Bonus chapter thanks to @Aguirola665 and @betterdays from Ko-fi!
The monster continued to watch Azier’s fight.
With its superior intelligence and adaptability, it did everything it could to absorb Azier’s Falling edge technique.
In a sense, it was akin to a swordsman entering a state of deep meditation.
Skipping all the fundamentals and basics it should have learned first, its entire body moved in an attempt to reach the single technique of Falling edge.
However.
‘It’s not enough.’
It still hadn’t reached a full understanding.
‘I need to get out of here.’
The monster scanned the surroundings of the prison.
It had tried to escape earlier, but this prison was designed to prevent entities with Mana from leaving.
‘The one who first captured me did the same.’
To be honest, its memories of the time it was born were unclear.
Back then, there was only endless killing intent.
As soon as it started to ‘think,’ there was someone it had to kill right in front of it, and so it tried to kill them, but was stopped.
It looked down at his hands.
Its hands, which could transform into metal-like claws at will.
The cloaking ability that allowed it to hide its body and escape from others’ sight at any time.
Where did it get such things?
Did it have them from the beginning, or were they just another unconscious mimicry?
‘I am a disaster.’
It didn’t know what ‘disaster’ meant.
It didn’t even know if it was a word that answered the question of what it was.
However, there was no basis for it to know who it was right now.
It could transform into any form and steal any ability.
Therefore, it couldn’t know his true form.
‘But that technique is different.’
If it could just mimic that technique.
At least it would escape from something common that everyone had.
Even if it couldn’t become the only one, it could become the second one.
‘I have to get out.’
The monster grabbed the bars of the prison.
Crackle!!
The prison bars reacted to the monster’s Mana, emitting a terrifying electric shock.
This was not just a simple lightning bolt; it was a vicious attack that directly targeted the Mana it touched.
The bars didn’t just touch, they attacked everything that passed between them. This was the reason why even small or flexible monsters couldn’t escape.
‘It hurts.’
The monster felt pain. It learned that it could feel pain when the black-haired man stabbed it in the back.
The monster didn’t know what to do after feeling pain, and as it struggled to escape the pain, it eventually screamed.
That scream was not a mimicry of anyone. It was the first and last act it had learned on his own. It was an act it had chosen himself.
Therefore, it found himself only in pain.
Sss-
The monster’s body gradually faded. However, since it was only cloaking himself, the electric shock from the bars continued to crush its Mana. Its body screamed in response.
‘What am I?’
Yet, it continued to maintain his cloak. It became completely transparent.
It could transform into anything, learn anything, and imitate anything.
Therefore.
‘I am nothing.’
Crackle-
And.
The electric shock from the bars stopped.
A complete separation from the world beyond cloaking.
And it walked out between the bars. The volume of its body that was blocked by the bars was separated by that much, and then rejoined as it passed through the bars.
‘……!’
Azier witnessed the monster turning invisible. Of course, so did Mizonus.
“Hmph, I guess you gave up on using your cloaking to escape! You fool!”
Mizonus said with disgust. At that sight, Azier’s eyes twitched.
‘Is that so?’
Azier couldn’t tell if the konjac monster had successfully escaped or not.
The monster could make its body completely transparent, and the only one who could detect that cloaking was currently Frondier.
The electric shock from the bars pierced the cloaked monster, and after some time, the electric shock stopped. Thinking logically, it was correct, as Mizonus said, that the monster had given up and returned inside the prison.
However.
“I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”
Azier said to Mizonus.
Wasn’t the disaster a monster sent by the devils? If the monster escaped the prison on his own, they should be welcoming it. In the first place, didn’t they invade this prison to get that monster out?
“Hmph, what a misconception!”
Shhh!
Clang! Caaang!
Azier’s sword and Mizonus’ claws clashed incessantly. In terms of pure skill, Azier had the upper hand, but Mizonus’ ten claws were all similar in strength to Azier’s sword. Simply put, he had more weapons.
Furthermore, Mizonus could fire Aura even in the midst of battle, so if Azier let his guard down for even a moment, his head would be pierced by a blow from the claws.
“We sent that thing here to destroy it!”
“To destroy it?”
“That’s right! Monsters from other worlds are originally─”
Mizonus’ mouth, which had been chattering away, suddenly stopped. His face turned pale in an instant, and his eyes were filled with fear.
Thwack!
Azier saw an opening in Mizonus’ defense and almost reflexively kicked him in the stomach.
Mizonus stumbled back from the impact.
“……?”
However, Mizonus seemed to still be in more fear than pain, as he stood there dazed for a moment even after being hit.
“……No.”
Mizonus, who had suddenly changed his expression as if he had seen and heard something, said,
“It wasn’t something I should have told the likes of you.”
“……Did some kind of gag order come down?”
“Shut up!”
Mizonus’ claws swung again. The Aura from the claws, which crossed and descended, spread out like a grid pattern and rushed towards Azier.
If it had been an ordinary human, they would have given up on life at that sight and waited for their fate to be dismembered alive, but.
“Aren’t you tired of this?”
For Azier, it was one of the easiest ways to deal with it.
Thump-
Thud-
His blade pierced between the intersection points of the Aura and swung down once.
As if Mizonus’ thread had been cut, it ripped apart and split like a wave to both sides of Azier.
All of it carved terrible marks on the floor and walls, but Azier in the center remained completely unharmed.
“……You.”
Seeing that, Mizonus hardened his face.
“You’re deliberately buying time.”