Dominion Bond System: The Only Man Left Has A Yandere Girlfriend

Chapter 70: Thorn Blade Bird (II): Touching The Skin

Reiji’s eyes locked onto the mini Thorn Blade birds circling the sky.

The Soul Torture Flame blazed around his arms as he dashed forward. His figure moved like a blur through the tall grass.

BOOM!

He leapt into the air, straight into the horde of birds. He had already reinforced his body with mana for protection.

With them gathered together now, Reiji knew he could at least take down five or more.

[Soul Torture Flame!]

Reiji poured a large amount of mana into the skill, and the amber flames enveloping his hands surged outward.

Several birds were caught off guard, and the flames struck them directly.

KWAAAAAA!

They all let out a high-pitched, piercing scream that rattled Reiji’s eardrums.

’What the hell? Is this some kind of sound attack?!’

The sound was so intense that Reiji immediately activated Shadow Step. He had been dangerously close to the birds, and he knew if he stayed any longer his eardrums might actually burst.

Reiji looked up at the sky filled with birds. None of them had fallen. And no notification rang in his head.

Reiji frowned. ’Soul Torture Flame doesn’t work on them?’

He was confused, but he was wrong.

The effect of Soul Torture Flame, Soul Torture, was already taking hold.

Then something strange happened.

All the birds began circling faster and faster until they moved so close they were practically touching.

And then...

VOOM!

Feathers laced with tiny thorns exploded outward across the sky, merging together.

A large bird roughly the size of a small house appeared.

[Thorn Blade Bird (C+)]

"Shit..." Reiji muttered as he stared at the floating text above its head.

Now he understood.

Each individual bird was D+++... and combined, they formed a C+ ranked entity.

KWAAAAAA!

The creature let out a bone-shrilling screech as it glared at Reiji with bloodshot eyes.

Reiji glared right back.

He was strong enough to handle it, but only using magic-related skills... He knew it was going to be troublesome.

He thought about Rupture.

It had worked before but only because it had touched the bird’s body or maybe he didn’t?

’...Last time I didn’t actually hit its body... I only touched a feather...’ His gaze sharpened. ’I need to touch its skin.’

Reiji looked at the thorn-covered feathers. ’This won’t be easy...’

VOOM!

Amber flames burst from his hands.

"...I won’t know unless I try."

Reiji’s figure flickered. The bird moved as well.

Both of them accelerated to terrifying speeds, but the bird was noticeably faster.

’If I want to touch its skin... I need to burn through those feathers. And the only way... is to strip them off!’

The two closed in on each other as the wind roared violently in their ears.

The bird opened its massive beak, ready to swallow him whole in one bite.

Reiji wasn’t about to get eaten.

His figure twisted mid-air, and he reappeared behind it. The momentum carried him across the wet grass, his boots digging furrows into the soil.

[Water Jet!]

Reiji fired multiple compressed streams of water.

Thanks to the Mage class, all his skills had grown noticeably stronger, and some, like Mana Manipulation, Shadow Step, and Soul Torture Flame, had already reached C-Rank.

The bird sensed the attack from behind and twisted its body sharply, dodging with ease.

It swayed left, then right, then surged upward.

Then it flipped mid-air, locking eyes with Reiji again.

Reiji’s fingers twitched at his side. His expression remained unnaturally calm.

Seeing its target still standing, the creature accelerated once more, aiming to finish this quickly.

The Thorn Blade Bird closed in at terrifying speed.

Reiji silently counted the distance it was closing in his head. ’30... 20... 10... 5... now!’

At the last second, he sidestepped and reached out both hands.

His fingers were instantly pierced by the thorned feathers, but he didn’t hesitate.

[Soul Torture Flame!]

VOOM!

Pale amber flames engulfed the massive bird.

KWAAAAAA!!

The creature screamed as it shot upward into the sky. It looked almost like a burning phoenix now, struggling in mid-air.

The Soul Torture effect was taking hold.

But Reiji wasn’t done.

[Verdant Grow!]

Thick vines erupted from the ground. Each one was as thick as the thighs of two grown men combined.

They shot forward, aiming for the bird’s legs.

Even in agony from the flames, the creature twisted and dodged.

It evaded them all.

But the vines kept coming, relentless.

Seeing the bird was about to escape, Reiji took a sharp breath. He wanted to save this skill till when he as in trouble but he didn’t have any other option. Shadow Step wouldn’t help now in this situation.

[Blood Rage!]

"AHHHH!"

A raw scream tore from Reiji’s throat.

His muscles bulged violently, tearing through his clothes until only his pants remained, cut short like a fighter’s gear.

A red aura erupted around him and his pupils turned crimson.

Ding!

[Skill: Blood Rage Activated!]

[Effect: Host stats (Strength, Speed, Stamina, Perception) increased by +40 temporarily for 1 hour!]

[Additional Effect: Strength further amplified by Host rage.]

Reiji clenched his fists. He could feel every cell in his body surging with raw power.

This wasn’t ordinary strength.

It was explosive.

Looking at the bird nearing the forest, Reiji let out a low roar and vanished.

The bird had already sensed the terrifying pressure behind it and desperately tried to flee.

It never expected the weak-looking creature to be hiding such monstrous power nor the burning agony from the wicked flames eating away at its soul.

As it rushed forward, it suddenly lost track of Reiji’s presence.

And just as it was about to dive into the forest...

A terrifying presence appeared beside it.

Before it could react, an arm locked tightly around its neck.

[Rupture.]

BOOM!

Blood, feathers, and flesh rained down.

This time, the creature did not split.

Because Rupture required physical contact with the true body... and Reiji made sure his grip went deep enough.

Reiji landed slowly, staring at the blood on his hand.

Ding!

[Host has killed a C+ Rank Thorn Blade Bird!]

[+27 EXP]

"No monster core... but decent EXP."

He clenched his fist and looked toward the forest just ahead.

He needed to make full use of the remaining time before Blood Rage ended.

A small smirk formed on his lips as his figure vanished into the forest.

He didn’t know what waited inside.

But he wasn’t going to stand still and find out.

After all he only had seven days.

Deep inside the forest, a pair of glowing blue eyes suddenly snapped open.

It sensed something. A powerful yet unfamiliar presence had entered the forest.