Chapter 849 - Delta (Patreon)

Hera saw this man with blood-red skin, swollen muscles that looked about to pop, and a frenzied look in his eyes. Despite his level, her senses told her this was a dangerous enemy. Once anyone had spent long enough fighting the MAZE, they would develop a sixth sense about those things. Still, this man was just level 43. It shouldn't be something that she couldn't handle.

'Livy,' Hera said in their mind as the Leviathan rushed over to the human, jumping and bringing the war axe down on the man who was almost a meter shorter than her. To ensure she would get rid of him, she added a [Grasshopper Slash], not wanting to leave a chance for him to recover.

To everyone's surprise, this person didn't try to dodge what was clearly a powerful attack. Instead, he blocked the blow with his arm and let the energy from the skill splash onto his body. But it wasn't enough. Livy's strike was stopped before it reached the bone, and the mana wave that continued to his body only created a small cut on his torso and neck. Every single cut regenerated almost instantly.

"What the-" before Livy could finish her sentence, Delta punched her face, sending the Leviathan, along with the war axe flying towards Hera.

The Empress had to dodge out of the way and let Livy slam into the ground a few meters back. As she glanced back at the monstrous human with red skin, she could see the large open wound on his arm recovering at a staggering speed. His blood was still dripping from it as the flesh mended itself.

'Vulcan, Awaken Livy!' the Empress yelled in her mind as she told everyone else to attack.

"You fucking monster!" Vulcan yelled and dashed towards Delta, slamming the forging hammer on the man's head over and over before anyone else could reach them, "What have you done with them? What have you done with my people!?" he continued yelling as his entire body shifted. He was no longer the kangaroo with a few scars but now almost completely covered in scars and red glowing energy appearing from his wounds.

"Vulcan!" Hera yelled, but Forge [Daemonic Influent] was growing quickly. Maybe enough to trigger his form instantly. Clicking her tongue, the Empress yelled, "Vulcan, awaken Livy. That's an order!" if he transformed, his skills would be gone. If Hera wanted to awaken the Leviathan, she had to send him away as soon as possible.

An order was one of the few things that could overcome the frenzy of the [Daemonic Form] but wouldn't change much. The Leviathan would have to do part of the legwork for Vulcan to actually awaken her. As that was going on, Lurize, Nimbus, Viper, and Crimson were also running towards the human. They went around him and started swinging, creating large cuts all over the man's body. Blood sprayed everywhere, but the wounds were closed before the next strike hit. They never participated in something like this, but it felt like they were hitting one of the MAZE walls. Something that could instantly recover all the damage that was dealt to it.

Delta didn't seem to care about any of the attacks. The only one who was actually giving him some pause was Vulcan. The blows were strengthened because his [Daemonic Essence] appeared to be doing something. Or maybe it was something else. By Forge's scream, this person was using the Strength Spirits in some way. Seeing the man as having a Strength affinity only made that more likely.

Livy managed to get up and rushed towards Delta. She jumped behind Vulcan and slammed the hammed with the flat side of her axe. At the same time, Forge raised it to deliver another blow. That allowed him to trigger the [Awakened Potential] on the Leviathans and slam his weapon form on the human's head once more. With Livy's boost, the impact was so strong that it caused the man to fall to one knee, and some of the redness around his face seemed to vanish. However, Forge was also weakened by it. His mana plummeted, and even his [Daemonic Essence] was reduced, being absorbed by Delta.

Behind him, Livy was going through her transformation. Her body didn't change sizes, but her scales became sleeker, and her eyes turned pitch black. Her tail also grew longer, and her mouth opened all the way to the middle of her throat. The Sea Serpent now looked much more like a deep sea creature. The war axe, which was her original body, also changed. The twin dragon heads that held the two-sided blades of the weapon grew, and their eyes turned black like Livy's. The handle stayed mostly the same, but the actual blades of the axe became significantly bigger and serrated, with a constant stream of high-pressure water coursing through them.

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Leviathan Livy of Water
Two-Handed battle axe
Total Attributes: 852
Strength: 231 Endurance: 215 Luck: 199
Agility: 69 Intelligence: 69 Charisma: 69
Mana: 11 687 318/ 11 687 318

Scaling:
Strength X 32.1 Endurance X 29.8 Luck X 27.6
Agility X 9.6 Intelligence X 9.6 Charisma X 9.6

Passive Skills
Ocean's Might
50% of the damage dealt by you is water elemental damage.
Your attacks deal 30% extra damage as water elemental damage.
Your water spells deal 80% additional damage.
Attacks aimed at a target bigger than you deal an additional 30% extra damage.

Inheritance of Cerulea
You are able to move underwater at high speeds. While you are in the same body of water as the Empress, the range you are allowed to move is greatly increased.
If both you and the Empress are underwater and within 5 meters of each other, you are able to breathe for the Empress.

Active skills:

Draconic Eruption
Those wounded by the Leviathan feel its wrath even after escaping its grasp.
When an attack deals considerable damage, you can release a powerful wave, damaging surrounding enemies and briefly stunning them.
Mana cost: 500 thousand.

