723 – Taotie Conclusion

『I’ll end this now, taotie!』

Right now, the taotie has its posture broken with its foreleg captured by the ice of [Cocytus].

Against the taotie with its baseline stats raised with [Flames of Antipathy], it isn’t wise to draw the battle out.
I might have my HP depleted at once with a single misstep.
I’ll end it right now when its guard is open!

However, [Flames of Antipathy] is boosting the taotie’s defence, making it much tougher.
A weak attack will be immediately answered with a heavy counter… So then I only have one option.

“GuuOOOOOOOh!”

Planting my rear leg firmly into the ground, I use all my strength to ram an uppercut into its chest.

“OGOOOh!”

The taotie screams.
Its claw that was trapped in the [Cocytus] ice wall shatters into fragments of frozen flesh.

No matter how tough it’s gotten, it looks like it can’t defend against being punched into the air.
Much less so with its forelimb stuck in ice.

Aiming for the midair taotie’s abdomen, I slam my tail into it, smacking it even higher.
The flightless taotie is completely defenceless once it’s sent into the air.
On top of that, its body is that of a four-legged beast.

I dig my claws into its back and fly straight up.

『Your claws and teeth can’t reach me here!』

“O, OOO, OOOOOOh!”

The taotie thrashes vigorously.
Its tentacles coil around my body.

I’m prepared to take some damage, but I’m not about to hold on to it until the damage piles up too much.
I glance downwards.
I’ve carried the taotie about a hundred metres into the air.
With how heavy it is, this is probably as high as I can manage.

『[Heaven’s Drop]!』

I spin forwards and slam my tail into the taotie, sending it crashing towards the ground.
The tentacles wrapping around me are torn off as the taotie hurtles downwards.

“O, OGOh, OOOOh!”

The taotie pushes its tentacles beneath itself, trying to cushion the impact of its fall… What remarkably quick decision-making.

Its body slams into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.
The tentacles on its back are squashed to uselessness, but it’s still alive.

『I am, the one who, will rule everything…! I cannot be defeated in this place…!』

『[Return to Ground]!』

Falling straight down after the taotie, I swing my foreleg with the force of my dive behind it, thrusting it into the giant mouth on the taotie’s chest.
A shockwave bursts outwards into the surrounding area, throwing up a sandstorm.

“OGOh… OOO, OOOOOOOOOh!”

The taotie bellows.

I receive the impact of landing with my whole body as well and am blown away, tumbling over the ground.

O-ow, ow ow… My whole body hurts.
The backlash from diving into the ground is painful.
I lost consciousness for a moment.

But I couldn’t have afforded to cut corners against the taotie’s toughness.
We’d be back to square one if I had messed up the finishing blow and given it room to recover.
I’d already damaged it quite a bit.
This should have been enough to finish it off.

『You… there…』

The taotie reaches out with one foreleg as it rises to its feet.
I rise in a panic and turn to face it.

You’re joking, right…? Having done that much, it still has HP remaining?

At that moment, the [Flames of Antipathy] wreathing its body disappear.

『It was… a splendid fight… To have won against me, Ares… But, that being… God, is absolutely unbeatable… God will definitely not fight you on your level.
Eventually you, too, will feel the despair…』

The taotie’s body pitches forward and collapses.

『For so long now… I have longed for a place to pass on… But it’s strange… For some reason, I wish I could stay to see your fate…』

The taotie’s body turns white, and cracks open up all over it.

【287000 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv-], an additional 287000 experience points have been acquired.】

【The level of [Apocalypse] has risen from 131 to 156.】

I receive a vast amount of experience.
At the same time, the taotie’s body crumbles, disappearing into motes of light.

With this, I’ve subdued Saint Jornes and Hero Ares, two of God’s Voice’s four [Spirit Servants].
There’s two remaining… the Magic Beast King and the Demon Lord.

And right after, I’ll end up fighting that God’s Voice.
There’s no doubt that it’ll be a disadvantageous fight.

God’s Voice’s aim is to observe how strong I can become.
However, like the Hero Ares says, they’re bound to avoid fighting on the same level as me.
God’s Voice will probably come to kill me before I can gain enough strength to fight on par with it.

However, I’ve already come this far.
I’m long past the point of complaining.
With how much I’m bearing on my shoulders now, losing would be unforgivable.

It’s not just the world being at stake.
The wishes of the divine skill holders that were manipulated in the past and thrown aside weigh heavily on me.
Even just now, the long life that Hero Ares led has been added to that list.
I can’t help but think so after seeing that phenomenal amount of experience points his death gave me.

『…Don’t worry, Ares.
I definitely won’t lose.』

I mutter, willing it towards the disappearing remains of the taotie.

After healing my wounds through [Autoregeneration], I kick off the ground and take to the sky.
I’ll return to Harenae for a moment.