Chapter 356 Living Through Death

'It's a hit!' Mathew thought the second his attack connected with the monster.

He aimed the spell well.

It struck right between the two small limbs that kept the monster's eyes slightly above the rest of its body.

Sparks fell down along with several pieces of cracked chitinous armor of the monster.

A surge of blue blood spurted out of the hole Mathew's spell created right where the monster's brain should be.

But rather than killing it, the wound only agitated the crustacean.

"SCREEEE!!!" it made out a massive, annoying noise… only to jerk its body away from all those who tried to keep it in place.

First, it pushed Daria's shadowy form away, freeing one of its claws. Then, it brought all of its left legs together, crushing the stones that Carol conjured around its joins, freeing its movements once again.

'Not good,' Mathew thought, gulping his saliva down.

This was a great hit. A critical attack if there was a way to invoke this sort of game mechanic within the real world. And a critical hit aimed right at the monster's weak point.

And yet, save for leaving a small hole and agitating the massive crustacean, it achieved close to nothing.

'Could it be…' a single thought passed through Mathew's head.

It was a result of all the small things he noticed beforehand.

Mathew recalled what type of game would display this kind of opponent. He then thought about all the mechanics of that game, hoping to find some handle for the ongoing fight.

And then it struck him.

'Is this… some sort of a boss monster?'

Nadia couldn't allow herself to stay back any longer. The only saving grace of the situation came from Leila's efforts which paid off when she managed to slice through two of the monster's legs, taking away a huge chunk of its mobility.

Nadia exploited this mobility gap, rushing right to where Leila was now backing off against an onslaught of the monster's attack.

The evolved monster turned out to be far more challenging of an enemy than Mathew ever expected. It was at least an entire grade above the high evolved zombies, once again proving that evolved monsters could reach far greater heights than evolved zombies of the same level.

'Still, if this is a boss monster…' Mathew gulped his saliva down.

He managed to figure out a few things by following the game's analogies. And while some of the monster's movement made it seem like it wasn't restricted by the mechanics of the game on Mathew's mind, it still executed several attacks that Mathew was already familiar with.

'Then it's going to take a few more critical hits like that to defeat it!'

Mathew bit down on his lips. He then took a quick look around to confirm the state of things before getting into the action himself.

For now, the coast was clear.

The girls managed to once again restrain the movements of the monster, keeping it fully occupied.

And Mathew couldn't ask for a better opportunity to shoot his spell again.

'Let's go!' the young man thought as he gathered the mana at his hands again.

'Piercing bolt!' Mathew thought, allowing for a new vortex to form in between his hands.

The monster jerked to the side, turning its head area to look at Mathew.

'It sensed the spell!' Mathew thought, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to stay immobile while the spell charged up.

The lobster jumped and turned around in the air for a fair bit before landing. It now faced Mathew directly, and already started to bend its body.

"It's going to shoot!" Norbert screamed out, getting down on his stomach while placing a long rifle he just finished assembling in front of him.

"Shit," Mathew cursed.

He did the math on the go. He could finish casting the spell and then try to get down… but it would likely be too late for him to dodge.

'I can still count on that protective veil…' Mathew forced his brain to its peak capacity.

And in a single instant, his instincts provided a shortcut for his decision-making, prompting him to fire the spell off.

The vortex between Mathew's hands sucked all the mana Mathew's body had to offer. It spun around for just a single second, before it cracked apart, releasing the surging block of condensed mana.

A condensed shot of a solidified mist shot out of the lobster's bent back, heading straight for Mathew's head.

"NO!" Nadia screamed from the bottom of her lungs, unable to do anything but watch how the powerful ranged attack crept forth, straight into Mathew's head.

Both attacks connected.

Mathew's piercing bolt fell only a hand width to the side from where he got his previous attack. And while it failed to strike exactly the same point as before, it also happened to crush the small limb that held one of the monster's eyes up.

"SCREEEEE!!!" the monster cried out, turning and twisting in pain after the attack.

But it wasn't only Mathew's shot that connected.

The surging mass of the concentrated mist went right for Mathew's head, cracking his forehead open with ease before flying straight through his brain. It then burst free out of the back of Mathew's head, leaving an exit hole only a dum-dum ammunition was capable of creating.

Pieces of Mathew's brain scattered all over the place as his body remained unsteadily on his two legs, before keeling over and falling down to its knees.

"NOOOO!" Nadia's soul-piercing scream filled the room, making her forget about the threat of the still ongoing fight.

Even with Mathew's death, they had no other choice but to continue the fight…

But Nadia couldn't care less about it. She rushed forth, raising her head in the middle of her leap to take one more look at Mathew…

Only to see him wriggling in pain on the bare asphalt on the road, clutching his hands at the front and back of his head.

"MATHEW!" Nadia cried out, dropping all of her guards as she landed by the young man's side. And so she remained in place, on her knees, with hands raised to the level of her chest while she was unable to decide what she was supposed to do at all.

"I'm alive!" Mathew screeched out, struggling to get over the immense pain he felt in his head.

He felt it all.

The hit connecting. His head bursting.

He felt every piece of his brain scattering over a huge area and his body falling down to the ground.

He felt it all… even though it didn't happen?

'So that's how this bastard works…' Mathew thought, turning his eyes down to look at the cracked parts of the stone that fell out of his pocket.

The protective veil spell did protect Mathew against a single attack. It didn't prevent it, though. It reverted the cause and effect of the attack, making it so it never really happened.

Sadly, as it only activated once the attack connected, those who used this veil would have to live through the experience of their death!

'That was one hell of a ride,' Mathew muttered, nearly throwing up when he pulled out another core before casting another veil on it. 'But I can see it working,' he thought as he turned his eyes towards the monster.

It was only a small difference, but its movements slowed down. The accuracy of the monster's attack also decreased, its missing eye clearly affecting its ability to fight.

"There is only one question now," Mathew muttered as he forced himself on all fours before starting to gather mana in his hands yet again. "Will it run out of its hit points before or after I run out of my mana?"