Just because I have Daisy giving me future predictions and my ability to see stepped leader, it's still no easy feat fighting 1v1 with this loli jellyfish. She can split the stepped leader into so many different directions, making it so much more difficult for me to be ready on which direction she will attack. She's been constantly on the offensive, giving me absolutely no chance to strike back. My injuries were racking up as the fight progressed. Aside from my aching back and bruised ribs, other injuries were appearing around my body as she fought more aggressively.
More stepped leaders approached me and two of them connected to the positive charge upon where I stood. 50/50 chance on either; if I see the flash of the dart leader, I won't have enough time to react. I need your future predictions, Daisy, it's hard for me to fight her without your guidance.
"L— left! I'm sorry, she's moving really fast and it's getting harder for me to gauge what's actually happening!" shouted Daisy as she panicked.
I managed to block the jellyfish's attack in the nick of time, having to use my left arm to completely block the attack using Inazuma's blade. I thought of countering her but she had two other tentacles ready to attack me. This is a rough boss fight as she has both offensive and defensive capabilities, not to mention a passive that slows me down constantly when she gets close.
I leapt out of the way as she attacked with her other tentacles. My current buffs aren't going to last much longer, not to mention there is little charges left on my gauntlets along with Rend. I need something else if I wish to beat her. Any other ideas, my dear daughter and Kirin?
"I don't know what else I can help with, Dad. It's almost morning now and I'm not sure how much longer I can help you," she spoke with concern.
"You need to find an opportunity to put the hurt on her. You can't just stand around and wait for her to attack. If you move around, it will be harder for her to pinpoint which positive charge to choose. You need to learn unpredictability, Zen," answered Kirin.
Easier said than done. She's much faster than me and any direction I try to take, she's always there to block me. What can I even do to outpace her? And I'm deeply hurt that you're telling me that I need to learn unpredictability. Aren't I literally the most unpredictable human you've ever known?
"Well… when you put it that way," he shrugged.
What do I do? What can I risk to get the jump on her? Since I'm fighting alone, it's rather difficult for me to use my guild spells when she's constantly on my tail. What can I really do? Hmmm.
I was deep in thought until I heard some rustling sound approaching. Please don't be her minions, or I'm definitely going to be bug food having to fight her and her minions at the same time.
Some rather buffed dude showed himself and the loli jellyfish's eyes started to sparkle. So, John is my risk, eh? Thank you very much; I'll take it.
***
I pushed aside some bushes into a rather open field. Or what looks like one. Many trees had fallen all around from some intense battle that had been going on. What caught my eye was some strange young girl who seemed to be staring at me intensely, which is making me very uncomfortable. Who is she? Do I know her? I don't even know what she is with those tentacles attached to her and strange marks all over her body.
She sort of combed her tentacles and approached me fabulously. I got my axe ready since I had no idea on her exact identity. I don't see Zen anywhere either, but I'm fairly certain the green lightning had struck somewhere around this area earlier.
"So… how's my new look? Does it— tickle your fancy?" she spiced herself up and giggled.
I just stared at her with my mouth agape. Is this— young girl trying to woo me? What the hell? She's not even human to begin with?!
"I err— don't know what to say. I don't know you, and I'm married," I told her.
"You don't recognise me? Ah— right. You weren't there during my metamorphosis. I was the giant bug. Told you all that matters is on the inside, right? And why does it even matter if you're married? You humans marry so many wives anyway," she tilted her head.
I quickly leapt backwards the moment she told me that she was the giant bug. So, this is the female that popped out of the bug. I was expecting some slimy, disgusting bug more hideous than Xenos, but what the hell? Why is it a strange-looking young woman that is somehow attracted to me instead?!
"What— are you? What have you done with Zen?" I held my axe tightly as I glared at her.
"Me? I guess you can call me… an Elder Box Jellyfish. As to where Hawthorne is, he's right over— huh?" she looked confused as she pointed towards a direction, only to find nothing there.
