Chapter 110: Fighting Derug Part 2

I covered my face the moment the vapor was about to hit me. Fortunately, I escaped without any damage, but the bad news was that my enemy had put some distance between us.

I hadn’t expected him to use such an escape plan. He used a dark-element skill to collapse the Holy Water Prison. As a result, the prison exploded, and he was thrown backward by the blast.

I wasn’t in a position to call it a reckless move. In a situation of certain death, risking everything was the only option.

“Rick!” I heard Sarah’s voice approaching—and she wasn’t the only one.

Because of the explosion, Alicia had stopped channeling Crystal Wall, but after that, I didn’t think it would be necessary to maintain the barrier anymore. Even with her eyes closed while channeling her magic, she kept the lantern pointed toward where our enemy was the whole time, acting like a beacon for us.

I was grateful to all of them for executing their part of the teamwork so flawlessly. The three girls were now close to me.

“Where is Derug?” Sarah asked.

“Right there.” Alicia pointed toward the smoke after scanning the area for a moment with the lantern she still held in her hands.

The vapor covered the ground where he had fallen, but it cleared enough to reveal him lying on the ground. His body steamed from the Holy Water. He was still alive, but he didn’t seem capable of fighting again. Wanting to know how much life he had left, I used my Tamer Appraisal.

[

Name: Derug

Monster: Demon

Level: 15

Health: 1 point

Mana: 0 points

Strength: 1 point

Defense: 40 points

Magic: 30 points

Agility: 5 points

]

It had barely managed to survive. It had acted with such arrogance, but now its life hung by a thread. It had no mana and wasn’t much of a fighter, so I could simply leave it be. I knew it would kill me without hesitation if it got the chance, but I didn’t want to dirty my hands with it.

The real obstacle in front of us now was the spirits still nearby, watching their fallen master.

“Let’s go,” I said to the girls.

“But what about Derug?” Alicia asked.

“Leave him there,” I replied to the princess. “He won’t be able to stop us. Our fight is over.”

“It’s… it’s not over yet…” came the ragged voice of Derug.

“Don’t waste your breath,” I said coldly to the demon. “Unless you want me to finish you off.”

“Are you kidding me, brat? I can still pull off… a fight against you all.”

“If I step in, you’d die instantly. You’ve taken too much damage and can’t fight anymore. Stop talking and spare our ears,” I said, starting to get irritated with the creature.

“Ha, ha, hahahahahahaha!” Derug laughed as if it had gone completely insane.

“What’s so funny?” Sarah asked, her tone serious.

“Haha, sure, I may… seem weak in this state, but I can still fight… of course, with a little help.” Derug said, and then, just like when it summoned the spirits yesterday, it opened its mouth, revealing sharp, shark-like fangs.

As Derug opened its mouth, its voice—now deep—said the following, “Come, my subordinates! Become one with me and help me fight the invaders, in the name of our Great Master Zalrorg!”

The Ghosts didn’t seem comfortable with that idea at all. Many groaned in fear, their faces even more desperate than before. But the demon didn’t care in the slightest.

“Why are you all so frightened?” Derug said, its voice filling with anger with each word it spoke. “Your souls belong to Master Zalrorg forever, so why are you pieces of shit trembling in fear instead of coming to me? Come and become one with me!”

As if its mouth possessed a supernatural suction power, the air circulating through the cave began to be pulled toward Derug, as though it were the center of a tornado dragging everything nearby. From its mouth, a vortex emerged, sucking in the surrounding air.

“Kyaa!” Alicia let out a cry of embarrassment. Because of the strong wind, Alicia and Justine held down their skirts so their panties wouldn’t be exposed.

“What the hell is he doing?” Sarah asked. Since she was wearing short shorts, she didn’t care much, only covering her face.

“He’s eating…” I said as I watched what the demon was doing.

The strong wind wasn’t enough to drag us in, but the Ghosts were easily pulled into the vortex, and as if they were being compressed, they slipped effortlessly into Derug’s small mouth. Once all the nearby Ghosts had been swallowed, the vortex stopped, and silence fell over the cave.

“Is that it?” Alicia said, and as she spoke, a ray of dark energy emerged from Derug.

The monster, which until then had been small, began to expand. Its form twisted in spasms as if it were being filled up, writhing and then solidifying into a new shape.

“Rick, what is happening?” Alicia asked, covering her face from the dust being blown in her direction.

“It’s evolving,” Justine said. “It’s becoming more powerful with the power of the Ghosts it ate.”

After a while, the dark energy beam stopped being emitted by Derug, but the creature no longer looked the same—its body now glowing with dark energy.

“It… it grew…” Justine said hesitantly.

“Huge!!” Alicia exclaimed.

The ceiling of the place we were in was probably about four meters high—enough space to fit twice the height of a two-meter-tall man. Using the ceiling as a reference, Derug now stood about three meters tall.

Its new body could be compared to that of a bodybuilder, except that if it actually fought one, it would probably win. Its entire body was muscular, and to make matters worse, it now had four arms—two emerging from each shoulder.

The only resemblance to its previous form was its head, a black octahedron with a red eye at the top.

“Ah, damn it,” I said, genuine exhaustion in my voice. “I’m honestly sick of villains who have a second form.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep