For the first time in forever, Rey felt the fear of death.
It was so raw and vivid, as he watched the Divine Beast close in on him with its mighty jaws and overwhelming presence.
Then—
~FWISH!~
In one swift translocation of space, he was able to shift a few meters backwards, completely avoiding the fatal strike from the mindless beast.
"Haa… haa…!" Rey's widened eyes, moist from the fear, gazed upon the Divine Beast as he breathed heavily.
None of his classmates were in sight, which meant their transportation was successful. Lucielle and Brutus were also not present.
'Good! That's good!'
Beads of sweat appeared on Rey's face, and his throat slowly began to itch. He swallowed the saliva that had formed inside as he kept his gaze on the terrifying monster in front of him.
'This thing… it's too dangerous!'
The more he observed it, the more Rey could see Ater's point about challenging a Divine Beast. Not only did it have better Stats, but most of Rey's Skills wouldn't even do anything to the thing.
'Fighting it head on is impossible. It's far stronger and faster.'
The reason Rey could keep up somewhat was due to the spatial manipulation and awareness that [Domain Of The Lord ] offered him. It was almost like precognition.
Adding that to his experience fighting Monsters, his battle prowess, and intelligence—compared to the mindless creature—he was able to somehow hold his ground.
That wasn't enough, though.
'The only way I can win is to somehow use my number of Skills, and even with them…' Rey clenched his teeth as he tried his best to breathe normally.
[Dead Calm] had never been under as much strain as it was right now.
'Come to think of it… I've not seen it use any Skill. Or maybe it has Passive Skills that I haven't noticed. If I can use the same Skills, then I can stand a chance here…'
Before Rey could check out his Skill List, however, he noticed something.
'H-huh?! Where is it looking?' The Divine Beast completely removed its attention from Rey and turned in a particular direction.
He already knew, just from a single glance, the location of significance that existed there.
'The Capital? No… the Royal Estate?!'
With his eyes popping out of his eyes, Rey remembered what he witnessed prior: the Beast targeting Alicia before he came to save her.
'Is it targeting her because she summoned him? A-ah, could it be…!' Rey had read quite a bit about Summoning Magic and Taming, and in it were recorded behavior of summoned creatures.
If a creature was summoned through a Taming Skill, its first instinct would be to attack the Tamer—though this depended heavily on the malicious nature of the Summon.
That was because a Tamer could potentially bring the creature into subservience and force it into becoming a loyal subordinate.
This was why Magic Barriers usually came along with Familiar Summoning.
'I mean… Ater would have also done the same to me if it wasn't for that barrier.'
Rey would have wondered why Alicia allowed such a creature out of its cage, or even summoned it at all, if he didn't see the Dragon Corpses or the destruction within the city.
Chances were… it was a desperate attempt to save everyone.
'This is all my fault. I…' Before Rey could think any further, however, he noticed the Divine Beast pressing itself on the ground.
Its weight alone caused the area to tremble, and everything around it began to leak out cracks.
'No, you do—!'
~BOOOOOOOM!~
The Beast took off before Rey could even complete its thoughts, ascending high into the sky as it charged towards its intended destination.
'Divine Light Whip!'
Rey swiftly summoned a long string of golden light, one end wrapped around his hand, while the other already swirling around the body of the escaping beast.
'You think I'll let you leave?!" His thoughts roared as he planted his heel on the ground and pulled with all of his strength.
He was sure now… the Beast's target was Alicia.
'Taking her to the Royal Estate made it change focus to that location. It's currently distracted, which means I'll be able to—!'
Much to Rey's surprise, the intense rope of light that was supposed to tightly constrain the enemy began to melt off.
'E-eh…?!'
Like butter on a hot surface, the golden rope loosened and softened, all in an instant, causing the Divine Beast to freely proceed with its launch—even kicking away at the air so it could resume its ascent.
Rey was so glad it couldn't fly, but its sheer speed alone made it impossible to catch up at this rate.
'Unless…!' His eyes shone brilliantly as he utilized his [Domain Of The Lord], swiftly changing his location with another place in the air.
Thankfully, since he was a distance away from the monstrosity, his Skill worked flawlessly, and in no time at all, he was right above the city.
He didn't have time to rejoice, or even breathe, however, considering how the Divine Beast was currently charging towards him like an unstoppable meteor.
'[Divine Ray]!' Rey swiftly pointed both hands ahead and allowed the pure white energy to coalesce into a pure beam of unstoppable light.
The result?
~BOOOOOOOOOM!~
The blast of light showered on the Divine Beast, sending it back down to where it came from.
'A-ahh! That was close!'
Rey, once again, could not rest. The moment he brushed the sweat off his brow, he hurtled himself downward, preparing another Divine Rey in one hand as he let it charge.
~WHOOSH!~
As he charged downward, he noticed the Beast rush past him in the form of a blur.
He would have missed it completely if he hadn't focused all his senses on the creature in an attempt to better read its moves.
'No you don't!' Rey grabbed the Divine Beast's tail in a hurry, using all his strength to pull and spin in the air.
"You're not…"
After spinning for a second or two, nearly creating a hurricane that would blow apart the city beneath him, he flung the Beast high into the air.
Then, he pointed his open palm towards it.
"... Getting anywhere near her!"
~VWUUUUM!~
The massive roar of Rey's [Divine Ray] parted the air, and destroyed everything in its path as it rushed towards the helplessly flying monster.
As expected, it made impact.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~
A shockwave of power burst through the area for miles, at the very least, causing everything to tremble under the pressure of such a powerful attack.
"Haa…" Rey could feel the drain of Mana on him, with beads of sweat even forming on his face and his parched throat seeking a source of refreshment.
As he hovered above the capital, watching as the figure he struck descended on the barren ground that he had caused from his Lightning Magic attack from before, he narrowed his gaze and strengthened his sight.
'What now?' He wondered, looking at the falling creature while also opening his Skill Tab.
In both instances, he was met with shock.
For one, under his Skills within [Doppel], he found the most unexpected result.
[New Skills: Please Select Their Categories]
~Nil~
[Total Skills: 75]
'N-no Skills…?!' As his eyes were still recoiling from the bone-
chilling revelation before him, he heard a powerful cry that was equally as horrifying.
"URRRROOAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
The roar emerged from the barren lands, and the one who sent it out was none other then the standing Divine Beast.
… Ready for yet another round of battle.
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Thanks for reading!
Dagon is too broken at this point. I like that you're all probably wondering how in the world Rey is supposed to win.
