Listen While Reading: Successor of Niten Ichiryu

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[A New {Optional Challenge Quest} has been generated: {Fight The Heavenly Demon And Win}!]

I ignored the quest notification, not having any time to think about it at all. It was an incredibly stupid challenge by itself, and I was glad it was just optional.

“You’re free to attack with any ability, skill, spell, or power you have. And you’re also free to abuse the equipment you possess. Go against me with everything you have.” The Heavenly Demon said. “Unlike the orthodox faction that wants to prioritize “honor” above all else, we of the unorthodox faction think differently. Strength is everything you possess and can get your hands into. Inner strength is not everything! If you have a weapon to use, wield it! If you have a technique that you can use to poison your foe, use it! If you can throw sand into their eyes to gain another advantage, then do it!”

As the Heavenly Demon spoke, I felt my senses becoming sharper. The more I expanded my senses with my ever-growing Aura of Energies, the less pain I felt, and the more I could accurately sense my surroundings.

The pain in my body was fading away as I used my Healing Touch to heal my wounds. Yet I didn’t have much time to respond. The Heavenly Demon immediately jumped towards me after speaking those words, and seeing as I was summoning my skills, he responded with a kick.

How so?

He flew into the skies with his wings and then descended, his talons pointing towards my head.

I knew that if I took that head-on, I would die.

Splattered like a bug!

Within that split second, it took him to get towards me, so I placed my shield in front of me.

There was no time to escape or evade after all.

“{Full Steel Body}!”

My skin suddenly gained a metallic sheen as I activated my Steel Body Skill, enhancing my weight, strength, and defenses through the roof.

The impact came from an explosion of purple, black, and red energies erupting everywhere.

CLAAASH!

It engulfed me in an endless sea of flames of these three colors; my body and my shield were blown away within a second. I felt both of my shoulders dislocate.

“Ugh…!”

I fell over the floor, rolling through it as I quickly stood back up. There was no time to even think; the bastard reached my rear, his legs going down my head.

Is he trying to actually kill me?!

“Fuck you!”

I pushed my shield forward as I relocated my shoulders forcefully, channeling Ki into them as the bones cracked back to their original positions.

The golden shield glowed brightly as an explosion of divine golden flames engulfed the Heavenly Demon, pushing him back a few centimeters.

BOOOM!

Using that split second time frame, I quickly moved behind him, holding the shield after fusing the Martial Soul Soldiers summoned from my accessories, which held the shield for me with their many arms.

My two main weapons, Gram and Heracles’ Nameless Axe-Sword, quickly rushed down towards his back, imbuing them with all the aura I could, making them overflow with both Celestial, Demonic, and Cosmic Ki.

“{Thousand Blades}: {Tempestuous Cleave}!”

I combined the Nameless Axe-Sword’s {Cleave} Ability with my Thousand Blades Skill, as I unleashed a barrage of dozens of consecutive, cutting attacks that could easily grind through a mountain.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

The ground below us shattered apart as everything was filled with the smoke produced by the explosive attacks. However, for some reason, it felt like I was hitting something even more unmovable.

As the smoke dissipated, the Heavenly Demon’s body seemed almost unscathed, his hands or claws, stopping every attack that should have easily cut through anything, only smoke coming out of his hands, produced by the friction of my blows.

“Not bad, but that was never going to work against me.”

He spoke with a dignified tone of voice, his Aura erupting and quickly exerting its enormous pressure over my entire body. I felt like I was being forced to kneel in front of him. He used this opportunity to quickly attempt to kick my jaw.

If he did, I was sure my head would go flying away. I quickly pushed myself to my limits, imbuing all my energy into my legs and pushing myself back, before opening my mouth as a long frog-like tongue surged from within.

“You evaded that well… And what is this now—a tongue?!”

My long tongue possessed more muscles than I imagined, and combined with the enhancement of Full Steel Body, it was tougher than most weapons.

This was the effect of my newest Skill, [Venom Dragon Tongue (A)]!

