Chapter 57: Demon Lord × Body Brain √
"Hell yeah! (^o^)/~"
Looking at her experience bar, which had jumped 10 levels in one go, Shiro cheered and leaped for joy. As expected, slaying humans was indeed the fastest way to power up.
"Don't get too excited yet," Shirazawa said with a smile, pouring cold water on her parade.
"Ah-ha?" Shiro froze. What was the problem?
"The battle between the Demon Lord and the Earth Dragons is over. She's about to arrive on the battlefield." Shirazawa was monitoring Ariel's movements at all times; just a moment ago, the Earth Dragons had been completely wiped out.
"Nani!"
As soon as he spoke, the magical fluctuations of spatial teleportation suddenly descended.
"A spatial gate? Isn't that Administrator Gülie's ability?"
"Ara~ I'm so sorry for interrupting your fun." Demon Lord Ariel's figure slowly stepped out from within the spatial gate, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on her lips.
Ten Minutes Earlier.
The Deepest Part of the Labyrinth.
"You really are persistent. Do you intend to keep this up?"
The pitch-black cavern was littered with the remains of Earth Dragons. Before her, the Earth Dragon Elder Gakia was covered in wounds, gasping for breath—clearly at the end of his rope. Yet, facing Ariel's provocation, Gakia remained steady and calm.
"Unless you accept my proposal, I will not give up." Gakia's voice was low and hoarse, filled with resolution.
"Heh, what a pity. Absolutely impossible." With that, Ariel grinned and struck a strange pose.
"Spider Star Hammer!"
Accompanied by a crisp, sweet shout, countless fist-shadows woven from spider silk blanketed the sky, carrying terrifying power as they smashed down.
*BOOM—!*
The violent collision echoed throughout the entire labyrinth. The peerless force sent Gakia flying instantly. His torso slammed into the cave wall, his mouth fell open, and blood sprayed out, dyeing his entire body red.
"Hmm?"
"Spider Star Hammer?"
Ariel had almost subconsciously shouted that chuunibyou move name. But... what the hell is a Spider Star Hammer?
"...Truly... a unique move." Gakia struggled to crawl up from the ground, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth.
"Shut up! I just... it was a slip of the tongue, I misspoke," Ariel said, turning her head away somewhat like a tsundere. An inexplicable feeling of strangeness flickered in her heart, but it quickly returned to normal. She spoke coldly, "Hmph! One more hit and you're dead. Still not giving up?"
"The world needs a breath of new life. The old things must exit the stage—and that includes me." Gakia's gaze grew even more determined, as if he welcomed death.
"You will truly die from this next blow. Are you sure?"
"To stall the oldest Divine Beast for the sake of a new wind... what better stage for an ultimate exit that highlights the beauty of a good end?"
"Tch! Self-indulgent, stupid dragon." Ariel narrowed her beautiful eyes, her gaze turning predatory as she struck a pose again. "I don't care what you do. Whoever blocks me, I kill! I'll use the skills I snatched from Mother to send you—"
Mid-sentence, Ariel suddenly realized something was wrong. She gasped, covering her small mouth with her hand, her face written with disbelief.
*Was that me speaking just now? 'Mother'? What on earth?*
"Heh, it seems you've been gnawed on quite a bit by that one." Gakia smiled maliciously, then used the last of his strength to exhale a dragon breath.
The golden breath instantly engulfed Ariel. However, facing an attack of this level, she simply opened her mouth and sucked it in, swallowing it whole.
Shirazawa and Shiro traveled everywhere daily just to find food to fill their massive SP consumption. But for the Demon Lord, everything in the world could be devoured to replenish her SP. All magic, all attacks, all matter—all can be my food, all can be my power.
This was the terror of the
"Is that it? Then I should wrap this up." Ariel licked her lips, her eyes cold as a demon's.
"Why not shout out a strange move name this time?" Even on the brink of death, Gakia didn't forget to poke the beehive to irritate Ariel.
"Shut up!" Ariel roared in embarrassment. Her hands slammed together and her mouth opened wide. In the next second, a black beam of energy blasted into Gakia with lightning speed.
*Pshh.*
With a muffled sound, a massive, bloody hole appeared in Gakia's chest, and his remaining HP was instantly cleared.
"Splendid!"
"I should be the one saying that. It's been a long time since I've met such a troublesome opponent."
"No regrets..."
*Thud!*
Gakia slowly collapsed, leaving behind a final word before leaving this world forever. As he left, he returned his soul to the System—just like Araba—to be used for repairing the broken world.
"Another ancient existence gone..." Ariel sighed softly, her eyes dimming slightly.
But for some reason, a strange thought suddenly popped into her head: *A dragon this big... I have to make sure I eat every bit of it! Leaving leftovers is against my principles!*
"..."
*Wait! Since when did I have those principles?* Ariel's thoughts fell into chaos, but soon, she stopped thinking.
"Well, whatever~ why think so much."
"No!" She shook her head violently. "How can I just say 'whatever'? My thinking is gradually veering off track. It's like... something is merging into my soul... the feeling of strangeness is fading as the souls fuse. What is... happening?"
Ariel frowned deeply, trying her best to remember and find an answer. Ultimately...
"Well, whatever!"
"DAME!" (No way!)
"Popping out with thoughts like that so suddenly makes even me scared... ugh... fine, I'll eat the dragon first and think later. Itadakimasu!"
Her furrowed brow smoothed out instantly. Ariel raised her hands high, a happy, sweet smile appearing on her face. The high-and-mighty Demon Lord now looked like a greedy little girl, her pink tongue lightly licking the corner of her mouth.
"Don't eat it!" Just as Ariel was about to enjoy her meal, a cold voice rang out behind her.
"Gülie?" Ariel turned back in surprise to see Gülie appearing beside her at some unknown time.
"Right now... which one are you?" Looking at the somewhat silly-acting Ariel, Gülie's brow knitted slightly.
"I... huh?" Ariel was stunned. "What do you mean?"
"You should have felt the abnormality within yourself by now, shouldn't you?"
Body Brain: (*╹▽╹*) *Hehe~*
"...Mmh. Well, in your eyes, which one am I?"
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