Chapter 161: Onslaught
A deafening clash resounded throughout the spacious hall, accompanied by countless ripples spreading across the water-covered floor as the adventurers were drawn into a dreadful and relentless battle against the incoming horde of creatures. At first, there had only been a dozen creatures attacking them, yet before they could fully deal with that group, another dozen emerged almost immediately and joined the fray, doubling the burden and forcing a single warrior to withstand the pressure meant for many.
Unlike the Goblin Kings they had fought earlier, which were towering creatures and difficult to confront due to their massive size and overwhelming physical strength, these enemies possessed a human-shaped form, making them seem far easier to deal with by comparison, or at least according to the manner in which they had previously witnessed such creatures being slaughtered. However, reality proved far harsher than expectation, as these creatures' fur was not only excessively thick and far more resilient than anticipated, but no kind of magic or spell appeared to work on them at any moment. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the spells themselves simply vanished the instant they were released, only to return and strike their casters as if seized and redirected by an unseen will.
As a result, the adventurers were forced to stop casting spells altogether, despite spellcasting being their primary specialty, since continuing to do so would only risk harming themselves or severely injuring their own teammates. Deprived of their ability to provide magical support, the rear guards nearly became useless in this battle, though the same could not be said of the archers, who continued firing arrows one after another toward the creatures ahead.
But even their arrows failed to pierce the creatures' fur, instead bouncing off without dealing immediate damage, which compelled the archers to shift their focus toward the eyes, hoping that such a vulnerable point would offer a solution. Unfortunately, thin tentacles constantly writhed around those eyes, closing over them at times or knocking incoming arrows aside, placing the archers themselves in a perilous situation, though a few among them still managed to land effective shots through sheer skill and persistence.
With no other means left to aid their comrades, the rear party felt both frustration and guilt, and so they attempted something new in their desperation to contribute. Rather than firing ordinary hand-made arrows, the mages began supplying the archers with elemental arrows, or rather, arrows formed entirely from spells, and at times even augmenting the original arrows themselves.
Naturally, the mages could have fired these spell-based arrows directly if they wished, but doing so would have served little purpose, since the attacks would simply return to strike them once more, which made it far more effective for the archers to wield them instead. Although the arrows were born of magic, the force driving them forward was entirely natural, drawn from the archers' own strength and technique, which prevented the creatures, or perhaps their unseen leader, from turning those attacks back against them as before.
The creatures attempted to deflect the arrows as they had done previously, but the magic bound within them shattered the obstructing tendrils, scorching, freezing, or breaking them apart before the shafts drove deep into the creatures' eyes, blinding them completely... assuming they had not already been blind to begin with. While the enemies were capable of sensing the magic contained within the arrows, only a handful managed to evade them successfully, as most were already locked in fierce combat with the frontline fighters, leaving them unable to divert their attention without exposing themselves to fatal openings.
Before long, a relentless barrage of arrows cut through the air and rained down upon the creatures like a storm of heavy stones, piercing through their tentacles and embedding themselves deep within their eyes. Since the arrows were continuously supplied by the mages, the archers had no need to worry about depleting their stock, allowing them to continue firing without restraint.
Among the four archers present, the most impressive was a woman with chestnut-colored hair, who repeatedly drew and released the string of her massive and elegant bow with astonishing speed, firing another arrow before the previous one had even finished piercing its target, a sight that left several of the mages staring at her in stunned silence. Truly, it was difficult to comprehend how a single person could pull such a long and powerful string so continuously, especially when she had been injured only moments earlier.
Standing a short distance away beside his leader, Kael watched the unfolding battle with a troubled expression, his thoughts lingering elsewhere. He had been injured thoroughly not long ago, not only by a direct hit, but also because the boss's strands of fur had pierced into his back almost like needles, an injury he had barely registered at the time, though the pain now returned with sharp insistence.
'Ah… my another poor shirt.'
Noticing something approaching, he stretched his hands in front of him, his half-torn black shirt swaying swiftly under the pressure of the air.
"It's time... I guess."
There, some distance away, a woman whose name apparently was Serow was occupied with a minion creature, barely holding herself together against it as its claws nearly pierced her chest, but she somehow maintained her stance, gripping its claws tightly with her dagger. Although he could not see her expression clearly from where he stood, he was certain she was either forcing the creature backward or desperately trying to seize control of the situation, refusing to give in despite the overwhelming pressure pressing down on her.
