Re Zero DMMS 100 (Patreon)

Having climbed the spiral staircase, crossed the shattered illusionary grassland, and stood before the upward stairs, Kenma turned his head and reached out to pat Capella's head.

"Wait here. I really don't want you to be ground into dust by the aftermath of the battle later, or my newly acquired mount would go to waste."

"Alright."

Capella was quite happy to take it easy, plopping herself down on the dilapidated grassland to start admiring the fake sky.

Watching the leisurely reclining Capella, Kenma suddenly seemed to think of something.

Hiss... If this fellow counts as a mount, then what are the positions of the people around me?

Shaula = Pet

Patrasche = Special pet + mount, and also Kenma's ideal type for draconic creatures.

Reinhard = Friend + super subordinate + ultra-intelligent butler + supreme chef + knight

Capella = Pure mount + coolie

Satella, the Witch of Envy = Lover

"I love you." A murmur suddenly came from beside his ear.

Oh shit?!

Kenma was startled and almost couldn't keep his composure.

She's been eavesdropping the whole time!

Trying his best to restrain his inner thoughts, he led Al through the stairs.

Accompanied by a flash of white light before his eyes, the moment he opened them again, the grand scene was still before him.

Towering pillars lined up together, and a massive dragon radiating blue light sat on the ground, exuding a chilling magical aura.

[Thou who hast reached the top of the tower, stepped into this layer, the omnipotent petitioner.]

[Following the ancient covenant, I, Volcanica, inquire about the aspirations of thou who reached the summit.]

Al was holding the book of the dead and just about to step forward when he was suddenly stopped by Kenma.

Ignoring Al's puzzled gaze, Kenma strode towards the divine dragon, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes.

Good grief. I actually forgot about you.

When he originally conquered the Pleiades Watchtower, he had actually forgotten about the divine dragon, simply taking its scales and leaving.

As one of the Three Heroes of the world, Volcanica was definitely a crucial plot character. He actually forgot about this bonus reward.

The crimson armor on his body receded, and the Peerless form was dismissed.

Kenma in his normal state, holding a greatsword, stood directly in front of Volcanica.

To prevent Volcanica's damage from being too low to pierce through his defense, he actively removed his enhancements.

Sensing someone approaching, Volcanica's mechanical-sounding speech abruptly stopped.

Its golden pupils locked onto Kenma.

It let out a deafening roar, then abruptly swung its body, its thick tail whipping up violent wind pressure in mid-air as it smashed straight toward him.

Facing this blow, Kenma did not dodge or evade, and was even too lazy to swing his greatsword, taking it head-on with his body.

Boom, boom, boom!

The next second, he flew backward, crashing into the pillar behind him, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the surface of the pillar.

"Cough, cough..."

Kenma was beaten by this powerful force to the point of coughing up blood, yet his face was full of dissatisfaction.

This level of injury didn't even count as a minor injury. If he wanted to be beaten to death, how many hits would he have to take?

In front of Kenma, who possessed [Elemental Immunity], the divine dragon's dragon breath was completely negligible and dealt zero damage.

As for its physical attacks, although they could inflict effective damage on normal Kenma, let's not forget that there was an outright cheat like [Omni Adaptation].

Once the divine dragon launched multiple physical attacks against Kenma, he would gradually adapt to them, ultimately resulting in complete damage immunity.

This was not Kenma adapting to the concept of physical attacks, but rather adapting to the divine dragon itself, rendering all of its attacks completely nullified.

Eh!

Just then, a wonderful idea flashed through his mind.

He had already experimented across more than 170 deaths: if he actively beat himself into critical health and then went to throw his life away, the system would judge it as suicide and thus not grant any rewards.

But the crux of the matter was that this time he came not for that single attribute point, but for the bonus reward of being killed by a crucial plot character.

This portion of the bonus reward didn't seem to be brought by his passive skill [Avenger], but rather by the system itself.

Following this line of reasoning...

If he wanted to get the bonus reward, but was afraid that the opposite key plot character couldn't break through his defense, he could proactively cripple himself first and then go send his life.

Although he would lose a free attribute point, ensuring that he was killed by a crucial plot character was enough.

Thinking of this, Kenma immediately decided to give it a try.

He pulled out his greatsword and stabbed it straight into his chest.

Clang!

He tried a few more times and found that he still couldn't pierce his skin.

An ordinary greatsword, before evolving into a flesh greatsword, was ultimately just a mortal weapon, unable to pierce Kenma's thoroughly tempered physical body.

Helplessly, he reached out, transforming his hand into a blade, and gave his chest several swift strikes. Blood splattered everywhere for a moment.

Kenma proactively cut open his own chest and gouged out all the internal organs inside in one go.

Heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and a huge pile of intestines were all gouged clean. Even his ribs were crushed to pieces by his own hands.

In just a few seconds, Kenma turned into an empty shell of skin and flesh. He was cruel to others, but even crueler to himself.

He tried his absolute best to suppress his self-healing instinct, shouldering the greatsword as he charged toward Volcanica once more.

With another tail sweep, Kenma was sent flying, embedding himself into the pillar.

This time, it should count, right?

Accompanied by his consciousness completely blurring, the battered body that was left with only an empty shell could no longer hold on.

Kenma, dead.