章 55: 55 Phoenix's Challenge: Proving Strength for a Noble Contract. Immortality vs Immortality.
Kouske's POV
"Sure! Then we will fight when the coin drops on the floor," I said as I flipped a coin.
We were already in the slime dungeon, so there was no need to worry about anything. It might be a tough fight as she's Ultimate Class while I am only High Class in power. But unlike the time with the disgusting monkey, I am far stronger than that time.
When the coin touched the ground, she was already standing in front of me, leaving behind a gust of wind in a straight line from where she was before. This was not surprising at all, as I have come to realize just how fast Ultimate Class beings can be after my fight with the monkey. I might not be able to keep up with her speed.
"Did that scare you a bit?" she said with a smirk(?) on her face.
Swiftly retreating, I increased the distance and unleashed Senbonzakura. The petals emitted a crisp sound, burning upon contact. They gathered, forming a swirling hurricane, rushing towards her.
Without attempting to dodge, she confronted it headfirst, employing her Frostfire Fusion skill. A cold, blue fire emerged, freezing the entire hurricane. Every flaming petal became encased in a blue fire, devouring my own. Damn! The contrast was striking!
"Were those blazing flower petals? At least they looked aesthetic," she commented.
Undeterred, I leaped in front of her with my Night Sky Blade in hand. Employing cloud steps to move unpredictably, I aimed to confuse her as I steadily closed the distance.
I slashed at her with my blade, but she formed a blue-blazing sword, blocking my attack. Her sword started freezing mine.
"You know, I might be a phoenix, but I do not like to get hurt unnecessarily," she remarked calmly.
At that moment, multiple swords and lances, enchanted with a pain multiplier, along with a paralyzer coated in my cursed flames, materialized behind her. They struck her unguarded back, and she wore a shocked and pained expression as she caught sight of me smirking.
"Aaarghh!"
Swiftly dodging the others, she kicked me away. However, the relentless pursuit of swords and lances continued, and she felt the gravitational force pulling her toward the ground. Despite the pressure, she stood tall, resisting being pushed down. The ones already in her body pushed even deeper, rotating and boring several holes, eliciting groans of severe pain as her flesh and blood made a scene of gore.
"Uggh!"
Quickly extracting the weapons, her heavy wounds rapidly healed. Creating icy blades enveloped in blue flames, she struck them towards me almost instantly, hitting my chest. With unconcealed fury in her eyes, she replicated what I did to her. The blades bored holes in my body as they rotated, but she aimed at non-lethal parts, mainly targeting my limbs, probably not to kill me.
Trapped in an icy flame encasing my whole body, I couldn't even react to her attack. Only my head remained outside the frozen inferno, and I experienced a strange sensation—a mix of fire burns and ice burns, far more intense than either alone. The pain was overwhelming, and I groaned, futilely attempting to escape the relentless grip of the icy flames.
"You really have no delicacy, huh? Doing such horrible things to a young lady such as me isn't cool at all," she said with unconcealed contempt.
Referring to herself as a young and beautiful lady seemed a bit strange, considering her current form as a burning and icy phoenix. It would have been more convincing if she had taken a humanoid form, if she even had any.
"Did you just think of something rude about me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, and I felt the intensity of her flame(?), ice(?) becoming even stronger!
"N-no! Nothing at all!" I replied, sweatdropping.
Damn! Women and their intuitions!
*sigh*
"Just surrender now. The fight is already over. You might die if you don't get treated soon. I might not form a contract with you, but I will at least heal you before leaving, considering you managed to summon me from the spirit realm, relieving my boredom," she replied haughtily once again.
Surprised, she looked at me, noticing there were no wounds on my body.
"Wh-what!? Where are your wounds? I definitely saw you taking heavy damage from my attacks! How did they heal so quickly? I didn't even see you using anything," she exclaimed, clearly surprised.
"I am also immortal, you know. I can still keep going. So the fight is not over yet," I replied, smirking and surprising her.
Suddenly, many weapons with the same pain multiplier and paralyzer, encased in my cursed flames, emerged. As she tried to quickly dodge, I had already trapped her feet into the ground with Earth Manipulation and used vines to hold her in place. Simultaneously, I employed Gravity Manipulation, pulling her hard into the ground. She fought to stand still, resisting the force that threatened to make her half-crouched as she struggled not to fall flat on the ground.
"And I can still use magic even in this state!" I declared, launching an attack towards her.
"Uggh!"
My weapons attacked her, and I also unleashed numerous elemental magics, causing her severe pain. After a while, she brute-forced her way out of it all and ascended into the sky. Despite attempting to maneuver strategically from the sky, the paralyzer and my Gravity Manipulation continued to affect her.
Parts of her body went numb, and although her immortality fought against it, the process of returning to normal took time, especially with my cursed flames encasing her. She relentlessly attacked me while I remained trapped.
Throughout, I struggled to break free, utilizing Absorption Lines alongside the cursive nature of my flames. But as they were being devoured by her Frostfire, it significantly slowed down the process.
After enduring a barrage of attacks and using my own magics and fire, I broke free from the bind. We engaged in a relentless exchange of magics, heating the ground, and transforming it into magma as our powers clashed. She attacked from the sky while I retaliated from the ground. The clash devastated the surroundings, but hers proved several times stronger, overpowering my assault. The attack enveloped me, and many parts of my body disintegrated in the process.
