Weapons of Mass Destruction-Chapter 563: Five Beasts
Another notification appears as I get outside, after the event ends. More information on the placement in the event. Another 1st place and a lot of shards. And my body is healed by the system in that incredible way it does, seemingly manifesting any missing limbs out of the air itself. As before, I postpone my reward to bolster my final reward for the tournament.
The next event is the Beast Hunt, and once again, we now have a 24‑hour break before it starts, and we’ll get more information in about 12 hours.
Someone tugs on my clothes, and I look to the side, where I find Lily standing next to me.
“What?” I ask.
“They focused on you directly. Why?”
“I have an idea or two about that, but you don't need to worry about it. Did you enjoy the event?”
“A little,” she says, walking by my side as I make my way back to my workshop, “You and Victoria took care of the Kings, but there were still plenty of strong Beyonders and Hell attendees left over for us. The problem was that Tacita was hunting them down, and some of them decided to lead an attack on our fortress, so I had to be quick to get my share.”
I notice Samuel moving in to speak with me, so I put my hand on Lily's shoulder, and she lowers her defenses so I can teleport both of us far enough away to continue our conversation.
Lily continues to talk as if nothing happened, “Sometimes it's scary how defenseless the people from Easy and Normal difficulty can be when there are no Hell attendees or Beyonders around to defend them.”
She swings her hand in a mimicking slashing gesture, “Just like that, and they’re dead. There is no resistance, Nat. I could kill any one of them by mistake, and even if thousands of them were to pile up against me, it would be all for nothing. Only the Hard difficulty would put up some resistance if they united against me.”
“Is this what people call a humble bragging?” I ask.
“It’s not!” she shouts, then quickly lowers her voice. “It just scares me sometimes. Will I even be able to be around normal people? Will I get to the point where I won't want to touch them, for fear of hurting them?”
I shrug, “You’re overthinking things too much. To me, it's simple. If you want to do that, find a way to limit your stats or strength to a much lower level, and that's it. But that would probably make you vulnerable, so be careful.”
My answer seems to give her a bit of pause, and she takes a moment to think for a bit, and when we finally come to a stop in front of the workshop, she chuckles softly.
“It’s just like in those stories.”
“What kind?” I ask.
“The ones where the gods have to turn mortal to be able to stay among humans.”
With that last sentence, she waves me off and leaves, likely to train.
Ten hours later, I leave the workshop with another wave of items waiting in the auction, and Miwa on her way back to her own workshop. My plan of cooperating with another crafter is picking up steam. Soon, she’ll reach a level where people will ask her for items instead of me, hopefully, so I won’t have to deal with projects other than my own. Yes, it’s all coming together now.
Sensing a familiar signature in our living room, I teleport there, finding Victoria sitting in the armchair and Lily opposite her. They are alone, and Lily looks as if she’s in the process of being interrogated.
As Victoria turns her attention to me, Lily seizes the opportunity to escape, after saying a quick goodbye.
"Don't bully my group, Vic," I complain as I push her over so I can take a seat next to her.
She looks at me questioningly, “I would not do that, Natty. But never mind that, did things go well for you during the event?”
I confirm, “Yes. I mean, that person didn't come to complain, so that's a good sign at least.”
“Do you want me to speak with her?”
“Please don't,” I quickly respond. Just the thought makes me worry about the problems that would arise if their personalities clashed. I can already imagine what Vic would do.
“As you wish.”
“How was your fight with Jean?”
“That man? He is likely the strongest out of the Kings we have met so far. It took a while to deal with him, but it was nothing I could not handle.”
"I just thought of something, but can you duplicate items?"
"Yes, but only those of common rarity. I should be able to duplicate more powerful ones if I try, but I have decided not to spend time training it and instead, I am focusing on other priorities for now."
“It would be interesting if you could do it, Vic, but you have the right of it either way. Items can be taken away, but your power will stay with you.”
"That is true. Use them, but do not rely on them, and be ready to throw them away."
“Is that why you have no armor or items, just these common clothes?”
Victoria nods, “Yes. It began to annoy me after a while, when I noticed people staring at me, so I learned to duplicate my clothes at the very least.”
“Vic.”
“Yes, Natty?”
“Don't tell me you’ve been fighting naked.”
“Of course I did, I had to. At the lower levels, my skill would not allow me to duplicate, not even common clothes, and what is there to be shy about when it comes to a death or life situation?”
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“Who saw?”
“Most of the opponents who forced me to use my skill before I improved it are already dead.”
“Name the remaining ones, Vic. Tell me right now, I will end them all.”
To that, she smacks the back of my head.
As expected, a few hours later, the notification finally comes.
The 2nd event, Beast Hunt, will start in 12 hours!
Everyone will be transferred to a randomly selected map; all difficulties will participate together. The terrain will be chosen at random from the system's database. You will be facing the environment and the beasts.
The 2nd event will take place over the course of the next 10 hours, and the placement will be decided according to total score.
You will gain points for hunting and killing beasts. The more powerful the beast, the more points you will be awarded.
Note: A hefty penalty will be incurred for killing another participant.
