CLAAANG!!!

Charymos and Megaloblatta clashed again, the tremendous force repelling both of them a short distance away. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Urgh..."

Megaloblatta winced, his entire right arm almost going numb as though a thousand pins and needles riddled it.

"You arrogant fuck. Do you really think that you can contest against a Legendary Grade weapon with your bare hands?! Stupid! This is why I have always loathed you!"

Charymos clenched his jaw, coiled his forearm and ignited the three-pointed tip of his weapon in a violent inferno of Mana.

Ta! Ta!

In a split second, Charymos closed the distance between them and thrust his weapon.

[!!]

Crackle!

Seeing as there was no other recourse, Megaloblatta coated his entire frame in Mana and crossed his forearms to shield his chest.

CLANK!

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted, nearly devouring the open space, and as the searing Mana settled, it revealed Megaloblatta with his legs braced against the concrete floor, two deep fractures carved into the ground before him as traces of the force that had driven him back.

"You should be faster than that pest, if you ever hope to defeat me! You would dare challenge me when you cannot even evade and attack of that caliber —"

As Charymos’s eyes beheld the two figures standing behind Megaloblatta, his eyes developed a sadistic glint.

"Ahh~ I see! Were you trying to protect them? Haha! Well done, I had forgotten they were here! My, how troublesome."

A sadistic grin reflected the one in his eyes as he spat out those words.

"Chiek. Liar."

Megaloblatta rubbed his aching forearms and norrowed his insectoid eyes at Charymos.

"Kuku. Was I that obvious? I wanted to see if you would protect them."

Charymos corrected his theatrical posture and adopted a straight one, his brows furrowed deeply as he glared at the three creatures before him.

"Veylith, you as well?"

Charymos raised his webbed palm to his slimy face and Veylith felt an uncomfortable sensation gnaw at her, as though she had committed an unforgivable taboo.

"To think the three of you have plotted to betray me from right underneath my nose... Tell me, how long has this been going on?"

None answered Charymos’s question.

[I considered fighting this pest whilst exploiting his weakness... However, I cannot risk losing the Specimen for a mere advantage.]

Charymos removed his palm from his face and stretched it out before him, allowing multiple droplets of slime to fall on the floor.

■■ Kraken’s Ichor.■■

As soon as he cast that spell, the gelatinous droplets on the ground turned into sentient slime that began dispersing in different directions.

"It would seem that our interests align for now, pest. Let us do battle in the absence of the Specimen."

Said Charymos, and the slimes enveloped the Homunculi scattered on the floor, including the dead ones.

Two of the slime attempted to take Kaelen and Veylith, but he stabbed it with the tip of his spear.

Veylith attempted to do the same, but...

"No, you should go, Veylith."

"But what about you, Kaelen?"

"I’ll stay here. I’ll see you when this is done."

"But —"

"No. You’ll only get in the way, just go."

She had never seen Kaelen more serious than he was now —Perhaps the only other time was when Specimen 2902 was injured.

Ironic, considering that she, 2902, was among the ones that he had brought to the cusp of death.

Veylith resigned and allowed the slime to carry her deep into the passageway where Charymos had coming running.

"Just what are you hoping to achieve by staying here, Kaelen? To what lengths are you willing to go to earn my ire?!"

The Kraken Spawn seethed.

"..."

Kaelen spared him no response and instead reached into his pocket dimension, retrieving a large, jet-black shield as tall as he was —In truth, this was a cockroach summoned by Megaloblatta, and it boasted an exoskeleton that was as durable as its summoner’s.

"Procced as planned, Megalo. Let’s not drag this out."

Kaelen whispered.

Megaloblatta nodded, and...

Brrr—rrap!!

He beat his insectoid wings, adopted a horizontal posture with his claws forward like a spearhead, and charged at a tremendous speed that easily shattered the sound barrier.

■■■■ Verum Perforare! ■■■■

"Why, you!!!"

■■■■ Fangs of Charybdis! ■■■■

Charymos thrusted his trident with a spell of his own.

CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

They collided, and yet strangely, they did not physically touch even a little bit.

The non-physical collision was due to the massive amounts of magicules that were ripping into each other at a subatomic level, causing a tangible friction, and eventually a strange phenomena...

You see, normally, when magicules collide they end up repelling one another, this is due to a disparity, no matter how minute, between the density, mass and size of the magicules themselves.

What then happens if extremely dense magicules that are equal in both mass, size and density collide with one another?

... They attract.

TSOOOM!!

A clash that usually should have resulted in an all-engulfing explosion, instead turned into a vortex of pure energy as Charymos and Megaloblatta’s spells spiraled and danced harmoniously like yin and yang.

"Argh!", "Urk!"

They screamed within the vortex, both of them feeling as though they were being flayed from the inside out, as though they stood dead-center in the middle of an advanced particle accelerator —No, this was much worse.

Fortunately for them...

KROOOOM!!!

The azure vortex destabilized but did not disperse and instead rose like a pillar, devouring everything with its diameter until nothing was left.

Well, nothing except...

"You fool... Huff... Huff... Did I not already say?! You cannot contest against my weapon with your bare hands."

...Charymos stood tall, his entire upper garment scorched along with parts of his skin.

"Chiek... Talking this much during battle is unusual, Lord Charymos. Gargh!"

The insectoid trembled in pain.

The exoskeleton that once donned Megaloblatta’s right arm was completely blown off, from the tip of his fingers to his elbow, revealing the inner flesh that was so sensitive that even a gust of wind would cause tremendous pain.

"..."

Charymos frowned, swirled his forked in his mouth and spat out the accumulated blood before tilting his head up, his eyes planted on the gaping hole on the ceiling.

[To think there would ever come a time where the sunlight would reach mine domain.]

Indeed, their magic spells had pierced through to the first Floor.

[Yes... This must be a great omen, one that declares my ascension!]

He gripped the shaft of his trident and his expression of elation turned dark as he glared down at Megaloblatta.