A crack resounded as Kai flicked his tail like a whip, cracking his neck.
The hairs were vanishing all around him, turning into tiny blue globules. Near him, lay pieces of a broken red skull and a dull red hairpin broken in two, which once could have glowed demonically. Not anymore.
Kai's chest heaved up and down as he took deep breaths.
This entire mission had cost him a vast supply of HP capsules given to him by Red Sun, the 9th-floor Contestant. From what Meg had told him, the HP Capsules restored 250 per pill. It was a ridiculous amount.
If a Contestant were to take the second HP/MP/SP capsule within a 3-hour window after taking the first capsule, then he would get only half the original amount the capsule would have restored after the Cooldown was over.
Despite this restriction, Kai could take two pills back to back without worrying about the loss of HP. The second HP capsule he had taken, to heal his charred self after the explosion, had given him only 125 HP, but it was still well over his HP.
Now, he only had 12 of these capsules left.
There was no other choice, Kai thought, consoling himself. I could have saved them if I had the time to do these things in a roundabout way. That would have taken much time, though. Using these HP capsules was the shortest and most effective way to get to the things I had planned without losing time.
When Kai shook off the drowsiness creeping over him, he looked at the notification.
…
[
Advance Slither Footsteps: Proficiency 2% (+2%)
Elementary Telekinesis: Proficiency 40% (+15%)
…
Your Kill Count is updated
Floor: 3 (1st Set)
Kill Count: (60/100)
]
…
Kai wasn't surprised to see the 15% boost in Elementary Telekinesis.
After jumping to the top of Hair Tower, he had forced this Ability beyond his limits, pushing against all objects to stabilize himself. Otherwise, without the ability to fly, he couldn't have used the Iron Tail with such precision in midair.
Kai neared the broken red hairpin then and lifted it.
It looked ordinary to him after breaking in two, but in the scant moment when his Iron Tail had broken it, he had felt the demonic aura hidden within it. Now only a holographic treasure chest hovered over it.
Kai stared at the treasure chest with greedy fascination.
2, that was his Luck value when he had started his journey. Not much time had passed since then. Some 3 months, to put a number. At this time, his Luck had risen to 5 with the help of Title, Coin Master. To gamble on Luck or not, had always been a question Kai asked himself at these times.
He could get some regeneration capsules, Explosive Kunais, or even the… Named Sword.
Cough! Kai smiled wryly. Too far. I have gone too far in wishing that.
Still, out of the six 4th-floor Contestants he had killed so far, he had only tried his luck out with Lee, getting the Beyblade, though without its Bit-beast. Nyra was the strongest Contestant he had fought so far and killed single-handedly. Now that Meg was his slave, she was but another Item in his arsenal. If he could store her in his Inventory, then he would have done so by now.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Let's do it! Kai nodded to himself, feeling a touch anxious.
The holographic key went into the treasure box. Then both the holographs disappeared, becoming shiny, golden blobs.
Kai instantly looked into his Inventory.
No smile. No frown. No emotion.
Behind him, the tail stopped flicking itself.
Kai took out the Item he had looted off Nyra's non-existent corpse and stared at it. Finally, he took a deep breath and…
… sighed.
*
*
From the corridor, Meg walked in, staggering, and blood seeping out from the corner of her mouth.
Even before she could speak, approaching the blue figure standing in front of her, her master threw something at her. She caught it instinctively. Then her eyes widened.
It was a plush hat, designed in the form of Pokemon, Pikachu. In the ordinary case, receiving such a thing from Kai would have already shocked her. It wasn't the ordinary case, though. Hovering over the plush's head were words in a dull-gray color.
It was an Item.
…
[
Item: Pikachu Plush Hat
Grade: Common
Specification: Super Soft Warm Hat. Wanna look cute? Put it on!
