I increased the strength of [Multi-Layered Barrier] to the maximum I could. I didn't waste time trying to talk him out of doing this, I had already done it during the earlier loops. I had cried, begged, used everything I could to convince him I was not a mimic, but never once did it work. I had already accepted I would fight him several loops ago, but it didn't mean my fear had vanished.

Even if his bloodlust weren't affecting me, my heart would be pounding out of my chest. I had no real reason to believe I could win, not in this loop anyway. I only managed to damage him when I fought with Karol against him because Karol was taking most of his attention when sending hundreds of swords at him. I had no hope of achieving the same level of destruction, not even without the soul burn that was still affecting me.

Time slowed down as Jack pulled his sword out of his ripple in space. He was already jumping towards me, and even in the slowed-down time, he was moving fast. 'What a monster.' I thought as I pulled [Magical Programming Language] and cast my magical napalm at him. I only did a little because of how magicule hungry the spell was, and with my limited reserves, I wouldn't be able to use it much. [Automatic MP Regeneration] was still deactivated, and I could instinctively feel that it would be a bad idea to use it while I still had soul burn.

At the same time that liquid fire spewed out of the magical circle that appeared in front of me, I jumped backwards and used my wings to propel myself even further. Still, Jack was way faster than me, and closed the distance in a heartbeat.

He tried to parry my spell, but his sword only cut through a small portion of the liquid, making it stick to his sword, while the rest continued its path. His eyes widened a bit when he noticed it. He raised his hand, pulling his overalls to cover his face. The spell hit his overall, and I saw several runes light up, and the sticky liquid fell onto the floor without being able to even burn it. Fabric 1, fire 0.

He kept coming, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to win in close combat or ranged combat, but I still needed to try. I could feel Jack's bloodlust starting to affect me, my muscles were stiffening, and it felt like my mind was slowly unfocusing from the fight.

I waited until I noticed both his feet were off the ground and pulled onto gravity with [Spatial Manipulation], turning gravity upside down. Jack seemed to notice the gravity flip moments after I had done it. Due to the slowed-down time, there hadn't been enough time for it to properly cause any real change in his trajectory, but Jack thrusted his sword into the ground and held onto it.

I pulled my force spell and changed it to be a bullet, casting it aiming at the ground where the sword was. I saw Jack about to do something, but my spell hit the target before he could do anything. The force bullet, as I called it, broke the stone his sword was stuck in, freeing it. As I was still holding on to the gravity, he began falling upwards.

I don't know if I was dumb or what, because I really thought I had won against Jack by just making him fall to the sky, but of course, reality wouldn't be as simple. The next moment, I felt a ripple in space by my side. When I looked at it, I saw Jack coming out of it, with his sword ready to strike my head.

I quickly dove into the ground, making him miss by a mere centimeter, his sword scraping against my horn and cutting a small piece of it. I panicked and pushed everything away with [Spatial Manipulation], sending Jack flying into one of the buildings, crashing onto the stone wall.

Before I could do anything else, Jack was already jumping at me with lethal speed. I only had time to roll to the side before his sword cut through my wing like a hot knife through butter. I let out a roar from the sudden pain, stumbling and losing my footing. I had overused [Mathematical Cortex] when I had locked my emotions and couldn't use it because it was hurting too much in my soul, almost like the soul version of a strained muscle.

Jack wasn't going to let the opportunity that I unwillingly gave him go to waste. He threw his sword, aiming at my head, but my stumble allowed me to dodge it by a centimeter, instead, it flew behind me, hitting my tail and pinning it to the ground.

I let out another roar, but this time I was already casting an electric bullet and sending it towards him, but he just shrugged the electric arcs off as they harmlessly bounced off his overalls. I gritted my teeth. I had forgotten the so many runes of protection that damn overall had. It was not even funny. If this were a game, his overall would be a cheated item. Where was the real-life admin to ban him?

I couldn't even call Amity for help, she was probably in the Dungeon. Not to mention the fact that I didn't even know if she would help me with this, but one could only hope.

Jack was calmly walking towards me, his sword on my tail was stopping me from going anywhere, or else I would tear it off… No, wait. Why did I care about my body's condition anyway?

