The Crystal Maiden’s first attack was a clumsy and relatively slow one, but the sheer scale of it meant its actual velocity was nothing to sneeze at. Still, the dungeon master’s taunting and long wind-up had given Boxxy and its posse more than enough time to dodge. They all employed the age-old method of running the fuck away, aside from Xera who activated her Mist Form just in case.
The massive warhammer smashed against the ground, kicking up a huge amount of wind, dirt and snow as it made a wedge-like crater in the perfectly flat courtyard. It missed entirely since the invading party had scattered in all directions, but the strike had a secondary effect. A series of ice-like crystal spikes of all shapes erupted from the ground and pierced through everything within 5 meters.
Your body has been skewered all the way through. HP -1,603.
Boxxy was caught up in the unexpected attack and was run through from below. Kora and Ambrosia also got caught up in it, but this much wasn’t enough to kill them. One was an Archfiend that was literally too stubborn to die, while the other was an ancient being inhabiting a body made up entirely of Ironbark. Not to mention they both had the Earth Affinity Skill, which greatly reduced the damage from the weapon’s earth-attuned magical aftershocks. In the end, the spikes didn’t so much skewer them as lift them up in the air. As for Xera, the djinn was left completely untouched since physical objects had no chance of harming a puff of smoke.
It was evident the dungeon master would need to try a lot harder if she hoped to wipe out this particular bunch.
And she was well aware of that fact, if the way she was preparing for another swing was any indication. The chest-shaped Mimic quickly shapeshifted itself out of the shiny spike it had been impaled on and dodged the second strike by putting in a lot more effort. It avoided the ‘splash’ damage completely by outrunning it. As expected, the dungeon master had aimed at the clear leader of the group, which meant her attack was nowhere near the others.
The former succubus had used this opportunity to call down a Meteor on top of the Crystal Maiden. It was the ideal Spell to use against stationary targets like castles, even walking ones. Kora, on the other hand, had broken off six of the crystalline needles left behind by the golem’s attack and hurled them towards it. The combination of her absurd muscle power and her Level 10 Projectile Mastery Skill made them hurtle through the air as if they were missiles or oversized arrows. The spriggan also joined in, unleashing slicing winds against the mostly stationary target.
However, all of these potentially destructive attacks were nullified by the transparent barrier that surrounded the titanic construct. Person-sized golems were still pouring out from her insides, and each one contributed their own magic to the Crystal Maiden’s defenses. Their numbers didn’t climb too high though, as a small number of them fell off every time their fortress moved around. This effectively took them out of the fight since they would either break on impact with the ground, be trampled beneath the feet of their ‘mother,’ or charge at one of the invaders and be smashed to dust in no time flat.
The stalemate thus continued for another six or seven minutes, with neither side able to gain any sort of advantage over the other. Thankfully the deformities in the terrain were repaired by the dungeon core over time, while the ice-like leftovers from the Crystal Maiden’s attacks would disappear after 30 seconds or so. This gave the invading party plenty of room to move around, but they were definitely at a disadvantage in terms of MP. Kora barely used any and Boxxy and Ambrosia could replenish theirs easily enough, but Xera’s magical reserves were far more finite.
Interestingly enough though, it was those highly disposable golems that tipped the delicate balance. Even if they were significantly weaker than the ones guarding the path to the ‘palace,’ their numbers seemed to be endless. More and more kept pouring out of the Crystal Maiden’s insides, and the ones that were able to reliably cling to her without being thrown off were steadily growing in number.
After gaining a certain amount of manpower, the Crystal Maiden’s supporting staff gained enough leeway to begin taking potshots at the enemy. They used predominantly cold-based Spells, so their attacks mostly took the shape of freezing beams and icy projectiles. However, they still failed to do much, as they were shooting at random targets. They landed a good amount of hits, but the damage was nothing that Ambrosia couldn’t heal through with her magic.
