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Chapter 78 – The cat misses
Ugh, what should I do…?…
He copied Mable’s unstoppable force skill.
And my left hand is out of commission now.
…
I gave him hope now…
He thinks that he can defeat me with that…
Well…
Let’s correct that misconception.
I cover my left hand with the shadows, using them as a bandage before leaping forward.
The idiot in front of me tosses more stones my way, but they are way too slow for the current me.
It’s a joke.
After dodging a handful of these stones, I’m once again right next to him with my sword held up high, ready to finally finish him off.
But noticing that, he throws an arm in my direction, hoping to get a direct hit in.
Since his arms themselves could be empowered by the unstoppable force skill, I make sure to avoid them as well.
And then.
Swish.
My blade hit his neck.
And didn’t cut through it.
Instead, it stopped my weapon completely.
The boy’s head is a ball of sweat.
But even then, he cracks a mocking smile.
“Ha…h-haha!!”
He…
Used that skill on his own neck…?
Now, that is unexpected…
For the first time on our battle, I back off with a jump and assess the situation.
“W-w-what’s wrong?! Weren’t you going to kill me?!”
He sure is full of himself now.
Troublesome…
So troublesome…
What’s the best way to kill him, I wonder?
“Take this!”
Another serving of pebbles pass by me as I think of a new strategy.
Hmm…
I’m still in this weird panther of wrath mode.
I should make use of my tools.
“Stay still you little rat!”
Rat?
Wrong animal, idiot.
“Gh…?!”
Chilling aura.
“Wh-”
And right after that…
Close the gap and slash him.
Don’t give him a chance to do anything.
It’s over for you.
My sword comes down once again.
And is stopped mid-air by something invisible.
“UAAAAAH!”
The pale-faced boy runs at me with his fist readied to punch me.
I’m once again forced to take my distance.
That invisible shield again…?
Didn’t he steal Mable’s skills just now…?
It seems like I made a wrong assumption.
Since he didn’t use any magic after stealing Mable’s skills, I thought he can only use one set of stolen skills at a time.
…
Or maybe that’s still true?
Did he use unstoppable force on… the air?
What a headache…
…
But still.
He should be running out of mana and energy soon.
Just like me…
Magic: 615/33
Funny how I call this overflow ‘running low on mana’.
…
Well then.
Since he likes deflecting my sword swings so much…
I can attack from afar instead.
Another one of those blasts should finish him off.
If I mix blaze magic into it, I should be able to break through even unstoppable force, as it nulifies magic and skill effects.
And finally, if I freeze him with aura magic, he won’t even be able to dodge it.
Sounds good.
Well, it’s gonna be hard doing so many things simultaneously…
But it’s all for the sake of killing him, so I have to do it.
Here we go.
“G-gh…!”
Freezing aura.
Now be a good boy and stay there.
Gather up the shadow mana around my sword…
Pull it back…
Apply blaze magic…
And…!
DIE!
A mass of shadows surged forth once again.
But just before I released the blast, I noticed an unknown person by the pirate king’s side.
I was so focused on combining my magics, I didn’t notice his backup has arrived!
But it doesn’t matter.
They are both frozen by my aura and the blast is coming.
There’s no hope for yo-
?!
The blast shook the ground tore through the wall behind them.
But even then, compared to the first blast, this one was much weaker.
Once the dust has settled, those two were nowhere to be found.
They disappeared without a trace.
…
But I knew it wasn’t because I pulverized them…
No…
It was the teleport guy…
He helped him get away…
They… escaped…
…
He got away.
The one I wanted to kill more than I ever wanted anything else.
I’m mad…
Am I mad…?
Why do I feel so serene?
I should be fuming.
Angry that the little cockroach managed to slip by my fingers.
But for some reason, my wrathful feelings suddenly vanished.
This is really odd.
What happened?
Magic: 1/33
Cat soul+ (Cheetah soul on)
Ah, how dumb of me.
I basically used up all of my mana.
