Chapter 481: Fighting A-Grade

Chapter 481: Fighting A-Grade

The Iron Maiden groaned. Metal bent. Jack and Brock took a step to steady themselves while Elder Boatman gazed outside the window. Finally, he relaxed. “What are you sitting around for?” he asked Jack. “Go out there and kill that thing.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You should hurry, too, or it will damage our ship.”

More sounds of creaking metal. Something gave way. A piece of the hull was torn apart. Jack cursed out loud, then teleported outside the starship, staring at it from a distance. He also stared at the space monster.

It was a monstrosity. A large, bright pink mass of flesh with eight thrashing limbs, one of which was wrapped around their starship. The monster was significantly larger than the ship, over three hundred feet from end to end, and it used its tentacle to bring the ship closer to its single eye, inspecting it carefully. Jack saw the Elder waving.

“Fuck me,” he muttered. This was an octopus. He had traveled to a different galaxy to fight an octopus.

Despite its small body compared to other space monsters, the octopus contained a vast amount of energy. It felt more like a natural disaster than a creature. Every inch of its body was saturated, hinting at extreme physical power. The fact that the starship hadn’t instantly imploded in its grasp meant there were Dao protections at play.

Unlike lower-rank space monsters, which relied solely on their physical superiority to crush their opponents, this octopus comprehended the Dao as well. It had reached into a deep layer of space to pull them out of their teleportation, something Jack hadn’t even known was possible. Spacetime fluctuated around it like the surface of the sea in a storm, creating an area of danger several thousand miles wide. If a C-Grade cultivator was placed in this range, they would be immediately torn apart. Thankfully, Jack also cultivated the Dao of Space, so he could resist with little effort.

At least, this space monster wasn’t of the intelligent variety. Jack wasn’t sure how that worked, but he knew that starting from the D-Grade, more and more space monsters were intelligent. He guessed some species were more bestial than others.

This was outside System space, so he couldn’t just inspect the creature. He could, however, use his experience to estimate its strength from the Dao fluctuations it emitted. The result made his heart clench. This octopus creature possessed strength squarely at the early A-Grade.

“What the fuck?” he muttered. Elder Boatman had mentioned this galaxy being overrun with powerful space monsters, but randomly bumping into an A-Grade was just too much. Too coincidental. There couldn’t be more than a couple of them across the entire galaxy. Had the Elder driven them here on purpose so Jack could fight the giant octopus?

The monster opened its beaked mouth—what the fuck?—and screamed at the starship. Spacetime rumbled. Jack reinforced the spacetime around him in a bubble so he wouldn’t be affected. The starship shook but held—it was absolutely fine. Elder Boatman was on the case.

Two flashes arrived beside Jack. One was Brock, calmly floating in space surrounded by a golden sphere. He didn’t comprehend spacetime, but he could use raw power to protect himself. Starhair did comprehend spacetime. His hair formed into six thick strands, each glowing like a river of stars. They swirled above his head like an entire galaxy, and they released a discreet aura which kept the octopus’s area attacks at bay.

“This is an A-Grade space monster specializing in spacetime,” Starhair said quickly, offering no new information. “I know you’re stupid, but follow my instructions. We need to work together.”

Jack and Brock exchanged a glance. Brock brought his hands together, pulling the Goldenwood Staff out of his space ring and twirling it once. A golden aura spread over Jack, enhancing him.

Jack released his Dao. Power surged from his inner world, filling him to the brim. Every cell in his body activated. Purple aura erupted from his body, almost corporeal, dying the world. It was quickly joined by lightning sparks as he activated Thunder Body. He flashed forward, his aura trailing behind him, and every movement released new strands of purple.

“I didn’t order you to attack!” Starhair exclaimed.

The octopus had noticed them from the start, but it ignored them. In its eyes, they weren’t worth bothering. Only Elder Boatman’s early A-Grade clone, still inside the starship, was its real opponent. Even when Jack charged at the octopus, it just swiped a tentacle at him without even looking.

But Jack wasn’t your average early B-Grade.

He grinned. The octopus used the Dao of Spacetime, but so did he. He charged up a massive punch. The fabric of reality was wrestled from the octopus’s control. Every aspect of the universe and every Dao particle was sucked into Jack’s punch, compressed to the extreme. The world around him turned to void.