Things eventually came to a head when a Meteor Spell accidentally collided with the Crystal Maiden’s fist, which had temporarily gone outside the range of her defensive barrier. Xera let out a cheer as this was the first time anyone on Boxxy’s side had managed to deal damage to it. Unfortunately for her, the simple minded golem defenders took notice of that lucky shot. This caused them to suddenly focus their magic on the Pyromancer, as she had unwittingly made herself the biggest threat to their walking fortress.
But Ambrosia didn’t let them do as they please.
“Rock Wall!”
Beckoned by the dryad’s magic, a thick barricade of stone popped up out of the ground, providing the djinn with ample cover against the incoming projectiles. She then turned her attention to Boxxy and used a Mending Shower on it to top it off since it got clipped by another of the Crystal Maiden’s spike fields. It was a bit unnecessary since the Mimic’s own regenerative abilities had more or less healed the damage, but she didn’t know how badly it was hurt in that initial attack. She then turned her attention towards Kora and began casting another healing Spell, but never got a chance to finish it.
“Incoming!”
Boxxy’s Whisper Wind message made her look away from the Archfiend that was bashing up a group of smaller golems and towards the place those pests had come from. It would appear that the dungeon master finally realized that going for the healer rather than focusing on Boxxy was a much better idea, and was swinging her warhammer towards her. The dryad realized it was far too late to dodge the attack, but that didn’t mean she was about to get hit by it.
“Big Tree!”
She activated a Skill that had a rather unforgiving one-week cooldown period. Her trump card caused a huge tree to sprout out of the frozen soil in front of her, which grew to a height of three meters in the blink of an eye. The Crystal Maiden’s weapon collided with its still-developing canopy, and although the plant shuddered heavily from the impact, it still stopped the attack dead. The wave of spikes was also nullified, as the oversized warhammer wasn’t allowed to touch the ground.
The titanic golem made an effort to lift the weapon, but the tree had already wrapped its branches around the business end of it. Normally she might have been able to rip it out of the ground, but Ambrosia was reinforcing the plant with her Spells and Skills. One side pulled upwards with her tower-sized arms while the other kept strengthened its grip on her weapon and the soil by growing even more roots and branches. It was unclear who would win this tug of war, but both sides were immobilized for the time being.
It was an opening that Boxxy would not fail to take advantage of. The half-chest-half-spider popped open its lid to reveal a perfect representation of Xera’s naked upper body. It didn’t particularly want or need to imitate her, but this was still the humanoid form it was most familiar with. This was simply what the shapeshifter’s muscle memory came up with when it assumed ‘a shape that was better suited to Spell casting.’ Which was precisely what it was planning to do, if the Voidcaller staff it held in one hand was any indication. That wasn’t all, though, as it also activated the Power Overwhelming Skill.
This was the first and possibly only chance it would get to strike back at the crystal titan, so there was no way it would put in anything less than maximum effort.
“Reality Slash! … Dark Explosion! … Reality Slash! Shadowbolt! Shadowbolt! Shadowbolt! … Dark Explosion!”
It unleashed a barrage of Spells against its castle-sized target. The magical onslaught battered against the thing’s shielding, causing it to shimmer and crack. The crystal golems manning the animate battlements returned fire, pelting the stationary Mimic with dozens of Spells. Unfortunately for them, they were predominantly cold-based, allowing Boxxy’s Adaptive Defense Skill to cut their damage almost in half. And while the shapeshifter was hitting the Crystal Maiden from below, Xera kept calling down Meteors on it from above. Kora had moved up closer to it in the meantime and was pummeling against the magical barrier with her fists.
But no matter how much they tried, the group failed to punch through it. Every time it seemed like the shield was about to go shatter, it suddenly surged back to full strength.
Chaotic energies swirl around you. You will emit an anti-gravity field for the next 20 seconds.
Boxxy’s efforts were suddenly cut short when its overuse of magic caused its Chaotic Disposition to make itself known. Having its body suddenly start floating uncontrollably upwards not only interrupted its focus, but also made it panic on instinct since this was its first experience with total weightlessness. The Mimic had seen some serious shit in its day, though, so its confusion only lasted for about a second before it snapped back to its senses. It was also something of a sitting duck for the enemy’s magic, but Ambrosia was quick on her feet and provided it with cover via an extra-tall Rock Wall.
