Chapter 144: Raid Battle: Davison.

Chapter 144: Raid Battle: Davison.

Ahh, were those overpriced fools slain, or did they run away like craven thieves? Standing inside the small hidden room filled with alchemical tools and manatech components, a chubby man was scowling at Gael and me. He wore a richly designed garment, reminiscent of a noble, and he held a long metal staff with a large orb attached to its top. On his hip, a belt equipped with numerous glass vials filled with red, green, purple, and yellow liquids could be seen, giving me the impression he was ready for a battle. There was also an ominous black elixir, which sent a chill down my spine.

After the battle in the hallway, I had my wolves retreat back in my shadow while I psyched myself up with Gael. As a hunter, he wasnt exactly supposed to be here since hunters were supposed to only hunt monsters, not humans. I didnt even know that he was planning on participating in this Quest, as we expected that the only outside help we would get would come from Farron, and he was the clean-up unit. Still, any help was appreciated, even if it came from a drunkard.

After we entered Davisons office, I noticed that Davison wasnt inside it, but instead was in a side room. The door was open and it revealed Davison frantically stuffing his bag with various items I couldnt identify, but I knew they had to be important for whatever he did. Regardless, we confronted him.

...Are you Davison? Guild master of the alchemy guild? I asked cautiously, trying to buy time in order to analyze the room.

Ignorance! You come here without even knowing who I am, bitch? You ruined all my plans, took away my support and funding for my experiments, and destroyed my reputation as a guild master, and you have the gall to say to my face that you dont know who I am?! Insolence! His face was red like a tomato. He was already angry when we came in, but his rage seemed to have multiplied by the thousands.

I wonder if he called me bitch because I was still in my [Humanization (Minor)] form, making me look like a werewolf, or because he just wanted to insult me. Not that it matters.

Saori, the fatfuck is Davison. Slimy, greasy, Davison, always drinking the finest wine and wearing the finest mana clothes in an attempt to look and act like a noble, despite his lowly birth, Gael answered sarcastically, prompting Davison to grit his teeth.

However, he didnt let it get to him for too long as he began flaunting himself, bragging like a cartoon villain totally consumed in his own narcissism. I am Davison. Illustrious senior alchemist and inventor. I was prepared to grant the world technological advancements, but as I expected, the local fief lord is too short-sighted to understand my worth. Fools like him do not deserve the boons from my work.

Boon? Have you become deranged? I replied sarcastically? What good can you bring when all your experiments revolve around the hunting of fae? It is a crime and an international issue for the Kingdom of Artorias. Have you not heard your experiments nearly ravaged an innocent village?

Ahhhh, I see, so you were the ones who stopped the invasion of those onnikais and stopped a new dungeon from forming. Wealth of monster materials and ingredients could have been mine, but I see you have a fondness for angering me, Davison reproached my involvement in the Rashan Village Quest, but his expression seemed to relax as he asked me a question in a more composed tone. Answer me this, wolf wench. Was the door on the lowest floor open when you destroyed that onnikai? Answer me!

Did he just ignore the fact he could have caused another war between Artorias and the elves?

Although I was unnerved by his callousness, I still answered to stall time to form a plan of attack. Do you mean the massive metal gate? Yes, I saw it was open after my party confronted the onnikai army. Now you answer my question, was Baron Teullon complicit in your plan?

Baron Teullon should be interrogated by the nobles involved with High Bishop Theodore by now, so asking this question wasnt really needed. I simply said it to buy time. Still it was unfortunate that Davison didnt take the bait; instead, he began laughing so maniacally it was comical. Kehehehehe! Good! Good! Brilliant! Hahahahaha! Consider yourself fortunate! Make way, and I shall leave you both alive!

What?! What is this mood swing? is what I thought when he said that, unable to understand why he was so elated about a door being open. The dwarven gate was an old construction made 2000 years ago and it was used to imprison the remains of a demon or whatever the murals at the ruins were actually depicting. Not even Silva, an elf who had access to the wisdom and knowledge of her long-living kinsmen, knew about this, so how could a human like Davison know anything?

...But what if he does know about this? Does he know about the remains, too? Should I tell him about the fact that Aurora carries those very remains that black orb with us in our storage? If he does know about it, what was he planning to do with it?

On second thought, revealing any more information to an enemy was stupid. Saying anything more was just idiotic. However, on the assumption that he did know something about the orb, it would be better to apprehend him already.