Seizing the moment, I attacked her unguarded back with my weapons as the magic subsided. My body fully regenerated, as if there had never been any damage at all. Similarly, she was also in perfect shape, having regenerated from the previous onslaught.
Fighting people with immortality does seem like a pain. While my cursed flames could potentially damage the souls of those with only body regeneration, she proved far stronger than me, making it less effective. Unlike the fake phoenixes from the Phenex Clan, she appeared to possess even some level of soul-regenerating powers. Otherwise, my cursed flames would have severely weakened her soul by now. I also noticed a scowl on her face, realizing that my own regeneration was also a challenge, allowing me to bounce back from any harm as if nothing happened.
"Are you really human?! How come you have such strong regeneration? What is this power?" she asked, tension evident in her voice.
In response, I launched another attack, and the cycle repeated. The landscape had transformed entirely, erasing the lush greenery and the scared little slimes that once hid. Now, only a scorching, hot magma-filled landscape remained, emanating coldness from certain parts. As the fight continued, her movements slowed down due to the constant barrage of paralyzer weapons, while I felt my mana depleting. Between us, I clearly had the lower mana level, creating a challenging situation. She recognized this, and though I wouldn't die even without mana, the pain with each attack became increasingly severe and really painful.
Finally, I employed Time Magic, as ashen-colored spheres with spiraling rings inscribed with ancient runes appeared, freezing her in time with my Chronos Lock spell. I sighed in relief. The fight had been exhilarating, but there was no need to kill each other, especially considering the devastation we had caused. Our clash had obliterated the entire forest and the adjacent riverbed. This was the longest and hardest I have ever fought.
Was this the power of Ultimate Class beings? Yet, even Satan Class beings, stronger as they are, become mere mobs later in the series.
Obviously, I couldn't find any of the terrified slimes, having heard their screams at some point during the fight. Unfortunately, those poor creatures must have disintegrated fully. At least those in the distant area and underground/underwater are safe. Their numbers will be refilled eventually, and the place will return to normal. I shrugged it off, but we needed to stop the fight.
I stepped in front of her and unsealed her from my Chronos Lock spell. A surprised expression crossed her face as she suddenly saw me in front of her, ready to launch an attack. However, I lifted both my hands to show my unwillingness to fight, and she halted her impending attack.
"What?!" she asks, confused.
"I think we've caused enough destruction, don't you?" I responded, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Let's just stop. We have been fighting for hours and it's not getting us anywhere."
"Why?! I was on the verge of winning," she exclaimed.
"No! You weren't!" I responded.
*sigh*
"Let's just call it a draw and leave it at that. We have been at it for hours. We don't have to kill each other," I suggested.
She appeared inclined to complain but eventually complied.
"OK," she relented.
"I will also form a contract with you. You seem interesting enough," she replied.
I was a bit surprised. I thought I would have to coax her more.
"Then, let's initiate the contract," I said as the familiar blue magic circle lit up, and we established a 50-50 contract.
Then, I explained a bit about my power—how each of us could gain one of our abilities and its additional functions, such as telepathy and location tracking.
"Oh? You really are unusual. Well, let's save this for another time. I'll head back for today and inform my parents. Goodbye."
She mentioned this as she teleported back to the spirit realm, where all my spirit contracts are supposed to originate. Even Hawks is from that realm and resides there.
"W-wait!" I exclaimed, but she was already gone.
*sigh*
Well, she's still a teenager, judging by her age in human terms, and she must have just been excited to share the news with her parents, I hope.
"Guess, I'll also head back home," I said as I turned back into my younger self.
"How did it go, Kouske-sama?" asked Sakuya as I teleported into the hallway.
"It went well. I was able to make a contract with an Ultimate Class Phoenix," I replied.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, surprised.
"It's good then. Wash up, and I will bring you some pie," she said.
It seemed Sakuya had made a pie with a variety of fresh fruits from the Demiplane.
"Ok."
After a while, I enjoyed a delicious pie alongside Lavinia and Sakuya, trying to forget the pain and suffering from the long battle. The pie was actually addicting. Soon, I would need to devise a plan to initiate business using products from the Demiplane within the supernatural.
At times like this, I was happy that I had already changed into the exact same clothes as in the dungeon. Keeping similar clothes is always handy, as it helped me avoid causing Sakuya and Lavinia any worries... or so I had thought.
Later on, Sakuya found that a set of my usual clothes was missing and somehow discovered the details of the fight. And I don't even know how she came to that conclusion. Well, it probably served as proof of her suspicion when I told both of them to not enter the Slime Dungeon today. Afterward, she actually lectured me for an entire hour. Damn! Maids are scary and hella efficient!
[Author's Note: What did you think of the chapter? Feel free to share your thoughts, leave a review, and even drop some power stones. Add it to your collection if you enjoyed it. I'm open to constructive critiques that help me improve and grow as a writer, so don't hesitate to provide feedback. Thank you for reading!
How was the fight? I am open to any suggestions to do better.
If Kouske ever goes to the world of Solo Leveling, I most likely will make him the Frost Monarch.
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