And now that its concentration had been shattered, Boxxy was able to spot something it really should have noticed earlier.
The Crystal Maiden had completely stopped moving. It was bent over forwards while gripping its warhammer with both hands, but stood perfectly still as if it were a statue. The tree holding onto the other end of its weapon was just as immobile, making it clear it wasn’t under any sort of strain. The reason for this seemed to be because of the smaller crystal golems that were manning the fortifications. Standing on a rampart that was constantly swaying back and forth probably made it difficult to use magic, but that would cease to be an issue if the mobile fortress became a stationary one.
In other words, the dungeon master had given up on offense in order to provide her private army the chance to focus on her defense.
“Ho-ho-ho-ho-hoh,” came a haughty laughter from up above. “Did you seriously think I wouldn’t notice you going ham down there? I’ll have you know, you’re not dealing with some moronic golem here!”
Indeed, if the Crystal Maiden were allowed to act naturally, it would probably not give its attendants the chance to properly reinforce its magical shield. It would also stubbornly cling to its weapon no matter what if Setre wasn’t in control. But she was, so she gave up on the pulling contest with that incomprehensible tree-woman and willingly let go of the warhammer’s shaft. The barrage of Spells coming out of her security force dwindled immensely once she started moving, proving that Boxxy’s hypothesis had been right on the money. Now would probably be a good time to resume its magical barrage, but there were some issues with that course of action.
First of all, it had almost completely drained its MP. It had enough for one, maybe two overcharged Spells. Secondly, it wasn’t sure if it could actually cast one of those if it didn’t have solid ground under its feet. This was something of a particularly troublesome point, actually. The bubble of anti-gravity magic was moving along with it, so it wouldn’t just drift out of it. The dungeon’s gravity-based flight countermeasures were also ineffective. Whether that was because they couldn’t overpower the Hero Skill or because amplifying zero gravity by any degree would always result in zero gravity was anybody’s guess.
It would therefore be a reasonable assumption that Boxxy had no choice but to wait out for the Chaotic Disposition effect to run out. At the same time, however, it couldn’t just sit idly by, as the Crystal Maiden’s left foot was hurtling towards it. Setre wasn’t going to question why her hated enemy was floating around like that, but she was already aiming to take advantage of the situation by stepping on it.
Realizing what was about to happen, the Mimic snapped out of its stupor and grew a quartet of giant leathery wings out of its Snack-shaped upper body. They flapped all at once, propelling Boxxy away from its mostly inert position. The awkward angle and uneven distribution of force caused it to spin around slightly, but gave it just enough speed to avoid the massive sole. The foot did not cause a cascade of crystal spikes upon impact with the ground, but the rush of air and debris it produced was enough to send the Mimic spiraling even further out of control.
Thankfully it drifted near the Big Tree, allowing Ambrosia to manipulate its branches so they would catch the hurtling box. Feeling itself collide with something solid, Boxxy immediately gripped onto it with its arachnid legs. It had come to a stop upside down, but it was still enough to let it reorient itself.
“Milord!” cried out the spriggan beneath it. “Art thou alright?”
She seemed to be swaying back and forth unnaturally since she was inside the anti-gravity bubble’s area of effect. She wasn’t drifting upwards, though, as she had the foresight to grip the ground with her root-feet. Boxxy couldn’t help but be impressed with her adaptability, especially considering she’s lived a thoroughly stagnant and sheltered life. It shook away the useless thought and answered her query with a curt ‘I’m fine’ before turning its eyes back towards the Crystal Maiden.
“And then there’s this fucking thing!”
Setre let out a very vocal complaint as she gripped her rooted weapon with her right hand and pulled on it. However, this time around she was using it as leverage that assisted her right foot’s forward sweeping motion. She was ignoring the Meteors that Xera kept pelting her with and was clearly intending to kick the tree, Boxxy, and Ambrosia alike clear across the dungeon.
