Chapter 386: Battle Part 4
Now that the number of heroes has been drastically reduced, the magical attacks against me have become more violent and powerful. I quickly think about how to survive the devastating attack that this barrier is about to launch.
I could try to kill Chinatsu, who is the owner of the barrier, but that doesn’t guarantee that the barrier will deactivate, and she is being protected too well for me to kill her quickly.
Furthermore, even after killing people who were applying buffs, the effects continued, so killing them doesn’t guarantee the effect will disappear.
’28% of mana remaining, besides the reserve of my Abyssal Halo.’ The situation is complicated, I don’t think I can defend myself from an attack capable of destroying a planet with only 28% of mana.
The heroes are all staying together while defending against my attacks, they seem to be waiting to see that the barrier will only target me, and because they are close to Amiya, my body naturally moves away, so they are standing on firm ground.
’Damn, Amiya is screwing everything up.’ If this miserable bitch wasn’t someone who, by agreement with the stars, is protected, I would have already torn her apart, but I have an agreement and Amiya must get out of here alive.
I feel the power of the barrier increasing tremendously and quickly think about how to survive. I doubt I can defend this attack with just magic.
’Hardening...’ Before evolving into a new phase, my body generated tough and resistant "scales", a safety mechanism I’ve never used before, which happened when I fought to the death with Thalor.
I decide to replicate something similar. I begin to "pull" my body to a specific point and soon begin to compress it into a 3-meter egg. All the black mass on the ground accumulates and compresses.
I specifically choose the shape of an egg because it is something where I can stay inside in a "comfortable" way and reduces the material consumption, unlike a sphere which would be bad and a cube which would consume more.
’It hurts...’ Compressing my gigantic body into a 3-meter egg generates a strange pain that mixes with the continuous damage from the fourth stage of the barrier.
But I ignore the pain, because if I receive this attack without defending myself, I will truly die, just as the [Void Touch] almost killed me.
The heroes even try to attack, but the outer part that has become a shell is so absurdly resistant that they can’t even scratch it, and in less than 1 minute a large black egg is all that remains.
My consciousness is in the center of the egg while I generate a body with this black sludge, so that it will be the main one. If it survives, I’ll get out of this alive. I can’t see the outside because the eyes don’t exist.
Having eyes would create gaps for the attack to enter the egg, so the outside is just a hard shell, while inside I’m submerged in black sludge waiting for the attack.
And luckily I was able to harden the egg practically seconds before the attack. I hear an unpleasant noise, a mix of broken glass, with a snap along with something that would remind me of the sound of a tuned thunder.
The attack is devastating, completely shaking inside the egg while I feel the egg’s shell being slowly destroyed. It seems the attack is like an energy beam that hits from all sides evenly.
If I were out there, it would kill me in less than 10 seconds, evaporating 100% of my body, a truly effective attack to kill me even if I still had mana to rebuild the body.
I look up, noticing cracks where a dazzling light penetrates the pure darkness inside the egg that tries to withstand the brutal impact. More and more cracks appear as I desperately try to plug the holes and harden, forming a new shell.
The egg had several layers, and even so, one by one they are cracking. I try to quickly rebuild each new layer, shrinking the space inside the egg more and more, which forces me to compact my body even further.
’My mana and the ambient mana... it’s hurting...’ This is the problem with compacting myself. Normally doing this doesn’t affect me, my body is super malleable and liquid, but mana is not.
The compacted mana solidifies, which forces my body to solidify as well, and the more solid it becomes, the more damage I receive from the solidified mana itself.
The ambient mana is compacted along with my body, reducing the space I have and forcing me to get smaller and smaller. The egg that was originally 3 meters is now only 1.90 meters.
And it keeps shrinking because more layers are being destroyed. The attack is not as fast as I initially expected, it is a continuous attack that continues for quite some time.
’It’s not possible that an attack of this magnitude can be maintained for so long, what the hell is she doing?’ Chinatsu shouldn’t have the mana to keep this damn attack going for so long.