Requirement: A Head
Attributes: Not Applicable
Effect:
1. Charisma +3
2. Chance of encountering a wild Pikachu +3%
3. Chance of encountering an Electric-type wild Pokemon +7%
4. Chance of getting Ash's favor, when encountered, +10%
Skill: Cuteness Overload
Skill Effect:
1. Charisma +10
2. Active Time: 5 minutes
3. Cooldown: 15 minutes
4. MP Consumed: 10/activation
Warning: If the Contestant is already ugly, then the Skill can backfire or is subjected to failure
Quality: 76%
]
…
"For… me?" Meg stared at the Hat, then looked up at Kai, and then back at the Hat, a blush surfacing on her bloody face.
Standing opposite her, Kai frowned.
He had thrown the Item because it was useless, not as a reward. Tch! Whatever…
Kai looked to his left then. Now that the hair weren't coiling around it, forming a tower, he could see the machine entirely. Its structure and components matched what he had seen in the movie. It was surrounded by protective metal pillars which resembled thick iron fingers, clawing at it from the ground.
Kai adjusted his head to look towards the entrance.
The wall just by the corridor had gone, becoming rubble on the ground.
In one corner, the adult Latias whimpered, a distant fire threatening to lick its red feathers. Even from this distance, Kai could see a bluish frost over it, trying to compensate for the effects of the surrounding heat.
-She had a Named Sword,- Kai told Meg. -Crimson Mist, it was called. My Fangs lost 25% Proficiencies instantly.-
Meg looked up.
She had already put the Hat on. With her red hair to contract the yellowness of the Pikachu plush, she looked even more cute than Nyra had ever.
"Please repeat it," Meg said. "You spoke in Parseltongue."
Kai pressed his brows. He was so fucking tired he couldn't remember which language he had just used. Anyway, he repeated the words telepathically, the gem on his forehead pulsing red.
"Oh… that's reasonable," Meg said, approaching him, "If they hadn't, then it would have made little sense. I think the Named Sword was an Uncommon Item and of a level lower than your sabers, master. Otherwise, there's no way your Items would have lost only Proficiencies."
Kai imagined the worst, then. His Fangs shattering into black shards. -/Thank you,/- he said, frowning at Meg's bluntness.
Meg smiled, the sarcasm going over her head. "Thank you, master."
Kai's mouth twitched.
Only now he noticed the blood on her servant.
Meg had already served her purpose in his plans. As he didn't need her to be in full health anymore, Kai didn't waste an HP capsule on her.
-/Let's finish our missions then,/- he commented, going for the legendary Pokemon.
Though tired and dizzy, Kai still lifted the legendary Pokemon easily. He took it to the circular-marked area, following the scenes from the movie, and threw the Pokemon at its center.
-Selene,- Kai hissed. -Come out.-
A silver mass left the adult Latias and solidified into Selene's material form.
Kai frowned as he looked at her. She looked like a beautiful rope, but a rope, nonetheless. After coming out of Latias' body, she couldn't even lift her head, let alone slither. Kai crouched and picked her up in an embrace.
-You will have your food soon.- he hissed, not unkindly. -Remember to not die before showing me what you can become.-
Selene's tongue flicked out, kissing Kai's hand in reply.
The moment he left the circular-marked area, swirling rings appeared from the ground, taking the adult Latias high in the air.
From the ground, the entire setup looked like a gyroscope as the rings swirled around her. From the circular-marked region, many electric circuit type of lines were running to the DMA. Suddenly, the swirling rings picked up the pace, rotating faster and faster, until they became a blur.
The electric circuits lit up with a red ominous glow, then.
In the movie, these circuits absorbed Latias' power, using it to run the machine, Kai recalled.
True to those scenes, the protective metal pillars lifted off the machine with a booming mechanical noise and mystically disappeared into the ground. Kai approached the machine and placed the Soul Dew at the top of the designated holder.
The moment blue-twinkling Soul Dew got covered with a red shine, the entire machine thrummed.
The Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare had again come to life.
Only the devilish grin on Kai's face could tell what a nightmare it would bring this time.