Chapter 49 | Infinite Reincarnation, Starting From a Slime

The moment the acid made contact with the lance, the core of the acid began to multiply frantically.

Mucus gushed out continuously, corroding and growing along the lance.

What?!

“Puji.”

“Human, you underestimate High Slimes far too much.”

This was the pop-up window sent by Zoe, whose body was spreading along the lance toward Jaden's palm.

Acid: Heart-Piercing Bullet was a purely offensive skill that achieved its initial acceleration through high-pressure spitting and secondary acceleration from corrosive gases to create an extremely high-speed attack.

On the other hand, Acid: Core-Piercing Bullet was a highly risky, life-saving skill.

Its mechanism was the same as the Heart-Piercing Bullet, except that the core was not acid, but Zoe's slime core.

By spitting out his core, he entered a state of suspended animation. Then, at the moment of ejection, he activated High-speed Regeneration to rapidly regenerate a body around the core.

This was Acid: Core-Piercing Bullet!

At this distance...

Corrosive Gas Slash!

Since the surrounding air was filled with corrosive gases, Zoe quickly accumulated enough of it and unleashed a point-blank Corrosive Gas Slash right next to Jaden.

However, he still underestimated the reflexes of a Level 40 class holder.

Jaden twisted his neck and waist at an unbelievable angle, letting the point-blank Corrosive Gas Slash graze past his head.

In an instant, an ear, a portion of scalp, and half of his cheek were sliced off by the Corrosive Gas Slash.

Yellowish-green corrosive gases wrapped around the wound, continuously eating away at his flesh.

The agonizing pain caused Jaden to wail in agony.

Seeing that Jaden could dodge even at this distance, Zoe did not hesitate. His half-regenerated body instantly lunged toward Jaden's torso.

He wanted to cling to him and dissolve him with close-quarters corrosion.

“Die!”

Enraged, Jaden swung his fist, punching straight through Zoe's oncoming body.

The pain of his body being pierced did not stop Zoe.

He quickly manipulated his body to wrap around the swinging fist.

Jaden met him with a heavy blow, and he responded with a soft embrace.

“Damned slime!”

Jaden leaped into the air. Since the large amount of acid on the ground was constantly releasing corrosive gases, the entire area was filled with acid and toxic fumes, making him extremely uncomfortable.

He glared at Zoe, who was wrapped tightly around his body, resisting all attempts to claw him off while desperately corroding him.

Combat Technique: Rose Bud!

He raised his lance and unleashed the skill once more.

The phantom flower bud rising from the lance forcibly pried Zoe off his body.

Having learned his lesson, Jaden did not press the attack this time.

Zoe had consumed 8,000 mana to create an absolute acid field.

Engaging in a melee fight within this domain would put Jaden at an absolute disadvantage.

He had to escape this acidic zone.

Having already consumed over ten thousand mana, there was no way Zoe would just stand by and watch Jaden escape.

The corrosive gases in the air had also accumulated sufficiently.

He quickly gave chase to the fleeing Jaden while absorbing the corrosive gases in the air with all his might.

The countless fumes evaporated from the acid were swallowed into his body.

Then, they were continuously compressed and compressed inside him.

By the time his body was completely filled, more than half of the corrosive gases in the air had been drawn in. His interior was now packed to the brim with compressed corrosive gas.

Jaden also noticed that the corrosive gases in the air were thinning out.

He did not slow his pace, pulling out a bottle of Nectar III and Extract III to pour down his throat.

Nectar III was the mana-restoring alchemical potion of the Nectar series. Compared to Nectar II, Nectar III could instantly restore a quarter of a Mid-tier Mage's standard mana capacity (1,000 mana).

It was worth 100 gold coins.

The Extract series of alchemical potions were used for healing injuries.

Extract III could instantly stop bleeding, heal non-fracture wounds within one minute, and fully heal all injuries within three minutes.

However, it could not regenerate lost limbs.

It was worth 120 gold coins.

Whether it was the Nectar series or the Extract series, repeated consumption within a short period would cause their efficacy to continuously decay.

Each decay reduced the effect by one-third. The second bottle's effect would decay by one-third, the third bottle's effect would decay by another third of the second bottle's, and so on.

Furthermore, the ingredients of alchemical potions usually contained toxic monster materials and herbs.

Even if the alchemy process included a toxin-removal step, they remained slightly toxic, and consuming large quantities would lead to poisoning.

The two potions rapidly restored Jaden's condition, and the hideous wounds on his body quickly began to knit back together.

Watching this, Zoe grew frantic.

‘Damn humans, they always have restoration potions whenever a fight gets tough!’

By now, Jaden had torn through the surrounding acid tentacles and broken free from the acid's range.

With his feet slightly apart, he dug his boots into the earth, plowing through the turf and soil.

His rapid charge ground to a halt under the immense force of his feet. His gaze locked onto Zoe, who rushed out of the acidic zone a step behind him.

Then, Jaden raised his hand holding the lance, while his other hand reached behind his waist, as if grasping something.

This movement made Zoe stop abruptly, warily watching Jaden.

“Release!”

With a sharp shout, Jaden seemed to break some sort of shackle. His pupils instantly slit into vertical pupils.

At the corners of his eyes, fine crimson scales broke through the skin.

On his forehead, white bone spikes pierced through his skin, blood trickling down his brow.

Those were... dragon horns!

It was Dragonification!

Zoe, who had also studied Dragon Body Fusion, recognized Jaden's state at a single glance.

Dragonification was the first stage of Dragon Body Fusion, representing the official start of the integration.

The individual's body would receive an all-around boost—physical strength, spirit, perception, and total mana capacity would all be enhanced.

At this stage, the dragon bloodline would begin to corrode the human body, progressing toward the second stage.

Once the second stage was reached, wings and a tail would grow, making the transformation completely irreversible, turning the human into a monster.

With Jaden's ambition, he would naturally never allow himself to become a monster. After advancing to a high-tier class, he would quickly extract the fused red dragon and transition back to a High-tier Rose Knight.

Thus, he was clearly planning to risk everything to finish Zoe off before entering the irreversible second stage of Dragon Body Fusion...

Sensing that things were going south, Zoe could not afford to save mana. He mustered all his strength and exhaled the corrosive gas that was practically bloating his body to the bursting point.

Corrosive Gas Slash!

The sharp slash of corrosive gas tore through the air, hurtling toward Jaden.

However, Jaden's vertical pupils easily tracked the high-speed Corrosive Gas Slash in his dragonified state.

He nimbly dodged to the side.

The missed Corrosive Gas Slash tore through the ground, corroding the earth.

‘He didn't block it with his lance, but dodged so nimbly instead!’

‘Have those eyes of his boosted his dynamic vision as well?!’

‘In that case, how about this!’

Corrosive Gas Slash: Barrage!

With his mana depleting rapidly, Zoe spat out several Corrosive Gas Slashes, cutting toward Jaden from various directions.

Having absorbed the massive amount of corrosive gas generated by the Acid Wave, Zoe had entered a saturated mode.

In this mode, the cooldown of Corrosive Gas Slash disappeared. He did not need to spend time accumulating corrosive gas; he could release the Corrosive Gas Slash directly!