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88.88% Genshin: The Serenity System / Chapter 96: Big bag frog [4]

Capítulo 96: Big bag frog [4]

Lumine looked on to the battlefield, still slightly dazed from the horrific thundering explosion that occurred not too long ago.

Protected by Zhongli's shield, she looked at the figure of Azhdaha and saw that it was still standing despite the heavy blows Isaac and the others had dealt with it.

'What a monster.'

Holding her Dull Blade, she was just about to lunge into battle when someone held her back, preventing her from running to the scene.

"Now's not the time."

Turning her head, she noticed that Xiao, the Adeptus she had met recently, was beside her wearing his mask.

She knew him— after all, he was one of the Adepti that she needed to persuade to defend Liyue. He was also the one who fought alongside her during the battle with Osial.

Xiao's mask, which evokes a sense of dread, had naturally left an impression on her. It made it easy for her to recognize the eccentric Adeptus.

She then asked.

"What's going on? What was that attack just now? And what are you all doing here?"

She was relieved that people were helping her fight the behemoth, yes, but it still boggled her mind why they were here. As for how they were here, she managed to deduce that it was Isaac's doing since it was no secret that he can invite people across different nations to his cafe no matter the distance.

Xiao, still wearing his mask, turned to her and responded.

"Isaac..." He paused and lingered for a bit before sighing. "...Hanged Man... wanted to give each of us a special day as he put it. As such, he arranged this... field trip."

The Yaksha was still reluctant to use the codenames insisted by the other members of the club, it seems. Lumine somehow managed to notice this, of all things.

Tilting her head slightly, words preceded her for a moment.

"So... Hanged Man and the others... just wanted to go out and fight an ancient dragon? That's... one grandiose field trip of yours."

He shook his head, his expression remaining unknown beneath his mask.

"Let's not mind that for now. How are you doing, Traveler?"

Lumine heaved a brittle sigh.

"I'm doing fine. To be honest, I didn't even know if I would win if I fought that dragon on my own..."

She then added. "Well, it's great that I had someone shielding me."

Xiao looked at her and observed the shield surrounding her. Then, his gaze shifted and looked at the man not far from them.

Zhongli, who had been watching the events unfold since earlier, strangely remained calm and neutral the entire time. His deep amber eyes danced around the battlefield and watched the fight with a serious expression.

Noticing the Yaksha's stare, he then turned and looked back at him.

For a moment, silence descended upon the two. The demonic warrior and the refined gentleman... just looked at each other in silence.

Lumine noticed the strange stare between the two of them and immediately pieced together what was happening.

'Right... The Geo Archon, Morax, should have presumedly died. However, a barrier that contained the power of the Lord of Geo is here of all places...'

Lumine knew that the Adepti of Liyue never truly accepted the death of their lord. Some clung to the idea that the Lord of Geo had just decided to go incognito, while some respected his wishes to disappear.

As for Xiao...

Seeing that unmistakable power and aura could not bring more joy to his person.

"I..."

Xiao was just about to say something when Zhongli suddenly stopped him with a shake of his head.

"Now is not the time. Let us discuss this later."

"...yes..."

Truly, the Conqueror of Demons had never once betrayed his loyalty to his lord. For as long as Liyue stands, the solitary demon would continue to purify the lands of defilement and honor his contract to his lord.

However, Zhongli was not finished. He looked back to the battlefield, his deep amber eyes piercing through the smoke, and spoke.

"It seems like your friend— the Hanged Man as you call him— is about to do something."

Following Zhongli's words, both Lumine and Xiao looked back to the ongoing battle.

Then, they saw a figure running up to the behemoth.

Lumine squinted her eyes, trying to comprehend what Isaac was doing.

"He can't... be thinking of facing it head on, right? I don't think that would be wise..."

Well, wise would be the last thing Isaac would describe himself— so he can't blame her.

From their point of view, he seemed to be truly wanting to fight the ancient dragon head on.

---

The fierce and majestic stone body of the colossal dragon shifted, and its crimson eyes narrowed down to the group of people scattered all around it.

After the destructive attack that they had just unleashed upon it, suffice to say, it was enraged.