But the Mimic wouldn’t let her. Even if it was in an awkward position, it was nevertheless still enough to let it focus on its magic. It therefore reactivated the Power Overwhelming Skill and poured the last of its remaining MP into a certain Spell.
“Momentum Anomaly!”
The overcharged Ruin Spell spawned a dome of swirling mystical energy with a radius of just over five meters right in the path of the Crystal Maiden’s foot. The massive limb passed through it at extremely high speeds, which directly translated to a momentary tenfold increase in gravitational pull. It slammed into the ground, producing the strongest quake this battlefield has ever seen.
You no longer emit an anti-gravity field.
Your target’s leg has been crushed under its own weight. Target HP -24,207.
Proficiency level increased. Ruin Mastery is now Level 16. INT +2. WIS +1. END +1.
Proficiency level increased. Graviton Manipulation is now Level 4. INT +10. WIS +6.
You have learned a new Spell: Weightless Space.
“What the fuck!”
The Mimic was naturally delighted by both the string of Status messages and the dungeon master’s shocked response, but it couldn’t relax just yet. Even though the foot had come to an abrupt stop, the rest of the titanic golem’s body was still carried forward by its immense momentum. It lurched dangerously over Boxxy and Ambrosia, prompting the two to vacate the area immediately.
However, the Crystal Maiden did not crash into the ground. Setre was able to lean on her immobilized warhammer and reposition her left foot. This provided her with enough stability to stop herself from falling. But even if she avoided that worst-case scenario, her borrowed body was no longer in pristine condition. The impact from earlier was so severe that it caused a massive crack to spread all the way up her boot-shaped shin while also causing massive damage to the knee joint.
She nevertheless tried lifting her right foot out of the crater it had made. She could move her leg well enough, but the extra-powerful Momentum Anomaly kept pulling it down every time she tried. She probably could’ve forced her way out of the magical snare, but she was wary of putting too much strain on her damaged knee lest she break it off completely. Meaning she was stuck here until the field dissipated in another twenty seconds or so.
Worse still, the sudden unintentional jolt had caused over two thirds of her crystal golem attendants to fall off her body. More were still being manufactured inside her at a steady pace, but with only twenty or so remaining her defenses were going to be in a dire state for a good while. Especially since a number of them would be too busy tending to her cracked limb to focus on the shield. In other words, if that Warlock were to repeat its mystical barrage from earlier, it would easily be able to tear through her barrier.
But when the dungeon master returned her gaze to the creature in question, she began to suspect this was not what it was intending. Boxxy had taken advantage the break in the action to reconvene with its followers. It had Ambrosia throw up another Rock Wall to provide cover, allowing the four of them to huddle behind it, well out of Setre’s line of sight.
“How long will that tree last?” asked the Mimic.
“Not much longer, milord,” said the spriggan with a remorseful tone. “I hath put too much strain on that child, and it would likely expire after a few more pulls.”
“Ngh, that’ll have to do. Make it last as long as you can, then see if you can smash up the golems that fell off Setre.”
“As you say, milord. Wait, who’s Setre?”
“The dungeon master.”
Boxxy had gotten a glimpse of her name with the Eyes of the Dead God Skill just before she possessed the golem. It was also able to confirm her maximum HP was just over 4,000, which was extremely impressive for a magic-oriented species of demon. The pilfered Hero Skill was also able to pick up on the Crystal Maiden’s vitals, though Boxxy was trying not to think about that six-figure HP pool too hard.
“Oh,” responded Ambrosia. “Very well, milord.”
“Snack,” called out the Mimic as it turned towards her. ”You’re going to keep pummeling it with Meteors as often as you can.”
“As you command, Master.”
“Meanwhile, me and Arms are going to take a more direct approach.”
“Huh? Me?”
Having been mentioned so suddenly, the Archfiend let out a stupefied response. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to help this situation considering how ineffective she had been so far. Sure, she felt like her fists were doing work on that barrier earlier, but she was practically useless once that thing started moving around.
