Glancing at the handwatch, Robert unconsciously increased his walking speed. Avoiding passersby who didn’t know what would happen soon, Rob was trying to pinpoint the exact location of the event’s start. Observing it multiple times from a distance, he only approximately understood where Demonologist would begin his devastating stroll only to be nuked in the end, taking half of the city with him into the afterlife. Now, for the first time, Robert had to take a “VIP” seat right in front of the stage.
I am ready… Yes, I am ready. I’ve trained this stupid ability, so there is an option to leave before everything goes astray… And it will, unfortunately.
Rob’s plan for this particular loop was quite simple, consisting of only two parts – to find the exact spot of the start and to gauge the strength of the dragon. Nothing more. His temporary Areal Walking gave him some capabilities to run away from the nuclear blast, but he still didn’t want to take a risk, like setting an unreachable goal of defeating the mad super on the first try. The inability to repeat an attempt in case of his death was a good stopping point against any overconfidence or his desire to end the whole ordeal. He had all the time in the world to make it right, and only Rob’s limited patience and pressed mental fortitude were the main obstacles in this way. And, obviously, nukes, but he had a vague impression that he could overcome it at some point – through the self-strengthening or the temporary ability from the serums. Nothing confirmed the idea that next time he would get the same power.
At least I hope so. Otherwise, it would take much more time. I don’t know how dense I need to become to survive the explosion… Okay, I think I am at the spot. So, where is it?
Looking around, Robert found himself in the middle of the residential area. Multiple three-stories buildings with the same design were mixed with rare intruders from the future, whose newer appearance had a single goal - to attract the attention of the locals. No wonder the outer signs directly spoke about a few stores, a barbershop, and more. The streets weren’t wide, having only two lines, but the overall composition of the area shouted about preplanning. Considering the devastating effect of the comet falling upon this planet with the following all-out war between supers and humans, many cities had to be built from the ground.
Unfortunately, such unification in the design not only made the view look nicer but also added a headache for Rob. He simply couldn’t distinguish the exact place from its copies from the long distance. On the other hand, the numbers on the signs, quite a few graffiti, and other small details might help him to do it in the future. Nothing that few restarts would fail to deal with it. For now, Robert only had to wait while observing the surroundings. And it appeared, it was simply impossible to miss the start of the ordeal.
Suddenly one of the buildings far down the street exploded from inside, collapsing at once. A muted roar resounded from the debris before the latter was thrown away by the scarlet sphere that appeared in the middle of the ruined building. Just a moment later, before Demonologist emerged from his transformation process, the sphere flashed with a red light. Malicious, giving off a bad premonition, it quickly started growing, reaching the size of the formerly standing house in mere seconds. Then the process halted as if the inhabitant of this huge “egg” was pondering about the need for his appearance in this world. However, in the end, the monstrosity decided that it would please everyone with its presence, starting the transformation of the sphere into a huge demonic dragon.
All this time Robert was running toward the thing, launching himself the moment he saw the explosion. Smashing any objects or even people, who failed to avoid him because of the overwhelming panic, he was already enveloped in his pitch-black armor. Leaving noticeable dents under his heavy steps, Rob pushed himself toward the middle of the road, trying to get to the dragon before the creature would come to its senses. It appeared that for “an unknown reason” the road was used by a fleeing car, whose scared driver pressed the acceleration pedal with all his strength. This fact surprised Robert, who hadn’t expected it, too focused on his "investigative" task.
Shit!
Instinctively reacting, Robert tried to summon his newly acquired ability. After days of training in the basement and a few outside sessions, he was half-sure of success. Fortunately, it worked, creating an invisible step above the ground and pushing him into the air. The problem was that Rob had miscalculated, conjuring his support way before the needed moment. The hasty attempt to make another one led to the failure, when the invisible stair simply broke under his weight, pulling him to the ground… right on the back trunk of the moving car. The collision was epic.
Smashing the last third of the car, Robert caused a sudden halt of the motion. The front wheels went upward, losing a grip on the road. Still, the force was there, tearing the car into two pieces. The next instant, the front part crushed into the parked van, turning into crumpled leftovers of the previously fast automobile. Rob fared no better, stumbling on a sudden obstacle before rolling on the road. Finally stopping himself and glancing toward the broken debris, he had one thought.
Nothing to worry about, a time loop will surely fix it! Definitely…
Raising to his feet, Robert charged once again, watching how the dragon started to come into existence. This time even the huge sphere struggled to fit its massive body, working like a portal to hell. The first to appear was a huge head with a long neck. Riveling the size of the buildings around, it was already barring huge teeth, each having the size of a motorcycle. Then the body came. It was covered in red scales that from a close distance resembled more crimson blood than a poppy field. The gigantic paw that came next from the other side of reality immediately smashed the nearest house. Soon more limbs appeared, conquering the whole area just from the fact of their presence. Even before the leather wings came into view, Robert's sight was filled with a huge demonic predator. And it was without mentioning the "short" tail with spikes on the tip that was still in the other realm. The creature was so huge that Robert felt like an ant.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
However, this feeling of upcoming dread never stopped him even for a fraction of a second. His charge continued further, even though this opponent was tens of times bigger than anything he had to face before. Enveloping himself in a barely visible white glow from constant usage of Energy Blasts, Robert straightforwardly ran into the giant limb, not bothering with any tactic, as if anything would work against such a huge enemy. His available obsidian still wasn’t enough to conjure something big to reach the deeper sides of the giant skull to hit the thing's brain, not speaking about a heart. And even that demanded to drop any defense. Therefore, a battering ram was an obvious choice. Especially, when the goal was just testing the waters.
