Reincarnated With the World Domination System-Chapter 35: Revving Up

No one cares how cores are made? Is this transformation a part of it?

Across from Rael, Sister Sophia turned into a gigantic creature of water and wood.

Her lower body vanished down to the bone and became a roaring torrent that could swallow several humans at once.

Black wood scaled her upper body like a second skin, binding her to nature.

Countless thin branches burst from her back and bloomed into an eerie flower of death.

Shock waves rippled from her and lifted junkyard debris into a rough orbit around her.

Rael looked like an ant before her.

"Humans have an innate barrier in their DNA that blocks part of their energy, including mana. Because of it, most can use only eighty percent of their strength, and some are limited to seventy. The rest is a hidden reserve that fuels the body's self-repair.

"Unlocking those reserves was supposed to raise our standing in the universe. But unlike other cores, the Prime Core was too difficult to create!"

Chunks of floating junk hurtled at Rael.

Black branches shot after the debris, using it as cover.

When they neared, the branches ripped through the junk and lunged for the boy.

Rael ordered Shiran to emerge from Steelborn Storage.

Because the storage was part of his new power, Shiran did not materialize in the air but fused straight into his lord.

Thunder cracked and lightning sparked around Rael as he leaped aside on four paws.

He saw black tentacles slide from Sister Sophia's torrent and race toward him like unleashed hounds.

Focus on her attacks. We are one now, so my brain will process everything you see or hear.

[Aye, Lord Rael.]

This lightens your load, Dominica. Track my blind spots and brief Shiran. I will focus on defeating Sister Sophia.

[As you wish, Lord Rael.]

Running on four paws, Rael entered the reach of the tentacles.

They tried to batter him flat, but he darted between them with the lion form's burst of speed.

He shifted back to his human frame, sprang between two tentacles, and raked their slimy flesh with steel claws.

Purple strands gleamed inside the deep wounds.

He halted and crossed his arms into an X.

RUPTURE!

Blood inside the tentacles rushed toward him.

The slashes split wider, muscles loosened, and red jets sprayed as if saw blades had ripped them open.

The ruined lengths slapped onto the ground and twitched.

Rael returned to lion form, shifted position, and closed on Sister Sophia.

More tentacles chased him.

He dodged, clawed, and blasted magnetic bullets, yet her attacks never ended.

His Rupture kept the severed limbs from healing, yet she still had more.

She used fallen tentacles and scrap to pen him in.

Overhead, black branches massed like storm clouds.

Below, branches drilled upward through trash like undead coming from the ground.

In the shrinking space Rael reached one conclusion.

I can't avoid it.

Branches above collapsed like an avalanche.

The converging branches skewered his steel armor from every angle in an instant.

Pain exploded, and he could not stop the scream.

"Arghhh!"

Blood streamed down armor and wood, and shock shackled his limbs.

Sister Sophia hoisted him to her towering eye level.

"I screamed the same way, Rael. It hurt when they forced alien genetics into me, a human with zero magical power. This foul water pairs with dark wood, each feeding the other, and together they grant vitality and regeneration far beyond any human.

"For some reason, the DNA of monsters like me was vital for the first batch of Prime Cores, yet that batch barely raised the human limit. It was no perfect breaker, so we kept fighting to become different, or die like dogs.

"We started losing ourselves. Some lost emotions. Some could not turn human again. Some went mad. It was hell."

Rael followed Sister Sophia's story while listening to Dominica.

[She injected a poison, Lord Rael. She expected you to dodge fatal hits, so she planned for attrition. I note she discards destroyed tentacles and forges new ones rather than heal, so she guards her own regeneration.]

The fight must end in one blow. What of the poison?

[Your awakening bloodline can purge it, but it will cost ten thousand EXP afterward. Time is against you.]

Rael stared into Sister Sophia's eyes.

"Is that why you want other kids to live the same nightmare?"

"...Future Eden is kinder than the lab that raised me," Sister Sophia replied. "Still, I regret that I will not see the orphans suffer under strict order."

"A miracle let someone as weak as you survive that hell," Rael said.

"Haha! With your talent you would have survived Future Eden too and become a high-ranking soldier. Instead you play hero, and that is why you will die."

"...A hero tries to save even scum like you. I wondered if I would. I kept deciding I was too green. Now, face to face, I feel nothing for you. After your tragic speech I want you dead even more. I am no hero. Let that sink," Rael said.

"You? Kill me?" Sister Sophia sneered.

Endure, Shiran.

[Yes, Lord Rael.]

A growl rumbled from Rael and rose into demonic howls.

The white lion armor sank into his flesh and exposed his wounds.

Countless purple magnetic streaks shot out from Rael.

His skin took on a steel tint and then returned to normal.

"I haven't given my all yet," he said, blood trailing from his chin. "Have you?"

-

Thank you for the first golden ticket!