Logan entered the fight not knowing what to expect. He was about to battle a four-ter-tall demon using his current body—three ters high, four ters long, six feet, four hands, and sowhat squishy.
He rushed forward and punched at the demon general with all his strength, but it didn’t even flinch.
[Guess this form isn’t built for physical damage,] Logan said, nearly asking what Murk’s plan was. That’s when he noticed sothing—the area he struck on the demon’s body turned slightly purple. Even Zaryx glanced down and noticed the abnormality.
"Toxic touch, huh? You can even drain so of my mana and stamina. Truly a worthy opponent."
Zaryx pushed Logan back with a shield, not wanting to take any chances. The punch itself wasn’t dangerous, but the air around Logan’s new body was just as threatening. It exuded a toxic substance that forced Zaryx to think more cautiously.
"Truly impressive, isn’t it?"
Logan could speak sowhat, though forming vocal cords took conscious effort—and keeping them functional wasn’t easy when his body constantly threatened to lt.
The shield in front of him didn’t pose a real problem either. Just being near it allowed Logan to begin draining its mana. It was fueling him, forcing Zaryx to reconsider. His own mana drain required physical contact, so rely pushing Logan away would get them nowhere.
Logan pressed forward, undeterred by the shields.
He needed to reach Zaryx and kill him or at least touch him. The demon had attacked his kingdom more than once—this ti, he had to die. But Murk’s body was slow. His legs weren’t built for combat; they were made for lumbering steps, not battle.
[Murk, help out here. We need ranged attacks. I can’t let him escape!]
Logan ntally called out to the creature. Murk cried out softly, as if asking him to wait.
[Use sludge. Make clones when hit!]
Logan roughly understood the plan. If he could combine Filth Clone and Blighted Core Bloom, he might get a chance to land a real hit. All he had to do was keep the demon grounded until the accumulated damage beca too much to ignore.
Blighted Core Bloom would cause a part of his body to explode, while Filth Clone could be sent out like a projectile. Logan pulled one of his hands back, the sli accumulating into it, and within seconds he tossed it out like a catapult. At least five percent of his body mass was in that shot, but it missed.
Zaryx’s shield stopped it while he smiled.
"Don’t tell that was your best? A shot that slow could be nulled instantly."
[What he didn’t take into account was that the sli was laced with acidic corruption—an effect that Murk’s body naturally exuded when launched in condensed form.] It began eating at the shield like acid eating away at tal. Within seconds, it penetrated through and landed near the floor in front of him.
Zaryx jumped back, no longer taunting. [His expression shifted from smug to wary, eyes tracing the puddle with caution.] He then began to run, as the sli chased him with a few tentacles. As soon as it got close, it exploded—releasing a cloud of noxious gas and scattering parts of it across the chamber, each acting as miniature versions of Murk.
The small clones squird in different directions, unpredictable in their behavior, making it impossible to track which one could strike.
At least Logan didn’t have to control them—they were managed by Murk.
Logan instead focused on trying to make a bigger clone—one he could control while Murk handled the main body.
He dedicated 40 percent of the total mass to this new clone, careful not to rush it. Zaryx wasn’t just standing still; he seed to be manipulating sothing near the remains of the previous clone.
[There was a flicker of reddish-black energy—corruption magic. Logan’s eyes narrowed.]
[Murk—what’s he doing to it?]
[Master, demon is trying to take over clones... control must explode again!]
Murk, sohow sensing what was being done, cried out. Before the clone could be hijacked, it exploded again—this ti in a burst of raw elental mana, rendering that portion unrecoverable.
[Damn it. Why does it also hurt ?] Logan clutched his head as a wave of pain surged through the link. It felt like a spike was being driven into his skull.
What Zaryx tried to take had backfired, though it still disrupted Logan’s ntal focus.
The purge had saved them, but not without cost.
"Too bad," Zaryx muttered. "I really wanted to add that one to my collection. It would’ve been the best. I’ll have to search for one of those dark-elental slis next ti."
There was hunger in his gaze—not just for power, but for understanding.
His eyes lingered greedily on Logan, but mostly on Murk, who now released noxious gas in thick waves, trying to obscure the battlefield and mask Logan’s plan.
All they needed now was for Zaryx to lose track of the clone Logan was separating. If he focused on the wrong one, their trap would succeed.
Logan used the opportunity to drill underground, carving out a tunnel that would lead him directly beneath Zaryx. Murk, now in control of his own body again, rushed forward and began punching at the barrier to distract the demon. Once it cracked a few tis, Logan slipped in from below and closed the distance.
His clone body was nearly complete—smaller, but modeled after his human form. It was the easiest to recreate, and made combat simpler.
He still retained most of his skills, and if he could combine them with Murk’s traits as a sli, he had high hopes for an easy win.
Murk from above, Logan from underground—together, all they needed to do was close the gap between themselves and Zaryx, who still seed confident he could leave unscathed.
It wasn’t just arrogance—Zaryx had a plan in motion. He began separating parts of his body, forming mutations from the creatures he had absorbed. Demons, goblins, even warks were released from his flesh, shrinking his main body as they erged.
But these creatures were still under his control, and that only boosted his confidence.
To him, it didn’t matter if they were corrupted—as long as they attacked Murk, everything would go according to plan.
Reviews
All reviews (0)