My Goblin System : Levelling up with my SSS Class Devouring skill-Chapter 277

New Adaptation: Battle Instinct (Basic) New Adaptation: Danger Sense (Weak)

"See?" TheReaper said. "You’re learning. Adapting. Becoming stronger through combat. It’s actually quite impressive for someone so new to this world."

Mika tried to intervene, throwing up zones between TheReaper and Gattychan to give her party leader time to recover. Multiple layers of distorted space, each one designed to slow and restrict movement.

TheReaper walked through them without even slowing down.

"Your zones won’t work on me," he explained patiently, like a teacher instructing a student. "I spent fifty years fighting a demon lord who specialized in spatial magic. I learned to move through dimensional distortions like they’re water. Your control is good, but you don’t have the power behind it to actually affect me."

He reached Mika and tapped her on the forehead, the same way he’d done to Gattychan earlier. She collapsed, not unconscious but with her concentration completely disrupted, unable to maintain the complex mental focus required for zone magic.

Rin was already drawing another arrow, this one prepared with moderate amplification since maximum force had been reflected back at her.

[Amplified Shot: 500x Force]

Multiple arrows this time, spread in a pattern that would be impossible to dodge completely. She’d learned—single powerful shots could be countered, but many simultaneous attacks would be harder to deal with.

TheReaper clapped his hands once, and a shockwave of pure force emanated from him. The arrows disintegrated mid-flight, unable to withstand the casual application of power.

Then he was in front of Rin, moving faster than she could track. His hand moved toward her bow—

Gattychan intercepted, his evolved battle instincts warning him of the danger to his teammate. His sword came down in a desperate strike, putting all his accumulated enhancements and evolutions behind it.

TheReaper caught the blade one-handed, still not drawing his own legendary weapon. "Good," he said approvingly. "You adapted fast enough to protect your ally. That’s proper hero behavior."

Then he twisted, and Gattychan’s sword shattered. The blessed steel that had been gifted to him by the church, enhanced with protective enchantments and holy blessings, broke into pieces under TheReaper’s casual strength.

"But you’re still nowhere near strong enough."

A kick caught Gattychan in the ribs, sending him flying across the throne room for the third time. He crashed into one of the marble pillars hard enough to crack it.

Seraphelle was there instantly, her healing magic flowing. "[Mass Restoration]!"

This time she didn’t just heal Gattychan. Her power washed over the entire party, restoring everyone to peak condition, refreshing their stamina, clearing mental fatigue.

Her support abilities were genuinely incredible—the kind of thing that would make any party nearly immortal as long as she could keep casting.

"Your healer is the real threat here," TheReaper noted, looking at Seraphelle with calculating eyes. "If she can keep restoring everyone indefinitely, you could theoretically wear down even powerful enemies through sheer attrition."

Seraphelle raised her staff defensively, divine energy gathering. "[Holy Sanctuary]!"

A dome of protective light formed around all four heroes, creating a safe zone where healing was amplified and attacks from outside were weakened.

TheReaper walked toward the sanctuary, examining it with professional interest. "Divine protection powered by pure faith and channeled through a high-compatibility healer. This is actually well-executed. Against demon-type enemies, this would be nearly impenetrable."

He placed his hand against the sanctuary’s barrier.

The divine energy recognized him—a summoned hero blessed by the same higher powers that granted Seraphelle her abilities. The sanctuary wavered, confused about whether to treat him as an ally or enemy.

TheReaper pushed, and the sanctuary shattered like glass.

"But I’m not a demon," he said simply. "I’m a hero. The same as you. Which means holy magic doesn’t get a damage bonus against me."

Seraphelle stumbled backward, shocked that her strongest protective magic had been dismantled so easily.

The four heroes stood together now, all of them enhanced, healed, and coordinated. They’d been fighting for barely two minutes and had already been completely outclassed despite their supposedly overpowered abilities working in concert.

Gattychan’s villain-bane still struggled to suppress TheReaper while strengthening the heroes, but the effect was marginal against such an overwhelming power difference.

Seraphelle’s 300% buffs had everyone fighting at triple their normal capacity, but triple level 30 was still nowhere near Theereaper level.

Mika’s zones created tactical advantages and controlled space, but couldn’t actually restrict someone who understood dimensional magic better than she did.

Rin’s amplification turned every attack into a potential catastrophe, but it didn’t matter how much you amplified if the attack could be deflected or dodged.

"You’re all working well together," TheReaper said, genuinely complimenting them despite the one-sided nature of the fight. "Good teamwork, solid tactics, abilities that synergize effectively. With proper training and experience, you’d be a genuinely formidable party."

He started walking toward them again, casual and patient.

"But right now, you’re three-week-old heroes with overpowered abilities but no real understanding of how to use them against truly powerful opponents. Your powers let you punch above your weight class, but I’m so far above your weight class that the gap can’t be bridged by multiplication effects."

Gattychan gritted his teeth, feeling new adaptations forming as his evolution kicked in again. His power was learning from every exchange, developing counters to everything TheReaper demonstrated.

But it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Not in this fight.

Because reactive evolution required survival, and TheReaper could kill them all whenever he chose to stop playing around.

The legendary hero stopped a few feet away, his expression thoughtful. "I’m going to give you all one more chance. Stand down. Stop fighting. Let me leave. Go back to training, grow stronger, and eventually become the heroes you’re supposed to be."

"Never," Gattychan said, raising his fists since his sword was broken. "We’re heroes. We don’t give up. We don’t surrender to villains."

TheReaper sighed. "I was afraid you’d say that. You know, that determined protagonist attitude is admirable, but it’s going to get you killed someday against someone who’s not holding back."

He looked past them, toward the Pope and King who’d been watching the entire fight with growing horror.