Since she was occupied and unable to move freely at that moment, another creature managed to slip past her defenses, seizing the opportunity without hesitation.
Noticing this, she did something strange and recklessly bold, pushing the creature she was facing forward through sheer force alone, then leaping backward several times before twisting her body midair and dashing forward to intercept the creature that had slipped past her earlier, reaching it almost instantly. The scene looked as though both of them were racing toward him, the only difference being that the creature appeared completely unaware of her presence.
Her expression darkened as she closed the distance, her silver eyes gleaming sharply as they locked onto the creature with a quiet, restrained malice, while her two long strands of black clothes danced behind her like flowing silk.
"She's got quite the nerve."
By the time they crossed a considerable distance, Serow chose the precise moment to strike, jumping forward and driving her dagger downward with tremendous speed toward the creature's neck from the side, or at least attempting to do so, only for the thick fur to resist the blade and deflect it away, nearly tearing it from her grip and forcing her to lose her balance for a brief moment.
Seizing that opening, the creature lashed out immediately, swinging its claw toward her face with lethal intent, but she halted smoothly and leaned back at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding the strike.
'That was too close, though.' Kael thought.
Clenching her fingers tightly around the hilt of her dagger, Serow thrust it into the creature's shoulder instead, but the result was no different, as if the fur itself rejected her weapon entirely.
Gritting her teeth, she dove downward to avoid being sliced by the claws of its other hand as it turned toward her and attacked simultaneously. In the next moment, she attempted to cut upward toward its abdomen, only to fail just as miserably.
However, the creature had already brought its claws crashing down in retaliation, forcing her to retreat instantly by dashing backward in the blink of an eye.
She came to a halt at a safe distance, her chest rising and falling steadily as her soft black clothes swayed along with her breathing, her dagger still pointed firmly at her enemy. But her expression remained calm and almost serene, despite the mounting pressure she was clearly enduring.
Then the creature lunged forward, and so did she.
Soon, the two collided in a fierce and relentless exchange, her dagger flashing in swift arcs as she attempted to strike while the creature's claws crashed down again and again, each attack met with precise evasions and deflections, neither side able to land a decisive blow.
She faced every assault with remarkable composure, slipping past attacks and redirecting them with fluid movements that looked almost elegant, even though she wielded only a single dagger against two deadly claws. Even though the creature was clearly faster in its offensive movements, she never allowed her guard to falter even for a brief moment, meeting it head-on when necessary and retreating instantly when required, all without hesitation.
Even so, signs of exhaustion were beginning to show, despite only a few seconds having passed. Then again, it would have been impossible for an A-Ranked adventurer to keep pace with such a creature for even this long to begin with. She had clearly forced herself beyond her limits, draining her strength far faster than anyone else would have endured. It was already astonishing enough that she could contend with it alone for these few moments, considering that she was facing an S-Ranked creature, or at the very least something that stood firmly within that level of danger.
Eventually, though, she found herself deflecting an attack almost purely by intuition, her hand shaking slightly from the pressure behind it, her movements growing sluggish under the relentless exchange, so she ended up reacting a little too late, choosing her timing poorly as another claw swept in and nearly ended her life.
Before it could strike true, however, the water beneath the creature rippled violently, twisting around its legs and forming a small whirlpool that dragged downward with crushing force, clutching at its lower body through the pressure of the wave itself.
The creature broke free almost instantly after that, though, bursting out with brute strength alone and lunging again with even greater malice, clearly intent on finishing what it had started.
At that moment, an arrow whistled through the air and pierced straight into the back of its neck. But it failed to sink deeply enough, barely embedding itself despite the incredible force behind the shot, which the creature endured with disturbing ease. It did not even turn to look back at the archers, instead releasing a low, furious growl that echoed through the hall.
Suddenly, the dim light around the tentacles on its face flared violently, its dark eyes revealing themselves fully, gleaming with an unsettling depth of absolute darkness.
Without wasting any time, it lunged again, attempting to slit Serow's throat in a single swift motion, its claws glinting sharply in the dim light as they tore through the air. Before it could reach her, she drove her dagger straight into the creature's face with devastating force, the strike so powerful that it pierced cleanly through whatever bone structure it possessed.