My instincts sharpen and rise several times, the situation of danger and the fear of death that my body alone feels activate several passives while I reason super-fast on what to do.
’The Tiny Pandora...’ I sacrifice size and mana, shrinking my body and assuming a normal human form, but still keeping the black sludge outside of my body.
I feel this cold, viscous liquid cover my body now of flesh and bone. With the size of 100 centimeters that the Tiny Pandora has, my body was able to have enough space while still controlling the black sludge to solidify it.
’This has to be enough, it’s the most I can compress my body without getting stuck in a solid mana sphere.’ I create the maximum number of layers that still fit, while entering a fetal position, so I can get the smallest layer of all.
The egg, which is the last layer, is 60 centimeters long and 40 centimeters wide, just enough for my body.
Just as I am submerged in black liquid for extra protection against the impact, the vibrations of the egg, and the solidification of mana, I feel fragile having to protect myself in this way, but it’s this or death.
And I’d rather keep myself defended this way than be killed by these damn heroes. I put my tail in my mouth and start chewing on it to regenerate damage to organs I previously received and recover a bit.
The egg still trembles, the attack is getting closer and closer to the core, and this is the smallest size I can make, so I can only wish that this is enough. The annoying click is getting closer and closer as I chew on my tail, ignoring the pain.
My body cries, this smaller form is more prone to feeling pain, after all it is the Tiny Pandora form, but even in the midst of tears, my gaze is determined to survive this. I continue doing things that hurt me.
Being submerged also helps to cool my thoughts. The viscous black liquid covering my whole body reminds me of when I was born. I was trapped in a dark place, hungry and bathed in a viscous liquid.
’Who would have thought... it’s exactly the same thing, but in a different situation.’ This gives me a slight comfort. Remembering when I was born, the safety, and my mother who gave me a new life, increases my determination to get out of this alive.
I feel the egg’s layers being broken more slowly. If before it was like thunder, now it seems more like a small jackhammer trying to pierce something too hard.
This attack can now only break the layers by overload, continuously damaging each layer to manage to break it. I feel the attack is close but slowing down with each new layer.
This also happens because the closer to me, the harder the layer is, since I used more of the black sludge to fortify the layer that was smaller and consumed less.
So the last layer is at least 1,000 times more resistant than the first layer when the egg was 3 meters. I keep chewing on my tail while I recover my mana, releasing the mana from the Abyssal Halo.
It’s pleasant, although a little painful to get back all the mana I’ve accumulated in these parts, which means that if I survive, as soon as I get out of this egg I’ll be ready to return to the fight.
Quickly, my mana returns to the 70% mark, which is enough for me, as it allows me to perform devastating attacks and defend myself without problems. I hear the sound, vibration and damage practically stopping.
But still the attack reaches the last layer of the egg. After this, the attack will hit me directly. I hear the click and a slight "crack" of the egg receiving small cracks.
However, luckily the attack has weakened so much that now it only gives a gentle damage to the egg without major cracks, as the attack weakens even more, leaving the egg fragile but still defending me.
I start eating the black liquid I’m submerged in to fully regenerate. The feeling of near-death and despair that my body and I felt was unpleasant. I will make sure to return this pain to the heroes, with a malicious smile, I finish eating everything inside the egg in seconds.
And in 10 seconds the attack stops completely, leaving a calm silence. I start hitting the egg using my elasticity to move in the tight space, the shell is fragile and starts to crack with my blows.
’It’s like... being born again.’ I punch the egg wall, hearing the cracks and seeing the light penetrating through the cracks. With a strong punch, the shell breaks open a hole.
I hold the hole, dragging myself out with effort because the space is small for that. I begin to emerge from the egg covered in a black, slime-like goo that drips from me as I am naked.
But alive, and with most of the damage recovered, I look at the heroes who look at me with a mix of fear, shock and disgust. I look at them with a huge, distorted smile it seems this will last for some time.