Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

"Is everything in this damn world a boss? Give me a break," Finn mumbled, keeping his daggers ready.

"Well, have fun–this one is all yours," Corvus saluted, taking a step back.

"Hold on, what do you mean–?"

As Finn tried to look back to question what Corvus meant, he felt his blood run cold as he was immediately met face-to-face with the freakish being. Even hunching over, the minor god was taller than him, with an odd, stocky build with thin limbs and a stocky abdomen.

It felt as though his veins swelled as the blood flowing through them vibrated within the presence of the minor deity.

["Hollow Disengage"] [4:59]

Out of pure reflex, he activated the ability as he was automatically pulled back several meters, sinking into the shadows. Even as he blended into the unseen, he could see that the leech god still looked towards him with its absence of eyes.

'Can it see me–?' He questioned.

It lunged right towards him, bringing him to jump to the side just as its palm struck the wall behind him. A strange impact struck the stone, causing it to crack in perfect rings just from the gray fleshed being's hand.

"I can smell it…your blood–it's jumping in joy to join me," the nebulous deity said with a breathy voice, slumping his shoulders before turning to face the assassin.

Finn emerged from the shadows, finding them to be useless against his opponent. A quick glance over, he found Corvus simply standing at the other end of the cave, keeping his distance while keeping him a thumbs-up as if reassuring him.

There was only a single moment of freedom as he discovered the leech deity already right in front of him, engulfing his vision in the palm of that slimy, slick hand. As its suction fingers neared his skin by mere inches, he looked past the hand–

["Blink Slash"] [2:59]

He passed by, dragging his dagger through its side as he felt its grotesque flesh be sliced into. As he caught his footing, spinning himself around to see the true damage of the slash, he was immediately confronted by the entity again.

It was reaching for his body again, lunging towards him as though the edge of his dagger had done nothing to it.

"Relinquish it–your blood,' the nebulous figure demanded with a monotone whisper.

With how close it was, he decided to counter rather than evade, finding that its arm was a viable target as he brought his blades right through the segmented limb.

["Greater Gale Blessing"] [4:59]

["Deadly Clairvoyance"] [0:29]

The unison of skills brought him greater swiftness and slashing effectiveness, while foreseeing the exact moment needed to take action. It was a space of milliseconds, ducking himself down and slipping by as he brought his wind-coated daggers up swiftly.

SQUELCH

Using the wind like a blade itself, he carved right through the being's arm, amputating it from the elbow right as the grotesque figure stumbled past. As he looked down at his daggers briefly, he found that they were completely spotless of blood; there wasn't a single drop to be seen.

It was odd, though he didn't question it as he turned to face the one he had taken an arm off of. Peculiarly enough, the deity of leeches stood there without any sense of panic, simply lifting the stub left of its arm as not a speck of blood dripped from the wound.

'It's not bleeding?' Finn watched.

"You want to claim my blood?...What right do you have? It's mine–all blood is mine," the harrowing deity claimed.

The amputated arm the leech-humanoid held up swelled and flexed as all of the muscles tightened in unison before it sprouted. Like dough being stretched and extended, the flesh pushed out the lost arm, returning the limb without much hindrance from Ebi.

'What the–? It brought its arm back? The slash on its side from before…it's not there. This thing can regenerate–how do I put it down? Its head? Maybe, maybe not.

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This is a deity of some degree I'm dealing with–as gross as it is, it's divine in some capacity,' Finn analyzed the grotesque existence.

It was beginning to become suffocating in the scarlet cavern; the pools of blood fermented with a putrid smell that made him light-headed. He felt again that this would all be a hundred times easier if the man who came with him decided to stop spectating. A quick glance back again found Corvus still casually watching, this time giving him an "O-K" sign.

For the moment, he needed more information at least, pushing his hand in front of himself as he gave way for another:

["Summon: Lost Goblin"] [Mana: -300] [2500/2800] [2:59]

From a puddle of shadows on the cavern surface, the ravenous fiend emerged to fight for him, not wasting a moment to lunge itself at the minor deity. He didn't expect it to do any damage, though wanting it to at least serve in showing him what Ebi had up its sleeve.

Corvus finally spoke up from the back, "I wouldn't have done that."

"What do you mean?--" Finn asked in haste.

As he attempted to look over at the spectating man, he stopped himself as he watched the wild goblin's rabid lunge be intercepted as it was caught by the throat in Ebi's grip. A disgusting sound, like that of liquid being suctioned through a straw echoed through the blood-stenched cave of the leech deity.

The goblin's erratic movements while held by its neck stopped within a couple seconds; its complexion became pale as its limbs shriveled and its skin became like that of a raisin. Finn watched it go from a living, chaotic creature to nothing more than empty skin around bones before being discarded like rubbish by the god of leeches.

"Foul blood…A horrible taste, I must wash it away," Ebi spoke as its limbs twitched and swelled momentarily as if its entire body took a taste of the goblin's essence. "...Still, it will do."

The physique of the leech deity looked much more filled out, as though he had become a bodybuilder after drinking upon the goblin's fluids of life.

'Shit–it drank it dry. So, that's why it kept reaching for me…I can't let myself get touched even for a moment then,' he observed.

As he considered his plan of action, he was forced to begin moving as the minor deity dashed towards him like a feral predator. Each step it took squelched against the scarlet stone, every breath it expelled filling the chamber with the stench of copper.

He was kept on the backfoot as the entity continuously grabbed at him, attempting to place its fingers that held suctions like an octopus against his skin. As he moved back, he found its leg sweeping at his own, bringing him to quickly hop up to avoid any contact with it.

"Got you," the foul face emitted against him from beneath its flaps of muscle.

In that brief moment caught before placing his feet back down from the short jump, he could smell the clammy palm of the minor deity as it closed in on his face–

From his fingertips, he flicked his dagger right past the shoulder of the blood glutton:

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [2400/2800]

Only for a fraction of a second he felt its sticky flesh make contact with his face before reappearing at its back. With it left completely exposed at that moment, he stabbed his dagger straight into its skull–at least, he assumed it had one. The sensation that met his weapon was squishy, as though there were no bones within its head.

He quickly pulled back just as it spun around, attempting to place its fingers on him. Again, the wound seemed to do nothing to it as the eyeless leech-man faced him.

'What the hell do I do? Is it unkillable? No, nothing is–that's not it. There has to be some kind of weakness,' he considered.

At the very least, swiping at it with daggers hardly seemed to be effective. All the while he considered how to bring down the eerie entity, he couldn't help but feel annoyed that Corvus decided to watch.

He ignored his contempt for the moment as he laid out what he had analyzed thus far from the lesser deity.

'While a single touch might be enough to incapacitate me, it's not like it's a problem to avoid it. There's a bit of speed, but it's incredibly predictable–like a starving beast just looking for its next meal. I can use that,' Finn planned, looking at the eerie leech-man across the chamber.

As it began to approach again, he stood his ground, instead cupping one hand while waiting for it to draw closer.

["Web Sphere"] [1:59]

The orb made of adhesive material was thrown right when Ebi moved towards him, catching the bloodsucking deity off-guard. As it made contact, the spider-formed orb exploded into a trap of webs, binding the leech for the moment.

"This is…?" Ebi questioned.

Corvus leaned casually against the back wall of the cavern with his arms folded over his chest, watching with a smile, "Good one. You caught onto that half-brained deity's lack of, well, any higher thinking."

"No thanks to you," Finn responded while hearing the man's remarks from behind.