Chapter 12: | Seriously?
---
Cillian's legs tensed to their very limits.
Then, with a loud boom, she vanished, leaving a crater in her wake as the currents trembled from her speed.
My eyes couldn't follow her.
Yet, her attack was already too predictable, betraying itself in her subtle body language and the way she talked and moved.
A shadow loomed overhead as my palm met her fist.
The ground crumbled.
A deep crater formed from the impact, sending shockwaves through the water.
The currents rippled and churned as the mountain peaks trembled.
"Huh, impressive. To be able to generate this attack force with nothing but sheer technique."
Cillian backed a few meters away, cracking her neck.
I couldn't find any opening on her armored body.
I'd felt it from that punch earlier, her defenses couldn't be breached with this form alone.
My strength, mana, and techniques were truly weak compared to the protection her exoskeleton offered.
Its texture resembled Damascus steel but was not quite the same, a cloudy, almost ethereal quality to it.
Her chitin glowed like a crystal, yet it wasn't.
It was a material beyond my comprehension.
Then, Samantha's voice echoed, cutting through the roaring currents.
"Her exoskeleton is made of a divine metal called Cereum! It's a metal unique to their race, the Cereum Beetles!"
Samantha gasped for breath, then shouted again, her voice strained.
"That material has no weakness! But perhaps you could destroy Cillian's insides with impacts... though that's utterly impossible!"
I see.
Thanks for the info, Samantha.
So, impact should do it, but it's impossible.
How?
Did her race perhaps possess special muscles that allowed her to negate impacts entirely?
Cillian sighed, then angrily shouted at Samantha.
"Samantha, really?! We've been friends for thousands of years, and you just spilled the beans?!"
Samantha fidgeted, embarrassed.
"Erm, but isn't it right for a wife to help her husband?"
Cillian was truly shocked.
She sighed, an audible whoosh of displaced water.
"Really, Samantha? Unbelievable."
Then she glared at me intensely.
"You! What love potion did you make her drink to make her hopelessly in love with you?"
I chuckled, striking a pose.
"Can't you see? My breeding tool, my body, could sway any woman! And with a face as beautiful as a goddess itself?"
Cillian sighed again, then took a ferocious stance.
"Come. Show me everything you've got!"
I cracked my neck, unable to help but jump, testing the limits of my body.
I stopped as a lump of flesh sprouted from my back, then twisted into a tentacle, wrapping around my arm like an ornate armor.
My arms enlarged, swelling to several times their normal size as I tensed my legs until my muscles screamed.
Then, with a loud boom and a deep crater etched into the ground, my body vanished.
Time seemed to slow down.
Afterimages of me appeared everywhere, then tiny dots materialized all over Cillian's exoskeleton.
Time resumed.
The dots exploded, but to my dismay, nothing happened, not even a dent on her armor.
So, my fist, was focused with extreme precision on a single point I'd deemed weak, had done nothing?
Seriously, that was just too overpowered.
"Hey, really, how? How did your armor block those?"
Cillian chuckled, amused by my question.
"Truly, you're asking? It's because my armor's structure is truly special. It absorbs all impact until it breaks... so basically, your barrages earlier were useless, as their impact couldn't hurt me nor destroy my armor."
I clapped my hand, amused by her answer.
"Intriguing. Your armor is truly intriguing, Cillian."
I licked my lips, unable to help but blurt it out.
"I wonder how tasty you would be."
Silence ensued.
Oops, I blurted it.
I turned my head and gazed at Samantha, who was now quite angry.
"Hmph... damned bastard!"
I sighed.
There it was, Samantha was angry.
Damnit, I should mind my mouth more.
Then Cillian cackled, a throaty, guttural sound.
"Fuhaha... you... you're fucked right now."
I sighed again.
"Haaa. No need to say it, as I am royally fucked right now."
Then my body slowly shifted as my [Ascension IV] skill: Throneborn Monstrosity activated.
Horns, then tails, and wings appeared on my body as scales and exoskeleton covered my form.
My eyes turned into slits as my vision split, adapting to my new state.
My muscles mutated, as did my bones, and everything in my body overflowed with immense power.
I was an abomination, and I couldn't deny it.
Samantha was shocked at the display before her, but instead of fear, she couldn't help but salivate.
"Damn him. Becoming more handsome from his transformation."
Cillian's jaw dropped from the shock of hearing Samantha.
"Now I see why she's attracted to you..."
I chuckled.
"Perhaps because I am too handsome, Cillian."
My tentacles, now covered in scales and exoskeleton, dug into my arms, making them extremely bulky and strong.
Then, they shifted, coalescing into massive claws.