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I already knew I would lose and the loop would restart, so why was I caring if I survived the fight? The same could be asked why I was even fighting Jack if I could just restart the loop. It was just that I wanted to at least fight back once, you know? He had been a thorn in my side since before the loops. I was just tired of being afraid of him. If he were coming to try to kill me, he would have to fight for it.

Just as I settled on this mentality, I felt Jack's bloodlust slipping through my scales, not affecting me anymore, but I didn't have the time to comment on it, I was already pulling space while keeping a bubble of normal space around me.

Without [Mathematical Cortex], teleportation was difficult, as I would have to do all the calculations manually, but that only applied if I was trying to go somewhere I couldn't see or if there were a lot of obstacles. The place where I was going had neither of these restrictions.

I felt my body slipping through the fourth dimension and reappearing twenty meters upwards. The sword didn't budge, and the force of the teleportation caused my tail to rip in the place where the sword had hit it, but I counted on [Pain Resistance] to not let me give him another opportunity.

Jack's face showed he was surprised I teleported. Space around his sword and his hand rippled, and it teleported back to his hand. I saw how he was almost making the same thing as my teleportation every time he used that ripple. I also saw how he was connecting the space on top of me and the space in front of him through what looked like a fold in space.

At that moment, I got it, I understood how his skill worked.

As Jack jumped inside the ripple in front of him and inside the spatial fold, I charged one of my racial skills, one I hadn't used for so long I almost forgot what it was like to use it, but my instincts took over and guided me.

Just as Jack was exiting the ripple, the skill charged. I was already aiming at the ripple on top of me before he had fully exited. Jack noticed it too late. His eyes widened, and he tried to hold onto the edge of the ripple, but it wasn't physical enough to hold him, and he fell, right into the beam of energy coming out of my mouth.

Space and Time twisted around my mouth as pure temporal energy and spatial energy collided and mixed into a stream of green-blue flames that burned and ripped space and time. I could feel the energy coming right beside my heart, streaming down my throat, and out of my mouth. It was honestly a terrifying amount, so much that I wasn't sure even I could fully control them if they weren't being channeled through [Elemental Breath].

Just before the beam could hit him, Jack turned in the middle of the air, covering himself with his overalls. The attack lasted for five long seconds before my MP was exhausted, and the skill was cut short.

Time sped back up, and the sudden headache made me fall headfirst onto the ground. I was dizzy from the impact when I heard something else hitting the ground a few meters away from me. As I was getting up, I could hear the screams of people around me, as well as see some guards in the distance, unsure as to what they should do.

It dawned on me that this entire confrontation lasted a few seconds at most. It just felt more because of the slowed-down time.

As I finally stood and looked at the thing that fell, I saw Jack getting up. His overalls were torn open in several places, and I could see blood dripping from him. I wasn't that much better than him. I had one wing, my tail was cut in half, and I had exhausted all my MP.

I drew on labored breaths as I faced Jack rise, dust off his overalls, and look at me.

[ Experience points have reached the threshold. Individual, Denaru Theris, has achieved Level 14 ]

[ All basic attributes have increased ]

"Normally, I would retreat," he said, but my mind was on the notification I had just received. "But I see you are out of magicules, so this will end now, mimic."

I heard him spit out the last words with anger in his voice, but I was too busy checking my status to care. This loop would be ending soon anyway.

Name: Denaru Theris

Age: 0

Species: Ouroboros Dragon

Lv. 14

Status: Normal

HP - 9.745/14.750

MP - 35/18.000 + 0/1,5E10

SP - 9.748/18.000

Strength - 7.500N

Defense - 7.500N

Magic - 14.000

Magical Defense - 10.800

Dexterity - 8.000

Stealth - 7.500

Precision - 7.500

I- I had done it. I didn't understand how, but I had. That also meant that I didn't need to kill to level up? What?

My sudden happiness from the system notification was turned into a mixture of hollow guilt and regret, as the realization that I had killed eleven people and almost given up completely on my humanity was for nothing, as I could level up without killing.

I didn't even feel when Jack, who had picked up his sword, beheaded me for the umpteenth time. I only noticed I was back in the inn's room.

I didn't know what to think about it. I just stared at the ceiling for so long that I felt Amity teleporting inside the room.

"Oh, it's you!" I heard her say.

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