In the next moment, she forced it down with her own weight, slamming it into the ground as she pushed the blade even deeper, nearly cracking the stone beneath them, her muscles straining, her teeth grinding together as silver light flickered deep within her eyes.
Even then, the creature did not seem dead, as it continued to thrash and strike at her repeatedly, refusing to give up. But she did not allow it to harm her, pressing her dagger forward relentlessly as it let out hoarse, enraged growls.
For a brief moment, it resisted stubbornly, even wrapping its tentacles tightly around her blade in an attempt to halt its advance, which managed to stall her briefly, though only for a short while.
Soon enough, she twisted her dagger with every ounce of strength left within her, slicing cleanly through its head and splitting it in half as she tore her weapon free. Black blood was spilling from the wound and mixing with the shallow water below almost immediately.
She sat atop the fallen creature, breathing heavily, her dark brown hair swaying behind her as she lifted her head and smiled coldly, "Ah, this is better."
In the very next moment, a sharp edge flashed near her neck in the dim light, slicing through the air itself as it passed.
The creature she had abandoned earlier had finally reached her, almost as if it had been waiting for this exact moment, though in truth it had been restrained by the rear party until now.
Its tentacles writhed as its malicious eyes glimmered within them, its claw raised and ready to tear her apart in the span of a heartbeat.
Sensing something was wrong, Serow turned her head instinctively, and the instant she did, her eyes widened slightly in realization.
It was already too late to evade properly, but she still tried, forcing her body to move as she attempted to bring her dagger up to strike, though time itself refused to grant her that chance, slipping away far too quickly. To make matters worse, no one else was nearby anymore, as she had fallen far behind the frontline without realizing it.
Just as the creature was about to tear her apart, a hand suddenly clamped around its face, and before it could even register what had happened, Kael smashed its head into the ground with overwhelming force. Cracks spread outward beneath the impact as water splashed violently in all directions when the creature fell.
Then, it tried to coil its tentacles tightly around his arm in response, but before they could even touch him, they were severed cleanly by invisible blades of air.
He grinned darkly, "This type of shitty attack doesn't really work on me, though. Listen, bastard, there was a time when I nearly shattered my own fingers just to pull my hand free from some rusty spikes. Compared to that, your tentacles are nothing, you hear me."
Over the past month, he had not been wasting his time, even while restricting his movements due to Arwyn's bracelet in order to avoid being discovered. Instead, he had been desperately pushing himself to learn whatever he could in that short span. But learning something new or refining existing skills usually required a teacher to guide him properly, but in his case, he had never truly needed one to begin with.
It was because he already had two capable teachers guiding him against his will all this time. He had simply been a fool not to notice their usefulness earlier, so this time, instead of trying to learn both of their forced teachings, he chose to focus on something that would make him far stronger than before. Surprisingly, they agreed to it as well. Besides, their true goals behind this training had always been to make him stronger, after all, so they had no reason to reject his proposal anyway.
One of them was, of course, Arwyn, and he had asked her to teach him how to cast spells while using less mana yet achieving far greater effectiveness.
That was because wind was a peculiar element among others, remaining invisible to the naked eye while still being sensed by certain mages. Aside from that, if it was not controlled thoroughly, it would vanish entirely no matter what shape he tried to give it. Which meant some of his mana was always wasted somehow whether he wanted it or not, slipping away in small but constant amounts. With her teaching, however, over time he learned how to control it far more smoothly and thoroughly, so now he was capable of casting even the most ordinary spells with much greater effectiveness than before.
That was exactly what he did here, as he surrounded his hand and fingers with an incredibly sharp whirlwind and crashed the creature into the ground, so when it tried to catch his hand, the whirlwind instead sliced cleanly through its tentacles.
Luckily, he no longer had to worry about his true identity being discovered anymore, since Arwyn, due to her broken mana core, was unable to use magic at the moment. So, last week she hadn't checked on him once.
...As the creature struggled, trying to move its arms and legs to break free, he pierced straight through its skull with a single devastating punch. Black blood poured out immediately, but it did not simply fall, instead swirling around his hand almost at once, forming a violent whirlwind that resembled a sharp, twisted knife.