I moved it dexterously, as if it were a fifth limb, using it like a whip and releasing an endless barrage of attacks with it, keeping him in check.

Whenever he attempted to attack me, my tongue, which was constantly moving everywhere around me, would alert me, and I would quickly evade.

But that wasn’t all.

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When he got in range…

BOOOM!

An explosion of dark green flames reached his face and torso the moment he got within range. The flames coming from my own throat were directed outside using my long tongue. Yeah, this was a disgusting fucking skill, but it was useful.

“Ugh?! What with these flames…? Poison?”

However, to my surprise, he was completely fine. His body seemed unscathed from any damage no matter what I did, and just when I attempted to burn him and poison him with this, it didn’t even do a single thing!

“Interesting.” He smiled, and suddenly, his hands released an aura that resembled jaws, devouring my flames and absorbing them. “I’ll make good use of your technique.”

Suddenly, the same dark green flames were produced by his hands, coating them as he moved forward, striking me with a powerful palm blow.

I blocked using the axe-sword, but it quickly gained cracks as it blocked the attack.

The SSS Rank Axe-Sword gained cracks!

BAAAM!

“Argh!”

I ended up being blown away, falling on my own head over the ground. The worst part was that I had no time to recover. The bastard appeared above me, his talons pushing down into my stomach.

CRASH!

“Fuck!”

I screamed in agony as I vomited blood, feeling my innards become crushed. He was easily able to break through my defensive barriers and even bend the metal of my armor.

“Remember that this is a fight to allow you to awaken those powers you’ve gained!” He roared. “Show me what you’re made of, Anna!”

“Bastard, you’re just a fucking psychopath!” I screamed, quickly twisting my body and unleashing a barrage of punching blows into his leg, followed by a strong Cleave and then an eruption of Celestial and Demonic Dragon Flames from Gram.

BOOOM!

He was forced to step back as he felt annoyed that his feathers were burning. He said I had to channel the powers of my Spiritual Body or something, but how can I do that properly if he’s constantly attacking me and aiming for my life?

“You have your head full of thoughts and insecurities!” He roared. “You are using too many abilities, powers, and items at the same time. Do you truly believe you can concentrate with all that cluttering your mind?!”

He advanced forward rapidly; palm after palm attack, I felt my bones breaking down. No matter how hard I tried to heal myself, I continued bleeding and feeling pain all over my body.

At first, I didn’t want to hear him talk; I simply kept fighting my own way. I didn’t have time for his stupid sermons about inner strength or whatever!

However, no matter what, nothing worked.

Nothing!

“RAAAAH!”

After he kicked me down again and broke my left arm, I roared furiously, rushing towards him as my Nameless Axe-Sword channeled its powers. My body was suddenly covered in the power of yet another Labor.

{First Labor: Nemean Lion’s Wrath}!

As I activated it, I felt my HP dropping drastically as half of it was consumed instantly. My aura transformed into a furious, roaring golden lion as I charged forward within a second.

The Heavenly Demon, for the first time, widened his eyes in shock as a barrage of 30 consecutive attacks landed over his body cleanly. He was unable to evade them; I was faster than him!

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

“Ugh?! Argh…!”

He groaned in pain! I saw his body give a few steps back as he attempted to block my attacks with his bare hands, but there were so many at the same time, further multiplied by Thousand Blades, that he was completely unable to block all of them at once.

“ROOOAAR!”

The furious roar of the Nemean Lion echoed behind me, and my aura suddenly jumped over the Heavenly Demon in the shape of said lion, opening its jaws and engulfing him in an enormous explosion of all my energies combined together.

BOOOM!

After the explosion, the floor where the Heavenly Demon was located was covered in golden and black flames, yet his body remained standing. He wasn’t unscathed this time; a few small cuts covered his chest, as I had managed to tear apart his clothes.

“How about it, you fucking old man?!” I roared. “Is that good enough for you?!”

“Hahh… Hahah…” He laughed as he glared at me with his sharp red eyes. “Not bad for my disciple!”