Zen must have used his guild's spell to keep himself hidden. Using me as a distraction, huh? How clever of him. But this means I'll be facing this jellyfish alone with no support until he find the perfect opportunity to strike. Kuchisabishii-sama decided to hide his presence among the forest trees and made it very clear that he won't be helping us. Facing this girl alone… I don't know how long I'll last. Despite looking like some helpless young girl, she's really strong, perhaps even stronger than Xenos. I wonder how many had died thinking they stood a chance in killing her. If Kuchisabishii-sama ain't coming to help me, I'm not going to live another day.
Just as I got myself ready, the jellyfish suddenly dodged to the side and a long purple flaming blade pierced through her afterimage. The Elementalist revealed himself from among the trees with a strange blade in his hand, where its solid form seemingly reverted back into a normal-looking flame. Curious to hear about his new weapon if we make it out of here alive. Glad to have him by my side as I was not looking forward to fighting this jellyfish alone.
The Elementalist quickly stood by my side and whispered something to me. "Careful now, she's a really powerful Vessel and incredibly fast," he whispered.
Fast, huh? I kinda got the gist of it after seeing Kuchisabishii-sama fight against Xenos. This round of enemies seems to favour speed but they are stupidly strong too. Is she about Zen's speed or— I really hope it's not Xenos, otherwise we're fucked for good.
"Shall we?" asked the Elementalist as a purple flame armour and cloak enveloped him.
Damn it, now that's cool. What he's wielding must be a legendary weapon. Hopefully, it's enough for both of us to beat this jellyfish.
"Do we have a choice?" I smirked awkwardly at him and readied myself for combat. Hope I'll survive this fight. Don't wish to get buried in the land of the elves if I can help it.
***
Daylight is almost upon us and I swear I could hear buzzing approaching us. Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid and it's all just my imagination. Conceal won't last much longer and Daisy might be waking up soon. There's not much time to waste before I forfeit the element of surprise either. It would appear that the loli jellyfish had reverted to her default state as she faces against those two. She must have thought that using Phase 3 while facing John and the Elementalist was a waste of her cosmic reserves. She sure is lax to drop her guard like this, knowing that I'm still lurking in the shadows. She must have assumed that I've run away when I couldn't beat her.
I whispered out to Q despite being on top of a tree, hidden out of sight with Conceal. Surprisingly, he actually appeared on the branch I was crouching on, with a mini backpack that I made for him previously. Q is just the size of a normal hedgehog, so there are only so many things that he can carry with him. And one of them is emergency potions.
I picked him up and collected one of the three vials from him. I knew it was going to be common for me to fight against elemental enemies, but I wasn't expecting to be fighting another one this soon. I collected the vial that was going to help us in this fight. When I created the fire coating for Tengu-kaze, I was able to create the opposite effect for that too. Thunderstone turns out to be the base of many interesting elemental recipes that I have yet to fully explore. Good thing it was easy enough to figure out lightning resistance among the few after fire coating was discovered.
I placed Q back on the branch, not before thanking him properly. Mental note to add stat-specific potions for him to carry next time too. I took a swig of the potion and got ready to fight once again. I need to make sure to deal maximum damage to the jellyfish now that I have the element of surprise. And I know just how to do it.
***
Damn it! Calling her fast is a serious understatement. She had been dodging all of our attacks and countering the Elementalist with ease, although she was keeping her distance from touching his purple flames. As for me, she seems to be interested in flirting rather than fighting. She doesn't even counter any of my attacks, focusing only in talking or just sticking close to me. Zen would had been pestering me to take her as my wife so that we can end the fight now, but under no circumstances am I going to consider taking her in. She's our enemy for crying out loud.
Despite shrinking the size of my axe to the smallest it could ever shrink, I still could not hurt or even touch her once. Sigh— guess I have no choice then. I have to use whatever advantage I can to actually do something. I lowered my weapon and approached her slowly after the Elementalist leapt away from her tentacles. She tilted her head as I approached her with no intent to fight. I had to crouch to lower myself, but even then I was still taller than her.
I stared into her eyes. Noticing the details of her iris and facial features. I knew deep down my conscience was screaming at me to not betray my beautiful wife and child at home, but I'm not cheating here, just taking advantage. Okay, that did not come off right.