The creature's tentacles flailed awkwardly into the air as his hair was tousled by the pressure surrounding his arm.
Standing up, he shook his hand to fling off the blood and stared down at the fallen creature and its shattered skull.
For a moment, he felt the urge to laugh.
'Huh? Did I just kill a supposed S-Ranked creature with a single punch? Per chance, maybe?'
Adjusting his glasses, he narrowed his eyes and spoke calmly, "You... why're you being so reckless?"
Serow gave him a cold look but did not answer, instead rising gracefully to her feet and stepping beside him with her dagger aimed forward.
'Guess... I'm not giving any peculiar speech today, huh?'
That was because another horde of monsters had appeared at that moment, and it seemed that some of them had already slipped past the frontline.
The frontline might have been filled with experienced combatants, but even they could not handle several of these creatures alone, especially when most of the monsters were ranked above them.
Valric was occupied by several creatures as well, his greatsword swinging through the air as a few bodies fell heavily to the ground. He either seemed extremely experienced with these creatures or was letting his emotions show, since his actions were filled with an unusual amount of wrath for some reason. Overall, they were holding the horde back effectively, though not particularly well, and the biggest problem remained that the boss still had not appeared on the battlefield.
'I wish I could get the chance to kill the bastard myself. I've got something to repay it, after all. Unfortunately, that will have to wait. Right now, my highest priority is ensuring the safety of our so-called mistress.'
Letting out a soft sigh, he lunged forward toward the three incoming creatures as water shot up into the air behind him.
'No... seriously, just what did I do wrong in my life to end up becoming a babysitter here?'
As one of the creatures brought its ratlike claws down, intending to cleave him apart, he caught its wrist with his hand just before the strike could land. The strength behind the attack was powerful enough to force him back several steps as he struggled to keep himself steady.
In the next moment, he drove a powerful kick into the creature's chest, though the sheer thickness of its body caused pain to surge through his own leg upon impact. Even so, the blow sent the creature flying at least a meter away from him.
'Damn! My legs hurt. These S-Ranked creatures are really no joke, to say the least. Just how in the hell did Mistwalker manage to chop them up like vegetables without even using her magic?'
Stepping sideways to evade another incoming attack, he twisted his body and delivered a backward kick toward a nearby creature, only to be struck by its other claw instead.
The impact sent him flying awkwardly through the air, but he twisted his body midair and slid along the floor upon landing, coming to a swift halt as water rippled beneath him.
'I really should've brought a weapon with me this time. Why do I never learn any damn lesson, huh?'
Diving low to avoid yet another attack that came rushing from behind him, one that nearly caught him off guard, he twisted his torso mid-motion and leaned the full weight of his body into his palms before driving a crushing kick straight into the creature's chest in a swift motion. Even though the force behind the blow was immense and carried the full weight of his momentum, the creature barely staggered. Its thick fur was absorbing the impact as if it meant little, but it did lose its balance for a brief second, just enough to interrupt its assault.
Using that fleeting opening, he released a burst of compressed wind into the floor, hurling himself upward into the air as the pressure carried him higher than he could have ever jumped on his own. Suspended in that fragile moment above the battlefield, he rotated midair and drove another brutal kick into the side of the creature's neck.
The impact snapped its head sideways, and before it could recover, he hooked his legs around its skull and slammed its head violently into the flooded ground beneath, landing upright atop it with his boots planted against its slick surface.
Pulling off such a reckless maneuver should have been impossible for someone like him under normal circumstances, but the wind had long since become something close to a somewhat comfortable area, so what once would have required impossible agility now felt merely difficult rather than absurd.
All he truly needed was to let the air flow around his body in the right pattern or push it outward in a chosen direction with enough force to stabilize himself midair, shaping invisible currents into footholds or bursts of propulsion as needed in an instant to move around. Even so, the method carried a heavy risk, since gathering enough wind to sustain those movements demanded focus and time, and every spell had to be cast, or rather released, directly through the palms of his hands, leaving him almost vulnerable.