The madness writhing inside its eyes burned with malice. As an ancient dragon that had witnessed a vast expanse of history, Azhdaha's wisdom persisted even in his maddened state.

It knew that it would only continue to be limited by the seal that still lingered on its being. As such, to dominate and end the fight once and for all, the stone dragon prepared to unleash another devastating attack.

It shifted its body, causing massive tremors and causing yet another rain of debris to the unfortunate people below it. But Azhdaha did not care.

"Let us see, Morax... See who shall prevail to the very end!"

With those words full of indescribable agony and loathing, the demented stone dragon once more dug underground. But this time, it did not attempt to move around the battlefield.

Azhdaha wanted to control it.

After digging underground, Azhdaha buried itself and left only its massive stone tail that resembled a tree on top. Then, that tree started shuddering.

- Hum...

Suddenly, a throbbing low hum started buzzing around the cavernous space, as if the air itself was vibrating. Along with it were the sudden influx of elemental energy that was gathering and concentrating where Azhdaha had dug itself.

They entered the tail and condensed inside, forming elemental crystals on the surface of the stone hide. The colors shifted before landing on one element— Electro.

The first phase of Azhdaha's attacks was already done. This time, he was now more serious.

It was now the second phase.

---

Nahida watched the stone dragon once more prepare another attack. Her opulent green eyes shifted to the other two beside her.

"You two, stay inside my shield. It should be enough to keep us safe for now."

Yae Miko hummed.

"So what's the next step? Did we not anticipate this kind of attack too?"

Nahida nodded.

"Yes— it's just as Isaac had predicted. Azhdaha would now be unleashing powerful attacks while hiding its body underground... Leaving it stationary and vulnerable."

Klee took out another bomb from her backpack. This time, it was not as big as the one she had detonated earlier.

"Do I need to throw another one, Nahida?"

The white-haired elf shook her head.

"There's no need. We've already done our part... Err... Shredding the first phase, as Isaac would put it. Now, we just need to wait for Isaac, Xiao, and Lumine to finish it."

Isaac had given as much information as he could do the little radish to make sure she has a great idea of the battle. Sure enough, having a well-informed strategist was a great boon to any group.

Nahida then continued, a worried expression creeping up her face.

"As for us... we just need to wait and hope that they won't be too seriously injured."

The Inazuman envoy sighed.

"So we're reduced to a response team now? How... Dull."

"Hehe, yes. But let's just put our trust in them for now."

Looking back at the battle where three figures were rushing to Azhdaha, Nahida's eyes glistened.

'Please be safe...'

---

'I'm damn sure I won't be safe after this.'

Running towards Azhdaha, Isaac silently grimaced. In a moment of impulse, he decided to commence an attack that even he had never done before.

Looking at the buried dragon that had its tail protruding out, he silently cursed under his breath.

'I must have gone mad.'

Thinking logically, perhaps he had. After all, he had been using his most nefarious skill, [Evernight], to subdue and control large forces of Fontaine's underworld. He wasn't using the skill to its true potential and was only using its subsidiary effects, but still, he was still being tainted by its adverse effects— and these adverse effects show up in various ways.

However, he often finds himself having emotional fluctuations, subtly or sharply changing in an instant. He was positive that if he were to use the skill to its true potential again, he would once more pass out— or worse, turn demented.

Looking at his vision and his skill, he sighed.

"What a ludicrous plan..."

Indeed it was.

Isaac noticed something peculiar about the effects and side effects of [Evernight] that got him curious as of late. It took him a while to figure it out, but the reason he was experiencing adverse side effects was because the lingering effects of the skill was still present in his body.

In other words, some sort of corruption from the skill itself was tainting him, causing various adverse effects. The only thing stopping that corruption from fully growing is, unsurprisingly, the system.

And whatever that corruption was... It was wild and ravenous, like a dark unrelenting beast.

So Isaac had a thought:

What if he fused his skill with his vision?

It was an illogical thought. He shouldn't have even thought about it. But something about it just seems to... makes sense.

And he wanted to test that theory now.

Looking at Azhdaha, who was about to unleash what seemed like a wide area-of-effect attack, Isaac hesitated for a moment before concentrating on his vision.

'Darn it. Let's just do it.'

He was once more gambling.

