I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 104 : I Am Groot (2)

I Am Groot (2)

Over the course of four years, Louis had constantly thought about his own strength.

The Chaos Dragon—final boss of the main game universe.

Though considered the ultimate threat, that was all anyone really knew.

Even within the game's own lore, information about the Chaos Dragon was not properly addressed.

It hadn't been updated as a raid boss, and the only explicit mention was that it was the final boss.

No matter how imposing it appeared, even veteran players found its lore a barren wasteland with no information.

'No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind.'

With no information, there was no way to learn anything about the Chaos Dragon's power.

Even searching the libraries and archives established throughout the Imperial Court yielded nothing of value.

It had been four years now, relying on the spells of Silia and the other officers of the 7th Legion.

In all that time, Louis had not found a way to control his strength except through those spells.

But he couldn't afford to waste any more time getting nowhere, so Louis trained himself.

If he couldn't find a method, he would create his own—so Louis learned a variety of techniques.

The most accessible was swordsmanship.

At the 7th Legion's headquarters, there were many skilled enough to teach even someone like Louis.

Not just Silia, but also the special task force commander Kelian, and even Paulo, the legion commander.

Louis's body wasn't weak enough to fail to withstand years of harsh training.

Thanks to that, he could now wield aura, a power only knights had previously been able to use.

'But everyone around me was afraid.'

It was only natural for such a reaction.

Even before, he was a monster—now, with new strength, he had become an even greater monster.

Indeed, Louis was a monster, but the fundamental reason was the risk of transforming into the Chaos Dragon.

Every time he fought, he sometimes activated the power of the Chaos Dragon by covering his body in scales.

Even if it was only a fraction of the full power, every time, the consciousness of the Chaos Dragon would invade Louis's mind.

Compared to a full transformation, it was insignificant, but if that accumulated long enough, sometimes it would burst out all at once.

'Was it back when I was slaying a higher-rank monster?'

In the demon realm, Louis had often seen higher-rank monsters.

They truly were monstrous, so Louis had no choice but to unleash even more of the Chaos Dragon's power against them.

That was the problem. Each time, he had to rely on the 7th Legion's spells.

'I almost hurt my squad members that time by mistake.'

Whenever something like that happened, Silia would always activate a spell quickly to help—but what if she hadn't?

Just as the squad members couldn't always rely on Louis, Louis couldn't always rely on the strength that turned him into that monster.

So he learned a new power.

Thanks to his strong body, it didn't take long for him to manifest aura infused in his sword.

Moreover, Louis's aura, like Rio's, was a special case—it was different from that of other knights.

His aura was imbued with the power of the legendary monster, the Chaos Dragon.

Kwa-ji-jik!!-

[Impossible!]

All the frozen trees crumbled, turning to powder.

As Louis swung his sword once more, the glittering shards all evaporated.

Flaming fire blazed on Louis's sword.

After ice, now fire—a property that was also one of the Chaos Dragon's attributes.

Wigmon, witnessing this, cried out in shock.

[You told me, a plant, not to use fire techniques—yet you are using both ice and fire at the same time!]

Did he just ask why a plant-type was using fire-type techniques?

Louis answered calmly.

"I only asked why you use it. I never said you couldn't."

[Then I'll grant your wish—prepare for my full power!]

The branches that had frozen and broken quickly regrew like a lizard's tail.

The rapidly regenerated tree began to be shrouded in black fire once more.

"Wow... seriously."

To anyone, it looked like a burning tree in a forest fire.

It was unsettling, as if the tree were burning itself, but the power was not to be taken lightly.

With the senses of the Chaos Dragon, Louis saw it.

That thing was nothing less than a sun in the shape of a tree.

[――!!!!]

That ultrasonic attack from before came flying again.

It traveled at supersonic speed, but Louis lightly dodged by kicking off the ground.

The ultrasonic blast that passed harmlessly by punctured a distant mountain, far from the academy.

"He's out of his mind."

Louis avoided the attack, but unfortunately landed right on another of Wigmon's branches.

The entire branch acted as Wigmon's arms and legs, so Louis was basically walking right into his grasp.

[Foolish!]

Like swinging a club, Wigmon caught Louis tightly with his branches.

He squeezed like a snake, but Louis could escape by releasing cold aura like before, so Wigmon took special measures.

[You won't catch me off guard twice!]

Trees are living things that absorb nutrients.

With that very ability, Wigmon began to drain Louis's nutrients.

[Because I've been revived imperfectly, my power has weakened. But with your strength, I can recover. Thank you!]

By absorbing Louis's vital energy, Wigmon tried to recover some of his original power.

Knowing that power was of a primordial monster, Wigmon exulted.

[Huh?]

But something was off.

He was clearly absorbing Louis, but he felt none of the sensation of drawing in nutrients.

[This can't be...]

He had certainly seen the guy get caught by his branches.

But as he squeezed the branch as if wringing a hand, something still felt empty.

When he released the branch—sure enough, Louis was no longer inside.

[What happened...?]

The guy had suddenly vanished.

If this was an invisibility spell, it should have been impossible.

Wigmon could sense all life forms—his senses wouldn't fail him.

So, where on earth did the guy go?

"It's just that your perception's way too slow."

[...!!]

At that moment, Louis appeared behind him.

Turning his head, Wigmon saw Louis's sword blazing as if it might erupt at any moment.

[No way... So fast that I couldn't even notice....]