You have used a Mana Potion. MP +500.
You have used a Mana Potion. MP +500.
You have used a Mana Potion. MP +500.
Her Master didn’t respond to her, though, as it was too busy drinking a trio of the highest quality commercially available mana potions. Even if its MP was recovering at a frightening pace, it needed a good chunk of it for what it was about to do next. It had more of those vials in stock and would gladly chug them, but any more than this would cause potion sickness. In retrospect it could probably take one or two more now that it had the Legendary Endurance Perk, but it wasn’t feeling confident about running a field test under these conditions.
Well, not two of them, at any rate.
Having replenished about a third of its mystical reserves, Boxxy abandoned its chesty-in-more-ways-than-one visage and reverted to its base Hylt Creeper form. Sensing that something big was about to go down and that she’d somehow be involved, Arms stood opposite it and smashed her fists together in anticipation.
“So what’s the plan, boss?” she asked eagerly.
“I don’t have enough mana to punch through that shield with magic before it recovers,” it began explaining. “I used up a good deal of explosives and munitions on the way here, so I don’t have enough firepower to bring it down either. Therefore, I’m going to use you, instead.”
“Awesome!” she cheered. “Then what do you need me to do?”
“Stand there and stay perfectly still.”
The Archfiend froze immediately, but not before her toothy grin deteriorated into a disappointed frown. ‘Stand there and stay perfectly still’ was the opposite of what she had in mind, but she didn’t have a choice in it. Nor did she get a chance to question Boxxy when it hopped up and hugged her from the front. It threw its arms around her neck, nestled its torso between her breasts and wrapped its legs around her muscular waist. It even pressed its cheek against hers.
Needless to say, this action caused a great deal of unease among its followers, as there was no feasible way this was a sign of affection. They knew full well that the only times Boxxy was in a ‘huggable’ mood was when it was acting as Keira or when wanted to devour something bigger than itself. Well, either that or, as Kora and Xera were vividly remembering, it was feeling particularly touchy-feely after getting itself blackout drunk. All things considered though, this didn’t seem to be any of those cases. Which was an accurate assumption, as Boxxy had an entirely different reason to maximize skin contact with its pet demon.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Admittedly this much was probably overkill, but the Mimic didn’t want to take chances with this particular Skill.
“Malefic Union!”
The Hylt Creeper was suddenly enveloped by a bright red light, after which its body, for lack of a better term, sank into Kora. The mystic glow wrapped around the demoness in an instant, after which she began screaming like she had never screamed before. Her red skin and muscles started shaking intensely, and then began bulging outwards as her already formidable size began to expand.
It wasn’t a neat process, though. Her bones creaked and cracked loudly as they increased in mass. Her flesh ripped open and was stitched together over and over in rapid succession while pitch black blood dripped off her like a waterfall. Her luscious tomato-like red color began to darken as it turned to a stone-like gray. What pieces of armor she had left exploded from her under the strain of the expanding limbs underneath. The same went for the white dress-like garment she always wore, which could no longer contain her growing torso or burgeoning breasts.
The changes were not limited to her body, though. One might argue that they were actually the most pronounced around her head. Her wild voluminous hair turned from a bright green to a sterile white in seconds. The marvelous waist-length mane then began falling off her scalp, leaving nothing behind but yet more gray skin. Her two broken horns surged back to their full length and girth, but all three of them gained multi-pronged tips as they increased in size along with the rest of her.
And yet the most jarring alterations were to her face. Her wide-open eyes became circular and yellow. Her teeth also began to change, becoming more numerous and needle-like. The borders of her screaming mouth began to stretch until her lips reached all the way back to her pointy ears. Or at least where her ears would have been if they didn’t fall off at some point. A vertical slit ran down the middle of her face, only to have her skull open up sideways like a book to reveal a second needle-filled maw that ran perpendicular to the first one.
