"Dammit, bastard! Just leave the heck of me alone!" The Night Ranger System Host screamed as she unleashed all her might, sending Dwun flying.
She then turned around, intending to fly away when Dwun threw a large piece of rock at her, causing her to evade. And using this interval, he intercepted her, engaging with her once again.
The more they fought, the more she panicked. After all, she was stronger than him, even though he obtained a powerful new ability.
It was because of the blanket of darkness. As a Night Ranger, she possessed a powerful ability that caused her abilities to double during the night. This was why she had been able to fight as an equal against Ianon and Dwun before.
But now, for some reason, at times when she was on the verge of killing Dwun, her attacks barely missed his vitals, allowing him to survive and heal himself. After that, he went on the offensive once again.
At first, she thought that he was an expert fighter, allowing him to exercise such a precise level of control over his body to evade such critical hits. But, as she fought him, she noticed that he didn't possess that level of skill.
Sure, he was a great fighter, a troublesome one even. But, he wasn't at that level. After all, if he was able to manage his body in such a precise way, he would have been able to overpower her by now.
So, at times when she was about to kill Dwun, something was happening that was preventing her from doing so. It was just that she wasn't able to put a handle on it.
In truth, her suspicions were correct. For, it was Compass Carburettor that had been subtly influencing the positions of both to ensure they continued fighting. He wished to weaken them both as much as possible.
So, he was ensuring Dwun wasn't killed as soon. Well, even if he didn't take action, Dwun wouldn't die even if his opponent dealt a critical hit.
After all, he still had a large enough Mental Energy reserve. So, instant kills won't be effective against him. It was the same for the Night Ranger System Host too. That's why both of them were alive even though they were blasting off terrifying attacks at one another all along.
Situated far away, he was writhing on the floor in pain while Grisha continued to heal him.
"H-How much longer?" He grunted, asking through telepathy.
"At least another five days, uncle, if not more!" The cobra said, "I'll condense my first horn once I finish digesting all four mutated beasts. But since they had been upgraded by their respective Systems a little, I need time to digest them all. But if you were at Stage 3, it would have been easier, uncle."
"Stage 3…" Compass Carburettor muttered, frowning, "But, I've just reached Stage 2 a couple of days ago. Reaching Stage 3 during this short interval is…"
"It's possible," Grisha thought through, finally opening her mouth to say, "At least, if it's you, it's possible."
"How?" He asked, confused.
"Your Haggon form," Grisha pointed out, "If it manages to grow one horn, you'll become stronger. And, that itself would cause the energy of the pearl to form in your body. Based on what I'm feeling now, you should be able to connect the pearl and orb that forms in your body to your Darlac."
"Once you do that, you should receive a major boost to your reserves. After that, return to your human form and use your two abilities constantly. You should be able to reach Stage 3 quickly." She concluded.
"I see," Compass Carburettor thought, speaking to the cobra, "Tell me if you are alright."
Saying so, he returned to his Haggon form, asking, "How are you feeling? Are you able to sense anything?"
"I'm fine, uncle. But, I'm afraid. Suddenly, I feel like I'm cut off from the entire world. Until now, I was able to sense Grisha's space, but I cannot sense that now." The cobra said; its tone trembled a little, expressing fear.
"Then it should be fine." He heaved a sigh in relief before taking on his human form. Through Directional Misalignment, he sensed the locations of every moving creature in his surroundings, noticing a large enough cave farther away as he informed Grisha of his plan, condensed his pair of boots, and flickered through the path.
He passed by countless ants, eventually arriving within a massive cavern, gazing at the ant nest before him, sensing the figure of an ant queen within, grinning as he took on his Haggon form, unleashing a guttural roar.
The sound was frightening to the extent dirt fell off from the ceiling as the bodies of most ants trembled, rooted to the spot in shock, unable to move.
While they were reeling from the effect, Compass Carburettor stomped the ground, causing a quake as he ran through the place, stomping a one-horned ant with each stomp. He then picked them up and swallowed them.
He only targeted the ants with horns, swatting away the rest. Even though they had grown in strength and size, against a Haggon, they could do nothing.
After all, a couple of ants slammed their breath attacks at him, failing to even scratch his toughened skin.
A Haggon wasn't known as the strongest monster of the Darble World for nothing. And among them, his physique was superior to other Haggons.
It was similar to the Duchess whose Grogar form was superior to all other Grogars—thanks to ingesting the Darble of her brethren through Body Resurgence. He had done the same using the Darble of other Haggons, absorbing their genetic material to grow stronger.
And, once he reaches Transcendence, he would become even stronger. His base physique alone would rival all other Haggons, not to mention being able to wield Darlac properly.
Every horned ant had a pearl, that when digested raised his Darlac by one permanently. And some also had orbs in them that stimulated his body, causing his horn to grow faster and faster.
Soon, the guardian ants, those that had two horns, charged at him, intending to destroy him. But, he was unfazed, thrashing about, killing them each with a hit before swallowing them. For some, he directly tossed them into his mouth, chewing to kill them casually.
Finally, he broke into the nest, swatting away the worker ants as he grabbed hold of the ant queen and yanked it out, noticing that it had grown three horns. Opening its mouth, the ant queen unleashed a breath attack, noticing that it barely managed to scratch him, a wound that healed itself before the effect of the attack subsided.
Without even giving it the chance to attack again, Compass Carburettor swallowed it, causing crunching sounds as the ant queen was mashed into a paste.
Once he swallowed it, his Darlac reserves increased while a brand-new feeling enveloped him, causing a surge of information to gush into his mind, allowing him to understand the ability that his Haggon Form had obtained.
"Hahaha!" Upon digesting the information, he laughed aloud, 'It makes me wish to try it on a System Host immediately.'
