[Rank: 1st Origin Diamond Class]
Neil's mind exploded, though not literally this time, both he and the Phaged had similar expressions on their faces.
Their bodies were completely frozen, and fear wasn't the only reason for this, the Bima's eyes were glowing with a yellowish light which affected them both.
'D- Diamond rank?!! Such a creature shouldn't exist even in a Diamond ranked territory, unless there existed no other life form, and it alone could represent the power of the whole area without so much as a grass, which was just impossible.' Although Neil's body couldn't move, his mind didn't shut down thankfully this time.
The answer to his doubt was simple, this territory was even above the Diamond rank, something he hadn't even heard about.
'What sort of place is this even?' There was just no way he could defeat that giant thing with his meagre strength, the gap was just too huge.
K- KRRRRRR
Kong struggled helplessly but couldn't free its body. A Gold rank Phaged was powerless against that creature, so Neil stood no chance.
RAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!
The magma Bima let out a deafening roar, shaking the trees and making the ground tremble around them. Then opening its mouth wide, it sucked in a long breath.
WHOOSH WHOOSH
BANG
Trees were pulled, Kong's and Neil's bodies were instantly sucked in towards the large creature.
Neil thought quickly, but he couldn't think of a solution. The only other skill he possessed was Aquamorph.
But as he got close to its mouth, a burning sensation spread across his body, and then along with the tree, his body caught fire.
"Aaaaaaaah" Extreme pain shot through his body, but it only lasted a few moments as darkness swallowed everything.
His burnt body landed in the Bima's mouth and in the next moment, he was crushed, turning into burnt minced meat.
[You died.]
This death, although quick, was extremely painful.
[Analyzer Activated.]
[Would you like to start again?]
[Yes/Give up?]
He didn't choose anything instantly, instead pondered about his options.
'I need to protect myself from those extreme flames, and the only way I can think of is Aquamorph.' Neil thought, he was yet to try the skill but had received some training back on Earth, though only theoretical.
'By generating an endothermic solution, I can trap the heat and keep myself relatively cooler.
But against that extreme of a heat, I would need to constantly release this liquid around my body.' He continued with his thoughts.
Now the problem was, could his minimal energy reserves even hold on long enough? His synergy was so low, he might just keep dying.
But giving up just wasn't an option, even if he had to die again and again, he would continue fighting until either he ran out of tries or lost his mind completely.
[Yes.]
…
The same things took place, he stumbled out then the Phaged attacked him.
Just after barely surviving two of its attacks, the enormous creature appeared.
Letting out a deafening roar, it sucked in a long breath, pulling everything into its mouth.
Like before, Neil's body got pulled towards the mouth of the magma Bima.
And right before he got burnt to a crisp, Neil used his skill for the first time, imagining the sort of liquid he wanted to produce.
[Aquamorph Activated.]
Instantly, a liquid with the exact properties he wanted formed around his body, properly spread across his skin.
"Aaaaaaaah" Despite using it, he could feel some level of heat as the liquid kept evaporating quickly.
Neil replenished the solution at the fastest speed he could and was surprised to find that his energy actually didn't run out.
Passing through the phase of extreme heat, Neil and the half-burnt Phaged Kong landed into the Bima's mouth before getting directly pulled towards its throat.
"Fuck-!" Neil stopped producing the solution, since he survived the extreme heat with some burns, but now he faced yet another challenge.
Just as his body got dragged into the throat, the muscles around him constricted and in the next moment, his body was squished until turned into a paste.
Again a quick death, only feeling the suffocation and pain for a moment.
[You died.]
[Analyzer Activated.]
[Would you like to start again?]
[Yes/Give up?]
'Damn it, I forgot to consider many other things. Not only would I be crushed to death in its throat, its belly might also contain gases like sulphur dioxide or carbon monoxide, not to mention the digestive acid, lack of oxygen, food and so many other things.'
Neil sighed, but he could only take one step at a time, and there didn't seem to be a limit to his analyzer skill so he could only test it with deaths.
'Some of those things could be dealt with if I had a better battle suit, sigh there is nothing in my basic one. I need to get it upgraded.' He made up his mind while also preparing in his mind his next steps.
Though he was trying to be calm, dying in such painful ways was quite terrifying, each experience was like the worst sort of nightmare.
And he was all alone in this hell, where terrifying monsters lurked.
After making a plan, Neil decided to try again. If he happened to miss something then he could just return again and prepare a better plan.
'Here goes nothing.'
[Yes!]
…
He stumbled out of the portal and instantly saw the Phaged feasting over Lukas's body.
CRACK
Finally the Kong discovered him and like before it charged towards Neil, letting out a guttural roar.
[Aquamorph Activated.]
Instantly large amounts of lubricating silicone liquid poured out of Neil's hands, spreading across the ground.
WHOOSH
BANG
He slid over the liquid to increase his speed and barely dodged getting struck by the deadly claw, arriving beside the pile of dead bodies.
"Ughh Sorry guys but I have to do it." Neil hurriedly picked Lukas's arm and took off the bracelet before muttering.
"Nemo, initialize force upgrade." While speaking, he pressed Lukas's bloody bracelet against his own, while picking a few other bracelets from the pile of flesh.
GRRAAAAAAHHHH
The Worm Kong slipped over the slippery fluid and lost its balance, sliding a couple of meters before hitting the trees.
"Observing the current situation."
"Request Granted. Upgrade Initialised…"
Just upgrading his battle suit would greatly increase his chances of survival. Not only would they have enough oxygen stored, but the best ones even have their separate spatial storages and more.
[Upgrade in progress… 1%... 2%...]
Neil picked up over five bracelets and put them all together, while the Worm Kong was furiously trying to get up, getting completely covered in the lubricating silicone liquid.
THUMP THUMP
CRACK
Magma Bima appeared once again, and without giving the two any time, it pulled their bodies with a powerful suck.
[Upgrade progress: 67%]
As Neil got pulled up, he hastily covered himself with the endothermic fluid to resist the extreme heat.
"Ughhh" He held his breath and endured the heat, as the two along with trees and debris flew into the Bima's mouth.
❖❖❖
Thanks for reading...