Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 606: Breaking Another Record

"This is just the beginning."

Given the freedom to act and instructed to assist when needed, Kara immediately started deploying her various abilities.

For last-minute interventions, her version of Shadow Manipulation had been more than enough, but active participation required more than that.

Especially when battling monsters of the Dragonoid’s caliber.

’First of all...’

Despite having to expend Enigma to maintain the starry night barrier, Kara didn’t hesitate to expend more, using the Dragonoids’ own shadows to hold them in place.

’Restriction.’

Not all 50 or so Dragonoids had been targeted by Kara, only half, but even so, this could already be considered a great burden.

It wasn’t like the Dragonoids obediently stayed in place. In fact, the starry tendrils holding them were already trembling loose.

’Next is disposal.’

Pumping out even more Enigma, blades of various sizes and shapes started emerging from the star-infested shadows.

The Dragonoids showed stronger resistance as if they sensed the imminent threat represented by the rising weaponry, but alas...

Putchi!

Floating in the air to encircle their target, each congregation of armaments shot forward, meeting no resistance as they sank into the Dragonoids’ bodies.

In front of their extremely sharp assault, the shiny white scales appeared no different from paper.

’As expected of Master!’

Once again, Leo’s superiority had been proven by Ability extension.

Although Kara felt regretful that she couldn’t wield her own Shadow Armaments in melee combat like Leo, she was still satisfied with using them to induce such an overkill.

It might not be a very efficient usage, but they almost guaranteed the death of all the opponents they met.

’It’s a shame, really.’

If she had also been able to ’learn’ her Master’s unparalleled weapon skills, she could be at least as domineering as Aurora.

Unfortunately, this was where ’Star Pupil’ fell short; it only copied Enigma-based abilities.

’Speaking of which...’

While Kara had been able to collectively eliminate 10 Dragonoids in one setting, the number of free Dragonoids had decreased by a lot more.

Staring at the burn spots covering the floor, Kara deeply felt her shortcomings.

She still fell short of Aurora when it came to close combat.

If it had been her Master, whether it was Aurora or the arrogant Dragonoid Army, both would have been incapacitated by now.

’Thankfully, she is on our side.’

Still, Kara was rather objective regarding Aurora’s capabilities.

As an enemy, she might be troublesome for her to handle on her own, but as an ally, she was the best Enigma City could offer.

Most importantly, since her Master already had his eyes on Aurora, she was inevitably bound to do his bidding, whether unwilling or not.

So in the end, Aurora’s existence was an undeniable bonus.

Boom!

Once again, a Dragonoid had been exploded into smithereens on Aurora’s hand.

At least 5 times tougher than Minotaurs, Aurora couldn’t replicate her feat of producing an exploding one-inch punch.

However...

’Twenty Eight.’

Counting her kills, Aurora took two more steps to appear in front of another Dragonoid.

Making a short leap, her shining hand still punched forward, but instead of stopping at a surface touch, she pushed it all the way into their abdomen.

Gah!

Having seen what happened to his companions, the Dragonoid screamed out of both pain and terror.

As the light spread to cover all of Aurora’s arm, it kept growing brighter and brighter.

Once the internal light reached the Dragonoid’s eyes, turning them into emission lamps...

Splatt!

Another Dragonoid had been eliminated as another burn spot was left on the ground.

Once Aurora’s punch had slipped through, there was simply no escape!

Swish!

Likewise, while Aurora was busy taking care of the few remaining stragglers, Kara had already disposed of the remainder of her captives.

Just then.

Roarrr!

Having suffered from non-stop physical attacks as well as constant energy emotions, the starry night curtain had finally come down, revealing 57 angry Dragonoids.

With the additions of the two Dragonoids that were still alive outside of Kara’s barrier, the total number that the army had been reduced to was 59.

In just less than five minutes, they had almost been reduced by half!

In a way, the progress on the eleventh floor was even faster than the tenth.

’Mirroring.’

Aurora stepped forward to eliminate more, but before she could do so, all of the remaining Dragonoids’ shadows turned real.

Like a small pond that had been set to boil, the dark starry shadow started bubbling uncontrollably.

Within seconds, a huge figure emerged from each individual shadow, mirroring the figure of the shadows’ original owners.

"Beat them up!"

As the starry figures turned solid, they started tearing apart their opponents.

At first glance, they looked like special summoned minions, but in reality, this was Kara’s version of Shadow Nightmare.

It was just that the concept she used was a bit more specific.

’There is nothing scarier than having to fight yourself.’

With the enhancement of her Core Ability, her conjured nightmares had an edge over their base model, so dealing fatal damage was a given.

Though one-shotting their opponent was still out of reach.

’Finally, sniping mode.’

Giving her Enigma reserves one last big squeeze, Kara formed more and more Shadow Swords.

Using Shadow Control to move them around as if she possessed telekinesis, she used them to strike the Dragonoids’ weak points while they were busy dealing with their nightmares.

"Let’s get this over with."

With a big smile on her face, Aurora dashed into the middle of the battlefield.

She couldn’t snipe from behind like Kara, but she could very well make this even faster by engaging the distracted Dragonoids up close.

Boom! Splatt! Putchi!

57... 41... 30... 12... 4...

With the total time spent on the eleventh floor reaching the 10-minute mark, only one Dragonoid was remaining!

’Hmmm.’

He had been engaged with his nightmare for the entire while, but as if to prove his undeniable superiority, the central figure was the one to tear up the starry shadow instead.

Roar.

Looking at Aurora and Kara with dignified contempt, the Central Dragonoid stepped forward, ready to wipe the ground with his two adversaries.

However, before he could make his move, Kara’s armaments impaled themselves into its body.

Compared to the other Dragonoids, this one was certainly stronger.

Even after being turned into a hedgehog, he didn’t show any sign of faltering.

In fact, he was still moving forward, as if promising to pay Aurora and Kara back for slaughtering his army.

"We have no time for this."

With Kara holding him in place using her starry tendrils, Aurora was already in front of the Central Dragonoid.

Moreover, her stomach-invading punch had already been unleashed. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Splat.

It didn’t quite explode into bloody fragments like the rest of its kin, but a head-sized hole was left in its abdomen.

Splat. Splat... Splat.

Repeating her punches all over its body, the Dragonoids’ hole-ridden corpse collapsed in front of Aurora.

It had certainly acted like an Epic Final Boss, but in front of this abnormal duo, the Central Dragonoid simply fell short.

’Done.’

Considering the difficulty of this floor, Aurora wasn’t too optimistic about the very next one.

Still, no matter what appeared, it wouldn’t be enough to make her back down.

"...Done?"

As the black flame lanterns turned white, a circular structure made of pure white light appeared.

Unexpectedly, the one thing that did appear was actually their way back home.