The screams of pain died down precisely five seconds after they began, though Xera and Ambrosia felt like they’d been going on for hours. The demon named Koralenteprix Khusuuszun Caonthioxxaa had already returned to the Beyond by this point, and a completely different being stood in her place. It stood at nearly four meters tall, though its proportions had remained relatively the same as the Archfiend’s. One could easily mistake it for the original from afar if it wasn’t for the bald head, gray skin, and the plus-shaped maw on its otherwise featureless face. Strictly speaking, it looked like some sort of mix between a doppelganger and a demon.
Or rather, that was precisely what Boxxy had become.
Malefic Union
Description: The Warlock takes over and merges with a demon under his control in an attempt to attain great power.
Requirements: Level 65 Warlock, Enslave Demon
Type: Active
Activation Time: 5 seconds
Cost: 15% of max MP
Range: Touch
Effects: Returns the targeted bound familiar or enslaved demonic entity to the Beyond.
Absorbs the target’s demonic constitution for 3 minutes.
Gain 50% of the target’s Skill Levels for 3 minutes.
Gain 35% of the target’s Attributes for 3 minutes.
Restore HP equal to 50% of the target’s current HP.
Restore MP equal to 25% of the target’s current MP.
Increases the effects of this Skill by 20% for every 2 Levels of this Skill.
Increases the duration of this Skill by 1 minute for every 5 Levels of this Skill.
Summon Familiar, Soul Link, Enslave Demon, and Malefic Union cannot be used while this Skill is active.
The Creeper-Archfiend hybrid panted heavily as it recovered from the mental and physical shock. It had expected the transformation to be excruciatingly painful on the verge of being traumatizing, and its guess had been spot on. Unfortunately, the fact that Boxxy had been right failed to lessen the pain in any way, shape or form. But now that it was over, the shapeshifter was left with a body that was bursting with energy to the point where it felt practically invincible.
“M-m-master? Is th-th-that you?”
Boxxy looked down at the source of that quivering voice. It saw a superbly excited Snack whose manically smiling face was only at the level of its knee.
“Yeah, it’s me,” it responded with a distinctly more feminine tone than it was expecting.
Ambrosia was standing a bit further away from it, but the look she was giving it was far less enthusiastic. Her glare of loud disapproval was only to be expected, though. The dryad had stated multiple times that ‘milord’s Hylt Creeper shape is most attractive,’ so seeing it perverted in such a manner must not have been an enjoyable experience for her.
“Th-th-then! D-d-icks! And and and t-t-tentacles! In my pussy! T-t-t-together!?”
However, Snack was obviously of a very different mind. The pornographic nonsense she was uttering made it abundantly clear that all types of filthy thoughts were swimming around in that sick head of hers. Her chest heaved up and down in accordance with her ragged breathing, causing her massive breasts to bob and weave in a deliciously enticing manner. Boxxy would surely be able to pierce all the way up to those funbags if it plunged itself all the way up that tight-
“Gnnhr!”
The half-fiend-half-Mimic growled with a primal edge as it chased away those unnecessary thoughts. It would appear that it had absorbed a part of the Archfiend’s thoughts and emotions in addition to her flesh. A fact that both Ambrosia and Xera seemed to pick up on as there was no other explanation why it would suddenly stare unabashedly at the djinn’s breasts while drooling like an idiot. But Boxxy couldn’t let itself succumb to its modified body’s urge to defile the ex-succubus, especially not when it had a twenty-meter tall icicle to break.
The creature then realized that going into battle stark naked was probably a bad decision. It therefore applied a combination of Shapeshift, Metal Mimicry and its newly acquired Demonic Armaments Skill to grow itself some armor. Its feet and arms were covered in the boots and gauntlets that Arms usually had on, but it didn’t stop there. Its upper arms, shoulders, thighs and - much to Xera’s disappointment - groin were all encased in a set of form-fitting plate armor made out of Fiend Steel. However, it held off on armoring up its torso until after it had absorbed Kora’s breasts into its body.
After all, those useless lumps of fat would only get in the way.
