Chapter 241 - Departure (1/2)
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Quite a long time has passed since Argentum and Blob had employed a new strategy to fight against the Fire Slimes. Of course, this was all because Blob had chosen a path that would allow him to protect Argentum from harm while being able to still dish out a decent amount of damage. With every level Blob gained from killing the Fire Slimes, the less reliant he became towards Argentum dealing most of the damage. Then again, even though he was at a higher level of strength than Argentum after all of that killing, he still opted for Argentum to aggravate the Fire Slime with a single attack. After that, Blob would take care of the rest.
If one were to give an exact time as to how long they had employed this strategy, it would be around six hours or so. In other words, the sun was already rising. Nevertheless, even though they noticed the sun was rising up, the two still focused their sense of vision towards the being slightly far away from them.
”Are you sure you wanna fight against this being?” Argentum could not help but ask Blob beside him. He then added, ”The combat power of that being is nowhere near in comparison to the Fire Slime. Not only that, but that being's existence level is slightly higher as well, at Rank 1 Animate.”
Noticing that the aura radiating from Blob was still adamant, Argentum let out a short sigh before asking, ”Are you seriously sure you wanna fight against that being? Even after all I've said?”
In response to his question, Blob radiated an aura of slight glee and elation before focusing his sense of vision at him. He then said as he let out a light chuckle, ”You may not have confidence in my current strength, but I do. I'm already a being at the Grand-grade Pseudo-Animate level, Argentum. Not only that, but I'm also close to reaching the limits of my power. Do you really think I can't defeat that being?”
Taking an hour out of those six hours to kill around eighty Fire Slimes, Blob had reached the maximum level. He then proceeded to evolve to the next grade, increasing the size of his body. Of course, the same went for the aura surrounding him. With him now at the Grand-grade level, Blob's stature was now around the same height as Argentum's, if not slightly taller. As for his head, which used to be a hovering blob of fire over his torso, it was now connected to his upper body just like Argentum's.
With Blob continuing to be adamant in his decision, Argentum let out yet another sigh before saying in a slightly disappointed tone, ”Alright then. If that's what you want, then go for it. Fight against that Greater Flame Wolf.”
The Greater Flame Wolf was the being that the two were eyeing all this time…well, mostly Blob. Although Argentum was quite satisfied with repeatedly fighting Fire Slimes to increase Blob's level, Blob was adamant to know how strong he had honestly gotten. With that in mind, he asked Argentum to help him find a being that would probably be a good match for him.
In actuality, Argentum was not afraid of Blob losing against the Greater Flame Wolf. Even if he lost, he would still be able to withstand a few of the wolf's hits thanks to his superior defense. All of his words from then till now were just words that would motivate Blob to show his full power in front of Argentum.
”I won't let you down, Argentum,” Blob said in response to Argentum's words before adding, ”Trust me on this one.”
Whoosh!
And so, utilizing his Agility stat to its maximum extent, the gap between Blob and the Greater Flame Wolf had been shortened to mere centimeters in less than an instant. In fact, while watching this, Argentum presumed that Blob had a higher maximum speed than him, even if he activated both [Zephyr Ascendance+] and [Zephyr Burst].
”Awoo!” Although the wolf's reaction was delayed due to the speed at which Blob arrived, the wolf still let out a shout as it emanated an aura of killing intent, directing it towards Blob. To Blob, the animosity he felt was telling him that he had intruded upon the territory of the wolf. He laughed it off and said, ”Intruded your territory, eh?”
”Why can't I say you intruded my territory instead!” Blob shouted as he clenched his right fist, sending a punch that squarely hit the flame wolf's belly.
Bang!
Due to the strength hidden within that punch, the flame wolf was sent flying up a few meters in the air. This elicited a gleeful aura to emanate out of Blob as he noticed the pained expression on the wolf's face. Just as he thought that the wolf would concede at the very moment it crashed, the pained expression on the wolf's face had instantly transformed into that of fury.
”Arrogant!” the wolf shouted as it was now at the same height as Blob's head, opening its maw and manifesting a giant ball of fire before shooting it towards Blob. In retaliation, Blob raised both of his arms in a defensive stance before shouting, ”[Flame Bulwark]!”
Fwoosh!
Rather than colliding with Blob's body, it instead hit with the shield that hovered over Blob's raised arms. This made Blob take a few steps back due to the force inherent in the fireball. As he dispelled the skill, Blob shook his arms for a bit before asking the wolf, ”That's all you've got?”
Whoosh!
In response, the flame wolf unhesitatingly increased the distance between the two as it knew that it was tough for it to break through Blob's defenses. To be honest, Blob was the first being it had faced against to have such overbearing defense. Then again, it remembered that it only faced off against Rank 0 Animates at most.
”Die for me already!” the wolf shouted as it let out a howl, opening its maw once again to conjure yet another fireball. Just as Blob thought that it was the same fireball from before, prompting him to activate [Flame Bulwark] once more, he noticed that there was something behind the giant fireball. That something was actually multiple smaller fireballs that contained a lot of energy. Seeing this, Blob pondered over how he was going to defend or retaliate against this attack, eliciting a cackle that he hastily stopped as the fireballs were soon sent towards his way.
Bang! Bang!
While the fireballs were heading towards him, he soon raised his left foot, which he stomped down soon after before doing the same thing with his right foot. He then extended both arms in front of him before raising both palms and taking in a deep breath. Argentum, who noticed Blob's current stance as he was watching the two fight from afar, radiated an aura of curiosity and expectation as he muttered to himself, ”Ah, right. After reaching Level 25, he told me that he obtained this move, which seemed like an ultimate move to him. I wonder how strong it truly is.”
On the other hand, the flame wolf let out a loud cackle as it noticed Blob's current stance. It then shouted, ”What a stupid defensive stance, how would that help you defend against my mighty fireba—”
”[Flame Mirror: Higher Reflection]!”
Interrupting the wolf's retort, Blob shouted as he contracted both arms before pushing them out with all of his strength. This instantly created a wave of energy that glowed light red, pushing the fireballs the wolf shot out at him at higher speeds.
”Oh shit!” Noticing what was happening, the wolf hastily tapped into all of its power to make sure it could flee from the reflection of the attack he sent, but to no avail. Out of nowhere, Blob appeared behind him, pressing down on its hind legs as he giggled. ”Where are you going?”
”Madman…” the wolf said in a fearful tone as its eyes locked onto Blob's body. ”You're a madman!”
Bang!
Not long after saying that, the wave of red energy that carried its fireballs back to its origin was soon absorbed by those fireballs. This increased the power of the fireballs by at least a factor of two before exploding as it collided with the wolf's body, instantly turning the wolf into a charred corpse.
Ding!
Seeing that the fight was over, Argentum went ahead and utilized both [Zephyr Ascendance+] and [Zephyr Burst] to hastily make his way to where Blob was. While he was on his way, he heard a notification sound resound in his mind. Opening the notification screen in his mind and skimming through the latest notifications, he could not help but mutter inwardly, 'He has truly paved a path for himself. He has truly become stronger.'