บท 102: Chapter 41 - The Thrall
"Your swordsmanship sucks. Are you sure you are the Leader of the Devils in Kuoh Town?"
"New Leader, and if you are going to comment on my swordsmanship. Then how about telling me your name," Aransae broke the skeleton in front of him. Since his swordsmanship came from the skeletons, it was rough, and basically a few slashes. Many of them he couldn't perform since he wasn't a skeleton.
[You have defeated 50 Skeletons. You have regained Skeleton Mimicry.]
The girl removed the hood from her head, shaking her chin length blue hair as she nodded at him, "I am Xenovia Quarta."
"And I am Irina Shidou!" the chestnut-haired girl grinned, introducing herself.
"Aransae. She's Sona Sitri," Aransae wiped the sweat off his cheeks, turning his eyes towards the bridge that connected to the bigger section of the cave, "this is the bridge that connects to the Boss Area. You sure you want to come?"
Sona who was walking back towards them, after taking care of the last of the skeletons since a lot of Level 100 came out on the bridge, it was hard for Lower-Level Devils to take care of them all unless they were in above 250s.
Sona raised her eyebrows. She glanced towards him before looking at the two girls, 'That's what you are planning. But it won't work, Thrall isn't strong enough.'
"I would feel safe if you are there with me," Aransae watched the two of them with a smile. It was mainly the sword in their hands that made him feel good about them. It did give him a prickling feeling since he was a Devil, but still, his heart felt good, which was new to him.
"Alright. Fine. We are curious about these Bosses too," Xenovia scoffed, "if you can't kill it then I will."
"Oh, sure," Aransae walked in front of them. Now that the Bridge was clear, it would take some time before these Skeletons regenerate. Even the Regeneration he got from them did nothing but heal his broken bones faster. What took people months, he only needed a day. These skeletons were like that too. They submerged in the Dungeon Ground, and took a day to heal before they came out to attack, 'they are becoming more and more like real creature than just creatures born from my energy.'
The four of them made their way across the bridge and into the hall that was as big as the reception hall. There was a circular arena that attracted their attention. Sona made Aransae take a step back as she protectively stood in front of him, looking towards the coffin at the centre of the arena, "that's the Thrall."
"It is," Aransae curiously looked towards the coffin. He dodged Sona's hand before he stepped on the Arena. The moment his foot touched the area, the doors of the black coffin started opening and he felt nervous, waiting to see the creature that the Dungeon had prepared. It stood up at the centre, and it was wearing medieval clothes. His skin was pale white and there was a red glow in his eyes, "What is that!"
"Thrall," Sona nervously stood beside him. She didn't want the Thrall to get a first hit, but her focus broke when he held her shoulders, and started to shake her.
"No way! How can it be so low quality! What is with pale skin! It is totally white like someone painted him! And those eyes! How can they glow red! There is no emotion to that! Moreover, he looks middle-aged! No, old really! What is this, grandpa-fetish!"
"Uh…" Sona blankly looked at him, freaking out. She wasn't sure how to answer him. It was a monster. It was a thrall, but the way he was talking was like someone complaining about a painting or criticising the writing, 'maybe only God could do that…on this level…'
While that thought did cross her mind, she couldn't help smile, "It's rare to see master flustered about something."
"Oh, that," Aransae calmed down as fast as he went berserk, "I don't have memories…and my emotions are probably dead or buried so deep that I can't reach them. But…there are few things that make me feel. When I made the monsters, I did my work, I made them perfect, even handsome and you know…other stuff so women enjoy themselves. But that thing…it is like Dungeon is trampling the only thing I took pride in!"
"I can't let this continue! I will defeat it!!" Aransae glared towards the thrall, 'I was going to go easy on the Dungeon since it had been under my thumb for so long! But not if you start to act up!'
'That's like…the worst of the motivations,' Sona's mouth twitched. Her shoulders shivered as she held back her laughter, "Geez. Fine, go and defeat it. Be careful."
"Is everything alright with him?" Xenovia tilted her head to be next to Sona's ear as she whispered.
"Um…probably?"
Aransae slapped his cheeks, focusing his gaze on the thrall. He could feel his legs speed up to match with the speed of Thrall who was coming towards him. All the bosses were filled with overwhelming desires to win, to destroy, to own. That was the reason why they were Bosses in the first place. He felt the presence of the Boss was like a breeze, but for others, it wasn't that simple; they felt the crushing pressure of all those desires.