On the whole the armor turned out to be unnecessarily spiky and needlessly decorated with skull imagery, but those details had proven to be beyond Boxxy’s control. Just like it couldn’t retract its horns, no matter how much it tried. It succeeded in covering its head with a helmet without much issue though. Its faceplate consisted of two pieces of smooth metal that left a horizontal slit to provide vision, through which a pair of round yellow eyes could be seen.
The Arch-Mimic briefly contemplated whether a visor was even necessary. It was going to be using an MLG anyway, so it didn’t necessarily need to rely on its eyes. Shouldn’t it then have made the helmet completely solid so that it has that tiny bit of extra protection? Then again, its current opponent was far too big to fit inside the sensory organ’s limited range, so it ultimately decided to leave it as it was.
This proved to be the right decision, as its eyes saw a massive crystal warhammer peek over the top of Ambrosia’s Rock Wall. It would seem the dungeon master had not only freed herself from the Momentum Anomaly, but had also wrestled her weapon from Ambrosia’s Big Tree. This meant that the overall transformation and subsequent armament process had taken a lot longer than Boxxy intended. That was only to be expected considering all of this was new territory to the shapeshifter, but it wasn’t particularly bothered by this turn of events.
“There’s an attack incoming,” it said calmly. “You two should run away now.”
The djinn and the spriggan had been preoccupied with the Mimic’s dramatic transformation - the former more so than the latter - so they had not noticed Setre’s movements at all. It also took them a moment or two to remember they were in a battlefield. Once they did, they immediately scattered to avoid getting crushed, but it wasn’t until the hammer was already swinging down that did they realize Boxxy hadn’t moved from its spot. Not only that, it had also spread out all six of its arms as if it was taunting the colossal golem.
“Master!”
“Milord!”
Xera and Ambrosia called out to the four-meter tall steel behemoth. ‘Did it succumb to that meathead’s arrogance?’ was a question that flashed through both their minds. Surely it wasn’t seriously trying to catch that building-sized weapon, right? However, whatever concerns they had were ultimately pointless, as it was already too little too late.
The crystalline warhammer crashed onto Boxxy’s position with an earth-shattering thud, followed immediately by a cascade of ice-like spikes that extended out from the impact zone.
“Hahahahaha!” laughed Setre in a delighted manner.
She wasn’t sure whether the thing she just hit was a monster or a demon, but that didn’t matter. The only way a living thing would have survived a direct blow from the Crystal Maiden was if it were some absurd being on the level of Nagnamor, the Overlord of the Flaming Legion himself. But there was no way this bunch had someone that powerful on their side, otherwise they would have already overpowered her.
“Get smashed you fucking moron!”
She therefore felt a bit of gloating was completely justified.
“That’s my line!”
At least until she got a loud and clear answer from somewhere beneath her hammer, at which point both her thoughts and celebrations ground to a screeching halt.
“… What?” she muttered in disbelief. “There’s… no way… right?”
“Uppercut!”
*KAHKROOM*
There was another yell from beneath her weapon, followed immediately by an explosion-like impact that lifted the immense object several meters into the air. Setre struggled a bit to regain control of it, at which point she raised the hammer’s head it up to her eye level. That was when she noticed the fist-shaped imprint on it, which was surrounded by a spiderweb pattern of cracks. The Crystal Maiden’s rectangular jaw would have probably fallen off her face at that point if it wasn’t for the fact that it was sculpted onto her and could not, in fact, move.
The flabbergasted djinn turned her attention back towards the last crater she made, which was still wrapped in a cloud of dust and snow. The smokescreen began dispersing shortly afterwards, giving the dungeon master her first clear look at Boxxy’s new form. Not only was the creature clad in a set of intimidating plate armor, but it didn’t bear even a single scratch. It had three muscular arms on the left side of its body, and a single arm that was three times thicker than normal on its right. The abnormally girthy limb was raised up in the air and its massive fist was covered in sparkling dust, suggesting this was the thing it used to damage her weapon.
