Chapter 13 : The Crater’s Challenge

The ominous sound, filling every space without a gap, came from above the crater. The sound, which would drive a human mind to the brink of madness and despair, was fortunately not made by a single entity.

At least fifty. It was a mixture of the sounds made by that many red demons.

“If it was just one guy making that sound… ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it.”

Why, isn’t there a saying on Earth? Like, just by hearing their voice, you can tell they’re handsome. This is similar. If that sound was made by a single entity, its appearance would surely be hideous.

“At least they can’t come in here, can they?”

I don’t know why the guys above are so angry, but anyway, they’re making all sorts of noises without showing themselves. This must also be the mystery created by this sun-like stone.

“I’ll see you later.”

I left the sun-like stone—let’s call it the Sunstone for now—and headed upwards. It’s like the issue of noise between floors, but getting rid of those guys is the real goal.

Fortunately, the Sunstone didn’t break or change when I touched it slightly.

As I ascended as if climbing to heaven, I broke out of the crater, and as expected, I saw the red demons surrounding the crater. But what I didn’t expect was how many there were.

“How many f*cking are there?”

In front, behind, to the side, below, even further below, and even in the sea.

In fact, except for the crater, everything was full of red demons.

There was virtually nothing but red demons between this volcano and the black storm.

“Is this why the red demons came out?”

In fact, the guys who came out from beyond the canyon seemed to have been bounced out due to excessive density.

But there was something strange about the red demons.

All these guys, despite my appearance, were hell-bent on breaking through the crater.

“······Are they aiming for the Sunstone?”

Right now, the most suspicious thing in this situation is the Sunstone. And the red demons were all banging their heads towards where the Sunstone was floating. Even the ferocity of the guys seemed worse than those outside the storm. They were howling as if that Sunstone was their enemy.

“But I don’t think I’ll lose. No, I won’t lose.”

I’ve estimated it roughly, but the final victory is mine. It’s like a person won’t lose if they fight an army of ants. But the problem is that these guys aren’t just ants. I’m concerned that they are guys who spit poison, bite, and… do all sorts of crazy sh*t.

It is not good in many ways to deal with those guys recklessly. If I get hurt here, it could come back as a big weakness later.

So I needed to be a little careful.

Anyway, those guys couldn’t come close to the crater as if they were blocked by something. They were screaming in the mountains and the sea, only following me floating in the air with their eyes. In other words, the situation is absolutely advantageous to me.

“Let’s try not to use the dragon’s mind as much as possible.”

In a way, this is the best battlefield to gain a lot of experience. There are so many mobs to test my skills on.

Of course, there is time left until the red moon, so I shouldn’t be complacent, but there was still plenty of room to grow myself with the remaining time.

“Let’s start with the basics.”

Controlling water is for later. First, review psychokinesis, the first ability I learned.

?!?!

Several red demons, drawn by psychokinesis, screamed and flew into the sky. Five. This was the maximum number that could be drawn with psychokinesis at present.

But this was because the red demons were hostile to me and resisted. If it were things like trees or stones, it would be possible to do more. I already controlled more than ten trees at will when I saved Jonan.

“Does the effect of psychokinesis change depending on the difference in mental strength between me and the target?”

On the other hand, when I lifted Rachel and roamed the sea, it seemed like I hardly used psychokinesis. It seems that if the opponent agrees with my will, it is added that much.

“Then if I move them separately… ugh.”

For the next investigation, I tried to move the five demons in different shapes. Then, for a moment, I felt like my brain was turning to mush, and I gagged.

“······I’ll put this on hold for now.”

Instead, there was no problem moving all five demons in the same way. Moving the demons differently was virtually like having five thoughts, so it seemed like my brain couldn’t handle it.

“Still, I’ve roughly figured out the direction to grow.”

It doesn’t matter when dealing with a small number of enemies, but when dealing with a large number of enemies, it is much more efficient to control the surrounding terrain than to directly control the enemy. In the time it takes to kill five demons with psychokinesis, you can deal with that many numbers if you hit them with ten trees.

Or someday, if I get allies… I can use it in the form of assisting them. Then I can help more allies than controlling trees, so naturally, I will be able to deal with more enemies.

“In fact, psychokinesis is like a supplementary skill. Then is it close combat this time?”

Actually, I already finished researching close combat before, so I didn’t need to do anything extra. But I felt the need for defense while banging my body against the stone door when I came here.

Hitting the stone door raw, it hurts unexpectedly.

But I couldn’t make armor that fits my body, so I eventually moved on.

“Water… What do I do with this guy?”