Manipulating elemental energy, he commanded his Dendro vision. Wild vines sprouted from the ground and latched on to his arm, twisting and enveloping them, turning to makeshift gauntlets.

Then, he lingered for a bit, before activating his [Evernight] skill. Of course, he didn't activate all of its effects but merely one specific authority— Darkness.

It was the very same authority that allowed him to manipulate the darkness around him.

The skill descended on his person, causing him to view the darkness around him in a clearer sight.

...additionally, the darkness hidden in the depths of his deep amber eyes got darker.

Isaac didn't waste time and redirected the darkness to his arms, infusing them to the vines.

There was no reaction for a few moments, but then the vines started convulsing erratically. Tightly latched on to Isaac's arms, the wild vines started writhing as the darkness spread in them, corrupting and transforming them. They continued to convulse before starting to slither like worms.

The wild vines then started changing in appearance. Previously, they were brown in color, but as the darkness spread through them, they became much darker. Some even strangely started to rapidly sprout leaves on top of them. Dark green leaves sprout sporadically along the vines, trembling as they feed off the mysterious dark energy that runs through them

The vines continued to slither around his arm up to his shoulders, forming a shell of dark-brown vines and flora coiling his arms.

But the most significant change of all was on the tips of the arms.

Situated at the very end of his hands were long, slender claw-like extensions. Unlike the brown vines, they were as dark as the night sky— forming what seemed like sharp dark blades.

...they almost seemed like the sharp claws of a wolf— or rather, a demonic wolf.

Looking at his grotesque yet powerful arms, a wry smirk appeared on Isaac's face.

'...Ha, it worked?!'

He had expected that it would have ended up in failure— but to his surprise, his insane experiment actually worked!

As he ran up to Azhdaha, a dark grin appeared on his face. Empowered by this new profound power, coupled with the experience of the First Hunter that is suited for direct confrontations, he couldn't help but feel confident of his victory.

But he knew he could only maintain this for a short time. As such, he needs to act fast.

It was time to beat that darn big frog.


Capítulo 97: Big bag frog [5]

Isaac, carrying his newly transformed grotesque amalgamation of an arm, ran towards the massive tail of the stone dragon.

Azhdaha's body was currently buried, leaving only its tail exposed. For Isaac, such an arrangement couldn't have been more suitable.

Of course, if not for the fact that the tail was also retaliating.

The massive stone tail which had elemental shards growing on it swayed, causing a great tremor, and what came with it was another attack.

Electro energy condensed above, and, shortly after, struck down the ants trying to approach the tail.

'Darn it.'

Seeing this, Isaac quickly outstretched his demonic plant arm above his head while continuing his sprint.

- Boom!

A loud thunder crackled, and a concentrated force of destruction struck down on the general area around Isaac. The deep, purple color of the lightning rushing down on him made Isaac scowl. None of them managed to hit them directly, but it was still unnerving seeing lightning bolts be struck right next to you.

His eyes then shifted and saw two other people similar to him who were dashing towards the tail.

Lumine, enclosed in an amber shield conjured by Zhongli, was carrying her trusty Dull Blade as she ran up to challenge the stone dragon. Elements gathered and crackled around her, mainly consisting of Anemo and Geo, and coalesced in her sword.

On the other hand, the demonic Yaksha, Xiao, had long since appeared near Azhdaha's body. His fierce and swift moves struck the stone tail with his jade polearm, however, he was more exposed to the raining Electro cast by the behemoth. As a result, he was unable to repeatedly strike it.

Currently, the three of them were the only ones fighting Azhdaha.

'What a lovely trio.'

Seeing how close he is to the tail, Isaac dodged another lightning bolt before swiftly lunging forward, carrying his deformed floral arm.

Surprisingly, the arm wasn't quite hard to carry. In fact, it was as if the shifting worm-like vines were assisting Isaac with movement, making it easier to control. In just a second or two, Isaac had already managed to familiarize himself with it.

Seeing the stone tail in front of him, Isaac didn't waste time and immediately outstretched his arm, its claw-like extensions moving forward with a sharp lethality.

He jumped up for momentum, and, with a hard push, pierced the tail.

The deep black claws were not met with any kind of resistance. As they made contact with the stone hide of the behemoth, they just slid in like a knife in butter. Sensing this, Isaac didn't stop and buried it further, intending to inflict as much damage as possible.

