Demon King
chapter-35

Tower of Jinma (3)

The first thing I felt was fear.

Fear that I wouldn’t be able to go back to being a Hob Goblin Assaulter.

And the fear that this would not end with being a Hob Goblin.

The trajectories I have passed… in other words, the monster forms that I’ve been through.

Even if I could beat the troll here, I would have to do it again in a Goblin Fighter’s and a Goblin’s body.

How could a Goblin face a troll?

“A!”

“Once you enter the tower, you can’t leave without conquering it.”

A cut off what I was trying to say, with his very calm voice.

“If it wasn’t possible for you, you wouldn’t be able to get in here. So, it is possible for Fate to conquer this.”

“That’s not true…”

As I was trying to protest, I felt the troll’s huge weapon flying towards me.

I made a big mistake.

My strength was significantly reduced compared to when I was an Assaulter, but I timed my movement as if I was still one.

As a result, I could not completely dodge the attack, and my right shoulder was crushed.

“Arrrgh!”

After the strong impact, I felt terrible pain; but if I stayed on my position because of the pain, I would only get it worse.

I clenched my teeth and threw my body to the side, but the troll was still chasing me as if he wasn’t satisfied with just one arm.

I used Leap and Beast Charge at the same time to put distance between me and the troll, but I forgot that it uses stamina.

With my severe injury, it was like a double-edged sword.

Without predation, I need to kill him before my health is completely exhausted…

As soon as possible!

Fortunately, my level and skills remain the same. All that reverted to the lower form were my physical ability and magical powers.

With that, it was already fatal, but because I have the same skills, I still have a fighting chance.

If I can reach him with my sword, I can still deal a Power Attack.

As a Goblin, it would be too much for me to kill him, but I can’t worry about something that hasn’t come yet. I need to focus right now.

If I can’t overcome him, the only thing waited for me was a painful death.

I had to attack him.

“Koo-oh-oh-oh!”

His stupid head still hasn’t changed. It just runs to the enemy it sees.

I felt more confident.

Haven’t you already overwhelmed his simple, stupid brain?

Read his movement, avoid the attack, and swing your sword at a fatal point. That way, you can win!

I moved.

With my right arm crushed, I held the sword with my left hand. I am trying to regain my senses as a Hob Goblin.

I have to accept that I was lacking, and find the best way to move with a lacking body!

“Guaaaaah!”

The troll also sensed my hostility and shouted to defeat my will.

I run down the floor, ignoring his scream. I have not used my skills yet. I’ll only use Leap and Beast Charges when I’m at his neck!

The blunt weapon flies again.

When it crushed my shoulder, I confirmed that it was just a huge and blunt wooden stick.

But I can’t get hit again.

I jumped. The man’s weapon swept past my side as I jumped into the air. His arm followed me, trying to catch my torso, and but I used Beast Charge and Leap.

He couldn’t read my suddenly quick movements, and eventually, he had to be content with swinging his arms around, trying to get lucky.

In front of my eyes, I could see the troll’s nape.

With urgency, I threw Blood Shadow with a Power Attack, and watched it bite through the flesh.

[Lower Power Attack has become Lv4.]

Blood spurted. Blood containing a lot of his vitality.

I felt it wash over my body, and instantly, my exhaustion was gone.

Although it’s not as effective as predation, the blood was very helpful in my recovery.

“Kaaaaaaaah!”

“Hmm.”

I heard the troll’s scream and A’s voice at the same time.

I didn’t know if A was disappointed, admiring, or something else.

I just drank all the blood and landed on the floor, rolling immediately to the side to avoid the troll’s furious kick.

I can’t die.

A and Rain described the tower as ‘safe’, but the moment my shoulder has been crushed, their words didn’t reassure me anymore.

Even if I won’t die here, the terrible pain remains the same.

I was desperate not to get hurt again. I rolled on the floor and concealed myself, assimilating with the darkness.