"Yup. I just moved really quickly."

With the senses of a primordial monster, Louis could read all hostility directed at him and all the actions of his opponents.

By syncing to those senses, Louis's speed became beyond description.

For a long time, he had let those instincts guide his body, acting faster than anyone.

That's why to others, he seemed to be teleporting.

"And while you were pointlessly ranting about absorption or whatever...."

The aura of flames swirling around Louis's sword thickened and grew stronger.

"I was building up momentum."

At last, the flames enveloping the sword erupted in a massive explosion.

[Kugh!]

In the explosion large enough to swallow the entire branch, Wigmon squinted his eyes.

Seizing the moment, Louis kicked off the blast and soared high into the sky.

Without wings, this was the best way for Louis to fly.

[Not another one of your tricks!]

But Wigmon quickly steadied himself, immediately fixing his gaze on Louis.

Aiming carefully, Wigmon fired a massive ultrasonic attack into the air.

[―――!!!!!]

Even stronger than before—the ultrasonic blast and the black flames on the branches surged upward at once.

Combining into one, the attack formed a pillar of fire that engulfed Louis.

The attack hit dead center, so hope finally seemed within reach.

[Huh?]

But Louis, now covering his sword in aura of ice again, began to plummet.

Entrusting his body to gravity, Louis poured all his strength into a sweeping slash of icy cold.

Chwaaaaaaaaa—

The sword of ice collided with the flame pillar.

In the aftermath, steam in the air kept freezing and bursting, sending out shockwave after shockwave.

In this fierce clash where neither side relented, Louis summoned strength he'd never used before to his arm.

Scales covered his sword arm and his eyes turned reptilian.

At that instant, the deadlock broke and the tide turned decisively.

[Impossible...!]

The even more amplified icy aura barreled through the roaring column of flame like a runaway train, shredding it apart.

The sword of ice cut through the black fire as easily as slicing paper, gleaming like a star atop a Christmas tree as it fell.

Finally, as the light shone brighter than ever...the demonic tree, wreathed in black flames, was split in two.

At the same time, all the flames instantly froze, and that cold spread across the whole academy.

The frozen flames crumbled and scattered like snow in the air.

Some academy buildings that had been burning with black fire were extinguished in that cold.

Those who had been at the academy that day would always remember it like this.

That the source of disaster, the demon realm's tree, was swept up by a holy light and vanquished.

****

[Kuaaaaaagh!!!]

"Wigmon?!"

In the midst of a duel with Silia, Duramon was startled by the terrible scream.

Looking back, he saw a fellow Great Devil—of equal rank—split in two.

Even weakened as he was, that being was still a Great Devil like himself.

In this academy, filled only with trash, there shouldn't be any humans who could stand against them.

[Duramon!!! Save... save... me...!!]

Wigmon screamed terribly to the end as he was cut in half.

[Savee....]

Finally, the vanquished Wigmon fell silent, becoming nothing but a dead tree.

Duramon watched, dumbfounded, as a mysterious light suddenly bathed the sky, spreading icy cold as it split the Great Devil in two.

"Wait a second... No way!"

There was a prophecy concerning this academy.

It was foretold that one day, a Saint and a Hero would reveal their names here.

Having lived his life disguised as a human named Laika, it was only natural that Duramon knew this.

"I'd always thought that was just a silly rumor...."

Could that prophecy actually be true?

As Duramon reeled in shock, it happened.

"This isn't the time to be distracted, is it?"

Silia, who had been fighting him, was covered in wounds.

She looked as if she might collapse at any moment, but she smiled as if she was in control and reached out her hand.

"Ah...!"

Duramon belatedly realized he'd let his guard down and allowed her spell to hit him.

Of all things, this human body belonging to Laika Bisted bore a stigma.

The stigma Ferus had carved on him during the war was now being activated against Duramon.

"Damn...!"

He felt no particular physical pain.

Instead, his consciousness weakened, and the original owner of the body, who had lain dormant, began to awaken.

This was the fourth time he'd been hit by Silia's spell in this battle.

Even so, to have maintained consciousness this long—he truly was a Great Devil.

"No...!"

At that moment, black energy began to pour from Duramon.

"Damn it!!"

At last, the black energy was completely expelled from Duramon's body.

[Do you know how hard it was to obtain a Swordmaster's body!!]

Duramon's voice issued from the departing black energy.

The unique evil demonic energy of a Great Devil made his identity unmistakable.

"Even in that state, can you still fight, Duramon?"

Silia addressed Duramon, who now floated about like a ghost.

Sadly, without a physical body, Duramon had no ability to fight.

At least as an incorporeal spirit, he could not be interfered with.

[I will return!]

Transformed into a spirit, Duramon flew off into the distance.

Though the Great Devil was not destroyed, Silia now had no strength left to pursue.

"Haah... That took ten years off my life."

She had truly thought she would die.

If the spell hadn't worked on Laika's body, now possessed by Duramon, Silia would've been finished.

And the sudden restoration of her sight had helped her survive as well.

"Anyway...."

Silia approached Laika Bisted, now freed from the Great Devil.

At that moment, the unconscious Laika Bisted opened his eyes.

"Thank you...."

He suddenly expressed his gratitude, shedding tears before falling unconscious again.

"It's over."

"Yes."

There was still work to be done.

Silia disguised herself once more as Talia.

She wondered if that artificial spirit was functioning properly.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Who's going to absorb Groot's power?

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】