Ruminas continued to charge forward, the attacks were unpredictable and came from many different directions, making it difficult for the monster, even after adapting to her attack style, to defend against them.
"As long as it can't use 'qi', it can't be completely resisted."
BOOM!
Manducater swung a giant arm towards Ruminas again, but she had already jumped into the air, gliding away like a gust of wind. She spun in the air, the dagger in her hand emitting a faint "qi" light, and then she swooped down, aiming straight for one of the remaining eyes on Manducater's body.
Swish!
The knife pierced straight through the eye, black blood gushed out. The Manducater screeched in pain, its giant body jerked, and its tentacles whipped wildly towards Ruminas.
Squeeze! Squeeze! Squeeze!
Ruminas moved in an unpredictable trajectory, her figure constantly changing direction, making it impossible for the tentacles to keep up. But this time, they weren't just whipping around—they were starting to surround her!
She squinted.
"…The speed of adaptation is terrifying"
Whoosh!
Instead of completely dodging, Ruminas turned in mid-air, lightly touching an incoming tentacle with her dagger, a white "air" spreading from the blade.
Swish!
The tentacle was severed instantly, with no sign of regeneration!
Manducater paused for a beat, as if sensing something was wrong.
Ruminas smiled faintly.
"So the 'qi' not only destroyed the outside but also severed the connections between your parts?"
BOOM!
The Manducater had no time to react as Ruminas accelerated again, the small but sharp dagger continuously tracing cuts across its massive body.
Pieces of flesh began to fall off, revealing the inside of the Manducater's body—it wasn't a single mass, but a collection of countless fused monsters!
The monsters were crowding each other, when they saw Ruminas they all acted fierce and attacked with ranged attacks but they themselves were not complete monsters now so the attacks did not even reach her.
The Manducater roared, seemingly realizing its predicament. The parasites on its body began to scream, howling in chaos, then all of a sudden stopped.
Squeak—squeak—
The wounds on its body began to boil, flesh from other areas was being sucked back in, trying to patch up the parts that Ruminas had severed.
Ruminas didn't want it to recover so she immediately attacked but at this moment Manducater used his arm and took a part of its body and threw it straight at her.
The "qi" around Ruminas sounded a danger signal so she chose to dodge, immediately after that the mass of flesh exploded, pushing Ruminas away and destroying the surrounding terrain.
"Playing like that forever…"
The Manducater did not stop but continued to separate parts of its body and throw them at Ruminas, accordingly its body size also gradually decreased but Ruminas could see that the chaos inside its body had decreased by some extent.
"It wanted to attack to buy time as well as overcome its own inconsistency. Although doing so would reduce its overall strength, it might even strengthen its will."
Ruminas realized that if the monster succeeded, it would be even more difficult to fight once it had full intelligence.
So she ignored the continuous explosions and charged straight at the child, Manducater quickly realized this and hastily dodged. Just as Ruminas had guessed, the parts of its body were starting to become more unified.
She accelerated as fast as she could and attacked, slashing repeatedly at its weak points, but the Manducater only passively defended itself, quickly retreating to keep its distance.
Ruminas continued to pursue.
She attacked continuously and very strongly but with her full-power evasion, the Manducater did not suffer any fatal wounds, on the contrary, its level of perfection was getting higher and higher.
Already-
Once again as Ruminas charged, a tremendous power erupted from the monster's body causing everything around to be blown away, leaving her with no choice but to resist until it stopped.
When the smoke and dust gradually cleared, what appeared before Ruminas was not the huge monster with all its parts scattered about, but its size was now only about two meters tall, its body was like a normal four-legged creature, the eyes on its body were synchronized with each other.
On its sides, tentacles and arms with sharp claws protruded like a layer of sharp weapons, the mouth right in front of its head had hundreds of teeth.
It roared.
Even the roar is more unified now.
"Don't tell me it's completely perfect…"
Ruminas tensed up a bit and then used appraisal on this monster.
[Chaos Unification – Manducater]
[Completion level: 70%]
[Description: The chaotic creature now knows how to control its body in a more unified and orderly manner. But there is still something there that is incomplete, so it cannot reach its full power]
[Features: Attacks with stronger damage, other abilities are also enhanced, and especially the adaptability is superior compared to before]
[Weakness: Completely destroys its body]
"Even though it's not perfect yet, it's already difficult to get to this point… especially since its adaptability has been greatly increased!"
Ruminas' forehead started to sweat coldly but she still tried to calm herself down, if she had to compare then she still felt it was weaker than King Answosa so she would still have a chance to win.
The Manducater roared, its roar now no longer the chaotic howl it had before but filled with authority. The eyes on its body flashed, focusing on Ruminas with a terrifying sharpness and calculation.
Whoosh!
In a flash, it disappeared from Ruminas' sight.
Pop!
A powerful attack from the side forced Ruminas to react immediately. She leaned to the side, using her dagger to block the attack. But the impact was so strong that she was pushed back dozens of meters, her feet digging into the ground to keep her balance.
"So fast…"
Not giving her time to think, Manducater appeared right in front of her with an even faster speed than before. A tentacle shot out from the left, at the same time, an arm with sharp claws slashed down from the right.
Pinch!
Ruminas tried to dodge the tentacle strike, but as soon as she moved past, Manducater's claws slashed down like a blade of death.
Swish!
Even though she reacted in time, she still got a long qih on her shoulder, blood spurting out and staining her shirt red.
She gritted her teeth, there was no time to stop.
The Manducater did not stop and continued to attack, this time, its tentacles, arms and claws coordinated perfectly, forming a storm of attacks that Ruminas had a hard time defending against.
Every time she tried to counterattack, the Manducater would instantly adjust its fighting style to accommodate her. It learned quickly, frighteningly quickly.
If before it was just a giant monster that pounced on its targets by instinct, now it actually knew how to fight.
Not only that, the eyes on its body were now unified, making its vision no longer fragmented like before. It could clearly see Ruminas's every little movement, read her movements, and attack in a way that made it difficult for her to dodge.
Pop!
A sudden tail sweep landed straight on Ruminas' waist, sending her flying like a bullet.
"Cough…"
She spun in the air to reduce the impact, but as soon as she landed, her feet slipped, leaving a long trail on the cracked stone ground.
Manducater does not rush forward immediately like before.
It stopped.
The eyes on its body flashed with an eerie light.
It is… watching.
It was smart enough not to rush into an attack.
It was reading her every move, every breath, every slightest change in her posture.
"Damn… can you read my attack?" Ruminas clenched the knife in her hand.
For the first time, she really felt the pressure.
The Manducater is no longer a giant monster that mindlessly charges into battle. It is slowly becoming a true warrior.
If the battle drags on, it will only get stronger.
Its completion level is only 70% now. If it reaches 100%, she won't have any chance left.
She had to end it now.
"It's easy to say, but how do I do it…? Even if it has "qi", if its speed and recovery are too fast, my attacks won't have any meaning."
"It didn't try to copy my 'qi' because its current ability was already on par with my 'qi'. So I have absolutely no advantage!"
"I need to do something new with "qi"… not just use it as a protective layer or to attack, but to have some special properties …"
Ruminas began to think while still enduring the attacks from the Manducater. The monster now followed a tactic of attacking in succession and then suddenly retreating, and when it attacked again, its attacks were slightly different.
"Is it beating itself and learning from its own experience? Damn it, even though I hate to admit it, its learning ability is now much better than mine…"
"I have to change too, otherwise I will be the loser!"