Re-Awakening: I Became a Pay To Win Boss Monster

The two stared at each other for a few moments. Then, he used up a bit of his Mental Integrity to reappear behind her.

<Mental Integrity: 2,817% → 2,814%>

It didn't cost much, but all she did was slightly tilt her head to avoid the incoming fist.

And to his surprise, her Mental Integrity regenerated again.

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 383% → 389%>

It didn't regenerate by a lot, and he still had plenty more, but the fact that she could do that in the first place was unsettling.

And I still have no idea how they're fucking doing it, Rael grumbled.

As he was about to throw another punch, a few of the Chop-Es behind him pulled him back.

Thankfully, they did, as her blue scythe slashed in an arc, just barely avoiding him.

Since he couldn't outright kill her, he needed to somehow get her Mental Integrity below a certain point, and only then could he attempt to do something.

So instead of fighting, he sent out a few thousand Chop-Es her way and flashed a smirk.

"Say... what did Jashin tell you after he came back? It must've been quite a shock to lose so much of his strength, right? Soul damage must really be a pain in the ass to deal with."

Even though it was a cheap provocation, it seemed to have worked slightly.

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 389% → 388%>

Very slightly.

Maybe that's the wrong button to push, Rael pondered, deciding to go the more personal route.

"How does it feel? I mean... you're here, but you're not really here, right? You said you love your 'daughters,' but you don't even have the gall to show up with your actual body," Rael commented.

And this, on the other hand, seemed like the right button to push.

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 388% → 368%>

She swung the scythe with all her power, splitting dozens of Chop-Es in half.

<Your Construct: Chop-E (x91,872) has died!>

Then, she used her Mental Integrity to reappear in front of him.

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 368% → 365%>

Yet she didn't attempt to kill him. Instead, she glared straight into his eyes.

"Do you run your mouth knowing the consequences?" she asked.

"Those consequences being what? My death?" Rael tilted his head. "Think about it this way. If I were to die, then my wife would not hesitate to kill your daughters. Are they also avatars? Will they turn to blue particles and respawn elsewhere?"

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 365% → 360%>

Hearing that, Alene finally slashed ahead, attempting to kill him.

But as her scythe neared his throat, he suddenly vanished, reappearing behind her once again.

<Mental Integrity: 2,814% → 2,811%>

"Reinhardt was an interesting man, if I do say so myself," Rael continued. "He had ambition, and he also had the strength to back it up."

He narrowed his eyes. "You want to know what his last words were? Please save my sisters and reunite them with my mother. Ironic, isn't it?"

And that, by far, was the biggest blow he had dealt.

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 360% → 298%>

Before he could continue with his mind games, his vision suddenly twisted, and once he realized what was happening, he was met with a single pop-up.

<Mental Integrity: 2,811% → 2,311%>

It seemed as if time had rewound itself, as he soon found himself back inside his body.

There was a chilly feeling around his neck, and that was due to the cold blade that had severed it.

And of course, seeing the giant stat loss was definitely not something he liked seeing.

He cracked his neck and glanced at Alene, who slowly composed herself.

The air around her was completely different, and he began seeing a faint reflection of the moon behind her.

But like before, his Chop-Es went ahead and annoyed her, stabbing at her with their swords wherever they could.

Still, aside from pissing her off and slightly stalling her, they didn't do much.

Rael coughed a few times, getting rid of the uncomfortable feeling in his throat, then he used a chunk of his Mental Integrity to bind her.

<Mental Integrity: 2,311% → 1,911%>

Despite the huge sum that he used, he was only able to partially bind her legs, and even that lasted a few seconds, as she broke out soon after.

<Alene Grandeur's Mental Integrity: 298% → 277%>

However, that was enough time for him to approach her and place a hand on her forehead.

As she swung her scythe toward his throat again, Rael decided to try something out.

"If you move another muscle, I will erase the memories of your daughters ever existing," Rael stated coldly, causing her to halt.

His Sloth skill had a very interesting effect that he had only had the pleasure of using once.

Paragon of Fear: Devour the fears, nightmares, dreams, and memories of your opponents, permanently increasing your stats. You can choose to entrap the opponent in an endless nightmare, harvesting their stats with interest.

After his races merged, he felt the limit of what he could do had increased slightly.

But it was definitely not to the point where he could erase an entire life from Alene's mind.

Added to that, he was pretty sure this skill didn't work on much stronger enemies...

So in a way, this was nothing but a bluff.

Because of the information these people had on him, and the fact that they had a rough idea of his strength and how his skills worked, so Alene had no choice but to settle down and glare at him with gritted teeth.

She tried to push away, but a few dozen Chop-Es swarmed from behind and held her down.

The moon that was slightly forming above her had shattered, and with that, her hair returned to its former golden color.

Threatening her daughters seems to have done the trick, Rael thought as he pulled out his Violin Blade's rapier and held it firmly.

He knew she'd try some final stunt when he hit the Violet string, but until then, he wanted to find out something.

Rael pressed the rapier to her neck, his gaze growing cold.

"How do you people regenerate Mental Integrity?"