Using an invisible stair, Rob jumped at the last moment, setting the target above the dragon’s clawed paw. His speed, weight, and destructive layer appeared to be enough to turn Rob’s body into the knife that penetrated the meat in one go. He basically melted his way through the flesh. However, making a few meters inside the paw, Rob was far from reaching not only the end but even the bone. On the other hand, his inertia and force behind his sprint were all used at this point, slowing his movement to the crawling speed. Then the regeneration of the dragon caught up with the melting process, quickly covering the wound and Robert’s body from all sides. Refocusing his effort only on his arms, Rob tried to push himself forward only to fail, as it felt like the substance around was constantly reappearing as if he was in the viscous water.
Damn it, I am stuck!
Fortunately or unfortunately, this state didn’t last long as the dragon roared with anger before proceeding to tear his flesh to get the nasty bug that dared to bite him. Piercing its paw with the claws, the creature straightforwardly ripped the piece apart before throwing it away. Robert tried to grip the huge nail, but it appeared much tougher than the flesh, resisting the damage from the micro–Energy Blasts. In the next moment, he felt himself flying through the air. Lasting for awfully long several seconds, it caused a devastating landing following the collapse of the unlucky building, which happened to be on its way. Only by melting the obstacle with his layer, Robert managed to soften it. Still, the strike was so strong that even his metal body felt deformed from the sheer force.
Trying to free himself from the debris and finally the not-regenerating flesh, Robert pushed his body upward, smashing the rubble and turning the concrete into a liquid just to get to the surface. Such concentration on the task and inward countdown until the nuclear strike made him miss a sudden shadow, which covered the whole sky for a few instants. Only in the last moment, Rob realized that it was a jumping dragon, falling from above in an attempt to squash the bug that was atrocious enough to cause the pain. Hastily covering himself once again in destructive protection, Robert tried to dive back into the debris, albeit too late.
The gigantic paw landed exactly on him, smashing his body at once. The pressure was so huge that Rob’s metal body, despite all its supernatural toughness, dented, almost turned into a flat and thin disk. What was more, his reactor core broke, turning from the former sphere into an ellipsoid. The force shield that contained his energy shattered, releasing a huge stream. Rob’s chest evaporated instantly, taking half of the dragon’s paw with itself. Not stopping on it, the chaotic and, more importantly, disintegrative whip continued to trash the surroundings, melting the rubble around Robert.
When he finally managed to return control over his reactor body after a few seconds of intensive fighting that seemed to last an eternity in his mind, Rob felt how close he was to the death door. And then he returned to his vision, checking the outer world on the presence of danger… only to see a huge snake eye glancing at him with interest, Robert gulped, sensing the upcoming dread. The demonic snake was looming close to him as if trying to observe the annoying bug in detail while trying to understand how it managed to survive, and, more importantly, to hurt it. Then the massive creature moved away, simultaneously taking a breath.
Oh, fuck!
Shouting inwardly, Robert once again tried to repeat the same trick – to burn his way down with the destructive layer. However, diving only one meter down, he saw how the fire was starting to emerge from the gigantic mouth. And then the whole world seemed to be engulfed in flames, coloring itself in shades of red and orange. The wave of the heat was almost comparable to the plasma missile, attempting to turn everything into ashes.
Robert didn’t know how he managed to escape the enraged dragon. Using the sewers under the collapsed building, he crawled through the filth just to get away from the dangerous monstrosity, barely thinking straight. The sheer contrast between the capabilities of the previous Demonologist’s forms and this one was so dramatic that his first impressions of being an ant were intensified to the maximum. Especially, considering his use of the underground passages to escape. That led to an acknowledgment of the superhero’s courage, who continued their futile attempts to stop this monstrosity, despite not seeing any effect from their attacks. The creature’s regeneration was absurd and completely broken, raising in this form even higher than his previous almost unkillable state. Luckily, the nuclear blast wiped out this failed loop together with the insane super, resetting the world to the default settings.
Reappearing at the familiar laboratory, Robert spent a few seconds trying to calm himself down. It wasn’t the first time he, despite all the gained power, lost to the circumstances. His imprisonment in Fantasy City was the best example that sometimes you simply couldn’t win against the odds. However, it was the first time for many loops, when Rob was so close to death. Improving his battle powers made him think that only the nuclear blast was the main threat to him, but the reality once again made him come back to earth. All his might paled in comparison to the dragon, who could trample the buildings with ease.
Okay, but I still managed to achieve both of my goals… Now, I know where to look and what to expect from the overgrown snake, who bathed in hellish radiation. The last thing to check is…
By fusing with the omicron particles that are exclusive to the particular realm, the Transcendent temporarily was granted the following supernatural ability – Areal Walking. Using the inner energy, the wielder can conjure a material but invisible stair to create a support in midair. Simultaneously, only one stair can be summoned. Its toughness and ability to withstand the weight will depend on the energy spent during the creation. The effect of the infusion will last for ten minutes until full exhaustion of the serum.
What? Ten minutes? It seems the restart refreshes everything, not only dirt… Hopefully, but my guess will also be correct, and I can get a different power this time. The Aerial Walking literally didn’t do anything useful in the end… On the other hand, if it’s really random, then I may get something akin to an instinctive playing on any musical instrument… or an ability to piss with soda… or other stupid shit. And considering my luck, the chance to get something powerful and useful is quite slim. Well, I hope I can prevent this insanity even without an additional boost, using the latter just as a safety measure. Okay, one more time…