Chapter 345: The Door to the Desperado Realm!
Development Ability: Monster Hunter.
This was the ability Luke had discovered when he leveled up to a Lv.4 Adventurer back in the Dungeon world.
As a high-level rare ability that only he had obtained, one that had never appeared before, Monster Hunter had even drawn the attention of the Adventurers Guild at the time.
Back then, the ability effect recorded by the Guild was that when the adventurer encountered monster-type enemies, all attribute values would be strengthened.
However, that effect had only been an initial deduction.
In the years that followed, as Luke continuously became familiar with and used this ability, he gradually realized that this rare ability was not so simple.
Leaving aside its other effects for now, even in terms of its most fundamental strengthening range, it was not merely "strengthening."
At minimum, it should have been "large-scale strengthening."
Clearly, the dragonified Stella had been judged as a "monster" by the Falna.
When Luke faced the girl, a strange power surged out.
The injuries that had already begun recovering under the elixir's effect healed even faster.
His nearly exhausted stamina recovered at an unbelievable speed.
This was the strengthening of Endurance.
His vision became clearer.
His attention became easier to focus.
His control over his body seemed to undergo a qualitative leap in an instant.
This was the strengthening of Dexterity.
Then came the most critical ones, Strength and Agility.
Feeling the fullness spreading throughout his entire body, Luke smiled in satisfaction.
Ever since leaving the Dungeon world, he had rarely, or rather, almost never had the opportunity to activate this ability again.
The activation conditions for Monster Hunter were extremely strict.
Existences such as man-made puppets or dolls could not activate it.
Facing Stella now was the second time Luke had activated this ability after arriving in the world of Chivalry of a Failed Knight.
His already terrifying physical ability had become incomprehensibly powerful under this ability's amplification.
The first time this ability activated was back when he first suppressed Stella's rampage.
However, the situation back then had been different from now.
At that time, Luke had been in peak condition, and he had been strong enough to suppress Stella even without relying on this ability.
But now, the amplification brought by this ability was what Luke relied on to face the "giant dragon" with his exhausted and heavily injured body.
However, just as he blasted Stella away and was about to step forward to pursue her, an unprecedented change made him pause in place.
"What is this?!"
Feeling his mana being amplified together with his body, Luke raised his brows in surprise.
Last time, because it had been a sudden incident, Luke had not carefully sensed the changes.
This time, with preparation, he very easily discovered the change in his mana.
Back when Luke became an adventurer in the Dungeon world, he had not obtained the "Magic" attribute.
Even when he finally reached Lv.5, and even when his ability values broke through the S-rank bottleneck, the number in his Magic column had always remained 0.
All-attribute amplification.
No matter how much 0 was amplified, it was still 0.
But now things were different.
The current Luke already possessed "mana."
"In other words, the 'mana' of this world and the 'Magic' of the Dungeon world are similar, or perhaps even the same kind of energy?"
Luke stood in place, quietly thinking.
He did not believe that the two kinds of mana were completely identical.
After all, there were many differences in the details between the two worlds' mana.
However, in essence, there seemed to be no difference.
Feeling the flow of mana inside his body, Luke hesitated slightly.
He did not know whether it was because their nature was similar that it was amplified, or because of the special nature of his identity as an agent.
In Luke's view, both the former and the latter seemed possible.
Shaking his head, Luke pressed his doubts into the bottom of his heart.
This was not the time to calm down and think.
Besides, blindly thinking about it by himself would not have much effect.
After returning to the Main God Space, he could just ask a certain senior about this.
Moving his consciousness away from the flow of mana in his body, Luke turned his gaze forward once again.
And in that instant, Luke seemed to see an illusion.
It was a door.
He could not see it clearly, nor could he describe what style it had.
It simply appeared abruptly before Luke.
From the moment he saw this door, Luke froze.
As though by instinct, he reached out and tried to touch it.
However, he could not approach it at all.
So close, yet so far away.
It was clearly right before his eyes, yet it seemed as distant as the edge of the sky.
The door did not exist for long.
In only a daze, it vanished without a trace.
Luke stared blankly at Stella in the distance, who had flown backward and had just landed on the ground with a loud crash.
Everything he had seen just now was like an illusion.
Of course, Luke knew very clearly that it had absolutely not been an illusion.
He was no longer like when he had just arrived in this world and knew nothing.
Now that Luke had gained sufficient understanding of this world, he knew what that door represented.
"That just now was… the Door to Desperado?"
Luke was still slightly stunned.
Although this could not even count as having touched the Desperado realm, the fact that he had seen the threshold still made him feel incomparably surprised.
"I thought this transformation of becoming a Desperado had nothing to do with me."
Luke smiled and came back to his senses, no longer thinking about what he had just seen.
Originally, Luke had not held any hope toward the realm of "Desperado."
For something unique to this world, as an outsider who had transmigrated here, theoretically speaking, he should not be able to grasp it without the help of the Main God Space.
But now, it seemed that this world was a little more tolerant than he had imagined.
Luke rubbed his forehead, a few thoughts flashing through his mind.
Then he stepped forward again, walking toward Stella.
"Roooooooar—!"
Along with a roar, the girl whose body was covered in blazing light charged over again.
The fire swelled.
The flames surged to the sky.
Her fist, carrying extreme heat, once again smashed toward Luke.
Bang—!
Luke caught the fist with his palm, producing a dull sound.
Sizzle—!
The high temperature pierced through his mana defense and instantly cooked his palm.
Furrowing his brows, Luke smelled the scent of roasted meat coming from his own hand and sighed helplessly.
"So you really have started overdrawing yourself."
Although he did not know when Stella had begun her Dragonification, looking at all the people collapsed around them, it was not difficult for Luke to judge that she had likely experienced more than one battle.
Considering that she was still unfamiliar with this ability, Stella's strength should have obviously declined by now.
The fact that she had been easily blasted away just now also proved Luke's judgment.
When Stella had just dragonified, she would not have lost to Luke so easily in a clash of strength.
That was right.
Just like now.
Stella, who had forcibly overdrawn her body to stimulate her strength, had an increasingly rising aura, and the power she displayed became more and more terrifying.
The stalemate was gradually broken.
And finally…
Boom—!
As the roar sounded once more, this time, the one forced back was Luke!
…
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