Chapter 38: Chapter 38
“Huff, huff, huff….” Duncan panted. He leaned down on his greatsword, staring intensely at the bloated zombie. The bloated zombie looked down on Duncan with its murderous eyes. It saw Duncan breathing heavily before looking at its left arm. Its left arm that was previously here was now gone because of the invader in front of it.
“You’re a worthy opponent, Duncan Wilis,” the bloated zombie praised Duncan, “Your prowess and bravery are praiseworthy.” The bloated zombie raised its meat cleaver while at the same time, Duncan straightens himself up, “Round two!” Duncan charges forward, swinging the greatsword at the bloated zombie’s torso. The bloated zombie uses the meat cleaver to block Duncan’s strike, moving its hand backwards slightly after.
The chain that was flung forward come back. The meat hook at the end of the chain threatens to hit Duncan’s back. Duncan was prepared, though, as he already fought the bloated zombie for a while. He kicked the bloated zombie, using the momentum to then rolling to get out of the way. The meat hook comes alive when the bloated zombie moves its right hand. The chain wrapped around the bloated zombie’s right arm as it pointed its butcher knife towards Duncan.
The bloated zombie then threw its meat cleaver towards Duncan. When the meat cleaver arrived, Duncan swats the meat cleaver away with his greatsword. Not deterred, the bloated zombie moves its arm again. Every time the bloated zombie move its right arm, the attack on Duncan become fiercer and fiercer. ‘I can’t stay on like this!’ Duncan grit his teeth but is still patiently parrying away the bloated zombie attack.
Duncan patiently looks for an opening from the bloated zombie attack while he carefully walks ever so surely towards the bloated zombie. The bloated zombie continued its attack relentlessly, never showing signs of slowing down. Duncan, however, was closing down on the bloated zombie and eventually, the bloated zombie was in Duncan’s range of attack. Duncan’s eyes flashed; he brandished his greatsword at the bloated zombie.
The bloated zombie smirked with its rotting mouth. It holds the meathook in its hand, “You’ve fallen for my trap”, it said. The bloated zombie pulled back its hand, the chain wrapped around the room’s terrain, trapping Duncan. “Now, die invader!” The bloated zombie let go of the meat hook in its hand. The moment it did that, the meat hook launched itself straight at Duncan’s head while the meat cleaver made its way through the chain to strike at Duncan. ‘Do I really have no choice? I was saving it for an emergency situation. Still, it looks like I can’t afford to save up’ Duncan was contemplating something inside of his head before his eyes flashed with resolution.
Keeping calm, Duncan closed his eyes. “Closing your eyes, invader? Do you resign to your fate?” the bloated zombie taunted. When the meat hook was about to pierce Duncan’s skull, Duncan’s eyes shot open. A dark yellow aura materializes around Duncan, coating his body. The meat hook hit Duncan’s head, but it couldn’t pierce anything as with a loud thud, the meat hook fall to the ground.
The meat cleaver too. It hit Duncan’s back, bouncing on it, then falls down to the ground. The bloated zombie was gobsmacked. Then, the bloated zombie saw a dark yellow aura spiralling around Duncan’s body. Duncan’s appearance seemed to change. His wrinkled was gone, and his slightly grey hair turned completely blonde. Duncan slammed down his greatsword to the ground, “I’m Duncan, the Valiant! As long as I got life inside my body, I will never lose!” declared Duncan as his aura slowly rise from 3rd Grade to 4th Grade and finally to 5th Grade.
The bloated zombie flinched backwards, its murderous eyes filled with fear, “Who… what are you?” The ground cracked every time Duncan steps forward. Slowly but surely, Duncan steps toward the bloated zombie, instilling fear into the bloated zombie every time Duncan take a step. The bloated zombie tried to escape, but its body wouldn’t move, paralyzed with fear, ‘I’m afraid? Me, afraid?’ it thought.
