Sparring

"Are you ready?"

"Absolutely no problem, Father!"

Feeling Naiyuan's gaze, Aura answered with overflowing energy. Her father was watching her, and she could not let him down. So, she silently apologized to Momonga.

Aura looked at Momonga before her with a solemn expression, magic power condensing within her body. She prepared to strike first, aiming to suppress Momonga—a magic caster—immediately and seize the initiative.

"Naiyuan, will Momonga be alright?" Herohero asked, looking at his friend with concern.

"Don't worry. Since he insisted on sparring with Aura, it means he already has a plan. After all, this guy never fights a battle he isn't prepared for."

Naiyuan explained to Herohero. How could he not understand Momonga's personality?

As a max-level NPC created by Bukubukuchagama, her strength was formidable. Whether in terms of class skill synergy or equipment, she was top-tier. Now that she possessed intelligence, she was no longer a robot that only followed commands.

Aura possessed the Beast Tamer class and could summon a large number of magical beasts around level 90. If one were unaware of her information, it would be easy to fall into a passive position. A barrage of miscellaneous skills and spells from countless beasts would give even a max-level player a headache.

But for Momonga, who knew everything about his opponent, the outcome was already set.

In this game where pay-to-win could change everything, as long as you spent enough, there were countless ways to nullify an opponent's summons. All sorts of strange and unique items emerged one after another. Even Naiyuan had to admire the game developers' operations; managing a game like this for 12 years was truly impressive.

Take Naiyuan as an example. As an ultimate whale, his class, race, and resistances had all been boosted to a terrifying degree through microtransactions.

Name: Naiyuan

Race: Dragonoid lv15

Calamity Dragonoid lv10

Dragon Lord lv5

???

Class: Sword Saint lv10

Dragon Mage lv10

Dragon Slayer lv5

???

Karma: 15

With the help of pay-to-win items, Naiyuan did not need to meet the base requirements for high-level classes. He could skip the basic classes and choose more powerful rare classes like Sword Saint and Dragon Mage.

A powerful melee class combined with terrifying magical output made Naiyuan the strongest PKer among the 41 members of Nazarick. Even Touch Me, who held the World Champion class, had to concede. In his Dragonoid form, Naiyuan could hold a 4-6 split against him; in his Calamity form, it was 6-4; and in his full dragon transformation, he could reach an 8-2 split.

If he didn't feel that Dragon Slayer suited him better, Naiyuan had actually intended to snatch a World Disaster class to play around with.

After all, as a class touted as the strongest magical damage dealer, Naiyuan was quite interested, but in the end, considering the synergy between the Dragon Mage and Dragon Slayer classes, he chose to pass.

If one only knows how to choose powerful classes without proper planning, the account will be ruined. As a perfectionist, Naiyuan did not want such a thing to happen.

Momonga's perspective.

"Lord Momonga, I'm coming for you!"

Aura swung the whip-like weapon in her hand and said with some excitement.

It gave off a strong sense of déjà vu, causing the two bystanders watching the show to freeze. Why did it feel so strange?

This weapon combined with that line was not a good sign.

Momonga glanced at her weapon with a strange expression, inwardly complaining, while at the same time, a magic circle slowly formed in his hand. Dark red gas transformed into a thin film, covering his body.

[Crimson Guard]

This was a defensive skill that Momonga, as a Skeleton Archmage, could learn at level 80. It was a 9th-tier spell that increased his defense, reflected a portion of damage back to the attacker, and applied a stun effect.

"Come on! Let me see what the strength of a Floor Guardian is like."

While continuously casting various defensive and buffing spells on himself, Momonga struck a pose and watched Aura. After all, he was a Supreme Being now; sneak attacks didn't suit his status, so he had to let his subordinate attack first. He could only afford to cast a few minor buffs on himself.

"Adding 30 buff spells should be about enough... Never mind, let's add a few more. It would be a loss if I were careless."

Momonga thought for a moment, then began casting buffs again. Only this way could he feel at ease.

Aura pushed off with her legs, rushing rapidly toward him. The whip in her left hand began to brim with flames, while a magic circle was being activated on her right hand.

Aura was very clear about her own strengths and weaknesses. In truth, she was better suited for ranged combat than melee. However, with Momonga, a magic caster, as her opponent, keeping her distance was undoubtedly the most foolish method. The only breakthrough was to force a melee engagement; that was the only way she had a chance of winning.

Although NPCs only fought automatically during the game era and lacked real combat experience, as creations, their creators had already inputted various combat-related data into their settings when writing their programs.

Therefore, Aura was quite adept at knowing how to deal with various classes.

"Oh, you didn't choose a ranged attack, but opted for melee instead?"

Momonga watched the charging Aura with some surprise. Her actions were somewhat unexpected; it seemed he had made a new discovery regarding the autonomy of NPCs.

Without panic, Momonga slowly raised the Dragon's Protection in his hand. As a magic circle emerged upon it, a verdant green barrier appeared, enveloping his entire body.

[Dragon Soul Guard]

[Flame Whip Strike]

[Maximize Magic, Life Essence]

As Momonga's protective barrier rose, Aura's whip strike arrived. The flaming leather whip lashed fiercely against the shield. Subsequently, a dark red magic circle emerged directly above the barrier, and a massive suction force surged from it, as if trying to drain something from Momonga, but under the protection of the barrier, it could only return empty-handed.

Seeing that her attack had no effect, Aura quickly retreated, staring at the shield before her in shock and suspicion.

"Ugh, is this an equipment skill?" Aura guessed, looking at the dim protective barrier.

"That's right. Thank you for helping me test the effects of this weapon, but now it's my turn."

Momonga's figure was still standing in the original spot, yet his voice came from right beside her ear, causing Aura's heart to skip a beat. She hadn't even realized he had closed the distance.

Is it a Necro Clone?

"Correct, but there's no prize for that."

A skeletal hand covered in a dozen different glows was striking out at a slow speed. It looked weak and powerless, but after scanning it and seeing the forty-plus enhancement spells layered upon it, she was instantly terrified. If this punch landed, it would drain a massive chunk of her health bar.

Lacking any melee class bonuses, her physical defense was abysmal; she absolutely could not afford to be hit by this punch.

"Move, move! Damn it, why can't I move?"

"Could it be!!"

"Don't bother struggling. I have already cast a binding spell, Seal of the Dark World. You cannot move right now."

Watching Aura as she tried to break free, Momonga explained patiently while his fist struck her directly in the chest.

I'm sorry, Father, Aura thought to herself, just before she was sent flying by the punch empowered by forty different buffs. With such immense force, even the hardest rock would be shattered; her body was launched like a cannonball, slamming into the wall of the Arena.