Chapter 108: The Forbidden Word

[ SYSTEM INTERFACE ]

[? Name: Declan Ezra]

[? Race: Human]

[? Age: 19]

[? Level: 52]

[EXP: 100,000 / 65,000]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 53]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards: 10]

[Does Host wish to use Level Up Cards?]

’Yes,’ Declan replied.

[–1 Level Up Card. Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 54!]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 9]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 55.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 8]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 56.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 7]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 57.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 6]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 58.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 5]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 59.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 4]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 60.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 3]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 61.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 2]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 62.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 1]

[–1 Level Up Card. Host has levelled up to Level 63.]

[+30 Attribute Points gained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 0]

════════ STATS ════════

[Strength: 250]

[Agility: 250]

[Endurance: 220]

[Intelligence: 220]

[Charisma: 220]

[Attribute Points: 330]

"How does Host wish to distribute Attribute Points?"

Facing an enemy with equal speed but superior strength, Declan, for the first time, made a daring choice in how he allocated his points.

"Add..."

But just as he was about to call out how the points should be added, the words came to him:

"If you’ve fallen in love with the beautiful clown of a boy..."

The sound of those words brought him to a halt, his lips pausing as his eyes shook within their sockets.

A memory flashed through his mind, one he had buried in the deepest part of himself, yet brutally, the wound was torn open once again as those words echoed through his being.

_______________

"You will never amount to anything but a clown, Declan Ezra."

_______________

’Clown,’

’Clown,’

’Clown,’

’Nothing but a clown,’

Thick crimson veins shot across Declan’s eyes, his teeth grinding so hard that cracks quickly spread across them.

"Hey, system."

[Yes.]

"Add all Attribute Points to Strength!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A terrifying shockwave of energy burst out, so powerful that the water above evaporated into steam.

BAAADUUMP!

BAAADUUMP!

His heart pounded loudly in his chest, sending forth intense energy as blue veins streaked across his entire body.

His eyes shot open, revealing a piercing blue glare filled with madness and fury.

"Clown," Declan uttered, staring at Dorimunga as rage filled every part of him.

"I hate that word."

The second those words were uttered,

BOOOOOOOOOM!

A twenty-meter trail of sea boiled into steam behind him as Declan blasted forward with unstoppable speed.

Jerking an arm back, energy exploded from the cracks in his hand, and he appeared right before Dorimunga.

"DIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

Rage erupted within him, pouring into his fist as he struck out with a devastating punch.

Shockwaves rippled forward with every inch the fist surpassed, crushing the sound barrier to nothing.

Dorimunga’s eyes widened at the power, and he hurriedly slashed out with his claw.

When the two clashed,

BAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

A circular shockwave exploded, carving a meter-deep abyss into the ground between them.

CRAAAAAAACK!

It was quickly followed by the sound of bones breaking as Dorimunga’s hulking body was hurled into the air.

"What’s happening?"

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A shockwave followed him as he tore through the air, blurring through the entire jungle and carving a smooth line of destruction through it.

THUUUUUUMP!

The ground quaked as Declan landed, yet he surged forward, his fists clenched so tightly that blood streamed from them.

With each step, his body became a blur, the ground cracking into craters beneath him.

In five seconds, he found the tiger crushed within a crater, its eyes widened.

’I was sent flying!’ Dorimunga’s eyes widened in disbelief, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

Yet the second the realization dawned upon him,

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

A devastating roar sent powerful sonic waves blasting toward Declan.

Trees, animals, everything in the path of the shockwaves were blown to dust.

As the shockwave reached him, Declan thrust his hands forward, palms spreading to resist it, then raised one hand and punched at it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A second shockwave followed his fist, blasting the sonic wave to nothing.

CLEEEEAVVVE!

The moment the wave was destroyed, Dorimunga surged forward, his massive claw slashing toward Declan.

In return, Declan stretched his hand to the side, his arm landing in the center of the massive paw and stopping it in its tracks.

A deafening shockwave erupted, ripping the surrounding trees to splinters.

’He stopped it!?

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A crater opened beneath Declan’s feet as he jumped into the air, his fist blasting upward in the motion of an uppercut.

Dorimunga dodged it, his head jerking backward and narrowly avoiding the blow.

