Fantasy System

Chapter 128: Next Time

"He shed his skin." Ed looked in disbelief at Mehen. For an instant, he believed that another serpent appeared out of thin air, but in reality, Mehen molted. Ed's disbelief came from the fact that the process that should have taken a long time was done in under a second. The skin lying on the ground was being burned by Amaterasu while Mehen was fine.

"I'm guessing the recuperation period will be short as well." Indeed Mehen's body that should be weakened was now looking better than before. The scales that shined before were now glistening. However, it didn't look like Mehen could play with this technique as much as he wanted. Ed could feel that his QI dropped a lot compared to before.

This didn't mean that Mehen's assault was going to be any weaker. His strongest weapon was his gigantic body. The magic attacks and abilities supported him in battle and didn't deal a finishing blow. He was now using his surroundings to his advantage. He could maneuver easily in the sand, but to others, it disturbed their movement. He was now dodging faster than ever, as well as hitting stronger than ever. The only ones able to do any damage to him were Ed and Gobuta who had overwhelming raw power. Yet, even those attacks didn't do much.

"I guess you need a giant to fight a giant." Ed activated one of his Manekyo Sharingan's abilities. He was suspended in the air while a glowing golden energy surrounded his body. First, a skeletal structure appeared. Afterward, it was clad in armor like flesh. Ed was able to activate his Susanoo to the greatest extent he could for now. He was able to invoke a humanoid Susanoo. He was also able to use his Ki to make a giant sword. Now with both legs and arms, Ed's Susanoo was the one doing the moving instead of Ed.

The two giants started duking it out. Mehen's size was still bigger than Ed's Susanoo, but that was only taking the whole body into consideration. Mehen used his head to deal physical blows, and Susanoo was big enough to stand taller than only his head. Adding on top of that Ed's mastery over the sword, he was able to deal multiple damaging hits to Mehen.

Mehen had to focus his entire attention on Ed's Susanoo. This gave the others the chance to deal severe damage to him. Given enough time, Ed's companions were all able to bypass the scales' toughness. Suika was finally able to melt the scales with her poison, while the others blew their way through them. Mehen was now in danger as his protective armor was about to get destroyed.

Mehen was hit hard by Raikou and Sieg who used a powerful attack, making him flinch. Ed immediately slashed with Susanoo's sword towards the neck. A slight black color was seen on the blade of the sword. Ed could only use this much Armament Haki in order not to get tired out very quickly.

Susanoo's sword connected with Mehen's scales and Ed felt it going through it. If things continued this way, he would be able to sever Mehen's neck. Yet, before Ed could finish the job, the sword stopped. It wasn't because of hesitation on Ed's part, or his inability to completely sever the head. It wasn't even due to some hidden protective armor that Mehen used. It was because the serpent's head was no longer there. In fact neither was his entire body.

Ed was able to see what had happened clearly this time. In one breath, Mehen's body quickly shrunk and fell to the ground. The once gigantic serpent that was hundreds of meters long now had a length of only five meters. Yet, due to his size shrinking, his body looked almost jet black, giving him a dangerous look.

Mehen, who was on the ground, lunged at Ed who was in the air. Ed used Susanoo's sword to block him, but he was surprised to see it break. To protect himself, Ed blocked with Susanoo's arms. As expected, the strongest armor was able to stop Mehen, albeit having some cracks.

"So you've taken things more seriously."

"I had to," Mehen answered Ed with a nonchalant attitude.

'It's a disadvantage to use Susanoo now.' Ed undid the Susanoo and fell to the ground as well. Using Susanoo against such a fast and strong opponent simply made him a bigger target. It was also siphoning his Ki at a fast rate.

"It's actually a bad idea to compete in speed with me and my teammates," Ed spoke as Raikou appeared next to him. In an instant, Raikou's body was clad in so much lightning that he looked like he transformed into one as well. He also used Nen, which further amplified the effect.

Ed activated his Nen, Shunpo, Spectral Shadow Steps, Observation Haki, and Rysui Seikken. With such a combination, although he would lose Ki very quickly, nothing could escape him. He even kept the Sharingan active.

Sieg and the others didn't stand still either. Suika, Gobuta, and the others who could use Nen activated their En to feel out the movement of Mehen. Sieg was relying on his experience and magic to keep up with the opponent.

Every second that passed witnessed tens of clashes. Even though his size decreased, Mehen's strength didn't. Ed and Raikou's speed proved more than enough to match Mehen. The once golden desert was now tainted by blood and traces of magic that was used. Flying slashes left deep scars in the sand.

Mehen was being slowly overwhelmed, yet he kept on fighting. Not even two minutes had passed, yet they had clashed for thousands of times. Noticing that he was at a disadvantage, Mehen tried to go back to his original size. He was able to damage everyone more in this form, but he was still taking the bigger damage. But, Ed wasn't going to allow him to do that so easily. He sheathed his swords and kept only Shusui. The usual black and white glow appeared on his sword as he used his remaining Ki on his strongest attack.

"Providence Blade!" Ed's blade connected with Mehen when he was mid-gigantification. The slash was so powerful it almost beheaded Mehen in one go. His was now nearly headless. Endless blood spurted out of his wound as he drew his last breath.

"What a strong opponent" Mehen repeated what Sieg said earlier. He was looking at Ed and his team in great respect.

"Next time I come back, I'll definitely take you with me," Ed said in a resolute tone. He meant what he said.

"I see I look forward to it," Mehen spoke his last words, at least the last ones until he is summoned again, and died. Ed and the others were now being teleported to the next floor.

Author's Thoughts

Shigun

Hello everyone! Mehen is such a cool character to write! Hope you enjoy the chapter.