I fly close to the crater and try to communicate with the stream below. The stream water was bubbling and trying to react to something, but the power was still weak. Rather, the amount scooped up by psychokinesis was more.

“Wait a minute.”

Then, an idea came to mind. First of all, the fact that the stream water is bubbling means that it is trying to follow my words. But the power connecting us is weak, so it takes an incomplete form.

In fact, when I came down near the stream and tried to communicate, I could see that a part of the water was making the desired shape.

“Then if I bring it with psychokinesis and control it?”

As expected, it changed shape like before. In other words, if the distance is close, it somehow listens to me. The stream water that came close to my head by psychokinesis was floating in the air in the shape of a blade.

“I can make a new skill with this.”

It’s a skill that can be used right now, a skill that can fight with many. It’s a skill that reduces worries about getting hurt, and at the same time, it can grow the water’s responsiveness and psychokinesis.

That skill was simply armor with blades.

But the difference is that the armor is made of water.

“But the hardness and sharpness will surpass iron.”

Because that’s what I want.

The way to wear the water armor was simple. First, pull the water near your body with psychokinesis and make it into a long cylindrical shape. After that, pass the cylinder of water through your body. Then the water that came into contact with my body naturally begins to communicate. Then all you have to do is think of the shape of the armor and maintain the armor with psychokinesis.

Then, the high-pressure water pressure blades on my claws, tail, and back, and the water armor that wraps around my whole body are completed.

“It’s not as bad as I thought.”

Right now, when nothing is properly mastered, I thought it was a very appropriate skill. It’s a skill that can increase defense while growing all fields. Honestly, even if the responsiveness to water is the same as the dragon’s mind, I think I’ll use it often.

“Then shall we fight once?”

Now all that’s left is experimental combat. In order to improve this water armor more efficiently and solidly, data through several battles was needed. And in front of me, there were demon teachers who would help me get that data.

I put on the water armor, climbed to the ceiling of the storm, and fell, rushing towards the first target.

Boom!

As my 80-meter body collided with the ground, the red demons nearby began to rush at me. But the attacks of the small demons were all blocked by the water and were useless. At most, large demons like the bear that chased Jonan pierced the water armor, but they couldn’t make any scratches with the reduced speed from colliding with the water and the hardness of my scales.

This much is a pass for defense.

Then what about the water pressure blade? Needless to say, it was a success. Just by sweeping around with my claws and tail extended, the red demons were cut in half. From the beginning, even on Earth, cutting machines using water pressure have the power to cut metal. My blade is not that far, but since I increased the cutting power through communication, I could sufficiently kill the red demons.

But even this seemingly all-purpose water armor had a drawback.

Needless to say, the drawback was that it could not be used in water.

Thanks to that, I ran away to the mountain for a while to avoid the countless kiss attacks of the sharks. As I took a short breath and looked around, I could see the surrounding scenery soaked in red blood. While removing the water armor, I gathered the corpses of the nearby red demons with psychokinesis and threw them into my mouth.

“Hmph… ”

It’s a heavenly taste.

I don’t know how I came to feel good about the corpses of the red demons, but I thought it was rather good. It means that even if the world is destroyed by the red demons, there is enough to eat. In fact, I thought it was like the world being destroyed by pizza and chicken.

“Let’s work a little harder.”

I almost cleaned up the red demons on the ground, and only the demons in the sea remained. I could deal with these guys with psychokinesis, or because there was water, I could just deal with them in close combat.

But as a result of deliberately spending time dealing with the underwater demons, I was able to obtain the result that the water’s responsiveness was more than doubled.

“2 percent is also twice 1 percent.”

But where is it that I grew up? I was proud of myself for steadily growing.

“······Should I go back?”

Due to the influence of the Sunstone, the inside of the black storm was not dark, but I couldn’t see the sky, so I couldn’t tell how much time had passed. And since I had completely achieved the original goal, I didn’t feel the need to stay here any longer.

So I entered the crater to return the way I came.

And naturally, the Sunstone floating in the air came into my eyes.

“·········Let’s leave it.”

If I leave it like this, the same situation may happen again. But there were too many difficulties to take away the target of the red demons. In that case, it was better to leave it here and come clean it periodically.

So I turned my gaze to leave the Sunstone and headed for the cave.

But the next moment, suddenly, an intense light burst out from somewhere, and I felt my vision become distant.

········?

I was in an unfamiliar space. A white floor and a vast universe unfolded in the sky.

There, I was standing in some invisible form.

And before I could even collect my thoughts, I realized that someone was in that space.

“What?”

The being was lying on the floor, covered in blood.