Lilian looked at the three cards hovering before her eyes.
As her thoughts touched them, the pulsing holy mist on the surface of the cards dispersed, revealing distinct card faces and flickering light-screen text:
【Please select one of the following Goddess blessings:】
【Prismatic Augment: Devouring Furnace】
【Condenses a Furnace Core within your body. When killing magical beasts no lower than your own rank, you can devour and absorb them to permanently increase your Spirit, Mana, Constitution, and Strength attributes (cannot exceed the rank cap). Additionally, there is an extremely low chance of gaining a random positive modifier from the magical beast.】
【Don't look down on it as a mere rice bowl right now; feed it full and you'll become a walking natural disaster. As long as you live long enough, even gods will have to work for you.】
Lilian's eyes turned bright red. A divine skill—definitely the ultimate divine skill among divine skills! This was the single most badass cheat for a reincarnator! As long as she lived long enough, she wouldn't have to take crap from anyone ever again.
But if she dared to pick it right now, five seconds later she'd turn into piping-hot dog food in this Flame Dog's stomach. A classic case of "distant water cannot quench a nearby fire."
With her heart bleeding, Lilian turned her gaze to the next blessing.
【Prismatic Augment: Forbidden Spell Slot Machine】
【Forcibly drains the last drop of mana in your body to randomly draw and immediately cast a spell from the global spell library (Range: Rank-0 Cantrip to Rank-7 Forbidden Spell). When cast physically, your body can withstand high-level casting loads and ignore any aftereffects of the spell.】
【Probability Distribution:
Rank 0: 70%
Rank 1: 15%
Rank 2: 5%
......
Rank 7: 0.001%】
【Take a gamble, turn a bicycle into a motorcycle; pull the lever, turn a dinner into a grand funeral feast. Tailored specifically for gambling-addict Saintesses who love a thrill.】
Lilian's heart sank halfway. Picking this was purely asking for an early grave. Forget a Rank-7 spell; even a Rank-3 spell would probably blow this entire cave to kingdom come. Wouldn't she and Clara still end up dead?
Whether a Rank-1 spell could even one-shot the Flame Dog was up in the air!
Picking this meant less than a 5% chance of rolling a life-saving spell, and taking non-offensive support magic into account, the actual probability was even lower.
Lilian pinned her hopes on the final blessing.
【Prismatic Augment: (Talent) Super-Core Blue Battery】
【Gain a sigil: Light Blue Buff. Permanently grants +20% Magic Damage Amplification. Immediately restores half the mana spent after casting a skill (minimum of no less than 20 points).】
【Magic Damage Amplification: Increases spell damage dealt.】
【Physical Damage Amplification: Increases physical damage dealt.】
【Light Blue Buff: Occupies one sigil slot. +40% Magic Damage Amplification, +40% Physical Damage Amplification. Restores 5% of maximum mana per second. Returns consumed mana upon killing a target.】
【Broke mages are still counting their shots as they pull the trigger, while rich bros are holding down the button for fully automatic carpet bombing. The ultimate cure for insufficient firepower phobia.】
Lilian finally realized what sigils were. These things worked like gear, but once equipped, they couldn't be unequipped unless you had an equipment remover tool.
Both she and her clone each had three slots to equip sigils, which provided a massive boost to combat strength.
Although her Searing Spark had leveled up to LV2 long ago, its mana cost was still only 11 points!
Casting one shot actually netted her 9 points of mana?
Was this the legendary hand-crafted perpetual motion machine?
I'm picking this one!
Screw mana depletion! Today I'm becoming a walking human Gatling gun! Even if you were a fully grown adult Flame Dog, raining hundreds of fireballs onto your head would still turn you into a pile of ashes!
“Confirm choice: Super-Core Blue Battery!”
“Equip Light Blue Buff!”
The moment the words left her mouth, the hovering cards shattered into ten thousand specks of rainbow light, streaming headlong into her chest.
Buzz!
It felt as if a cool, sweet spring had poured into her body, and her bottomed-out mana bar began surging back up.
At the exact same time, the time stop dissolved!
The frozen air whistled back into motion. The tear at the corner of Clara's eye landed with a splat on the gravel, and dust suspended in mid-air came rustling down to the ground.
Dazzled by the intense golden light bursting before its eyes, the Flame Dog—still mid-pounce—scraped four deep trenches into the ground with its paws, bringing itself to a screeching halt. Turning its head toward Lilian beneath the rock wall, it bared its teeth and snorted a savage, menacing growl deep from its throat.
Lilian leaned against the cold rock, raised a hand, and flicked out a small, bright white fireball.
Its nerves strung taut, the Flame Dog pushed off with its hind legs and leaped sideways, lightly dodging out of the way.
The fireball slammed into the bare, dry rock, fizzling out into a few wisps of black smoke without anything to ignite.
Landing firmly on its feet, the vicious dog bared its fangs, its blood-red eyes brimming with utter disdain.
In its perception, this two-legged beast had just taken a solid blow from its paw and was already a dead target running on fumes. That limp little spark was nothing more than final death throes before taking her last breath.
Yet at the edge of Lilian's retina, a crisp line of small text floated up lazily:
【Cast 'Searing Spark LV2', consumed 11 MP】
【Light Blue Buff took effect (restores 5% max MP per second): MP +4.5】
【Talent 'Super-Core Blue Battery' triggered, immediately restored 20 MP】
Her originally shriveled mana pool hadn't diminished at all; instead, it bubbled up and overflowed by a chunk.
Lilian wiped away the drop of blood on her chin and lifted her eyelids, her eyes staring coldly at the big black dog strutting toward her with a feline prowl.
“Who the hell are you looking down on, you piece of shit dog?”
Her wrists slipped out from her tattered sleeves.
Spreading her ten fingers, her knuckles popped with crisp cracks.
The Flame Dog halted mid-step, flattening its ears.
It sensed a rapidly surging wave of mana coming from this dying, weak human!
How was that possible?
Before the beast's brain could wrap around the idea, a blinding wall of white light filled its entire field of vision!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Lilian's fingers flicked rapidly, sending shot after shot!
Incandescent fireballs surged wildly from between her fingers like endless carpet-bombing ammunition!
The entire underground grotto lit up as bright as day!
Relying on instinct, the Flame Dog rolled sideways to dodge the leading fireball, but what followed immediately after was a wall of bright white flame—over a dozen fireballs sealing off every escape route!
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Three or four scorching fireballs landed dead square on its ribs and soft underbelly!
The raging flames burnt right through its thin fire-resistant fur. The vicious dog's shrill howl had barely cleared its throat before the remaining dozens of fireballs buried it completely!
An endless series of explosions echoed back and forth inside the enclosed stone hall, spraying gravel and billowing thick smoke!
Lilian maintained her forward-thrust stance expressionlessly, blasting over thirty fireballs in a single breath. Only when the system notified her of the kill did she reluctantly lower her hands, two wisps of green smoke curling lazily from her fingertips.
Mana recovery was faster than consumption; her mana bar was already fully restored.
In the center of the crater, the First-Rank magical beast that had been so insufferably arrogant moments ago was reduced to a charred, smoking heap of chunks—not even a recognizable dog shape remained.
At the edge of her vision, glaring large text chimed with the post-combat settlement:
【Killed Flame Dog (First-Rank) LV11, EXP +500!】
【Current EXP: 526/50】
【EXP requirement met, leveling up...】
Lilian let out a sigh of relief. She had finally survived. Her gaze drifted toward the firelight under the withered tree, and she licked her lips.
This was the true grand prize of this battle!
Rate on N.U.