Sea Serpent Form
You are able to turn into the form of a Sea Serpent. While in this form, your swim speed increases; however, you are unable to use any skills that require a weapon. If there is someone riding you as you dive underwater, you can create an air bubble around them that lasts 1 hour. The air will allow them to breathe. Up to 3 bubbles can be created at once. This form can also glide over surfaces without making any noise.
Swim speed: 50 km/h
Glide speed: 5 km/h

Seal of Draconic Vortex
When striking, you generate a powerful whirlpool effect even when you are out of the water, drawing in enemies in and trapping them briefly. As the vortex intensifies, it erupts into a geyser of scalding water and steam, dealing area damage and knocking back foes.

Awakened:
The Scaling and Attributes are doubled.
All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half.

Awakened Leviathan's torrent
You are the embodiment of the underwater currents.
Channeling this skill unleashes colossal tidal wave from your mouth. Enemies hit by the attack will be trapped inside a small bubble of deep sea water for 5 seconds.
Mana cost: 8 million.

Jaws of the Leviathan:
A Leviathan's bite is known to break entire worlds. Livy is able to replicate a fraction of that power. She can create a large water jaw that crushes anything caught in its toothy maw.
Mana cost: 90% of Mana.
If she uses her own mouth to attack, the damage of this skill is increased by 50%

Survivor of the Deep
The Leviathan can not just live but thrive in the extreme conditions of the deep sea. Even when she is out of the water, the essence of an ocean still follows her.
Livy is constantly covered in a thin layer of water that cannot be affected by electricity. While covered in that water, her spells and abilities become more powerful.
Extra potency: 40%
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Livy roared, opening her much larger mouth, and punched Delta with all her strength. The impact pushed the man away about half a meter before she swung her war axe at him. He stopped the attack, even if the Leviathan was much stronger than she was before, with one hand holding on to the blade.

The man sighed, "And here I was hoping for an actual challenge," he pulled Livy closer and punched her twice, breaking a couple of teeth in the process.

Nimbus and Lurize jumped to the Leviathan's aid as Twiggy triggered all her buffs, including the Cerulean Marquessate Heirloom, to buff the entire court, increasing everyone's attributes and strength. Despite that, Hera could see that Forge wasn't doing that great. The fact he was half Strength Spirit seemed to be working against them.

'Vulcan, get back. Focus on healing yourself and buffing the court,' Hera called as she dove forward with a venomous halberd covered in a poison elemental strength. She swung up, seeing an opening on Delta's left side. It didn't matter that all of his wounds would heal instantly. The point wasn't to deal any lasting damage but to see if her poison could enter his body. But the fact was, Hera wasn't confident about that move. Crimson had a skill that allowed her strikes to reduce a target's healing. If that wasn't enough to stop the man, the Empress' poison might be their only other option. Her strike was true and opened a gash on Delta's side, but it quickly healed again. However, Hera was able to feel her poison inside him for a moment, which meant that there was something she could do.

Storm flew back to Vulcan, who gave her a tap with the hammer, triggering the [Echoing Enchantment] with added elemental damage to the longsword's attacks. She tried to call down some lighting from the sky using the [Crackling Strike] skill, but the thunder didn't hear her call, or something was blocking it. Either way, she continued the attack, sending the lighting strike at Delta. Livy followed that up with an upward swing booster by the [Draconic Eruption]. The combination was able to deal the first damage that seemed to not be recovered instantly. After the Leviathan made a large cut on the man's leg, the electricity fried the area and jumped inside his body thanks to the exposed blood. But that was a brief victory. The healing was slower, but it was still there, and the injury didn't seem to matter to the man.

"I really thought that making you angry would make this fun. I guess it was a waste," Delta sighed. After punching Livy, he didn't attack again and just took all the hits that were coming at him. But now, he was done with the games.

He dodged a stab and grabbed Viper's hand before using the Spymaster as a club to hit Lurize and Crimson in a single move. Nimbus tried to block the attack, but his barriers were shattered the moment they came into contact with the half-Naga. Turning back to Livy, Delta held on to her war axe, stopping the Leviathan from moving around. With a smirk, the man head-butted her before slamming the shaft against his knee to break the weapon.

"Fuck!" the human yelled. Despite his strength, Livy's real body was too sturdy to be broken like that.

Taking advantage of that pause, the Leviathan opened her mouth and triggered the [Awakened Leviathan's Torrent], creating a tidal wave that was 20 meters high and 10 meters across in front of her that crashed down on Delta. The impact pushed the man away for almost 50 meters before all the water vanished. Even when the skill was over, the human was still trapped inside a water bubble. But that only lasted a second, and with a punch, he broke free.

Still, that brief window was enough to give Hera and her court a small reprieve. They gathered around as Vulcan activated the [Phoenix Touch] skill, giving every single court member a damage buff and an incredible regeneration ability. Unfortunately, that still paled against Delta's recovery, but at least it would slightly level the playing field.

Livy growled, tightening her grip on the war axe, "Time for round two you fucker."