An Extra’s POV
chapter-536

[The Unknown Box] Skill…

Rey was able to obtain it by a stroke of luck after watching Adonis use it against the Skeletal Dragon Lord.

Yes, it was through the lens of his clone, but since his [Doppel] worked regardless, he was able to take the ability that the Box itself offered.

… The power to upgrade any one Skill to its full potential for a limited amount of time.

Rey's current gaze was on the ascending Dagon when he figured he would have to use this Skill if he wanted to stand a modicum of a chance against the Divine Beast.

'It's more affected than physical attacks, so [Sacrifice] would have been the better option. But…' Rey clenched his fist and strengthened his muscles.

'I need something to finish it off decisively!'

Dagon had incredible regeneration, and its Life Force was too high for Rey to possibly kill in one hit. In comparison, Rey's life force was much lower, so if it came down to a head-on battle, he had a much lower chance of victory.

There was only one Skill that had been shown to do major damage to Dagon; his [Divine Ray].

'Which is why I should use [The Unknown Box] on it.' That was Rey's initial thought.

However, after considering the speed and abilities of Dagon, as well as his own weakness, he thought against it.

'[Divine Ray] is already in the SS Tier. I'm not even sure if it has a higher form. It would be a waste if that wasn't the case.'

[The Unknown Box] had to follow the same rules as the Item it spawned from, which meant Rey could only use it once a day. Unless he actually used [Merger] to—

"That's it! I have to use [Merger]!"

~BOOOOOOOM!~

The moment Rey said this and beamed, the colossal Divine Beast kicked the air above it, creating a powerful wave that resounded across the area like thunder.

Rey watched as it powerfully thrust itself back to the ground, readying its fist for it once it drew near.

He launched his fist, and Dagon did the same—both clashing to create a ferocious storm around them.

More buildings were devastated, and the fields were reduced into dirty patches of land. Once again, space became unstable, and the distorted waves of power filled everything around—both the energy of Rey and of Dagon.

"Guh!" Rey felt a recoil after receiving the Beast's hit head-on.

'It's a lot tougher than last time!'

Before he could pull himself together, however, the Divine Beast utilized its tail and wrapped itself around Rey's much smaller body.

"W-wha—!"

~WHOOOOSH!~

It swung the boy away, sending him flying away from the confines of the Royal Estate. Rey, despite trying his hardest, could not resist the incredible force that thrust him away.

At least, not immediately.

He violently flipped in the air, unable to even get his bearings right, as all of his internal organs jammed against one another. Finally, after sacrificing a few more Skills and utilizing his excess energy to control his movements, he was able to stop.

But—

~WHOOOSH!~

—Dagon appeared right in front of him as he did so, dishing out a blow that sent him crashing down in one swift descent.

~BOOOOOOOOOM!~

A powerful dist cloud rose into the air as the crash caused the surrounding buildings to shatter into a million pieces.

Almost as if an earthquake was ongoing, the ground trembled, and cracks appeared in multiple parts of the city. All of this, in a city that had already suffered earlier attacks from Dragons.

"Urgh…" Rey groaned as he rose from his crater.

However, as soon as he did so, Dagon's heavy body fell on him, forcing him back to the ground. The beast dug its claws into Rey's body, pushing him to the ground, so it shattered even more.

"Gahhh!" Rey sent a powerful pulse forward, pushing Dagon a few steps away.

However, not long after that, the Beast regained its momentum and rushed towards Rey once again. In response to this, he did the only reasonable thing possible.

—He ran.

~WHOOOOSH!~

His legs moved swiftly until he found himself floating through midair, escaping the wrath of the mindless creature who chased ferociously from behind.

Rey watched as the monster crawled like an animal, gaining on him like the blur that it was.

'Damnit… I was wrong!'

As Rey stole constant glances at the Beast who violently trod the ground to catch him, he gritted his teeth and felt beads of sweat falling down his face.

'It's still stronger. Or, at the very least… much faster!'

No… that wasn't quite it. At a point, Rey had been on a similar level of speed as this creature. But, that suddenly seemed to be changing.

Why was that?

'M-my Skills! The buffs are running out…!'

In essence, unlike Dagon who was operating on its peak physical a hundred percent of the time, Rey had to rely on his multifarious buffs for assistance.

… And those buffs were slowly fizzling away.

'Why? Their duration shouldn't be over yet. Could this be another interference from this bastard?!' He gritted his teeth even more as he navigated his way through the buildings that stood in his way.

At first, he made sure to avoid buildings so as not to destroy even more public property, but right now… Rey was desperate.

He broke through houses and structures, just so he would avoid Dagon's wrath.

As one would expect, his efforts were in vain. After a couple of seconds into the chase, Dagon finally caught up to him.

~FZZT!~

Rey was able to use [Domain Of The Lord], albeit barely, to escape the Beast's clutches, as soon as it tried to grab a hold of him.

Appearing about three meters above Dagon, he ascended upward, trying his hardest to escape once again.

Since he had a Flight Skill and Dagon did not, he figured he would have a much higher chance of escape if he went this route.

And so, he charged up.

But—

~BOOOOOOOOOOM!~

Dagon burst through the ground beneath him, causing everything to cave in as it shot high into the sky within barely a moment.

The buildings… and people… were all reduced to shreds as it made its swift ascent.

Rey never stood a chance.

"Guh!" It grabbed Rey by the throat and used its tail to whip away his two hands when he tried to struggle.

"S-stay away!"

Rey wasn't commanding this. His horrified tone and terrified expression made that incredibly clear.

He was begging!

Dagon didn't listen, however.

It kept its hold on Rey, while using its second hand to constantly pummel the boy as they made a freefall in the air.

~BOOOOOOOM!~

~BOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

The sounds only got louder as more of the Beast's fist landed on Rey's softening body. By the time they neared the ground, Dragon stopped the beating and pointed Rey's face the ground.

"P-please—!"

~BOOOOOOOM!~

It sent Rey face to the devastated earth, forcing him to eat dirt. The impact caused even more layers of devastation, and Rey found his body helplessly bouncing off the surface of the earth once he landed.

Dagon didn't wait for him to recover before grabbing his hair after it landed on the ground in a ferocious manner.

"GRRRRRIIIAAAA!"

It raced across the city, scraping Rey's bloody face on the ground. This continued for a long period, with his body only spasming once it reached a particularly bumpy path.

Once Dagon was finished, it thrust Rey forward, sending him crashing back to where they were just coming from—the Royal Estate.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

The Rey that fell there was a bloody mess, with his classmates all huddled together to watch his barely breathing body.

All of them opened their lips to whisper the same word.

"R-Rey…?"

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Thanks for reading!

Sorry for yesterday. I feel a lot better now, so I'll try to write a bit more.