Beneath him, the creature writhed violently in desperate resistance, its claws twisting at unnatural angles as they scraped upward in an attempt to reach him, its legs slamming into the soaked ground with such force that cracks spidered outward like a shattered net and ripples surged through the shallow water surrounding them. Maintaining his footing became increasingly difficult as its body bucked beneath him, and holding its head steady long enough to manifest a blade of compressed wind required more time than the chaos around him was willing to grant. He could already feel the strain building in his arms and shoulders, and patience was becoming a luxury he did not possess.
'I don't think I will be able to hold out for much longer. I can't even use the Liquid Chest here either, not when she's around. So, what should I do?'
As if in answer to his silent frustration, a sudden wave surged across the battlefield and crashed directly over the creature's body, swallowing it almost entirely beneath its crushing weight. The sheer pressure of the water pinned its limbs down just long enough to halt its frenzied movements.
In the very next heartbeat, an arrow sliced through the air and pierced straight through its skull, though the strike lacked the power to finish it outright.
Seizing the chance without hesitation, he yanked the arrow free and drove its sharpened tip down again and again into the same wound with relentless force. The weapon lacked any elemental infusion, which made it easier to wield quickly, and within moments the creature's struggles ceased beneath him.
'What a damned hassle! Why don't strong punches or kicks really work on creatures like this? It's so damn unfair!'
By the time the creature finally lay still, his muscles were already screaming for rest, but the battlefield offered none. Soon, he was forced to dash backward almost immediately as another abomination lunged at the spot where he had been standing, its claws tearing through the corpse instead and slicing it apart in his absence with a spray of darkened water.
'Just give me a damn chance to catch a breath, you bastards.'
Before he could properly steady himself or regain a firm stance, he had to step sideways to avoid another lethal strike that grazed past him by the narrowest margin, only to be struck hard across the waist by a different creature charging from his blind side. The impact was powerful enough to send him hurtling through the air before he crashed down several meters away with a violent splash.
Blood immediately spilled from the wound and bled into the surrounding water. In the final instant of contact, the creature's claws had managed to pierce through his flesh, leaving a deep, burning gash that throbbed with every heartbeat.
As he struggled to rise, he tasted iron on his tongue and realized blood had reached his mouth as well.
'Argh! It hurts.'
Clenching his teeth against the pain, he forced himself to channel what little focus he could gather and healed the wound at his waist just enough to close the torn flesh and stop the bleeding, though the agony remained sharp and unrelenting, and his body trembled under the strain even as the immediate danger of bleeding out subsided.
Slowly lifting his gaze toward the battlefield ahead, his breath still uneven, his eyes widened at what he saw.
'Damn it!'
A mere meter or two away from him, seven creatures were already charging in a sweeping half-circular formation, their massive bodies cutting through the shallow water with terrifying speed as splashes erupted behind them in violent arcs.
The tentacles dangling from their faces began to glow with an eerie shimmer that pulsed brighter with each passing second, hinting at a change that felt ominous and deliberate. Were the creatures about to evolve once again, perhaps?
If that was the case, then why had their movements not changed yet?
They should have grown unstable, distorted, or at the very least shown some sign of nearing evolution, especially when their boss had already expanded into such a massive and grotesque existence. But their forms remained the same, their bodies just as twisted as before, their limbs still moving in that erratic yet coordinated rhythm that made them so troublesome to deal with. If they were not evolving, then what exactly was happening beneath the surface? And more importantly, why was there now a faint glimmering glow spreading along their tentacles?
'I don't have any idea yet.'
Those tentacles had never emitted light before, though. They were usually dull and dark, writhing in silence as they scanned the battlefield. If one had to guess, those tentacles were their means of sensing mana across a wide radius; perhaps that was how they detected incoming spells or pinpointed the location of casters the moment a chant was completed. That would explain how they reacted so swiftly to incoming attacks. But then what was the meaning of this glow? What purpose could it possibly serve?
Was it a reinforcement of that ability, an amplification of their sensory range, or was it a precursor to something far worse, something brewing beneath the surface while everyone remained distracted by the battle? Could it be that they had grown careless without even realizing it?
'Ah... glow, glow, glow? What else do I know about glows? Spells? Abilities?'
Wait... abilities?
His eyes widened, fear surging into his chest like cold water poured straight into his lungs.
'No, no, no... it can't be. We've made a big mistake here. How could Seraphina let it slip her mind so easily? How?'
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(Chapter Ended)