Duncan appeared in front of the bloated zombie. He lifted his greatsword high in the sky, “Any last word?” The bloated zombie wants to speak, but it couldn’t open its mouth. “Then die!” he slashed down, cleaving the bloated zombie in two. After the bloated zombie death, Duncan’s surroundings distorted. “What’s this?” questioned Duncan, but he’s still as calm as ever. After the distortion ended, Duncan found himself back inside the prison cell, precisely the one he thought was a potential exit point.
After appearing back inside the prison cell, Duncan calmly observed his surrounding. He first tried getting out of the cell but found that the door cell didn’t budge even with his 5th Grade strength. Duncan found out a glowing orb right on the ceiling. He reached out with his left hand and felt a strange power within. Duncan put away the glowing orb into his pouch and sat on the prison bed.
Duncan frowned, “I didn’t even notice that I’m fighting in a different dimension. This may be more troublesome than we thought it would be. Hang on, young miss, Di….” Duncan clenched his fist.
===
“Whoa… How the hell did he do that?” Seeing Duncan transformation, I gawked in surprise. “Yo, old man, how did he do that?” I excitedly looked at the demon king. But when I turned my head, the demon king had a stick on his shoulder with a white cloth tied at the tip. “What are you doing?” I squinted my eyes at the shady old man.
“I need to leave, dang it. Someone found me, and if I don’t leave now, I’m dead”, the demon king shouted nervously at me. “Who the hell found you? And for Pete’s sake, calm down”, I barked in displeasure. “You don’t understand! If she found me, well.. well….”
I interject, “Of course I don’t understand. Do you know why? It’s because you didn’t tell me. Besides, aren’t you the all-powerful demon king? Surely you would not be afraid of a mere woman….” I said, ridiculing the demon king.
The demon king grabbed my defenceless body, “That’s why you don’t understand! This woman is the bane of my life”, he shook my body like a ragdoll. “Oh, forget it. I couldn’t escape anyway”, the demon king let go of me before slumping down at his throne. Then, suddenly his eyes flashed with surprise. “It can’t be, that technique….” The demon king suddenly stood up and stared at me, “Do you know his origin?”
“Who? Duncan?” I turned my head towards the floating screen, “No, I don’t. We’re only together for a short time”, my lips curled slightly at the demon king, “What? Are you surprised? I asked about that technique earlier, but you didn’t answer.”
The demon king shook his head, “My Dragon Force Technique was based on that technique”, he said grimly, “You suffered the after-effects of the Dragon Force Technique, right? It’s because the effect was great. It forcefully raised your strength a notch higher.”
“That technique, however, was more domineering. Its effect was a third time more potent than the Dragon Force Technique. Not only that, including forcefully raising your strength, but it also gave you a terrifying amount of life force”, the demon king explained.
“Lifeforce? So, that’s why Duncan appearance became younger” I rubbed my chin in understanding. “Its side effect was more devastating than the Dragon Force technique. It made the user experience all the pain they have ever felt in their life,” the demon king said with a frown.
“What!? Send me down there; I got to help him” I tried standing up, but my body still wouldn’t move. “Don’t worry too much. Its effect also lasts longer than the Dragon Force technique. While the Dragon Force technique only lasts a short while, that technique can last for days, even weeks”, the demon king comfortingly said. I breathe a sigh of relief, “Is that so? Such a domineering technique. What’s its name?”
“The technique’s name was Dragon’s Rage. A technique from the dragon race to use in case of emergency,” the demon king said. “Dragon race’s technique?”
“Yes. A technique created by the dragon race for the dragon race itself. It’s interesting that your friend was able to use the technique as when someone not from the dragon race themselves use it; before they managed to gain its effect, they would blow up from the inside”, the demon king said with interest while rubbing his chin.
“How come that Duncan’s able to use it then?”
The demon king chopped at my head, looking at me with disdain, “That’s what interests me. I suspect that he might be half-dragon.”
“Half-dragon?” I looked at the floating screen with glee. ‘Not only does a dragon race exist, but there’s also a half-dragon too. Sometimes I forgot that I’m in another world,’ I thought, my adventuring desires flared up.
The demon king leaned on his throne, pondering, ‘But dragons cannot have a child with a human. No human can handle the dragon race’s power from birth. How curious….’
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