The moment they were reaching within the range, the thrall raised his arm to grab Aransae's face, who tried to move aside and dodge it when the Thrall moved his hand along with the direction of his face, grabbing it by his side and slamming it down on the ground, 'it's fast. And here I thought I could dodge it and slash him. It seemed easy in my mind...'
He slammed the hilt of his sword against the Thralls hand to get away from his grasp. He rolled away only to realise that the thrall's hand seemed to be like suction, not giving him any place. He had already let go of his sword, and if it wasn't for Sona who fired a water spell that staggered the thrall long enough to give him a little space.
"Hah, I really am bad at fighting," Aransae rubbed his cheek, 'No, now that I think about it. If I had turned into a bat, then I would have been able to escape and use the sonic scream to push this guy back. Inside my body are four sources of energy, magical power, which allows me to turn my imagination into spells. Nine tails chakra that enhances my all stats. Uchiha chakra that enhances perception and chakra that allows me to cover my body with a defensive barrier of a kind...still, I lack the mastery needed to use them.'
The thrall was cautious of Sona, which gave Aransae enough time to think but seeing that she wasn't acting again, it decided to lunge for Aransae whose body seemed to be swirl from all ends, like he was merging at the centre of his being and black currents appeared, vividly portraying the transformation of space and matter. He flew out of the singular point using the bat wings to gain distance between him and thrall. But the thrall still didn't let go.
It bent its knees to jump after him, reaching out for the bat who opened its mouth and let out a sonic scream which sent the thrall's body flying across the air and crashing into the arena. The bat turned back into Aransae, who brought out his Devil Wings to float, seeing the dust clear. He was about to use a magic when, 'Can I do that?'
He reverted to his bat form, feeling the magic energy fill him, and a magic circle appeared in front of his mouth. He could feel the senses of the thrall over his body, 'this is my only chance.'
SCREEECCCCCCCCCCH
He unleashed a deafening, primal scream that the magic circle enhanced with his magic power. It reverberated through the air. The sound carried by magical force caused the air it touched to explode. The ground shook, the smoke and dust cleared and the body of the thrall felt the sheer impact from the scream caused its body to tremble, bones to shatter, heart to burst, brain to melt, and its body turned into colourless mist. It divided into two, largely going into Aransae while a tiny portion went into Sona.
[You defeated Thrall. Your Skill Regain has activated. You Regained Heightened Senses (D).]
[Regeneration (E) -> Regeneration (C)]
[You regained Hypnotic Charm (D)]
[You have Levelled Up – 599 -> 603]
[You have reached the Limit of Proficiency in Regain.]
[Regain (D) -> Regain (C)]
[Bat Mimicry (D) is reacting to Thralls Powers. Bat Mimicry has Upgraded to Rank C]
[Sonic Scream (E) is reacting to Bat Mimicry C. Sonic Scream Has Upgraded to Rank C]
"That was easy!" Aransae kept staring at the place where Thralls body was.
"Say that when you are not more than 200 Levels above your opponent," Sona hugged him from behind. He happily scratched his cheek.
[You have Defeated the Boss of First Floor. Would you like to Challenge Floor Master and Regain First Floor.]
"Hm," Aransae placed his palm on Sona's, nodding, "I would like to challenge Floor Master, Rias Gremory."
"And I accept," Rias's voice rang out in the Boss Room, before the door of the hidden area opened right in front of Aransae's eyes, and Rias walked out. He could see something shining behind Rias, on the floor, like a magic circle. It was clearly the teleportation circle for the Floor Master.
"Then Master, are you ready to defeat me," Rias raised her eyebrows, looking at him with keen eyes, "Once you lose. I get to do whatever I wish with you."
"Then, Rias, give me the First Floor and in turn, you can do whatever you want for the next week," Aransae watched her with shining eyes. He didn't know what it was. Maybe this was what happened to be when they were affected by the adrenaline. Right now, his mind wasn't on this place.
He was thinking of what next. He needed to cut down few things, the extra stuff, and prepare something. For that, he needed Dungeon's Power.
Rias knelt down in front of him, gently bringing the back of his palm to her lips, "Very well. Master. Seeing you so excited about something…that alone is enough."
[You Have Regained the First Floor.]
'Good,' Aransae closed his eyes, 'I didn't want to regain the First Floor so soon…but with this…I can do it. I can make another vessel.'
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