Note: All points for a given kill will be awarded to the person delivering the killing blow.
Five special grade beasts will be placed around the map, each within their own territory. Anyone who successfully takes down such a beast will be awarded a huge amount of points.
These five beasts are:
Stormscale Basilisk: A serpentine predator covered in shimmering, conductive scales that generate lightning with each movement. It is capable of releasing explosive electric bursts and paralyzing its prey with its gaze.
Emberhorn Behemoth:A towering, bovine creature with obsidian horns that channel the elemental fury of magma. Its hooves ignite the ground where it walks, and it can unleash devastating gouts of lava.
Nightshade Stalker:A feline predator shrouded in shifting shadows, capable of blending into the dark and attacking from multiple directions simultaneously. Its venomous claws may induce hallucinations.
Onyxscale Hydra: A multi‑headed serpent capable of instant regeneration unless its heads are destroyed in a specific sequence. Each head controls a different element. Has a penchant for launching devastating attacks.
Witherclaw: A lanky, fragile creature with thin, splintered claws that break on impact. However, each failed strike and every wound it sustains forces it to regenerate, sharpening its claws and making its body stronger, harder, and deadlier with each battle and the passage of time.
The notification disappears, and another appears in its place.
It is now possible to visit the common areas of all the rounds.
Later, standing in the middle of the room, I patiently wait as Victoria fixes my hair and the collar of my shirt.
She takes a step back and nods, satisfied, “You always were handsome, Nathaniel. You always could pull off just about any outfit.”
Before answering, I take a moment to calm down after another death. Victoria notices, so she waits patiently.
"I don't want to go," I tell her.
“And you think I do not know that?”
“See? You don't even need me there.”
”First impressions are important. How many times do I have to keep telling you that? If not for yourself, can you do it for me?”
I sigh, “Of course.”
“Good,” she says, ruffling my hair and starts fixing it again, belatedly realizing what she’s done.
At this point, the rest of group 4 are giving me looks that I will need to punish them for later. I still have plenty of conversations I’ve happened to overhear and little secrets I can throw around to cause them trouble.
“You do not have to worry about anything. I will take care of all the talking. But the two of us going there together will send a powerful message and make things easier in the future.”
“Yes, I know,” I admit, deflating as I do, “but I’m holding you to your word, Vic, only 30 minutes, after that I will fuck the hell off, even if I have to beat the shit out of all of them at once.”
“Mind your language. Those who can not control their words or actions are no better than animals, and I would be very disappointed if my only brother were to stoop so low.”
“You know why I'm in such...”
“No excuses.”
“I… okay.”
“Good. Shall we go then?”
This time, I don’t bother checking the expressions of my fellow group 4 members and follow behind Victoria, who also seems to have chosen a bit more formal attire. Nothing too excessive. Where previously both of us wore the kind of clothes you would wear while rolling at home or taking out the trash, we now wear clothes you might put on when going to the city. Well, a medieval age‑ish version of that.
We’re both wearing white button‑up shirts and black pants. Nothing too different from the kind of thing I’d normally wear, though these clothes are made of a visibly superior material that looks nicer and comes with a price tag to match, yet somehow they're just as comfortable.
Victoria, on the other hand, has her hair brushed back and pulled into a simple ponytail, and where her sleeves hang at her wrists, I roll mine up to the elbow when she’s not watching. Well, I'm sure she must have noticed but decided to let it go.
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Neither of us carries any weapon as I activate [Ley Line], reaching out toward the 8th round's mountain and teleport us there among the trees. After a minute of walking, we enter a common area that isn't too dissimilar to ours. There are probably even more people from the 8th round than usual, hanging around to watch the people entering their “territory.”
There are cars here as well, along with some modern tents. And is that a fucking tank I see, and what about that helicopter on the edge of the clearing? I also notice multiple drones flying high in the air.
Both of us walk along the clear path set out for us, and approach the edge of the common area where we find ourselves looking up at a huge white tent. I observe the inscriptions around it and identify them as those meant to block sound, wind, and something to clean the air? I quickly locate the item they are connected to: some bottle with liquid inside.
I activate my eyes and look at it more deeply. The inscriptions seem to be meant to dissolve whatever liquid is inside. Is it some kind of poison? Or a hallucinogen perhaps?
We enter, and the first thing I notice is the pleasant scent of lemons and freshly cut grass.
Oh.
It’s a goddamn scent diffuser.
In the middle of the tent sits a single circular table, quite a large one at that. Ten chairs have been arranged around it, and there are already a few people settling in. They look up from the table, focusing on Vic and me as we make our entrance. Right off the bat, I spot Derick, Baek, and Jean, along with the redhead woman from the 2nd round.
Each spot at the table has a number from 1 to 10, arranged in a counterclockwise manner. I sit down beside my number, and Vic sits as well, on my left side.
Derick smiles at Vic and looks toward me, “I'm glad the two of you decided to attend.”
“No problem. I’ve decided to give you a hand.”
It takes him a second or two to catch on, and I make sure to remember the expression he makes afterward.
That's what you get.