As for Xera and Ambrosia, they were naturally overjoyed to see Boxxy was unharmed. They weren’t sure how such a thing was possible, but they didn’t question it, either. All that mattered was that their special shapeshifter didn’t die because it gave into some murdering rapist’s baser impulses.
“Prepare your anus, Setre! ‘Cuz when I get my hands on you, I’m gonna shove my dick so far up your ass you’ll be choking on my cum!”
Though it would appear Boxxy wasn’t entirely unphased by them, either.
----------------------------------------
Stat Dump
General Information Attributes Job Information Name Boxxy T. Morningwood Name Value Name Value Name Level Progress Name Level Progress Species Creeper (Hylt) STR 1296 LCK 259 Doppelganger 36 7% Blade Dancer 38 83% Sex N/A DEX 1056 MNT 977 Mimic 50 MAX Age 10 months AGI 1078 CHR 257 Cat 5 MAX Guild Hidden Arrow END 1568 PER 345 Warlock 65 17% HP 9715/9715 (+68.9/sec) INT 990 FTH 66 Artificer 22 12% MP 1853/5078 (+22.9/sec) WIS 655 AFF 103 Ranger 37 38%
Skill List Name Level Proficiency Name Level Proficiency Name Level Proficiency Assassination 10 MAX Chant Reduction 8 43% Flamenco de Fuego 3 24% Storage 10 MAX Demonic Insight 8 22% Chaotic Disposition 1 MAX Cadaver Absorption 9 56% Despair Aura 5 32% Agent of Chaos 1 MAX Biomass 14 12% Soul Link 6 56% Essence Concealment 1 MAX Natural Armor 10 MAX Enslave Demon 4 36% Vengance 1 MAX Metal Mimicry 10 MAX Graviton Manipulation 4 51% Eyes of the Dead God 1 MAX Mend Flesh 10 MAX Malefic Union 1 40% Shapeshift 13 98% Adaptive Defense 10 MAX Clockwork Expertise 8 30% Phytokinesis 5 33% Acid Spray 10 MAX Explosives Handling 6 88% Stealth 10 MAX Divine Attunement 4 10% Deconstruction 4 65% Lockpick 4 25% Ruinous Reach 5 35% Optics Expertise 2 84% Pickpocket 3 12% Feline Agility 10 MAX Tracking 8 67% Meditation 5 10% Mirror Image 8 57% Marksman 8 89% Sword Mastery 12 14% Pheromone Control 10 MAX Whisper Wind 7 91% Projectile Mastery 10 MAX Broken Reflection 4 61% Fleet Footed 6 45% Dagger Mastery 10 0% Puppet Parasite 6 90% Hunter's Mark 5 48% Ruin Mastery 16 38% Spirit Echo 3 55% Eagle Eye 4 86% Domination Mastery 10 76% Hylt Metabolism 4 83% Hornet Style 10 MAX Primal Mastery 5 51% Summon Familiar 10 MAX Adagio Variation 8 42% Shield Mastery 10 MAX Power Overwhelming 10 MAX Winterlich Waltz 8 41% Staff Mastery 6 5% Demonology 9 18% Evasion 9 52% Bow Mastery 13 81% Crystallize Magic 9 65% Rapid Riposte 2 41% Axe Mastery 6 19%
Skill List (Malefic Union) Name Level Proficiency Name Level Proficiency Name Level Proficiency Demonic Armaments 5 0% Embodiment of Wrath 1 0% Eye For An Eye 2 50% Second Wind 5 0% Dominant Species 2 50% Battlecry 2 0% Demonic Carapace 5 0% Siegebreaker 2 0% Unchained Anger 1 0% Demonic Leap 5 0% Unbreakable 1 0% Idiotic Strength 5 0% Violent Meditation 5 0% Bloodlust 5 0% Multi-limb Coordination 1 50% Imbued Armaments 4 0% Brutal Fervor 5 0% Earth Affinity 1 50% Combat Reflexes 2 50% Face Smasher 5 0% Brawling Mastery 6 50% Forceful Persuasion 2 0% Berserker Rage 4 0%