Pandora has completely reincarnated.
She has become a round octopus with the same color as her hair.
Her human body turned into a pool of blood after I escaped from it.
Pandora has been fully reborn, plus the blessing she bestowed upon me.
Now, I can be considered much stronger than my past self... I think?
Twirling my sword, I look at Irelia—or Gerda, whatever, I don't care—holding two long weapons with strange shapes, staring at me like I'm a dead man walking.
My taunt worked, and it pissed her off big time.
"I thought you were just a money-obsessed fool, but turns out you're an idiot who doesn't know the heights of heaven or the depths of earth, huh?"
"What's wrong? Mad because I hit the nail on the head? Also where do you learn that chinese quote from? I wanna learn and become ching chong like you too!"
"...I think I need to sew that mouth of yours shut for good."
In an instant, she stomped her foot, creating an ice wall that surrounded Kai on all sides.
Then she placed her two weapons side by side, emitting a beam of icy energy from them.
Whoosh!
A murky needle pierced straight through the ice wall, bypassing her defenses and stabbing right into her shoulder.
"?!"
Right after, two more needle flew at her, and she leaped to the side.
But her body felt heavier, and she sensed something was off as she touched her nose.
Blood.
"Oh! 10% chance for deadly poison and it still hit?! Jackpot!"
"?!"
She heard a voice from behind and whipped around, but no one was there.
Instead, the moment she turned her head, Kai appeared in her blind spot.
'Since when?!'
His sword slashed toward her shoulder, but her ice defense easily blocked it with a resounding clang.
Kai retreated, grinning at her.
"What a shame. Guess I'll have to rely on my needle then, thanks to you, Pandora!"
"Pipi!"
As soon as Pandora made her sound, his weapon charged up to 3 points.
This weapon draws in hatred from others to generate darts—the user can't generate them from their own hatred.
...That doesn't mean there's no quick-charge method.
Pandora isn't human; she's a creation of the gods, so her emotions are purer and more intense.
And right now, she's treating Irelia as an enemy, so her fierce hatred is so potent that even though it's not aimed at Kai, his sword senses that thick killing intent.
Simply put: infinite ammo hack!
'That weapon... It just fired something that pierced my defenses... This is seriously bad!'
"No way... Since when did Kai get this strong?" Lily was totally shocked watching Kai's power.
From getting wrecked by a monster to having the upper hand against Gerda? Peak glow-up!
"And look at those muscles... Ohhhhh, I wanna hug 'em and suck on 'em so bad..." Kanna kept staring at his chest, wiping drool.
"Girl, you're way too horny," Violet said from beside her, looking disgusted.
Lily and Kanna turned to her.
"...What?"
"Where the hell have you been hiding?" Lily asked Violet, confused.
"...I've been standing right next to you the whole time? You didn't notice at all?"
"Nope."
"...You're kidding me? Am I that invisible?"
Clang!
Kai blocked Irelia's strike. She swung her weapons at his legs, but he backflipped away and fired darts at her.
"Tch!"
Irelia spun her two weapons to block them all, only to cough up blood from the deadly poison.
Baron watched Kai making Irelia struggle and couldn't believe his eyes.
He knew Kai wasn't the strong type—Kai admitted it himself.
Yet here Baron was, feeling like his friend was leaping ahead, while he himself was stuck in place, only managing to reduce mana cost per attack.
"What am I missing...?"
Irelia gritted her teeth, touched the spot hit by the dart, and froze it solid.
The poison froze too. She slowly stood, glaring uncomfortably at Kai.
"I underestimated your weapon."
"Weapon? Not me?"
"You? Not a chance."
Then she stomped hard on the ground, and the surrounding stone turned frigid.
"She's creating an environment to move easier," Lily said, sweating.
"Pipi!!" Pandora cutely warned. Kai patted her head and eyed Irelia.
That training time wasn't just physical—Kai had studied his Gear thoroughly, learning its info and usage.
So, barring any issues, he might actually beat Irelia, who was way stronger than him.
Might...
"Let's see how long you hold out." Irelia glared at Kai and slid toward him on ice.
As she glided past, the ice below turned into sharp spikes launching straight at him.
Kai slid along too—despite never ice-skating before, he was surprisingly skilled.
Irelia summoned snowflakes falling down, which morphed into spiky orbs.
Kai dodged left and right, then saw Irelia charging straight at him.
Her two weapons slammed into the ice, spawning massive spikes that rushed him.
Kai fired two darts at her, but she dodged lightning-fast.
Then the spiky ice pillars surrounded him, and Irelia lunged, her weapons aimed right at his chest.
"THIS ENDS NOW!!"
Slash!
Her weapon pierced through Kai, his blood flowing and freezing.
Slowly, the frost spread across his chest.
"I told you, you're an idiot who doesn't know your place—your overconfidence will be your death," she said, looking up at him.
Then her eyes widened.
His teeth were biting a dagger—the melee form of his assassin dart.
"Oh really? Stuck."
His hand touched the weapon impaling his chest and activated his skill.
"What?! It won't come out!"
"Of course not, miss. Once my skill activates, it's stuck for good."
He grabbed the dagger from his teeth and prepared to stab her shoulder.
She panicked, letting go of her weapon to retreat.
Kai glanced at her, then put the dagger back in his teeth and touched the weapon through his chest.
"Unstuck."
He slowly pulled out her weapon and handed it to Pandora.
"Curse it, Pandora."
"Pipi!"
Pandora's tentacles grabbed the weapon, then slowly shoved it into her mouth.
Unbelievable that tiny Pandora could swallow something so long and thick. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Irelia stared in stunned silence as Pandora chewed on it for a bit before spitting it out for Kai.
"Whew! Thanks for the free weapon!" He twirled it—now his.
"You didn't name it? Guess I'll do the honors."
He stabbed it into the ice below, and it radiated an aura like a weapon of utter calamity.
Thanks to practicing curses during training, these weapons didn't bother him as much anymore.
"Icebreaker—let's call it that."
"..." She conjured an identical weapon, gripping two now, and stared at Pandora.
'I have to kill that thing first!'
*****
I just redesigned Kai's form, and it'll be his main battle outfit from now on.