He grunted, and, with an explosive display of movement, glided his sharp dark claws across a wide area of the stone behemoth's body.

'How's that, you darn frog?!'

Of course, despite his successful attack, Isaac didn't linger near the tail and immediately backed away with a dark smile on his face.

- Bang!

On the other side of the tail, Lumine struck the tail with her sword. Infused with Anemo and Geo, the strike's force was amplified, causing a long streak of fracture on the tail's surface.

Xiao, meanwhile, appeared on top of the tail before plunging down with his polearm aiming down. The moment his polearm touched the ground, various sharp teal spikes emerged from the ground struck the tail.

Not wanting to be left behind by the other two, Isaac didn't hesitate to continue attacking the tail while simultaneously dodging the raining lightning bolts.

He carried his arm and repeatedly pierced the lower sections of the tail, causing great dark streaks to appear all over. Isaac didn't know if Azhdaha bleeds red, but if it did, it would surely be doing it now.

Those sharp dark claws, coupled with the enhancement of the vines acting as pseudo-muscles, all managed to seep deep into the tail, infusing the inside with a strange relentless darkness.

- Hum!

The stone tail shuddered erratically as it desperately gathered more and more elemental energy to summon lightning bolts. Deep beneath the Earth, an unknown vibration reached the surface— which Isaac could only guess as Azhdaha screaming again.

What a loud frog it was.

As Isaac continued to injure Azhdaha as much as possible, two simultaneous lightning bolts suddenly caught him in surprise, striking directly on him.

Isaac's hair stood up, a sign of his instincts telling him to quickly dodge, but he could only do much with human limitations. He did not manage to dodge in time.

'Darn it...'

He grimaced, imagining himself turning to an electrocuted pile soon. Closing his eyes, he prepared himself.

However, that imagination did not come into fruition. Because at the next moment, when he opened his eyes, he saw his grotesque floral arm covering his head.

Vibrant purple electric sparks danced on top of the arm, seemingly disappearing— or rather devoured— into nothingness by the darkness hidden inside all those slithering vines.

'...I might have underestimated your durability...'

Previously, he just thought that the arm would give him pure offensive capabilities. He didn't think that it could also be highly durable!

Seeing his new transformation in a new light, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. However, that was only for a moment as he swiftly blended back to the fight.

He, together with the other members of the club, fought the buried stone dragon from all sides, focused on defeating as fast as possible. But of course, Azhdaha could not just stand and let that happen— so it became more and more desperate with its attacks.

Fortunately, all of them were either agile or durable enough to dodge all of the attacks. Xiao was the former, while Lumine and Isaac were the latter.

In the middle of the fight, however, Isaac started to notice something.

As his sharp claws dug deep into the stone tail of the behemoth, he could subtly feel the enraged agony of the stone dragon in clarity. The unbearable torment of being attacked while one's mind was being grinded to dust where only madness could manifest...

It was all making Isaac... want to cause it more pain.

'Not so tough now, are you?'

Isaac's dark smile widened as his movement got faster. The slithering vines coiling his arms moved and contracted, assisting their master by amplifying each of his strikes delivered to the claws.

He felt elated— his body never felt so light and powerful before. Each strike was like quenching his thirst and replenishing his stamina, driving him to continuously attack the creature with escalating vicious voracity.

It was as if every time the dark claws entered, they took something from the dragon and gave it to Isaac to empower him, repeating a cycle of enhancement. And the more the dragon felt agony, the more empowered Isaac felt.

He could feel the tail shiver. He felt the ground shudder! He could see the behemoth cry in agony!

'I'm doing it! I'm defeating it!'

So far, Isaac has only fought fellow humans. He had never fought something far more powerful and achieved victory. As such, the thrill of killing an ancient beast enthralled him to pursue such an achievement as fast as possible.

Before he knew it, a wide smile befitting of a foolish lunatic appeared on his face. Each and every push of his dark claws that seeped deep into the dragon brought him an unimaginable joy.

At some point, even the darkness hidden at the center of his deep amber eyes became much darker— much like an onyx.

But at some point, he felt that it wasn't enough.