But even quicker, Declan revolved in the air, his legs raised high, and in the next moment,

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

His foot came down, slamming directly into the snout of Dorimunga.

The creature’s face rippled along with the shockwave, and its entire head was blasted down into the ground, buried within a three-meter-deep crater.

Declan naturally fell into the crater, landing directly on Dorimunga, whose eyes remained dilated with shock.

Though blood trickled down the crack in its head, dripping into its crimson eyes, it struggled to close them, finally forced to settle on the blue irises staring back at it.

"Take it back," Declan said, his words devoid of emotion.

"Take back your words."

His words sent a fiery wave of anger rippling through Dorimunga.

"YOU’RE UNWORTHY!" it claimed in the next moment.

BOOOOOOOM!

A shockwave of raw energy blasted forth, flinging Declan into the air.

A glowing crimson tattoo marked Dorimunga’s forehead, pulsing with red arcane energy, and in the next moment, he became the incarnation of raging flames.

ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!

He roared into the sky, but what followed wasn’t just a sonic wave. A powerful wave of flame energy slammed head-on into Declan, who crossed both arms in front of himself.

The flames devoured him, and when they finally passed, a claw covered in raging flames appeared, slamming into his crossed arms.

His flesh was cleaved asunder, blood erupting as he was violently blown out of the air.

He slammed into the ground, carving open a crater that stopped inches from the sea.

He tried to rise, yet a weight so heavy pressed down on his spine that it groaned.

Dorimunga struck with blinding speed, its massive claw smashing onto Declan’s back and forcing him deeper into the crater.

"I HAVE LIVED MORE YEARS THAN YOUR LITTLE MIND CAN COMPREHEND! YOU’RE NOTH...!"

BAAAAAAAAANG!

Something whipped forward like a lash.

A gigantic fish tail smashed into him, sending his hulking, flaming body crashing into the sea.

But not even the water could extinguish his flames.

Dorimunga rose, but its crimson eyes dilated slightly when it found a figure standing between it and the land.

It was another gigantic being like itself.

A feminine monster covered in blue scales, with claws sharper than the sharpest blades and a humongous tail that seemed to control the entire sea with every faint movement.

"I told you, didn’t I, Dorimunga?"

Svatava called out, her ocean-blue eyes fixed on the flaming creature.

"You really have grown bigger balls, angering me when you’re so close to the sea."

"But now... you’re directly in it!"

"And I have told you before. You cannot defeat me."

Dorimunga spoke without fear, flames bursting forth with increasing intensity and turning the surrounding sea into steam.

Svatava’s lips curved into an amused grin as she moved to swim forward, but she stopped abruptly when something touched her tail.

"Huh?" she muttered, turning her head toward the source, but in an instant, her eyes went wide as her hulking form was hoisted into the air and lifted away from the water.

"What the..." she mused beneath her breath, finding herself out of the water and back on the shore.

Turning forward, she found Declan with his hands still raised in an obvious throwing motion.

He had lifted her hulking weight out of the sea with a single hand!?

Dorimunga’s burning crimson eyes flared as it looked down at Declan, a dangerous yet cautious glint in its eyes.

’He had grown even stronger!’ it mused to itself, and Declan raised his eyes to it.

"I’ll make you take back those words," he claimed.

’Activate Darkthar Transformation.’

CRAACKKK!

Bones cracked loudly, and Dorimunga stared in disbelief as Declan’s body rapidly expanded.

His bone structure tore to pieces, only to be reforged and lengthened by the energy pumping from his heart.

His arms exploded with muscle, thickening to three times their previous size.

From a height of 1.9 meters, he became a hulking nine-meter giant, his hands turning into massive wolf-like golden claws as a golden maw tore out from where his mouth had been.

"Impossible. You’re a beast, too," Dorimunga called, looking up at the monstrous golden creature, who turned its piercing golden eyes down at it.

BOOOOOM!

The sea around Declan evaporated, and in the next moment, his golden claws appeared right before Dorimunga’s face.

The flaming tiger spat out arcane flames that burned with furious intensity, yet they were futile.

Declan grabbed its face, lifting it up, and both of them soared forward horizontally through the air before,

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

He smashed Dorimunga into the sea, dragging its body through the seabed before roughly flinging it into the distance.

Dorimunga halted a hundred meters away, then lunged back toward Declan, who raced on all fours, charging straight at the enemy.