Re-Awakening: I Became a Pay To Win Boss Monster - Chapter 432: Common Ground?

Chapter 432: Common Ground?

“I’m not a fan of horror stories,” Rael replied plainly. “But I’m assuming you mean the boss of this dungeon, right?”

Claudius remained silent for a moment, then nodded. “You do not realize who you are dealing with, and that will be your downfall.”

“Yeah…” Rael sighed. “I’m sure your boss will have a lot to say to me.”

But not for the reasons he would expect.

Rael smiled. “Say, does your boss have any connection to Solenne?”

The moment Rael uttered those words, Claudius flinched and tried to stand up. However, given his lack of a single leg and arm, he fell to the ground, straight into the Saintess’s ashes.

Rael felt a bit shitty that the Saintess turned out to be Claudius’s sister, but a battle was a battle, so no point dwelling on it too much.

“So he is related to Solenne. Tell me, what was their connection? Was Solenne the one he was fighting in those paintings?” Rael asked.

Yet with each word he spoke, the paintings around him seemed to glow brighter, melting the ice around them.

Noticing that, Rael’s brows furrowed as he swiftly stood up and inhaled deeply.

Fire began to gather in his chest, making it expand until finally, Rael reopened his mouth and spewed out fire all around the room, destroying every single painting present.

[DF -5 | 503 / 508 (x1 Dragon’s Breath)]

[Damn it… If I could just come out there and hit you over the head for that shitty fire breath, then my life would be complete,] Burger muttered.

Hmm? It wasn’t that bad, was it?

[What do you think you’re doing? Blowing bubbles?] Burger questioned. [You opened your mouth and simply blew the Dragon’s Breath like it was just air. You fail to grasp the essentials of this skill… so when it’s time for me to teach you, I will make sure you don’t remain such a failure for long.]

Rael raised a brow before nodding.

Yet as he was about to go ahead and question Claudius again, Melina suddenly put a hand over his shoulder.

He turned around and noticed that she was slightly pale.

Even so…

“What’s up?” Rael tilted his head. “Sorry, looks like I’ll be taking the experience this time.”

“Never mind that, what did you just do?” Melina asked warily. “When that horn appeared on your forehead, I couldn’t see your face anymore. It was blurry… so I could only see your hair. Also, you’re not just going to ignore the fact you killed a Grade 3 and Grade 4, right?”

“It’s a secret technique, and being too curious is never a good thing,” Rael replied with a chuckle. “But what do you mean you couldn’t see my face? Can you see it now?”

Hearing that, Melina narrowed her eyes at his face, and a moment later, she shook her head.

“I can’t see any of your facial features, and whenever I try to remember what you look like, my head starts to hurt, and the memories slowly disappear,” Melina explained, crossing her arms. “Though from the looks of things, you don’t seem to be aware of it, is that right?”

Huh… so do I have some kind of built-in facial camouflage? Rael thought and swiftly opened his skill tree, browsing through the skills to see if anything matched.

And then he finally found something.

Vision Distortment: [Level 100 | MAX] (Uncommon)

—Distort the perception of those gazing upon you. 75% effectiveness. Effect doesn’t work on strong individuals.

Duration: 1 Hour

Cost: 50,000 MTP

I don’t remember activating it, so maybe it automatically activates every time my horn is out? Rael pondered, shaking his head. It doesn’t matter, that just means I can slip by unnoticed if need be.

But because he didn’t want Melina accidentally forgetting him, he made the horn retract back into his forehead, and in the next instant, all the ice and frost that had been gathered suddenly flowed back.

It wriggled along Rael’s body and eventually reached the tip of the retracting horn, fading away as if the ice and frost were never here in the first place.

Melina rubbed her temples, then gave a small nod.

“It’s fine now,” Melina said. “That’s a neat skill, by the way. You would make an excellent pirate.”

“…Thanks?” Rael replied skeptically. “Not sure I’m that interested in sailing the seas though. Sounds pretty boring.”

Melina’s brow twitched, and right as she was about to playfully hit him, Rael heard a clacking noise from behind him.

He turned back around, startled, and to his surprise, Claudius had risen from the ground, propping himself up on the katana, and slowly limping over to Rael.

When he finally arrived, Claudius lowered his head slightly. It didn’t seem like a bow, so after just a few moments, Rael extended his hands and took off Claudius’s helmet, revealing a surprisingly pristine face.

Yet half of it was now ash, and the other half held a look of admiration.

“You are not with the Blazing Sun faction, are you?” Claudius asked with a faint smile.

Well… I sort of am, but infiltration doesn’t count, Rael thought, then gave Claudius a nod.

“I’m not with them. I got this dungeon key after I broke inside their vault. I looted a bunch of stuff, and this dungeon key just so happened to be something I picked up by accident,” Rael explained.

“I believe you picking up the dungeon key was fate,” Claudius said plainly and dragged his body closer.

Yet that only seemed to increase the rate at which his body was turning to ash.

But it seemed like Rael was wrong, as instead of approaching him, Claudius walked past him, and even past Melina.

Rael wasn’t really sure where he was heading, and while he didn’t believe in all this fate bullshit, he decided to slowly follow after Claudius.

After roughly a minute, they arrived in front of the gate that would lead to the next section, and from what Rael could feel, the person on the other side was definitely far beyond both him and Melina.

However, Claudius didn’t seem to mind it in the slightest, and even while his face was turning to ash, he steadied himself on his pitch-black katana, and with his only hand, he pushed open the door.

Claudius turned his head slightly and flashed Rael a smile.

And almost as if that was his final purpose, Claudius turned to ash, leaving behind only his helmet and the pitch-black sword, which, despite his disappearance, remained standing firmly on the tiled ground.

Rael stared at the pitch-black sword for a few moments, completely ignoring the two kill notification pop-ups that appeared in the corner of his vision.

I doubt he would do all this as a courtesy, Rael thought, and right as he was about to inspect the pitch-black sword, he heard a single, almost inaudible step coming from the section that had just been opened.

Rael’s entire body stiffened, and when he glanced inside the section, the torches scattered on the walls lit up one by one, illuminating the area that appeared to be the central cathedral.

In the far end of the central cathedral was a library, split into several different sections.

Yet in that very same library was the one man capable of emitting such overwhelming pressure, and all he was doing at the moment was sorting books.

But as he was about to slot a book into one of the open sections, his hand froze as he suddenly turned his head in Rael’s direction.

And once again, Rael was met with the same menacing scarlet eyes as those he had seen in the painting.

<You have been inflicted with the Status Ailment: Insanity (Level 10)>