Yeah, sorry, fatsack, while I was contemplating the meaning for Davisons improved mood, Gael readied his dagger and scoffed at Davisons offer. Your whole existence is now a thorn in the eyes of the nobles. Whether you get out of this or not, the Kingdom of Artorias will hunt you down with their birds. I may not be a merc anymore, and a hunter isnt supposed to hunt humans and beastmen, but I wouldnt mind getting some favors for this job. In other words, your head is pretty valuable, fatass.

Gael was right, we couldnt let him escape, but the way he worded it was a bit too much for me. ...You need to be brought to justice one way or another. Somebody I know wants to meet you very, very badly.

And that was when the talking stopped. Davison scoffed at our remarks and immediately took out a vial of dark red liquid. The last time somebody drank a potion right in front of my face, he healed up most of his wounds and was ready to fight again; that person was that rhinoceros-looking bandit chief berserker. It was better to stop any beneficial effects for my enemy.

I dashed forward, dagger ready to interrupt him. Saori, wait! Gael shouted, but it was already too late when I heard the cry. Before my dagger pierced Davisons hand holding the potion, he showed a big, smug smirk as a blue translucent wall appeared and reflected my attack. However, I didnt sense any danger from it, so I kept my aggression up.

I dived into my shadow and used [Shadow Dash] to reappear from the ceiling. I extended the shadow armament around my feet and used [Shadow Descent], a heavy downward kick.

Pest! Auracoil! As if it was voice commanded, a yellow spot on Davisons clothes visibly shined as a yellow sphere appeared around him. My leg crashed against the shield, but no visible damage could be seen, except for a dent that disappeared the moment I jumped backwards, landing on the table of alchemical tools. I could hear the sound of dropping metal tools and shattering glass vials.

Tch! Even willing to destroy my belongings, huh? Barbaric beastman, Davison chided me before pouring the red potion down his throat. He spasmed for a second before his body transformed.

His arteries bloated up in size, to the point I could them protruding from his clothes. His skin began to blacken, turning his white skin into a slate grey, all while his muscle grew in size. He still retained a chubby belly but he now resembled more a mix between a sumo wrestler and a boxer. After his sclera turned black-red, he gave off a haughty laugh, shouting, The elixir worked! Ahahaha!

Lets test this body out! Die! Davison then pulled out a cartridge-like object glowing a brilliant blue from inside his robes and began crushing it in his hand.

Shit! Saori, into your shadow! Gael, having prepared a [Shadow Dash] in advance, immediately dove into his shadow.

I wasnt sure what was happening, but the mount of distress in Gaels voice was enough to override any hesitation I had. As I submerged into the dark, a loud crack resounded above me but I couldnt see what happened. I traveled through the shadow world to my goal and exited out of my targeted shadow, only to discover that I was free falling. Davisons office was gone!

What in the-?!

As I had [Air Walk], the danger of falling down wasnt so prominent anymore but suddenly losing the ground I was standing on was a real shocker. As I looked around in the air, I noticed Gael waving at me also using [Air Walk] and then pointing at my surrounding. There was a large hole in the roof where the hidden room was and the floor of the entire 2nd floor seemed to have collapsed, destroying the 1st floor in addition.

There was already a small fire caused by that fire mage loopridae in the hallway, but the roof had caught on fire now too. I had no idea what just happened, but whatever it was, it had to be Davisons work.

He crushed an industrial mana battery, the ones dwarves make for their machines. Compared to the standard market stuff, if you break them, the sudden release of all that mana can cause a pretty big explosion. Davison, that suicidal asshole, probably blew himself up into chunks of meat, Gael words made sense to me, evident of the surrounding. He probably thought the runes on his clothes would save him, but I dont think even high-quality runes like [Auracoil] can protect you from something like a large explosion at point-blank.

So that was a rune. Was that blue shield also a rune?

Hestia did mention Farron using runes in their sparring rounds, but I personally never witnessed it happening, so I was ignorant of how runes actually worked in practice. How interesting that small symbols fueled by mana could create such magical effects well, that is how spells work, now that I think about it.

Ahahahaha! in the midst of this ruined building, a maniacal laugh pierced through the dust clouds, reaching my ears and bringing me back to reality. Excellent! Excellent! I have overcome human limitations!

