Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 216: That’s painful

What Tiber told Vale was that he should make a show of the fight and struggle to win it. So when the possessed man ran at him, he intentionally made his reaction slow. He saw the man raise his hand for a punch.

Possessed Apki punched Vale in the face so hard he slammed into the wall, shaking it and breaking through with a crack as the wall crumbled. Vale felt the pain like a small sting from an insect, the pain from making a hole through the wall, that is. His cheek stung hotly from where he was punched.

He messaged his jaw. "That’s painful."

The possessed man laughed. The darkness in the room surged forward, but it wasn’t merely dark; the darkness now had illusory white streaks rolling through it.

The tide of darkness covered him, and he breathed it in. Immediately, his muscles shifted, and bones cracked, crunching as they reshaped. He grew taller, claws slid into his hand, and his eyes nearly disappeared in the folds of a now bulky face.

"I don’t think the owner of the body will appreciate that."

Just as he said that, Vale’s form blurred forward, and he punched the transformed man in the chest.

The blow caught Apki in the gut and lifted him from the floor as his breath left him in a rush. He slammed into the ground with enough force to shake it slightly.

Vale winced. It was difficult to control himself properly, especially with all the bottled emotions he was holding in. He took a step toward the clumsily rising monster Apki and shook his head. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Why do you guys always think more muscles equal more strength?"

Apki finally managed to get to his feet, muscles tensing as he faced Vale again. His nose flared in annoyance, and his voice came out in vibrating growls.

"You are strong for a human."

Vale was amused. "And you’re not human? What are you?"

The monster Apki shook his head, his eyes flashing with distaste.

"Don’t compare me to things like yourself. I am from the spirit world, and I’ve killed beings who are as arrogant as you are."

"But you are the one stalling, though," Vale pointed out.

"Of course! That’s because I have you where I want you."

The monster opened his mouth, and it was unnaturally big, far bigger than it should ever be.

His mouth filled Vale’s vision and bloated out the room.

’...what’s this...?’

Vale took several steps back as he saw the maw of the monster. Its inner mouth wasn’t lined with the fangs it had earlier. Instead, there were white stairs leading down into deep darkness.

Instinctively, Vale understood something. The possessing monster also had another monster in it.

’...this is laughable and surprising...’

He heard the sound of footsteps climbing stone stairs, and then, from the open mouth, he saw a figure as white as freshly picked bones, covered by a cloak.

Vale raised his hand to blast the maw with fire.

At the same time, a tentacle of the same color reached out and curled around his raised hand.

Vale screamed.

Bolts of pain ran down his body, ripping through flesh as if it were energy but it was. From where the tentacle touched him, Vale felt as if something extremely large was looking at his soul, and then that something was trying to suck it right out of him through the tentacles.

His blood boiled, and his body jerked. His senses were almost knocked right out of him with pain.

Vale realized how foolish he had been. He had underestimated the thing he was fighting.

Maybe it was because he was pretending to be weaker or because he’d grown more arrogant since he came out of the Rift. Either way, he knew the thing lurking in the monster’s maw could kill him without trying. It was trying to kill him.

Without thinking, Vale conjured a formation in his mind. It was that of Dominion, but it was the formation from the previous rank. He pumped essence into it without hesitation.

The formation twisted and wrapped as a higher concentration of essence slammed into it. The formation crumbled immediately, but it still reacted.

Vale felt heat course through his body, threatening to burn him from the inside. If he had been a rank lower, he would probably have turned into a flesh explosion. But instead, he guided the burning energy caused by the collapsed formation with his essence.

He opened his mouth and spat it out.

A twisting, rippling wave of fire blasted out and slammed into the tentacle holding him. The tentacle recoiled immediately as if hit by something forbidden.

The pain receded, like a bucket of cold water on burning fire.

Vale stumbled back. He didn’t raise his hand as he ignited the space in front of him and all around him.

Red fire roared to life, a mini storm that devoured the room, but the monster was also in the Errant Rank with a hide that resisted the burning room.

Its mouth was closed, but it staggered.

"Bastard human, how are you able to hurt that thing? Tell me! Tell me! It rides my soul. Tell me!"

The monster lurched forward, but Vale was done playing with it. His soul seemed as if it could use some rest and healing. Whatever that was, it was powerful, and Vale didn’t want a second dose of it.

With the room still on fire, he seemed to melt into it as he avoided the monster Apki’s blows and claws with ease. Also, the monster inside of it, the white tentacles, seemed to have done something, affected it somehow, because Apki was staggering, fighting hard to keep his balance.

Vale wasn’t about to let that go to waste. He raised his hand, and the fire flared brighter before reducing as he drew on it, creating three fire spears.

He drove one into the monster’s back, right in the middle of the spine, and was met with brief resistance. The monster took advantage of that moment, twisting out of the way and lurching at him like a drunkard.

"Just... stop," Vale said.

Two spears pierced the monster’s back and continued outward until they came out through its stomach.

The monster stopped and looked at its stomach in surprise.

At the same time, Vale released his hold on the two spears, and they exploded.