Chapter 516 Craitid III: Survival Enhancement Mode
The Epic Level Fake Hero #12, the Epic Level Senior member Craitid, and his peak grandmaster contracted demon.
Levels may not have been absolutes on Aidos, but that statement clearly didn’t apply to Evan’s current circumstances.
He was not Delusional to think that he could win against the three of them.
Heck, even the system told him his chances of victory were not even up to 10%.
Sure, he had power comparable to a weak intermediate grandmaster with his A+ stats, and he was able to defeat the other Demonic Hand members and their contracted demons.
But Evan knew that if even one of the earlier members who attacked was a Level 400 with S rank stats, the tides of the battle would not have so easily been in his favour.
Much less against three existences with SS rank stats.
Victory in direct combat was nothing but a pipe dream.
Craitid was still trying to rationalize why he hadn’t been able to witness the events of the earlier battle, and was wary of a third party who may have done something to him, hence the reason why he wasn’t taking action yet.
He was still trying to understand why he had no memories of what happened after he gave the order to attack Evan.
The original plan was for the grandmasters to deal with him, and if things didn’t look to be turning out well, he was to swoop in and end it all.
Never in Craitid’s wildest dreams, would he have expected that a certain higher-dimensional existence would use him as part of a test for Evan.
Never would he have expected that the instant he blinked, time on him was paused and was only un-paused after the battle had concluded, hence the reason why it seemed like he had just blinked and everything was over.
He also didn’t know that said higher dimensional being was also sighing in disappointment at the fact that Evan was unable to notice the time energy residues he purposely left on Craitid’s body.
Then again, Evan couldn’t be blamed much for not noticing this as the notifications appearing in his field of view had taken up a lot of his attention.
|Threat of Imminent Death to Host Detected β |
|Reincarnated Hero System Stored Authority Consumed|
|Activating ‘Survival Enhancement Mode’ |
|Forced Skill Activation: Adaptive Evolution|
|Adaptive Evolution’s stored Authority has been Consumed. |
|Adaptive Evolution’s Isolated Energy has been Consumed. |
| Reincarnated Hero System Benefits Temporarily Elevated.
20% Stat Boost. + 20%
130% Stat Effectiveness. + 20%
5% Damage Bonus against ‘Invaders’ and ‘Enemies of Aidos’. +20% |
|Consuming stored ‘Experience’ to temporarily Elevate Host’s overall power|
|Stored ‘Experience’ would be continuously consumed until exhausted|
|WARNING: All power increments are TEMPORARY|
|Reincarnated Hero System Advices Host to FLEE. |πππ xt.π°πΆπͺ
Evan didn’t even know about the existence of this enhanced Survival mode, but it seemed that it was something that only activated when faced with an opponent he absolutely could not defeat even with all nonstandard power.
Despite the fact that Evan had multiple artifacts boosting his power, plus BoD and Limit Break simultaneously active, after the System Elevated his power temporarily by consuming the stored experience points from all the creatures he had killed since he hit Level 299 in October of 1052, it still told him to ‘FLEE’.
This showed that defeating Craitid was something that was completely impossible for the current Evan.
Then again, this was expected, as the Dragonkin man, had a level close to 600.
And there was no way the senses of someone on that level would miss the fact that Evan’s power just increased by leaps and bounds.
The man narrowed his eyes and cast away all his unnecessary thoughts, sending a side glance to his contracted demon who got his signal and nodded.
Immediately a pair of bat-like wings sprouted from both their backs and they leapt skyward with breakneck speed.
As they ascended, a menacing aura engulfed both of them and for the first time, Evan felt the full brunt of an Epic-level Existence’s energy pressure.
Craitid’s Dragonkin features became more prominent, body exuded an air of power, while adorned with scales that shimmered with a blend of shadowy hues and fiery glimmers.
With a resounding roar that echoed through the entire Giant Bear Woods, Craitid and his contracted demon joined their left-hand right hands respectively, in intricate lightning-fast seals.
The energy between them surged and intermingled as they both activated a single technique.