I raised my Detection to the maximum in order to avoid any incoming attack.

Then, I jumped in again to cut his neck. This time, I buried the blade deep, showering blood once more as I fell back to the floor.

The troll screamed and rioted, but I no longer made the same mistakes as before.

[Lower Martial Arts has become Lv6.]

[Intermediate Detection has become Lv4.]

The growth rate of skills has been increasing faster than before. It seems that the more desperate I am, the higher the concentration, the higher the skills grew.

I can’t deliberately create a desperate situation, and there is a limit to concentration in a desperate situation.

In this sense, the current situation was at least the best situation for growing skills.

It may be what Rain meant when he said it was a practice center.

[Lower Leap has become Lv6.]

[Beginner Fairy Tale has become Lv9.]

[Lower Resistance has become Lv10 and evolves into Intermediate Resistance. You will not be affected by low-level abnormalities at all, and you are more likely to resist higher-level abnormalities.]

There weren’t many opportunities. I could not take a lot of time to end this.

The speed of the troll’s regeneration was incredible, and my only chance to beat him requires me to attack harder than when I was a Hob Goblin Assaulter.

[Intermediate Surprise has become Lv4.]

Nevertheless, I was able to cut off his head with a fourth power attack.

However, as before, the moment I thought I’ve completely cut his head off, his regenerative power goes full blast to keep him alive.

His neck was connecting again to his head!

I squeezed all of my remaining stamina and swung my Blood Shadow once more.

Kik!

The troll’s head finally rolled on the floor.

I shakily landed beside the troll’s body. As I released my concentration and relaxed, the pain that I have been ignoring came flooding me at once.

I won.

My body was a mess, but I succeeded in defeating him anyway. I couldn’t believe it even though I did it myself.

But it hurts so bad. If I don’t start recovering right now, my victory will be meaningless soon.

I took a deep breath and started eating the troll.

A troll’s body is definitely two or three times more effective than other monsters. Even with just a pair of arms, all of my physical injuries have already disappeared, and my stamina and mana felt full.

Of course, that maybe because I was in a weaker Hob Goblin body, but there was definitely a difference that I could not explain.

At that point, I asked A, who was still watching me inside the arena.

“A, if I don’t eat all of this and move on to the next step…”

“The body disappears.”

As usual, A seemed to know what I was about to ask. I ignored him and tried to put the troll’s body in my inventory, but as it turned out, the inventory didn’t work in the Jinma Tower.

My plan turned to trash, the joy of winning the battle vanished, and more fear came to me.

I’ll soon turn into a Goblin Fighter.

I can’t help but yell out in frustration.

“Physically impossible!”

“It is possible.”

A immediately refuted me.

I ate the troll on the spot while fuming at the situation I am in.

Soon after, my body returned to its Goblin Fighter form, and the troll once again appeared before I had time to prepare myself.

“Koo-oh-oh!”

“Okay, damn!”

There was an enormous gap between the Hob Goblin and a Goblin Fighter. I began to notice the abilities I have taken for granted, and I found it hard to swing the sword as hard as I wanted.

How nice could it be if I just kept fighting trolls again and again as an Assaulter.

However, my body kept getting weaker and weaker each time.

As soon as the troll spawned, his blunt weapon was again flying towards my head.

As I avoided it, I didn’t notice the troll’s arm that was also flying towards me.

The whole world collapsed.

I was filled with a terrible rage, but I couldn’t scream; a sense of despair filled me as my consciousness faded…

But when I opened my eyes, I was still there. I was still standing on my spot with the body of a Goblin Fighter, standing as if nothing happened.

Only

I couldn’t understand why this was possible, but I was happy that I was still alive.

But the troll appeared again. This time, it broke my head and ripped my torso!

“That… hurts…”

I was engulfed with pain and rage once more.

A was still watching me without a word.

Meanwhile, the troll was screaming.

I will kill him… I will kill him and eat his body without leaving a drop.

I began to move.