I Obtained the Final Boss' Power-Chapter 11 : Higher-Rank Monster (2)

Higher-Rank Monster (2)
Was that one really its kin? The lizard doubted it. Except for a few scales sprouting on his skin, the being still moved around on two legs just like a human.
Until now, it had never heard of or seen such a kin.
If something like that had been around here, it would have noticed it right away via telepathy.
Now that it had ascended to a higher rank, the range of telepathy had grown vast.
Yet not once before had it sensed a creature like that.
There had never been a kin living in this area who escaped its detection.
That was why all monsters belonging to the lizard kind obeyed him.
—Krrrrrk!
But why was it only now that its detection worked on that guy?
It was only after that creature transformed in a bizarre way that telepathy properly reached him.
To compare it to a human, it felt like seeing the real face of a person who'd always worn a mask.
"Are you curious about who I am?"
The guy was saying something, but since it was in the human language, the lizard couldn't understand it.
However, through telepathy, it could at least read the gist of Louis's thoughts.
Curious? That goes without saying. Are you human or our kin? Why does a creature like you exist in this world?
"Just answer one thing, bastard. I'm about to go crazy with curiosity myself."
Was the guy saying he was curious too? Did that mean he didn't know who he was?
No, more importantly, if the guy was kin, he should be obedient.
Up until now, any kin who had their inner thoughts read by him ended up that way naturally.
"Obey? What, do I look like I'm on drugs?"
As the boy said that, his body began to change again. On top of the scales, animal fur started to sprout on his arms.
Come to think of it, the detection result said this human was a being similar to himself—a higher rank.
That's why even though Louis's mind was read, he didn't automatically obey.
And only after seeing this form did it realize why the boy was a higher-rank type.
"You're the one who should obey, you piece of shit."
—...!!
For the first time since becoming a higher-rank monster, the Elite Lizard felt fear.
That one was dangerous. He would bring a great crisis.
That instinct, the drive to eliminate Louis before anything happened, overtook the lizard's body.
—Krooooo!
The increasingly wary lizard let out a monstrous cry. Then his eyes glowed phosphorescent, and the rocky debris scattered around began to tremble.
The fallen walls—those chunks of rock—became surrounded with an aura the same color as the lizard's glowing eyes and rose into the air.
"You even know how to use telekinesis?"
—Krrrk!
It hadn't just lifted things with psychokinesis. When one of the levitating stones grazed Louis's skin, it left a knife-like scratch.
It hadn't even thrown the stones yet, just a touch brought injury.
It seemed any object under his psychokinetic control turned into a deadly weapon.
The fact that it left the first real injury on Louis's skin proved the severity of it.
"At least you're not an idiot."
The lizard figured out that poison was useless against Louis.
It understood not only that Louis resisted it physically but that he was inherently immune to its effects.
Reading this inner thought, Louis agreed. He was pretty sure his monstrous form was called Chaos Dragon.
According to game information, that monster was resistant to every kind of elemental effect. Poison must be one of them.
So attacking with telekinesis, which had no attribute, was a reasonably wise choice.
"Come at me."
—Kyaaak!
As Louis taunted with his finger, the floating shards flew at him.
Louis dodged lightly, but then the assault continued.
The fragments collided, broke apart, but in their smaller state, they kept coming for Louis.
Jumping again, he evaded the fragments, but as they tangled together, they became smaller and more precise in attacking him.
At first, the huge boulders looked capable of crushing an enemy with their weight, but now they split into countless grains.
Though the power weakened, the lizard controlled them all.
Even a small stone scratched Louis's skin. Now, fragments of that size flew at Louis in a swarm.
There were so many that it could only be described as a rain of stones.
No matter how quick one was, dodging every single "rain drop" was impossible.
They even homed in like guided missiles, but Louis trusted his dynamic vision and reflexes.
Kwaaaang!—
As the stone barrage came flying, Louis kicked off the ground, leaving his spot behind.
The earth was riddled with holes as if struck by a machine gun.
The downpour of rocks was a bullet curtain straight out of a shooting game.
Even if his reflexes outpaced the rocks' speed, a wrong step would mean taking a hit.
Because of this, while evading, Louis got a shot through his shoulder and side.
The stone curtain didn't only come from the front but from behind as well.
Louis felt pain for the first time in a while, but he ignored it and charged forward.
He tried to reach the lizard while dodging the curtain of rocks, but even that wasn't easy.
"...!"
Just as he tried to get close, Louis sensed danger and retreated. Stone fragments burst out from underground as well.
Apparently, the fragments that had pierced the earth had traveled underground and erupted here.
If not for his danger-sensing instincts, he would have been riddled with holes.
In the end, Louis fell back and once again widened the distance between himself and the lizard.
Here, Louis questioned things. Was the lizard just attacking by wildly shooting stone fragments?
It felt like he was being purposely driven around, just as the lizard intended.
—Kkhhhk!
The moment Louis stood against the wall while dodging the bullets, the lizard wore a grin.
Louis panicked and tried to move away, but it was already too late.
A boulder the size of a house, stuck to the wall, dropped onto Louis's head.
Since it was controlled by telekinesis, it fell quicker than normal gravity would allow.
KWAANG!!—
The boulder smashed down on Louis.
With a tremendous crash, as if a meteor had struck, the ground split open.
Under that boulder, blood pooled as though a person was crushed beneath.
