Chapter 38 - A Victory to Regret.

I walked up to my first victim as the acid had been absorbed by the ground it was laying on. Not much of its liquified corpse remained, but I still wanted to know who almost got the better of me.

""

I looked at the creature only to see its name revealed;

"Hmm… I take it there isn't much more information since it got dissolved by my acidic fluids… But still… Wish I could find out more, like level, behavior, and things like that."

Disappointed I turned around as the creature had turned into a puddle of acid.

Not sure if the same had happened to one of the kings I quickly headed towards the corpse which I had defeated.

"I take it something as huge as he wouldn't get dissolved within seconds, wouldn't he?

But man… One of the Five Kings?! I honestly can't believe it… I have to make sure though…"

Without a second thought, I rushed towards the gigantic corpse which lay motionless on the floor.

"Previously I was unable to this behemoth of a beast. Now that I have defeated it… Which I still can't believe… I should be able to at least see its name, right?"

Looking at the beast, getting lost in awe as I stared at it in disbelieve activated on its own. But before looking at what had to tell me I lost myself in how the beast looked in all its glory. Although it had lost too much blood during the fight, which I thought was the reason how I could win, there was still uncertainty within my judgment of the matter.

Wanting to find out more I went on to investigate the beast its body.

Again I was unable to deny just how ginormous it truly was… I was nothing in comparison and yet… I was the one still standing… The more I thought about it, the less believable the entire experience was… Not to discredit my achievements… But really,

this… How was I still alive? Really?

The previously mesmerizing and reflective scales had begun to fade. Becoming dull one by one… as if truly fading away. Slowly the beast wasn't difficult to see anymore,

instead… The unfathomable monstrosity finally had revealed its true form.

Scales, large and sharp, had taken on a dull white color, almost like.

"Bone? No… No, it's can't be, right?"

I don't know why, but the more answers I got… The more the mystery began to compel me.

"Bones for scales? Who am I kidding?!"

I went on to observe the other aspects of the beast. Closely looking at the unprotected skin beneath the scales. The skin looked like a cream-colored fluffy texture, but upon touching it was more similar to my own though hiding… Rough, strong, and sturdy… The blood, on the other hand, was now beginning to dry in the sun. Peered through the leaves of the trees surrounding us. Something was off about the blood… It wasn't like the usual crimson dark red blood I had seen throughout the dungeon… Instead… More towards blood I had encountered only twice before, as it was in a way as black as ink…

Yet upon catching a glimmer of light it was more towards extremely dark indigo.

"Purple blood? No way… How peculiar… I have never seen anything like this before…"

The places drenched by the blood began to deteriorate, almost as if whatever got covered in it slowly melted away. Quickly I realized what could be the cause of this, as the smell had become intense. The smell itself made me think of rot… But there was something more distinct about it. As if… It might have originally have been from another area within the dungeon.

"So this… This wasn't one of the five mentioned by E.V.E? Aarrgghh, with every answer I get… only more questions arise…"

[Isn't that the beauty of it? The beauty of never-ending discovery and mystery?]

"Hmm… Honestly… I don't know anymore, true… There is a certain beauty in uncovering mysteries and finding the answers, but to find that one might have never truly known anything…. Sighs… So this is why they have a saying like; Ignorance is bliss…"

Wanting to make sure I didn't step in any of the blood which had spread around the beast I thought it was best to climb its back once more. Clawing my way onto its back I first made my way towards its head. Along the way, I found the wound which I had inflicted onto its back. Inhaling my acid. I truly did not enjoy this at all… But I had to continue,

to solve the mystery of this sudden defeat.

As I turned to look underneath its skin what then revealed itself to me was some significant scar tissue, something which could only be inflicted by one fairly of the same size…

Not only that… But there were signs of stress, rips, and tears all over its body…

What I found… I truly wish I had not… Because this had proven that the one who had beaten the beast truly wasn't me…

"But… This… This can't be… This means the beast had been severely weakened as it was fighting me… Who, or what was able to inflict this upon it must truly be one of the so-called "Kings" then? Aaaggghh! I hate it when there are more questions than answers… This is getting me nowhere… Well… I say that, but at least now I know that I truly wasn't the one to kill it… Was I? I kind of feel sorry for it now…

Wait no! Why should I?! The bastard tried to kill me… There is no reason to feel sorry for its death, "Survival of the fittest" is how it truly is!"

Now that I knew… That the beast had been severely wounded before even encountering me there was no sense of accomplishment anymore… Now there was only a sense of frustration left in the air… The air grew dark when suddenly I heard lightning clash in the air.

*BOOM*

*Crackle*

*Tssss*

After the intense crackling, the rain quickly followed, washing away the remaining blood of my and the beast its wounds alike. When I drew closer to its head it revealed to me that it once even had wings… Wings that were completely ripped off in a savage attempt to slaughter what was left of it. Now… instead of frustration dread seeped into my heart.

Dread for what did this to the beast, dread for what was out there…

"Who or what could have done such a thing?! This…"

I truly did not have words for the gruesomeness that I found in front of me.

But… That was not all, what I found when I arrived at its head was even worse…

For I found that its eyes had been gouged out almost completely…

Not popped because of the pressure or erosion of acidic properties within its bloodstream,

but were entirely ripped out of their sockets leaving an unending stream of blood to flow out of their remaining empty sockets.

Upon careful inspection, I found how the beast was able to use its head like a spear,

for its head was also covered with numerous scales layered upon each other.

"And here I thought I could be cruel to some… Nature, you're a cruel mistress, I can tell you that much…"

Curious about the entire layout of the beast I headed off to find its tail if it even had one.

Traveling down its head I noticed something shiny underneath it.

But having made my mind up to check out its tail I first headed down to check it out.

In doing so I also made a mental note of the shiny object.

Upon arriving at the edge of the beast's tail, what I saw only made the beast more interesting to me, for its tail had the same layered construction as its head, but this seemed to have the option of splitting its genetic make-up as it were multiple tails layered into one. Terrified yet intrigued I quoted to myself.

"I would have been done for if it had used these against me… But now I understand why it didn't."

Having checked out the beast from top to bottom there was only one thing left before checking its name. The shiny object underneath its head.

Struggling to lower my body to the ground I eventually slipped and slammed into the ground.

As I did a heavy thud could be heard.

*THUD*

"Ouch… Even like this, it's huge!"

Upon arriving at the shiny object a window opened and what it read widened my eyes.

[Ragnaria Ultima Sphere; A sphere of pure Ragnaria essence, known to be purebred eggs of the Ragnoss family as well as essence to strengthen those within the same family]

I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Had I been fighting one of my own?! No way…"

In disbelieve, I inched closer to the sphere. Captivated by it I just had to know what it could do. Upon trying to see what it would do with the interaction I decided to touch it slightly.

When I did, it began to ripple as if made of water?

I couldn't tell as this was the first time seeing this in person.

Quickly I tried checking for more information had to show me.

What revealed itself shook me to the core… As I felt the Sphere merge with me the ripling effect could be felt throughout my core, becoming part of my own essence and revealing information about the unfathomably large carcass in front of me.

[Name; Ragnaria Ultima, Protector of the Seed.]

[Evolutionary route has been added to the database. Would you like to take a look?] [YES]/[NO].