Huh? Did my opponent just invite me for a ‘chat’?

I’ve heard some stories about sapient monsters, but this was the first time I’ve ever met one of them. Furthermore, I was naked, and he didn’t seem to mind.

Well, he’s naked too so there’s that.

Still, his invitation sounded fishy, and a monster as strong as this one must’ve been preparing some trick. I stared at its face, trying to discern any signs of mockery towards me.

Something else grabbed my attention; it was the flames. They coated the majority of the Bahamut’s body at this point, and they were spreading faster and faster. The creature stopped flailing around trying to extinguish them, and he was just sitting on the ground.

He sighed as he added, “I know this is hard to believe, but I have nothing personal against you buddy…” He raised his arms to the sides as if to imply that he was harmless.

This has to be the joke of the century! I am pretty sure he’s buying time or trying to get a quick laugh before getting rid of me for good…

“Oh! I am sure you’re honest, Mr. Bahamut,” I said as I shook my head around, “However, I can’t see how a chat with you would benefit me. You’re absorbing mana as we speak, and I am pretty sure you’ll attack me abruptly once you’ve recovered enough of your power.”

The creature’s left eye twitched, and he tried to utter some words only to close his mouth before saying anything. He sighed once more and started speaking.

“You see, first of all, I am a Primordial not some Bahamut. Second thing, I have a mission to kill ‘Jason Stubbs,” he said, “I thought that I should get to know you better, and give you some peace of mind before you die. I am a firm believer in justice, and you’re an evil creature that endangered the tutorial. Still, I’ll give you a chance to repent before I execute you.”

A danger to the tutorial? Giving me a chance of repentance? What a load of crap! As expected of this bastard, he thinks himself to be the symbol of justice or whatever the fuck he’s on.

This was a chance for me to gain an upper hand on the enemy, provided that I played my cards right. I decided to pretend to chat with him for a couple of minutes at most, before launching a surprise attack.

“Nah, I am pretty sure I can recognize a Bahamut when I see one. You don’t mind the flames, do you? It’s a neat party trick,” I said with a grin and tried to be as casual as possible, “I’d like to know the reason behind your appearance in the tutorial, and your reason for chatting with me.”

My body was still burning with two thousand Kelvin flames, and I increased their temperature to four thousand Kelvin. I advanced toward the creature, and I was glad that it didn’t notice my little flame manipulation. I had to have some protection in case he surprised me.

The Bahamut cackled loudly and he attempted to clap with his hand, but the motions didn’t sound like regular claps.

“Of course, just make sure to stay a couple of meters away from me,” he said, “I appeared because the guardians of the tutorial called me, and my mission is to exterminate ‘Jason Stubbs’. Anyway, I asked you to chat with me to find out more about you and to know about the crimes you’ve committed and your reasons for doing so. It’s the least that I can do to help you find salvation.”

Crimes? I might’ve done some bad stuff, but I don’t think I’ve done anything outrageous enough to warrant having to deal with this sack of hypocrisy.

“Oh! I really need some bags of salvation, please!” I spoke excitedly as I clasped my hands together, “This means a lot to me!”

“What is it that worries you, little human?” The Bahamut said as his eyes twinkled brightly, “Tell me, we have all the time in the world.”

Out of nowhere, he increased his mana absorption rate even further.

He’s serious about killing me, isn’t he? He’s trying to replenish as much mana as possible within this timeframe.

“Well, I am pretty sure you recognize my identity at this point. I’ve been an average guy for a long while, and it’s only recently that things started improving. I got a nice class, and some useful skills too!” I spoke.

I moved closer to the Bahamut, but I kept a pure smile on my face and clasped my hands as I advanced. He didn’t notice and seemed to be too engrossed in his thoughts. I was three meters away from him at this point, and I decided that it was time to ambush the fucker.

It’s now or never! I’ll use Plasmic Torch to cause as much damage as possible now that he’s still weak.

“…and my favorite skill is, [Plasmic Torch!]” Suddenly, my body transformed into pure plasma, and I felt great power surging through me.

The Bahamut opened its eyes widely with alarm, and he tried to slap me away from him. His motion looked slow to me, and I was able to avoid it easily due to the peculiar nature of my current body and my unreal speed.

He noticed that I transformed, and his eyes changed their color to bright red.

He might be using some kind of heat vision skill to find me; I’d better move quickly.

I shaped my whole body as a spear and spun around my current form’s axis as fast as I could. Then, I unleashed myself toward the gem that was on its chest.

I was able to penetrate it smoothly, and I saw a large hole as I looked back on it. I was already forty meters away from the Bahamut due to my great speed, and I dropped to the ground once more.

Damn! Let’s hope this kills it.

Suddenly, the monster unleashed a miserable cry with its coarse voice. It tried to fly up, but its absent wing prevented it from keeping its balance and it moved around awkwardly.

A system screen appeared in front of me.

[Congratulations, Host Jason Stubbs is the first to destroy a Mana Reactor!]

Would you like to globally broadcast this system notice?

[Agree]

[Decline]

This is giving me a very bad feeling, but I can’t put my hand on it.

I agreed to broadcast the system notice; more achievements meant more power eventually. I took another look at the Bahamut, and my jaw opened widely at the sight that was in front of me.

The creature’s color was silver now, and the gem on its chest flashed with a deep crimson color. Blue foam came out of the boss’s mouth, and he grinned.

*

“Alright, shut the fuck up, please! Now we’ll commence the emergency meeting,” said a bearded old man as he smacked the table with his two hands. Not many details could be seen from his silhouette, except for the basic outline of his body and the general colors of his clothes and body.

It was the same for everyone in this room, as they sat around a huge round table and chatted around. They spoke with loud voices, but the old man’s warning sent them into silence.

“I’ve heard that a certain lowly goddess did something bad,” added the old man, “I believe her name was Fae, and she’s the queen of the tutorial fairies.”

“She’s my underling, but I’ve never thought that she could do such an outrageous thing!” said a lady with a charming voice and a voluptuous body, “Too bad the Primordial is already released, we’ll send a crisis management team once the concerned tutorial iteration is over.”

“No, you won’t,” replied another figure. He appeared on top of the round table out of nowhere, and his silhouette was completely black, and its outlines constantly shifted.

The sudden appearance startled everyone, but none of them dared to speak.

The mysterious figure giggled and made some weird hand motions. A large hologram appeared on top of the round table, and it showed footage of a scene. Many projections were talking to a fair lady with pointy ears.

One of the projections was that of an old man, and he was similar to the man that told everyone to stop blabbering earlier. Another projection was of a lady; she was similar to the one that replied to the old man.

Many other people could be seen, and all of them bore many similarities to figures that were present inside the current room.

The projections gave many orders to the queen of fairies, and all of them gave their approval for using all the power necessary to exterminate a certain mortal, no matter how it had to be done.

“Soooo…” said the mysterious figure, “I guess most of you have no choice but to vote on sending a rescue team to save the kid. Y’know that deities aren’t supposed to directly influence the tutorial, right?”

“Hold on! Are you blackmailing us?” said a short figure with a childish voice. He wasn’t present in the footage, and he spoke with a harsh tone. “How about you fuck off!”

Suddenly, his head flew away from his neck and fell to the ground. People were surprised by the sudden event, as the protection inside this room should’ve been sufficient to protect them from each other.

The mysterious figure shook his head and continuously clicked his tongue.

“It seems like your ancestors forgot to warn you about pissing me off,” he said with a serious tone of voice, before switching to a cheerful one and adding, “So, let’s start our meeting!”