'The heart... I need to aim for the heart!'

His crazed eyes darted with a vicious hunger, setting his sight into the ground. But he knew he couldn't get to the main body just by digging. As such, his only way to get to the heart of such a behemoth is...

'...through the body.'

He wanted to dig his way from the bottom to the top... Or the top to the bottom.

Whatever it was, he needed to enter Azhdaha's bottom.

As a pragmatist, he believed that it was the fastest way to victory.

With this thought in mind, Isaac stopped clawing the stone tail and quickly jumped up to the tail, climbing it to the peak.

His grotesque arm slithered and outstretched as he grabbed on to the tail using his claws, making his ascent faster. Some elemental shards would obstruct him from time to time, but he would just punch his way through them.

He felt powerful... So why not take advantage of it?

Reaching the very top of the tail, Isaac observed the beautiful shade of purple on the branches of the tree-like tail for a moment. Calming purple shades of leaves inhabited the end of the behemoth's tail, a complete contrast to its personality.

'...poetic.'

He then noticed that Lumine and Xiao haven't followed him, but it didn't bother him one bit. It just means that he could get a head start.

Isaac lingered for a moment before turning his attention away. Suddenly, his ears perked up as he heard a sound.

"...sac! ...nses! ...op it!"

"...ome back!"

Isaac squinted and looked around him at the top of the tail but couldn't find anything or anyone that could have made such sounds. Were the voices all in his head?

...was he turning to a schizo?

Shaking his head, Isaac scowled.

'Darn it... Are the adverse effects already affecting me?'

'That can't be good. I need to kill this thing now if I don't want to be tainted more with that corruption...'

He shuddered a bit at the thought of becoming a raving lunatic under the influence of the [Evernight] skill.

He had seen the outcomes of being exposed to the corruptive force of the [Evernight] skill before. Once exposed, humans would immediately degenerate to lunatics who only know nothing but to seek blood and destruction.

How could he allow himself to be one?

"Right... So I need to finish this. Here... And now!"

Lifting his grotesque slithering arm, Isaac struck down the tail of the behemoth with full force. As he did so, the slithering vines that contained the corruptive darkness seemed to have grown past his shoulder and were about to wrap around his chest...

When suddenly, a hand grabbed on to his right shoulder, spreading an unknown warmth around his body.

"Let's stop here."

Exasperated at how someone stopped him from continuing his hunt, Isaac grimaced.

Wait... Hunt?

Suddenly, Isaac's eyes widened as a sense of dread gripped his heart. His pulse quickened as beads of sweet formed on the surface of his face. His breath got shorter as he quickly grasped for air.

Torrents of information entered his mind, and various scenes played. He was suddenly remembering memories of not giving in to the senseless bloodlust of the Hunt, for doing so would just make him no different from a beast.

His body shuddered as mysterious memories that weren't his own flooded his mind. Yes, they were the memories of the First Hunter he had inherited.

The core principle of hunters that differentiated them from the beasts they hunted was, and will always be...

To fear the blood.

Suddenly, a sickening dark mist that clouded Isaac's judgments cleared up. At that moment, Isaac recalled what he had been doing just recently.

- Thud...

"Hieck..."

He fell to his knees as he grasped for his chest, breathing heavily as his body shivered in horror. What followed was a familiar migraine headache that Isaac had greatly detested— one that he knew too well.

'I... I lost myself...'

The grotesque floral arm that was coiled up in Isaac's arm fell to the ground in front of him, its dark corruptive power seemingly dissipating into oblivion. It seems that the effects of the skill had worn off just in time.

Without the nourishment of the dark power, the slithering thorns quickly convulsed before dying swiftly. Even the flowers that grew on top withered.

"Take a moment to calm down and control your breathing, and do not fall unconscious."

Once more, the warm voice comforted him.

Isaac didn't even need to turn around to recognize who was talking to him. Just from the mannerism and tone of his voice, Isaac already knew that it was the elusive consultant, Zhongli.

A throbbing migraine headache ravaged his head, but Isaac did his best to remain composed.

As he gazed down, Isaac managed to get a glimpse of his smooth brass revolver, its shiny reflection showing his face.

In that reflection of his...

All he saw was the face of that hypocritical clown.


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