“Demonic Fusion.”
**BOOOOMMMM!!!
The fusion completed instantly, too fast for Evan and the rest to even think about running.
Besides, the Fake Hero was still watching them closely, ready to spring into action at the sight of any unexpected movements.
When the energy burst receded, a monstrous transformation unfolded before the eyes of all who witnessed it.
The two had metamorphosed into a towering wyvern, with gleaming black scales and wings stretching out widely.
Demonic Fusion was a technique influenced by the racial factors of the beings fusing, and this Wyvern-like appearance was a result of the Craitid’s dragon factors.
The newfound power emanating from him in this fused state was palpable, causing the very ground to tremble beneath its might.
Craitid wasn’t taking any chances.
[I do not know what other special abilities you possess as a Hero, and neither do I care.
To take care of you efficiently, we have taken on our strongest form and collectively pooled our power together in a single body.]
The man’s voice rang out, its deep rumbling tones reverberating through the air, carrying a sense of ancient wisdom and power.
He had lived for over a century and had dealt with nonstandard existences like Evan, the kind that suddenly gained more and more power as time passed.
Some even came close to killing him after unlocking some secret ability or unique skill at death’s door.
As such, he understood that the best way to deal with those types was to go all out from the start and end them before any bullshit could happen.
[There will be no abrupt surges in power, or unforeseen shocks to catch anyone unawares.
There will only be one thing.
Your Deaths.]
Such was Craitid’s declaration.
At the same time, he used telepathy to send a message to the Fake Hero, instructing him to deal with Eliza, while he handled Evan.
Looking at the menacing Wyvern hovering in the air above him, Evan was sweating buckets, fear gripping his whole being as he understood that defeating Craitid was impossible.
With a whisper, he asked a question to Eliza who was beside him.
“How long?”
“β¦Five minutes at most.”
“Five? Can we last that long against ‘THAT’?”
“⦔
The question made the girl turn silent as she could not provide the answer to that.
Just before Evan could say anything, Craitid’s voice rang out once more.
[Five minutes for what?
Oh well, it matters not.
As I said, there shall be no unforeseen shocks.]
The superior hearing abilities of the Wyvern naturally picked upon their little conversation, and though he was wary of whatever they were waiting five minutes for, he didn’t show it outwardly.
Immediately after he spoke, he beat his wings with a thunderous force, and a surge of ominous demonic energy swelled within his chest.
Anyone who was familiar with the massive-bodied reptilian monster that Dragonkin and Wyverns were descended from knew what was going to happen next.
Breath Attack!
[GROAARR!!!!]
A resounding roar rang out as the energy condensing within his body was unleashed as a torrent of destructive energy that rent the air and cleaved through the battlefield.
The ground quaked as the unleashed attack tore through the earth, melting all the ice on the floor and carving deep chasms in the ground, leaving behind a scarred landscape.
Faced with such an attack, Evan consumed his magic power and drew upon Kuro’s abilities through their contract.
His short-distance teleportation skill was activated, whisking him and Eliza away from the path of annihilation.
***KAAAABOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!
The ground trembled and the very air crackled as the mountain behind them succumbed to the wyvern’s breath, shattered by its nearly unstoppable might.
Debris soared through the air like deadly missiles, while a plume of smoke and flames billowed, testament to the raw power that had been unleashed.
Having narrowly escaped the instant death attack, Evan and Eliza found themselves a safe distance away, their hearts pounding with adrenaline.
They gazed at the devastation wrought by the attack in trepidation, but they had to snap out of it as they knew that Craitid wasn’t done just yet.
The Wyvern’s yellow eyes flashed and dozens of magic circles manifested mid-air.
Seeing this, Evan only whispered something to Eliza before summoning Kayla and kicking off the ground.
**BOOOMM!!!
BOOOOOOMMM!!!
Projectiles of fire and earth rained down from the skies but Evan weaved through the onslaught with sonic speed, occasionally redirecting some of the projectiles to collide with each other and blinking out of the way for ones he could not avoid completely.