"I didn't realise you have such beautiful eyes. The details of your iris are— remarkable," all the hairs on my arms started to rise upon saying those words. I can't believe I have to put myself through this.
There was a surprised look on her face at my sudden choice of words, but when she turned away and started blushing, I knew it was working. I never thought I would need to court another woman after having a wife of my own. What's worse is that I don't even mean it.
I continued to shower her with compliments, and her face was turning redder by the second. Now what do I do? Strike her when she lowered her guard? It feels low, even for me, not to mention I'm not even certain that I'm fast enough to hit her despite being all giddy like this. The Elementalist was standing some distance behind me, giving me space to do my job. I hope he realises that this is all a deception. I don't wish to be the joke among the other guildmasters if I can help it.
Damn it, I need to stop mumbling in my brain and do something! Is the Elementalist just going to sit back and let me do all the work? I should get ready to strike her. But— how? Am I really going to hit a young woman who is blushing and being flustered in front of me? I must… but I can't seem to bring myself to do it!!
The jellyfish changed her expression in less than a heartbeat and immediately swung her massive tentacle behind her. I thought she was losing it, but it actually struck something solid and made a loud impact sound. Something flew from the impact and landed with a loud thud.
The first thing I saw was a dark cloak, and I thought that Zen was the one who was sent flying by the tentacle. But upon hitting the ground, what was revealed was one of Zen's weapons, Tengu-kaze.
Things happened extremely fast from here. Zen instantly appeared between me and the young jellyfish with his other blade in hand. The jellyfish was too slow to react, and Zen jammed his blade into her stomach. She was lifted from the impact of Zen's blade, which showed how much strength he had placed behind the stab. Obviously, she was not going to let that slide, and she retaliated with her tentacles, and I knew that was my cue. I proceeded to block the tentacles, but upon touching only one of them, I was shocked to my core!
Either the jellyfish retracted that particular tentacle or I somehow was able to push it away— was a miracle. There were still two more tentacles to stop, but I was completely paralysed and slumped to the ground on my back. I could see the two tentacles still approaching Zen, but it seemed that he had no intention to stop or even avoid it. Is he really planning to tank those tentacles without his cloak or even his spectral cloak?! He's going to get squashed!
A long purple flash flew past my vision, and the remaining two tentacles were lobbed off. I could only move my eyes, and it would seemed that the Elementalist had finally decided to take action. He moved quickly and immediately aimed towards the jellyfish's neck. Are we able to end the fight right here, right now?
The solid purple blade was just inches away from lobbing off the jellyfish's neck, but the jellyfish started screaming extremely loud, unleashing a wave of gold from within her. I was blasted away from the sudden wave, and thankfully, the Elementalist somehow managed to grab me before I fell to the ground. What happened to Zen who was the closest to the jellyfish?
The paralysis effects were dissipating, and I could move my head now. Miraculously, Zen was still holding onto the jellyfish. He had jammed Tengu-kaze into the left eye of the jellyfish, and he clung to both of his blades as the jellyfish was still emitting the wave pulses from within her.
"GET— LOST!!" shouted the jellyfish as she unleashed an even stronger wave which eventually pushed Zen away.
But he wasn't fazed. In quick succession, he slotted Inazuma back into the scabbard on his hip and he drew his blade with the quickest Iaijutsu I've ever seen. Lightning surged from his blade and flew towards the jellyfish with dark particles within the lightning itself. That must be Kirin's Thunderbolt that Zen mentioned before. Did he actually merge Dark Slash within that attack? A loud thunderclap erupted as his attack struck the jellyfish but an extremely large green lightning fell from the sky and struck the jellyfish. I had to cover my ears as being in such close proximity to all this lightning is heart pounding and causes my eardrums to ring intensively.
The jellyfish emerged from where the green lightning struck and strange marks appeared on her body along with green lightning coating her eyes. Her wounds looked severe as green blood dripped from them. She shouted "You're fucking dead!! You hear me?! DEAD!!" and cold sweats began dripping down my neck. Can we really beat this jellyfish now? Yikes.