That’s no good.
If they were to teleport back now, I would have a hard time fighting them.
Well, let’s hope they are too scared to return…
And if they do come back…
…
I’ll think of something then.
Also, it seems that the woman I punched ran away.
I guess she was the one to inform the teleport guy who bailed the pirate king out?
Ah, the rest of their group probably evacuated already.
I can’t hear any sounds upstairs.
Ouch…
My left hand is still broken.
Dang, this might take a while to heal…
Even with my regeneration boosted, this is no laughing matter.
Oh well…
But seriously, what a tough opponent that was…
Or as the past, really angry, me said, what a cockroach.
I even got an enormous mana overflow and a brand-new battle mode and it still wasn’t enough to do him in.
Well, maybe I was just a little too rash with my moves…
Hmm…
…
Hmm?
Not that I think about it, why didn’t he attempt to steal MY skills?
Surely, a jerk like him would be enticed by a skill called nine lives.
He even took the Kat clothes and put them on himself, which looked terrible, by the way.
So, why didn’t he try to steal my skills?
Does he need to fulfill some conditions before he can skillsnatch?
Like, the target has to be unconscious…?
No wait…
Didn’t his goons say he could steal skills mid-battle as well?
Huh…
Eh, whatever.
Thinking about that is too tiring for me.
I better check up on everyone before I fall into coma.
Let’s see…
Ah that barred off place, right.
I half-forgot about that place.
But somehow always remembered to aim these blasts the other way, and made sure that the idiot’s magic didn’t fly over there either.
‘Panther of wrath’, huh?
Strange how there was only one target for all that wrath.
During panther soul, I’m wrathful at everything around me.
Really now, what is up with that…
I walk up to the cage, thinking about this new totally-not-ominous-sounding battle mode I just used.
First thing I do is cut away at the bars with my unsheathed whateverium cat sword to get inside.
Since I can’t creep inside the shadows right now, I have to move through reality like other mortals.
Several swings later, I cut out a piece out of one of the bars and manage to enter inside again.
There, my companions, the twins, and the whole ship’s crew lied unconscious.
Let’s see…
I took away most of the shadow mana from them when I transformed…
But not quite all of it.
Hmm, I see now…
This ‘flow magic’ of cheetah soul… is quite the thing.
If I try, I can control any nearby mana at will.
How did I not figure this out sooner?
I must be dumb.
Well then.
Come to mama, mana.
Oo, that’s quite a bit, isn’t it?
I’m surprised everyone is still alive with that amount…
But I’m glad they are.
…
Ah, dammit.
Looking at everyone just sprawled on the ground like this makes me wanna join them.
No no no.
Focus, me.
I need to stay awake.
But it’s so hard…
Argh…
Where are all the split personalities when I need them?
Now there’s nobody to keep an eye on me, making sure I finish tending to everyone before I fall asleep.
Oh well…
They were products of me going crazy anyway.
Not like I would ACTUALLY want to have six distinct selves shouting one over another inside my head.
I like it when it’s more quiet.
It’s perfect for naps…
…
No, I said…!
Stay focused, me!
Argh…
This tiredness of cheetah soul is so annoying…
It’s like the instinct of wanting to breathe.
I am doing the equivalent of holding down my breath here.
…
And there…
That’s everyone.
Now, what should I do with this cute ball of spooky mana?
Hmm…
Can I… absorb it?
Huh.
Now, that’s an idea.
Maybe if I restore my mana with that I won’t go comatose?
Alright, it’s worth a try.
Here I come.
Chomp.
Mmm…
Tastes like chicken.
Just kidding.
It really doesn’t taste like anything.
I’m eating air.
Slightly spicy air.
Well, the question is, did it do anything?
Magic: 2/33
Cat soul+ (Cheetah soul on)
Nope.
So pointless…
Ah dammit…
It was worth a try, I guess.
But I really can’t take this anymore.
This is too suffocating…
…
Good night.
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