce attacks swarmed toward her.
"Heh heh heh, I'm not afraid of you guys this time!" Shiro wasn't nervous at all; instead, she flashed a contemptuous grin.
*Hum—*
Countless spatial barriers sealed off the surrounding area, preventing any escape. Immediately after, Spatial Storage opened. An infinite torrent of seawater gushed out, instantly flooding the zone. The HP of every spider began to plummet, vanishing in the blink of an eye and leaving behind a cluster of floating corpses bobbing in the water.
"Glub glub, glub glub..." Shiro, also submerged, blew bubbles just like the monsters, struggling awkwardly in the water. Although her Immortality skill meant she wouldn't die even at zero HP, the sensation of drowning was absolutely miserable.
[Experience has reached a certain level. Individual: Zana Horowa has risen to Lv 23.]
The massive influx of experience pushed her up six levels. However, this slight boost was still a drop in the bucket compared to what Shirazawa was facing. Having dealt with the small fry, Shiro teleported directly out of the labyrinth.
"Killing monsters to level up is still too slow. Looks like I'll have to set my sights on humans... Hmm, I can't quite bring myself to attack innocent bystanders, but..."
Clairvoyance expanded. Shiro discovered a large group of bandits in the mountain forests. No, wait—how could they be called bandits? These were clearly high-quality experience packs. A pleasant smile played on Shiro's lips.
"Hehehe, today this spider shall become an emissary of justice and cleanse you of your sins."
In an instant, the poor bandits suffered an unforeseen disaster. That day, scarlet blood stained the earth, and shrill screams echoed through the mountains, lingering long after the slaughter ended.
...
[Experience has reached... risen to Lv 24.]
[Experience has reached... risen to Lv 25.]
[Experience...]
Meanwhile, by the seashore, Shirazawa's mouth twitched as he heard the intermittent leveling notifications in his mind.
"What on earth is that girl doing? Her leveling speed is like she's on a rocket."
While it was good news, Shirazawa knew there was a gap of over 200 levels between him and Ariel. It was a hopeless chasm. No matter how fast Shiro leveled, she couldn't bridge that heaven-defying divide. He was 20 levels away from reaching the Arachne stage, and then he'd need to hit Level 70 as an Arachne just to reach the eighth evolutionary stage—and Ariel was at Level 139. 20 plus 70 plus 139... Yeah, the gap was just too big.
Of course, the actual mechanics didn't work exactly like that math, but that wasn't the point. Shiro was heading into battle with the conviction of victory, while Shirazawa was engaging the enemy with the certainty of defeat. Though he wanted to convince himself to give up resistance, his logic forbade it. They were both gambling—betting on whose side fate would take.
Shirazawa closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Come on then, Ariel. Show me the true strength of a Demon Lord!"
*BOOM—*
A colossal explosion rocked the entire coast, shaking the earth as if trying to flip the very land itself. A girl radiating murderous intent slowly stepped out of the dust, a faint, gentle smile on her face, but her eyes glinted with a thick, icy light.
"Choosing not to run? How foolish."
The moment the words left her mouth, Ariel took a deep breath and abruptly spat out a black light wave, surging toward Shirazawa. With Thought Super-Acceleration pushed to its limit, he barely managed to see the attack trajectory and dodged by a hair's breadth. The black wave smashed into the ocean behind him, instantly kicking up waves thousands of feet high.
*Crash—*
A massive skull-shaped plume of water was blasted into the sky. Looking at that enormous "skull," Shirazawa's eyelids jumped violently.
*Holy crap, what kind of monster move is that? That power is practically a tactical nuke!*
Shirazawa couldn't help but shiver, his mind filled with question marks. Before he could recover, Ariel had already closed the distance, lunging at him.
*Swish!*
Shirazawa desperately lunged sideways to dodge.
*BANG—*
Ariel's fist struck a rock wall, instantly smashing a giant hole into it. The terrifying force rippled through the cliffside, carving a trench dozens of meters deep and a hundred meters long across the ground. It was hair-raising.
And that was the result of a single punch. Seeing this level of destruction, Shirazawa's legs began to cramp. *This is literally One Punch Man!*
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he didn't dare fight Ariel any longer. At this moment, Shirazawa finally understood: traps, bait, ambushes—in the face of absolute power, it was all dog crap. He had provoked a truly dangerous existence!
He had to run, now. Shirazawa gritted his teeth and bolted without looking back.
"Trying to run now? Isn't it a bit late?" A cold, mocking voice rang out from behind him, followed by a powerful gust of air.
*BOOM!!*
"Argh—!"
Shirazawa let out a shrill shriek as half of his body was blown into scrap, collapsing onto the ground in a bloody mess.
"Magic 4, hurry up and construct a teleportation spell!"
"...I'm sorry, Information Brain. A Dragon Scale Barrier has been set up around us; magic construction is impossible."
"Dammit."
Shirazawa cursed, looking up at the towering Ariel with a sense of desolation. *I feel like I can see myself running toward the sunset... that was my lost youth.*
Ariel looked down coldly at the struggling Shirazawa and spoke in a frigid tone: "Tell me where your companion is, and perhaps I will spare your life."
Hearing Ariel, Shirazawa gave a bitter smile. "Big sis, can you speak Japanese or Chinese? I seriously don't understand Demon Language."
Shirazawa felt helpless. Since it had come to this, he prepared for a consciousness transfer.
[Experience has reached a certain level. Individual: Zana Horowa has risen to Lv 28.]
*Crack!*
Shedding his old shell, Shirazawa revived on the spot. "No time like the present to leave! Bye-bye!" Shirazawa waved a leg and ran for his life without looking back, leaving only a dashing silhouette.
Ariel stared blankly at Shirazawa's receding back. It took a long moment for her to react. "You bastard, stop right there!"
"Sorry, still don't understand—!"
---
[100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter (Quest Complete!)]
[200 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter (Quest Pending!)]
[20 reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter (Quest Pending!)]
[Total Bonus Chapters Achieved: 1]
Fighting!
[Ptreon.cm/Prince_of_LanLi for 50 adv chs. 20% discount right now. Throw spirit stones to this humble one *dogeza*.]