Not only was his body left with a few small wounds, but there was a powerful pressure reducing all his defenses by fifty percent, another effect of this labor.

However, the drawbacks were just as bad. I felt my life force fading away as another fifty percent disappeared. Now, after being left with 25% of my original health points, a single attack could kill me.

But that wasn’t too bad, as a coat of the lion’s fur covered my body, and with Healing Touch, I started to slowly recover my health.

“But that’s not enough.”

FLASH!

Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon disappeared, and then, a second later, appeared right behind me. It was as if he had stepped into the void itself and then come back right behind me.

That wasn’t movement; that was just teleportation!

His claws reached my neck, striking me down with a powerful blow.

CLASH!

In that moment, it felt like I could see nothing, I could hear nothing, I could feel nothing, I could smell nothing, and I couldn’t even speak or even breathe?!

He struck my spine and somehow cut the connection between my brain and the rest of my body.

Was I dead?

The only thing my consciousness could see was eternal darkness and silence.

With a single strike, he cut down all my senses—everything.

What will I do?

Without my abilities, without my items…

They are everything I’ve been using to survive, to save everyone I love, and to help everyone I love.

To tell me to just leave behind the things I’ve worked so hard to get was so insensitive.

In the original story, I was nothing but a weak little piece of sh*t anyway.

All those powers and items were making the difference.

But now, within this endless darkness.

What else do I have but my weak, shitty self?

I might as well…

Just give up already.

…

“Don’t.”

Huh?

Was that… a voice?

“You can’t give up yet.”

What was that?

“You shitty brat, you killed me, and now you’re giving up against a damn crow?”

I must be hallucinating.

“You’re not.”

There it is again!

“Look deeper into your own self.”

“Anna, look deeper.”

Deeper?!

“Deeper, into what you truly are!”

“Deep within your own consciousness, within your Spiritual Body.”

“Do you see it?”

“Do you see us?!”

FLASH!

And then, I could see something.

A bright white light led me to a sea of cosmic light, with stars flowing endlessly through it.

In the middle of everything, four spheres, three of them rotating around a big one, connecting to the seas.

And above them, a black star.

But that wasn’t the important part.

They were there…

Again.

A dozen figures are standing right in front of me, standing over the cosmic seas.

Their shapes and forms varied immensely.

Some looked like me, but in different forms.

Others were completely different.

I could swear there were Sepa and Uroboros there.

And even an aberrant form of myself.

An angelic form and a demonic form greeted me as someone came from behind them.

It was me again, but in my cosmic appearance.

And right behind her is my form in my demonic beast transformation.

There were two more beings behind them, but their forms couldn’t be discerned.

“W-What exactly are you?”

“We are your egos, the parts that dwell within you.”

“We are simply you, but different.”

“We are what you sometimes can’t accept.”

“Whether you like it or not, you will never free yourself from us.”

“But we are also your strength and what makes you who you are.”

“…”

I was left dumbfounded. What I thought was simply a skill ended up being something much deeper. They were aspects of my own self. Then that means…

“You’re not weak, and you’ve never been alone either.”

“Anna, please…”

“Don’t let that crow-faced bastard win!”

They all hugged me, their essences melding within me as I felt my consciousness rise, spreading everywhere within the cosmic sea.

Everything became one with me as I suddenly and rather forcefully regained all my senses.

FLAAASH!

An explosion of bright cosmic light erupted from my body, yet I hadn’t gone through my cosmic transformation.

“Oh?”

The Heavenly Demon looked at me in awe as he saw what I had become.

Everything within me—all my Egos, my Spiritual Body, my Meridians, my Inner Martial Core, my Physique.

I had achieved complete harmony between all of them.

This was… my strength.

Not something from a skill or an item.

It was mine.

“It seems you’ve-”

Before the Heavenly Demon could speak a word, I rushed towards him, my leg kicking his head and pushing him into the ground.

The floor shattered as the entire temple trembled, the rooftop collapsing.

CRAAASH!

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep