The Cloud-Raised Brave Man's Travels

"Then I'll buy this. Won't he have to face a black giant when he returns to Orario? This should be helpful to him."

[No problem~~ Thank you for your review. This item you purchased will probably be synced to you after Keya upgrades to Lv.3~~]

Let's turn our attention back to Keya. He has now come near the meat mountain, where he smells a peculiar fragrance. This fragrance is extremely sweet, as if there is honey, butter, and cream in front of you... It is the kind of sweetness that makes you feel sick just by smelling it. Compared with this fragrance, the smell of gasoline seems much better.

Keya was already standing next to the meat mountain. He witnessed firsthand how a zombie transformed from a humanoid form, melted, and was finally absorbed by the mountain. The scene was even more terrifying up close, but fortunately, it seemed to have no effect on humans. At least Keya felt that his muscles were still quite strong. Keya ran around the meat mountain, piling gasoline, alcohol, fireworks, wood, and other things around it.

There's really something wrong with this thing. There's such a big noise and such a strong smell of gasoline, but this building doesn't react at all. What is it doing?

But whatever it did didn't affect the fire's ignition. Soon, Koya was back at his starting point, at the first tree he'd climbed. Incidentally, unlike the sweet aroma lingering around the meat mountain, even standing near the exit, Koya could smell the strong odor of gasoline. Koya had never actually seen gasoline burn. He'd only heard Nao Hayasaka mention it as a highly flammable substance with a long burning time, as she'd seen her filling up her car.

Now let him see if this highly flammable gasoline can set the sky on fire!

Click, click. The sparks produced by the friction between the flint and the metal ignited the kerosene in the lighter. Keya actually liked this lighter very much, because this kind of lighter that was convenient for making fire was very useful in dungeon adventures. There were only a few dozen lighters like this in his mobile warehouse, and one less would be one less~~ But now this lighter needed to sacrifice its life for a greater cause.

This great cause is to burn Tokyo! Let's make Tokyo even hotter in early summer!

Ding—boom!

The lighter drew a graceful arc in the air and landed on the gasoline-soaked ground. After the crisp sound of metal colliding with cement, there was the sound of explosion as the flame suddenly rose.

The heat wave began to sweep every corner here.

Chapter 86: The Birth of the Boss

This fire burned even more fiercely than Koya had imagined. The sun had already set, but the sky-high flames still made the surrounding area for several kilometers seem incredibly bright. The fire in the park had been burning for several hours. Tokyo Bay Park was no longer there, having been transformed into a living hell. Standing on the roof of a building a few kilometers away, Koya and the other three could still feel the heat wave blowing towards them.

"I didn't expect that lighting a fire would be so effective. Those zombies were burned to ashes in the fire."

This fire may have directly reduced the number of zombies in Tokyo by one-tenth. It's a pity that Koya didn't have any skills to become stronger after killing enemies, otherwise he might have become Lv.5 or even Lv.6 after this wave.

"But the Corpse King hasn't changed at all."

Although the fire was burning fiercely and the fire tornado that was more than ten meters high looked very oppressive, it was still a little pale in comparison to the meat mountain that was thirty meters high. The meat mountain stood still in the flames, but the strange fragrance that Koya smelled seemed to be stimulated by the flames. The smell that could only be smelled near the meat mountain could now be smelled even from several kilometers away. Could it be that the meat mountain was roasted?

Koya and his team had discovered the purpose of this fragrance a long time ago, which was to 'charm' the zombies. After smelling this strange fragrance, the zombies would involuntarily approach the meat mountain. Even if a living person stood in front of the zombies, the charmed zombies would not have any intention of attacking. This was verified by the zombies nearby after the strange fragrance drifted out of the park.

"It's a pity we don't have heavy weapons, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here waiting to be killed."

"Daisy, how long do you think this fire will last?"

"I don't know, but it will definitely not go out tonight."

"Go and rest for a while. I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"No need. One night without sleep won't really have much of an impact on us. Besides, how can I sleep with this overpoweringly sweet smell? I'm feeling a bit nauseous now."

"Huh?! Could this scent actually be poisonous? Daisy, are you okay?"

Daisy rolled her eyes at Keya. The scent was poisonous, but only to zombies. If it had any effect on humans, they would have reacted long ago since they had been smelling it for hours.

The whole night passed in silence. Hinagiku and Mafuyu chatted with everyone in the chat group, discussing the 30-meter-high meat mountain. Koya, who had no chat group, could only scroll through his phone out of boredom. His fingers tapped the screen clumsily, like an old man touching a smartphone for the first time. Although the Internet has disappeared in this world, the things already on the phone can still bring Koya great pleasure.

When a ray of morning light appeared in the east, the whole world began to wake up. Tokyo Bay Park, which had been burning all night, was still burning, and it seemed that everything was still the same as last night.

The meat mountain was still as tall and big as before, but its flesh-colored surface had turned pitch black after being smoked for so long, and from a distance it looked like a mountain of coal.

Under Koya's gaze, the thing that had been burning for over ten hours finally began to stir. It began to tremble, and the black ash on its body was constantly being shaken off. Just when Koya and the others thought the meat mountain was about to explode, it began to shrink rapidly, like a balloon being deflating. In the blink of an eye, it was smaller, as if something was absorbing the nutrients from the inside of the meat mountain.

The top of the meat mountain wasn't blackened by the flames. Its original flesh color had now gradually turned gray, like the ashes left behind after a piece of charcoal had been fully burned.

After a while, the meat mountain disappeared from Koya and the others' sight, and its figure could not be found at all in the flames.

"Is that an 'egg?'"

Although Daisy's words were a bit abstract, Koya still understood what she meant. The zombies that merged into this mountain of flesh had become nutrients for the growth of the zombie king. Now that this thing was starting to shrink, there were only two possibilities. One was that its evolution was complete, and the other was that its evolution was forced to be interrupted because of the fire. But no matter which one it was, for Koya and the others, the BOSS was about to come!

"Roar!!!"

A thunderous roar was heard in the park. Even from such a distance, the roar was still deafening. Great, it seemed that the BOSS had appeared.

"Do you think this boss will be burned to death?"

"That shouldn't be the case. Didn't its cry sound quite loud? And isn't it a bit too lame to think of a boss being killed by fire?"

"Objection. After a night of intense burning and the assistance of the trees in the park, the temperature at the center of such a large area of fire has likely reached 1,000 degrees Celsius. I don't believe zombies, which are based on carbon-based organisms, can survive such high temperatures."

"Hoohoho!"

As if to refute Kirisu Mafuyu's words, the roar in the flames became more frequent, but Koya always felt that it was like the roar of a trapped beast. However, Koya would not let down his vigilance until the system showed that the mission was completed.

"Come to think of it, we haven't yet confirmed whether zombies have any other sensory abilities besides sound recognition to determine their location."

"You mean that the corpse king might be running around in the fire looking for an exit right now?"

"After all, even though that thing kept roaring, we didn't see it running out of the fire—"

Koya and the others wanted to wait for the Corpse King to perish in the flames, but fate hadn't granted their wishes. Or perhaps this original 'protagonist' had received a final shred of heaven and earth's care? Thirty minutes after the Corpse King's birth, an untimely rainstorm descended.

The flames on the ground and the rain in the sky were fighting their final battle. The water vapor and the dark clouds in the sky made the world look foggy. In the end, this man-made fire could not overcome the power of heaven and earth.

The fire in Tokyo Bay Park was extinguished, and the place had turned into a scorched earth. The rain that fell on the ground was quickly evaporated by the high temperature. Some of the trees fell down after the burnt, while some were still standing. The lawns and other things had long disappeared, and the water park had become a ruin at this moment.

It seemed as if this rain fell just for the Corpse King. After the flames were extinguished, the sky soon cleared up again.

"Looks like we still have to go and fight it."

Koya, Hinagiku, and the others arrived at the gates of Tokyo Bay Park. Aside from the hillock blocking the view, all they could see was black scorched earth. A tall figure stood where the Meat Mountain had once been.

Seeing the corpse king's appearance, Koya subconsciously said -

"What a coincidence!"

Chapter 87: Scraping Tactics

At the place where the meat mountain was originally located, there was only the ground that seemed to have been bombarded and a giant about five meters tall. The giant was completely black. The black was not its original color, but the carbon ash left after being burned by fire. It now looked like a piece of charcoal that had been thrown into the fire and burned for a while. Its body was covered with cracks and was in tatters, but you could vaguely see the still-twitching muscles in the cracks.

This giant's physique was remarkably well-proportioned, like a scaled-down Greek sculpture. Even after being ripped apart by fire, his muscles remained distinct, giving him a surprisingly divine appearance. The reason Koya couldn't help but exclaim, "What a coincidence!" upon seeing him was because this giant resembled the dark Goliath from the dungeon, even exuding a similar, menacing aura.

"Roar!!!"

The Corpse King seemed to have finally discovered the presence of Koya and the other three, but strangely, it did not rush towards them immediately. Koya and the other three were about one kilometer away from this guy, within the visual range, but this Corpse King waited in place for two or three seconds before rushing towards Koya and the others in a running posture. His burly body made it look like a started chariot. The sound of this guy's charge did not disgrace his size. Every step he took was like a grenade exploding on the ground.

The roar of the explosions became more and more frequent, getting closer and closer to where Koya and the others were.

"Assist me, I'll take it!"

The dragon transformation was activated instantly, and ferocious scales covered Koya's entire body. The surging power gave him great confidence. He even threw his knife aside. It was not certain whether this piece of rubbish could even break the corpse king's skin!

Koya rushed towards the Corpse King. Three seconds later, they made contact and a gas explosion occurred instantly. Compared with the Corpse King, Koya's body was so small, it was like a motorcycle colliding with a tank, but in the end, the motorcycle stopped the tank!

The ice arrow came right after, and the moment it hit the Corpse King, the ice attached to the Corpse King's body under Kirisu Madoka's intentional control, and then began to spread. But before the few of them could be happy for two seconds, the giant reached out and grabbed Koya's shoulder. In an instant, a pulling force made Koya leave the ground. The Corpse King swung Koya fiercely in the air and then smashed him to the ground.

With a bang, the ground completely shattered. The scales on Koya's body blocked most of the impact for him. Koya only felt a little stuffy in his chest but quickly got up again. Suddenly, a black shadow enveloped Koya's figure. Koya quickly kicked his legs and quickly left the spot. A pair of fists as big as a double-door refrigerator fell on the place where Koya had just been.

With a loud bang, the battered ground was hit again, and spider-web-like marks appeared on the concrete road.

Strength, speed, endurance... This giant was like an almighty warrior. Before Koya could think about it, the huge fist came towards his face again. Koya turned around lightly to avoid the attack. The wind from the fist blew across his cheek, causing some pain.

With his fists clenched, the pitch-black reverse scales penetrated into the corpse king's skin. He exerted force on his shoulders and twisted his wrists. The reverse scales from the Calamity Dragon cut through the corpse king's flesh as easily as a hot knife through butter. A piece of meat weighing perhaps five to six pounds was cut off and fell to the ground. The muscles at the corpse king's wound were still twitching, making it hard to imagine that this behemoth was actually dead.

"Roar!!"

This injury should be insignificant to such a huge corpse king. It is very likely that it has no sense of pain. But now, as this piece of flesh and blood fell, the corpse king seemed to have fallen into a state of frenzy. The corpse king jumped back and left Koya. Its eyes were fixed on Koya. Those blood-red eyes without pupils were chilling.

The piece of meat that Koya dug out was on the corpse king's right leg. The pink spot was particularly obvious in the darkness.

Wait—this corpse king has no recovery ability?!

Koya discovered the blind spot. Perhaps because he had dealt too much with the monsters in the dungeon with amazing recovery ability, Koya subconsciously believed that all monsters had the ability to regenerate broken limbs and heal flesh and blood. But he obviously forgot that when he was on the upper level, he also slaughtered many demon pigs by bleeding them.

The burns on the corpse king in front of him were still there. The burnt body was not for him to show off, but because he had no ability to heal at all!

This is a real help! For a monster without the ability to heal, every attack reduces its health limit, and every time a limb is severed, it loses a portion of its mobility forever. When facing a monster like this, there's only one strategy: grind it to death!

Koya rushed towards the Corpse King with a smile on his face. From now on, he was no longer looking for a chance to kill the Corpse King with one blow, but was committed to landing every attack on the Corpse King's legs, and it would be best if he could tear off its flesh and blood every time like he did just now!

Corpse King——The real battle has begun!

Koya came to the side of the corpse king, and each of its attacks landed accurately on the corpse king's legs. Every time it waved its hands, a piece of flesh and blood would leave the corpse king's body. In Koya's own view, he was like a ghost floating beside the corpse king, and every action was slowly pulling it into the abyss of death.

In the eyes of the Corpse King, Keya was just a damn mosquito, impossible to hit and impossible to run away from! Just as Keya was scraping the Corpse King's skin, a burning flame suddenly appeared -

"Breathing of the Sun, Type 6, Bone-Scorching Flame Sun!"

The flames climbed up the corpse king's back all the way to its head, and scorching sun flames rose from the place where the knife had cut it; and its chest had been covered with a solid layer of ice at some point, and this ice layer was still spreading along its body to its arms.

The number of ghosts around the corpse king increased from one to two. Even without any verbal communication, Koya and Daisy still had a clear division of labor. Daisy used her flexible body to constantly harass the corpse king from behind. With the flame of the Breath of the Sun, even an ordinary blade could cut through the skin that was as hard as alloy. Every swing of the long knife represented another piece of flesh and blood leaving the corpse king forever.

Koya always played the role of attracting hatred and dodged in front of the Corpse King. He never left the Corpse King's attack range, and sometimes even stood under its fist to resist its attack in order to attract it. And in the distance, Kirisu Manfuyu was not idle either. Under her control, the fragile ice turned into chains and shackles to freeze the Corpse King's legs to the ground, and the ice on its chest had even spread to its arms.

The tacit cooperation between the three made this battle seem like no suspense at all——

Chapter 88: Post-chat

Nothing unexpected happened. Although this corpse king looked like the same type as the Goliath in the dungeon, its strength was far inferior to that of Goliath. Generally speaking, the strength of the giant was around Lv.3 or close to Lv.4, but it did not have a strong recovery ability. The bigger it got, the more it looked like a target!

boom--

This was the sound of the Corpse King falling to the ground. It no longer looked human anymore, with its two legs completely gone and its back covered in knife marks. Sparks would occasionally appear from the wounds, while its chest was wrapped in ice. This Corpse King was in a miserable state, suffering from both ice and fire, as well as being cut into pieces by a thousand knives. So sometimes a huge body size is not as important as excellent recovery ability!

[The main quest has been completed. Rewards will be distributed after the host returns to Orario.]

The system's notification made Keya give up the idea of finishing off the enemy. After canceling his Brilliant Dragon Transformation, Keya's legs gave way and he sat down on the ground. This battle had lasted over twenty minutes. Thanks to the training from the sturdy man in his dream, Keya wouldn't have simply collapsed on the ground, but would have passed out. Brilliant Dragon Transformation was powerful, but the energy it consumed was simply too much!

"Koya? Are you okay?"

Hinagiku and Mafuyu are in much better condition than Koya. One is just a little physically exhausted and the other is a little mentally depressed.

"No problem, just a little exhausted. The zombie king has been confirmed dead. My quest system has given me a prompt, but we'd better burn its body. I'm a little worried that other zombies will evolve after gnawing on its corpse."

"Okay, Madoka, take care of Koya while I go destroy the corpse king's body."

Mafuyu helped Koya up from the ground, and then held Koya in her arms like a princess. In fact, Mafuyu knew that this posture was a little strange, but she thought it was the most comfortable for Koya. To be honest, Koya was indeed very comfortable now, because Mafuyu did not know how to hold people. She now relied entirely on her physical fitness to forcibly hold Koya in her arms. The position of her arms was also very strange, which caused Koya's face to be pressed against Mafuyu's chest. This was simply giving the tired Koya a pillow!

Koya no longer cared about face. When he could be so close to Mando, what else could he need?

"Don't move, it's a little itchy."

"Hehe~~"

It's fair to say that Mafuyu still doesn't understand men. How could Koya stand up to her words in this situation? Or rather, after hearing what Mafuyu said, Koya acted even more directly, practically pressing Ren against Mafuyu's chest like he was playing with facial cleanser! Too much, too much! Everyone in the chat group couldn't stand this behavior anymore! Especially some of the busty girls who weren't confident about their breasts, who had already started criticizing Koya!

Shinomiya Kaguya [What is he doing! What is he doing! ! ]

Hayasaka Ai: "Calm down, be rational. Miss, based on the facts, you have no right to criticize their intimate interactions as a boyfriend and girlfriend. You didn't even get the first stage reward."

Shinomiya Kaguya: "Lychee! How can you let me do this?! How can they do such a shameful thing in public?! How can they behave so shamelessly?!"

Hayasaka Ai [This is what a scumbag is like. He will rape her anytime, anywhere, and whenever he gets the chance.]

The only two people in the shelter who did not receive the favorability reward were madly complaining about Koya in the chat group. One of them was dissatisfied with why Koya and himself were making such slow progress, while the other was because his mother had the deepest malice towards Koya.

The other girls went back to their rooms to catch up on some sleep after seeing the fallen corpse king. They had been watching the live broadcast all night without sleeping since Koya started burning the mountain to prevent the fire. Now that Koya and the other three were safe, the stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground.

Jizi: "Alright, let's discuss something relevant. I never expected things to end up like this. The plans we made at the beginning seemed like a joke. Who could have imagined this corpse king would be a mountain of flesh standing in the middle of the city?"

Doctor [This demonstrates the importance of intelligence gathering. However, Koya and his team's hastily crafted plan is not without merit. It was precisely because of this hastily crafted plan that Koya and his team were able to rush to the city center so quickly. After all, the zombie king immediately understood that this was a critical moment in its evolution. The zombies around it were its reserve food for evolution, and Koya's fire incinerated them all. A lucky coincidence?]

Keqing: [I think it might be luck. Did you forget that Koya has a skill that maxes out his luck?]

Shirona: [It's a bit scary that zombies actually exist.]

The atmosphere in the chat group became much more relaxed. The doctor and Shirona even discussed whether it was possible to subdue zombies with Poké Balls. After chatting for a while, Shirona found that there was something wrong with the doctor. She could even use various cases of mythical beasts to support her ideas. Many of the names of these mythical beasts were names Shirona had never heard of. How did she know them?

Sirona [Doctor, you seem to know a lot about our world? ]

Doctor [I'm a veteran player who's played from Ruby and Emerald all the way to Vermilion. Although I abandoned the anime because of Gou Hao, my understanding of the world of elves is deeper than you can imagine.]

Sirona [Ah?]