"Hey, Cillian, be careful since I'll be using the appropriate strength to deal with you."
Cillian raised her guard, her stance firm as she enthusiastically shouted.
"Then try and destroy my armor!"
Blur-Lance Execution Drive activated as my form vanished.
Then I felt it, time stopped as space bent from the sheer resistance of my movement.
I knew that time truly didn't stop, it was just my brain playing a trick on me, unable to process the speed I was going.
The currents trembled as I dashed everywhere.
Afterimages appeared again and again as I lashed, then dashed, and slashed again.
Then, in the next moment, I saw it, tens of thousands of red lines focused on a singular place.
Time resumed.
The countless afterimages stopped in motion, flashing and slashing on the same spot.
In the next moment, a loud explosion echoed as the entire floor trembled from the impact.
Mountains crumbled from the impacts as a massive rock came hurtling toward Samantha, but it was futile.
I took a step, and countless lines appeared on the falling boulder.
I placed Samantha securely on my arm, then vanished and reappeared right in front of Cillian.
Cillian's voice cracked, blood flowing from her chest.
"Excellent. To be able to cut me in half... truly, you're impressive. And the second man to ever cut me in half."
Then her upper body slid and fell to the ground as she remained standing lifelessly.
I gazed at my hand, trembling from pain.
"Truly the hardest metal to be able to nearly destroy my hands."
I couldn't help but respect her.
I opened my mouth, then pain struck my head as Samantha pouted.
"No eating of woman or man!"
I raised my unoccupied arm in surrender as a tentacle sprouted from my back and gulped Cillian's body into the unknown.
"Got it, got it. My jealous queen."
Samantha smiled.
"Good boy. Then here's your reward."
Samantha kissed me for a full minute as I savored her taste.
"Truly, you're delicious."
Samantha touched her stomach as she complained.
"I'm hungry, Alister, so cook me a meal."
I smiled and sniffed her alluring scent.
"Wait for a bit, dear, please?"
Samantha nodded like a princess as she whispered.
"Don't make me wait too long, or else you will face a grievous consequence."
I sighed at her words as my gaze was now fixated on the hologram before me.
---
[You have slain the Overseer of this floor]
• [Cereum Queen Cillian 6★.]
[Flawless Victory achieved.]
[You have gained 10 levels.]
[Access to the next floor unlocked.]
[You have successfully devoured]
• [Cereum Queen Cillian 6★.]
[You may devour one of the following.]
---
• Stats
• Random Skills
• Select a Skill
---
Monster Core
• Cereum Ironheart Core
---
Passive Skills
• Pressure Adaptive Musculature
• Iron Will Core
• Friction-Lock Anchoring
---
Active Skills
• Meteor Impact Dash
• Pulsequake Fist
• Diamond Spiral Guard
• Overpressure Barrage
---
Ascension Skills
• Cereum Exoskeleton [Ascension V]
• Alloyed Battle Doctrine [Ascension IV]
• Iron Reign: Atlas Form [Ascension VI]
---
Her skills were just too good to be true.
Did she perhaps use her Atlas Form earlier?
If so, then she's weaker than expected.
Perhaps it has something to do with her Ascension skills.
I've noticed it after fighting Kaeri and Cillian, the difference in quality between Ascension skills is just too vast between classed monsters.
And I couldn't explain it as I had no idea where to even begin.
Now, let's consider this, an [Ascension I] skill of an Emperor is as strong as an [Ascension V] Skill of a lord class, or maybe even stronger, though I couldn't pinpoint it exactly.
Perhaps the existence of Emperors truly distorts the very laws of the world.
But now, which of the three skills should I acquire?
I'm truly tempted to get her Cereum Exoskeleton for its truly divine capabilities.
What if it gets strengthened if I devour it or perhaps fuse it?
I couldn't fathom its full potential.
Then there's Alloyed Battle Doctrine, which would allow me to obtain the Ancestral knowledge of her race.
Pretty good, since its quality is higher than the one I possess.
And lastly, Iron Reign, Atlas Form was quite tempting, as it allowed me to become a beast for ten minutes before it would forcefully deactivate.
I was tempted to get all, but sadly, I could only choose one.
I sighed and confirmed my choice as a hologram appeared before me.
---
[You have successfully devoured a Skill.]
[You have gained.]
• Cereum Exoskeleton [Ascension V]
[Aberrant Emperor Vessel would like to devour the skill]
[Yes] / [No]
---
† Cereum Exoskeleton [Ascension V]
A divine-living alloy armor that responds to her will, capable of absorbing or redirecting impact, regenerating across fights, and releasing frequency pulses to destabilize enemy weapons; it's not just armor—it's an evolving combat system engraved into her biology.
---