If just a pebble could rip Louis's skin, what could such a huge boulder do?
Finally—had he done it? The lizard laughed, convinced he'd won.
But then—
"Damn, that hurts like hell."
—...!!
The voice from beneath the boulder shattered his triumph.
The boulder crushing the boy began to tremble.
"Thought I was done for."
Louis lifted the boulder crushing him with one hand.
No longer under the influence of telekinesis, he could touch it without a problem.
However, from the impact, blood was running down Louis's head.
Any normal person would be dead even from the blood loss, but Louis stood tall.
—KIIIIEK!?
While the lizard was still dumbfounded by Louis's survival, Louis gathered all his strength in his arms.
He planted one leg forward and pulled back one shoulder.
Then, with all his might, he threw the boulder he had in his hand.
The force of the boulder ripped through the air like a fierce windstorm.
The lizard couldn't react as the rock, flying faster than the speed of sound, crashed directly into its face.
With the tremendous impact, the lizard's facial bones caved in.
—KIEEEEEEK!
The lizard clutched its face and screamed. Not only were its facial bones shattered, but even one eye did not survive.
Hastily regaining its field of vision, the lizard looked straight ahead.
But Louis was gone.
While searching around for where Louis disappeared, it felt a presence.
Sensing it, the lizard immediately looked up.
"Die."
Louis dropped from above with a huge piece of rock aimed at the lizard's head.
The lizard tried to block with its hand, predicting Louis's attack, but Louis was quicker.
For the second time, the lizard took a blow to the head with another stone, causing it to collapse in a pool of blood.
But as if it refused to die so easily, its eyes glowed again.
—KRAAA!
Fragments from the rock Louis had just swung struck out at him under telekinetic control.
Blasted by the spray of fragments, Louis coughed up blood but gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"Die!"
With all his strength, Louis punched the lizard right in the stomach.
The lizard spat blood but still tried to control the stone fragments.
A fragment pierced through Louis's thigh as it flew, but Louis didn't even flinch—he smashed his fist down onto the lizard's neck.
"Die, you bastard!"
—KEEEEEEK!!
Even as he screamed, the lizard hurled telekinetic attacks. Louis's skin was torn yet he kept hammering down with his fist.
Each ground-and-pound blow from above sent tremors through the cavern.
Eventually, Louis broke through the mess of scales, punching a hole through the lizard's body.
—Kekek...
The lizard's strength faded with each agonized groan.
The stones that had torn Louis's flesh no longer held much power.
They fought as if it was kill-or-be-killed, but in the end, Louis held the upper hand.
"Quit whining."
—KEEEEEEK!!
Now covered head-to-toe in blood, Louis grabbed the lizard's split scales with both hands and pried them open.
Terrible screams rang out, but Louis only gripped harder.
—KAAAAAAH!!
With a roar that filled the entire lair, Louis tore the scales open completely and sank his teeth into the lizard's exposed organs.
He smeared himself with blood as he devoured the creature's flesh. That wild, ferocious sight was nothing human.
—Kek...
After agonizing seconds of having his organs devoured, the lizard finally breathed his last.
Even when his opponent died, Louis did not stop biting.
Louis only finished his feast once he had chewed through so much flesh that only the lizard's bones remained.
Once sated, Louis climbed off the corpse, and his eyes no longer held a human's light.
If anyone had witnessed the carnage, they wouldn't have called it a battle between human and monster.
They would say it was a monster devouring a lesser monster.
"Ah..."
That was exactly how Kelton, who had watched the spectacle from start to finish, reacted.
"What the...?"
Because the lizard focused all his attention on Louis, Kelton's presence was practically nonexistent.
Thanks to that, Kelton managed not to get caught in the telekinetic fray and witnessed the whole battle from start to finish.
Looking at Louis, who survived that fight, Kelton muttered,
"That's... not human..."
After the feast, Louis's fangs were razor-sharp.
His entire body, covered half in monster's blood and half in human blood, made it impossible to tell if he was human or not.
"Krrr..."
At last, Louis's mouth could no longer produce a human voice.
He'd become a monster—and his wild eyes spotted a new prey.
"Krrrk!"
"He... Help, help!!"
The monster had finally noticed him.
Even a higher-rank monster had been torn apart and devoured by this beast!
"Please... Spare me... Somebody help me!!"
Kelton tried to get up and run, but his legs still wouldn't move.
What was happening? Why was this happening to him?
All he wanted was to collect the monster eggs and finish the expedition successfully.
And then to be transferred somewhere less stressful.
Why did such a monster have to set its sights on him!
"Krooooo!!"
"Aaaaaagh!!"
As the monster roared and charged at him, Kelton screamed in terror.
Seeing the monster right in front of him, Kelton wet himself.
It was shameful for a knight, but such things didn't matter in this situation.
He was destined to be devoured by the same monster that had killed the lizard.
"Sp... spell..."
At that moment. A human word escaped from the monster's neck.
At the same time, the monster stopped in front of Kelton.
"Sp... ell—!!"
"Sp, spell?"
What was that monster trying to say? While Kelton felt confused, realization struck him immediately.
Why had he forgotten this! Eyes flashing, Kelton thrust out his arm and cast a torture spell.
"Kuuuuh!!"
A tremendous current surged through the monster's body.
The horns and scales that had sprouted began to disappear.
Thanks to that, the monster regained his original human form—Louis.