Chapter 1018: It's Not Stupid! |
Some of the Demons still felt the desire to kill the intruder, but their instincts also told them that they shouldn't fight it.
This thing looked weak, but it had killed two Late Crusher Demons.
This time, the pillar came very close to the Law Well. Yet, just before it officially entered the no-fight zone, several beasts showed aggression towards it.
This was a normal phenomenon amongst the Demons. Whenever anyone was about to enter their Law Well without any contributions, the group became aggressive. If the intruder continued walking without an obvious offer, they would collectively push them out and kill them.
A hole opened on the front of the pillar, and two hands grabbed two Beast Cores before throwing them into the distance, towards the center of the Law Well.
The feelings of rage and aggression in the Demons lessened considerably, and they focused on the Gravity Lightning again.
The pillar continued walking forward and officially entered the no-fight zone.
As it came closer, some of the Demons still grumbled at the newcomer, but that was also normal. This behavior was similar to the behavior of lions while consuming a carcass. Even though the lions were one unit, during feeding, they showed almost constant aggression towards each other. The male lion got to feed first. In this context, the Peak Crusher Demons were the male lions, while the Late Crusher Demons were the female lions and cubs. They only got the leftovers.
The pillar kept scurrying forward, passing by a couple of Late Crusher Demons.
The other Late Crusher Demons watched, keeping their aggression at bay.
The pillar turned towards the offending Late Crusher Demon, and its hammer lifted slightly.
The Late Crusher Demon kept growling, while the pillar just stood there.
Five seconds of tension passed.
Then, the pillar slowly scurried forward.
The Late Crusher Demon released lightning around it.
But then, the other Demons released several growls of aggression, warning the two. If they dared to fight here, they would be killed by the group.
The Late Crusher Demon kept growling, but it also took steps to the side. It continued looking at the pillar as it slowly moved past the Demon.
Then, more growls echoed. The group was warning the pillar.
In response, the pillar grabbed another two Beast Cores and threw them towards the Law Well.
The growling's intensity lessened, and the pillar continued.
Yet, some seconds later, another growl echoed through the Law Well, and the pillar stopped moving. Moments later, the pillar took a couple of steps back.
The growl had come from a Peak Crusher Beast in the center of the Law Well. The pillar had gotten too close.
As the pillar moved back, the surrounding Late Crusher Beasts growled again. The pillar had shown weakness, and they would use that moment to push it further away.
The pillar stopped moving, grabbed one more Beast Core, and threw it into the center of the Law Well.
The growling lessened.
The pillar plopped down as it assumed its spot in the feeding hierarchy. The Demons around it still growled occasionally, but they were not directly targeted at the pillar. It was more of a general murmuring of complaints.
After some time, another opening appeared on the pillar, revealing another hole.
When the Demons saw the contents of the hole, they stopped focusing on the lightning.
The contents filled them with contradictory feelings.
They desired the contents, but they also feared them.
Law Comprehension Fruits.
The pillar grabbed a Lightning Comprehension Fruit with one hand while grabbing a Beast Core with the other.
Then, the pillar smushed the Beast Core and the Comprehension Fruit together before throwing both of them into the maw below its base.
The Demons didn't understand what was happening. They only knew that they couldn't sense the Comprehension Fruits anymore.
Meanwhile, inside the pillar, the Energy of the Comprehension Fruits flooded into the Beast Core, changing it. The Beast Core started the process of turning into an Elemental, but since it was inside a beast's or human's maw, it couldn't gather enough Energy to manifest.
The defense-suppressing powers of the Comprehension Fruit were weakened. If the pillar had a Beast Core of its own, it wouldn't lose its defenses since almost all of the defense-suppressing powers had been used on the external Beast Core. This only left the comprehension benefits of the fruit.
It was a very simple and direct workaround. In fact, it was so obvious, simple, and easy that it had to be intentional. There was a high chance that the leaders of the Demons wanted to make use of the Comprehension Fruits without having to fear turning into Elementals.
Technically, since the pillar was human, the transforming effects of the Comprehension Fruits wouldn't even work, but the pillar had to put on a show. It had to act like a proper Demon.
How could it sell the idea that it could comprehend all the Elements?
Easy! As long as it had access to all Comprehension Fruits, it essentially had all the Affinities.
The pillar looked at its surroundings for a while. When it saw that nobody was making trouble for it, it decided to focus on the display of Gravity Lightning in front of it.
'Well, here I am,' Kyle thought from inside the pillar. 'I succeeded. I wanted to gain access to a Level Four Law Well, and I managed to do it.'
'I didn't think it was possible, but it actually was.'
As Kyle looked at the pillar's appearance, he felt a conflicting feeling of shame and pride.
'This is so fucking stupid, but it works! It fucking works!'
'I am weak to group attacks. I can only launch one strong attack before I'm all out of gas. I only have one hammer. I am fucking slow. My defense is shit. Ranged attacks are super fucking awkward.'
'But it works!'
'Luckily, Demons only attack in groups if you're ignoring their social code. Even more, they always warn you before you're about to break their societal rules. As long as I don't ignore the warnings, I will never enter a group battle. Even more, they won't attack me while I'm weak. After all, the risk an enemy poses inherently adds to the benefits. Their instincts tell them to primarily kill stuff that offers a challenge, even if it's only a minor one.'
'In the human world, this would not fly, but in the Abyss, it works wonders!'
'Bro, I'm literally just a big arm that holds a hammer! How is that allowed to have any merit in battle?'
'It's so fucking stupid!'
'But it fucking works!'
'I got what I wanted!'
Kyle looked at the Gravity Lightning around him. As he sensed it, he felt deep familiarity with it, the advantage of having an Affinity.
'It doesn't matter if it's stupid or not. It works.'
'And as we all know, if something looks stupid but works...'
'It's not stupid!'
The author's patreon. If he gets more than 1000 per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.
https://patreon.com/user?u=27791050
Comments 2