Before, Davison had the appearance of a rich, refined, and cultured man, despite being overweight. Now, similar to his guild building, his appearance was in tatters, completely unrecognizable from before. His clothes were ripped and singed apart, revealing his chest and stomach. There, an orb was lodged into his chest with a marine-blue slime keeping it in place, slowly growing over it. He wasnt holding his staff anymore and his left forearm, the one holding the mana battery, was blown up into a bloody mess.

Regeneration-rate is astounding. Pain reception is numbed to tolerable levels even after removing my heart. Arm is regenerating to its former form, overcoming the limitations of the pathetic white grace of that imcompetant Aurena. Kehehehek, holy magic belongs in the past. Alchemy is truly superior! It is the future! he roared to the sky, as if he was announcing the results of his actions. The Law of Equivalent Exchange. For the acquisition of such power, something must be given in exchange. Sacrifices must be made, otherwise, stagnation will occur. The human race cannot accept being content with being the weakest of the humanoids. Relying only on the System isnt enough!

He then pointed his finger at us and declared, For ruining my plans and not accepting my good graces, I shall return the favor. An eye for an eye. You two shall be the test for how powerful this potion and catalyst combination is! Hardened earth, pierce my opposition! Earthen Spears!

Earth Mage!

Magic circles appeared on the ground floor of the building and, the moment they activated, the wooden floor splintered into fragments as giant rock spears flew at me. Gael and I dodge them as if we were dancing, causing Davison to launch another set of spells. Seeing as he could only use one spell at a time, he shouldnt have [Multi-Cast]; however, he was launching spells as if he had no issues with mana.

Hey, Saori, Gael called me out as a spear flew by his face. Dont know about you, but I dont have the mana pool of a mage, so I cant keep this up. You have a plan?

To be honest, after the battle from before, I was afraid of arcane corruption, so I wanted to avoid more flashy attacks like the one before. Still, we were sitting ducks if we stayed up here. [Air Walk], although useful, still consumed annoying amounts of mana and stamina when kept up. We had to stop now, otherwise we would run ourselves dry.

Here! taking out one of Hestias holy bombs, I threw it with full force at Davison. He simply smiled and accepted the attack as if it was nothing, being burned under a coat of white flames after the bomb exploded.

Argh! Ahhh, I can feel the pain! Ahahaha, who is the creator of such a powerful bomb? I must learn more of it, dissect its function! Davison howled, not stopping his assault despite it looking like his body was melting.

I clicked my tongue and began using [Just Blink] as I avoided his attacks. The slight delay where he could acknowledge my presence was enough for him to ruin his aim. Dashing through the air by stomping on it, I eventually reached Davisons burnt face and slashed with my shadow covered tanto. The feeling of lacerating flesh and sliced bone shook in my hand while my ears heard the sound of cut spongy muscles. I was sure of my aim.

Huh?! Suddenly, my [Foresight] warned me of Davison grabbing me, but, before I could dodge away, he somehow managed to catch me.

As I turned my head around, I saw Davison gurgling blood while there were shards of glass inside his mouth and a green liquid was dripping from his mouth. His right hand was holding his throat. It was finely divided and missing two fingers, while his throat had a bleeding deep gash. Gurgh, dead-gurgh-ly slash. Regene-garghg-ration wont work if I di-grack-e in one hit. I should have dran-gurgurgh-k that agility potion earlier. I am strong-gruck-er now, but I still possess the feeble flesh of a human. I do not have the fur and feathers of beastmen, nor the stoneskin of dwarves. What is your Strength that you are able to pierce my improved Vitality? I need to know.

His body was slumped, about to fall down, but he seemed to have stopped his fall while using that chance to grab my leg with his barely re-grown left hand. It was hard to hear through his gurgles, but I believe he mentioned he drank an agility potion? When did that happen? Was his increased speed because of that potion? Still, the distance between him and me was close enough that any increase of speed would work.

Davison then pulled on my leg, tripping me, and began dragging me on the rough floor. My Strength and Vitality didnt translate into weight, meaning the difference in our build made it easy for him to haul me around like a ragdoll. He then raised me up and was about to swing me down onto the ground, but that is when my shadow churned.

Grack!!! Three massive garms, all with fury in their eyes, jumped out of my shadow and began tearing Davisons newly regrown arm. He still held onto me well, but with the help of my garms, I was able to start hacking onto his arm with my dagger.

Miss Saori! Duck! a female voice called out to me, which I obeyed without delay.

Thank you for reading this chapter.

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Sunday, March 28, 2021 1:45:00 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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