The tentacle swiped, but Jack forcefully bent spacetime and teleported out of the way. He appeared over the octopus’s head, fist already coming down. He grinned. “Supernova!”

It felt like a mortal punching a wooden wall. Jack’s hand barely held. A massive explosion followed, showering the world in white and purple light. The void disintegrated for ten thousand miles. The octopus screamed, sent flying downward as it let go of the starship, which spun away. A powerful shockwave still spread, disturbing the surrounding space. The light persisted for a few moments, and the heat was enough to disintegrate metal.

When the explosion receded, Jack gazed at his bloodied hand which had already regenerated. He chuckled. “Tough motherfucker.”

The octopus screeched. It had been thrown a long distance away, but it just teleported back. It no longer ignored him. A crater was formed on its head, with milky, almost transparent blood flowing out. The octopus glared at Jack, and space coagulated around him. The pressure intensified. He could no longer move.

It swept two tentacles at him from different directions. They moved at almost the speed of light. Jack turned towards one of them, clenched his fist, and shot it out. The second tentacle came for his back. Brock appeared at the last moment, holding out a palm. A thousand golden brorillas overlapped with him, copying the motion. The tentacle slapped against his palm, which shone golden. Brock was forced a few feet backward, and his arm creaked ominously, but he held.

The octopus weakened with every passing moment. Soon, it completely lost all power to resist, and then it was over.

A massive body lay across this ravaged part of space. Spacetime was returning to order as a sea of milky, transparent blood slowly spread out. “Good fight,” Brock said, grinning. “Nice teamwork, Ass-Kisser Bro.”

“How many times do I need to tell you? Stop calling me that!”

“Man, fighting in the B-Grade is so fun,” Jack said, clenching and unclenching his fist. He had so much power at his disposal. He could sense himself growing stronger. There was an addictive element to this progression—an almost euphoric sense of improvement.

“That was stupid, by the way,” Starhair said. “Going into its beak like that? It’s a space monster. They’re supposed to be strong. You’re lucky to be alive.”

Jack winked at him. “I knew what I was doing. The monster was very fast and extremely durable, but when it struck me at the start, I could tell that its strength was lacking. As for me, I specialize in Physical. I was pretty sure I could overpower its beak. Even if I couldn’t, I’m also durable—I wouldn’t die.”

Starhair snorted, looking away. A flash came between them all. Elder Boatman appeared, calm and collected. “Good work, everyone,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t have to help.”

“Did you bring us to this monster on purpose?” Jack asked.

“Of course. It is known to inhabit this territory of space, so we took a little detour. It was a good opportunity for you to practice fighting together.”

“Why would we need that?” Jack asked, eyeing Starhair.

“Because we’re all part of the same faction. We’re an army at war. All battles are group battles, and the faster you get used to that, the better.” He swiped a pale hand. The body of the octopus and its sea of blood disappeared, leaving only Brock’s staff hovering in the middle. There was also a little pink ball. Like a miniature version of the octopus, except fist-sized, perfectly smooth, and without tentacles. Elder Boatman opened his hand, and the ball flew to him.

“What’s that?” Jack asked.

Boatman gave him a look. “Have you never killed a space monster outside System space?”

“It’s not as common as you make it sound.”

The Elder smirked. “This is the monster’s core,” he said, raising the ball so Jack and Brock could take a better look. “The condensed energy source of a space monster. Very useful for cultivation. If you kill a space monster in System space, the System automatically disperses this core and grants you its energy as levels. That process, and space monster cores, are what the entire leveling aspect of the System is based on Here, you have to do it manually, but it’s the same thing.”

“Oh,” Jack exclaimed.

“Since Brock delivered most of the damage, this core belongs to him,” Boatman said, tossing it over to the brorilla. “It should have enough energy to give you a dozen levels. Use it wisely.”

“Thanks, Master Grandpa Dead. I will share with my bros.”

Boatman nodded. “However,” he said, “I am not pleased with how you two acted. As the one with the highest cultivation, Starhair is automatically in charge. You should have followed his orders.”

“He would have given dumbass orders,” Jack said. “He’s not familiar with us and our fighting styles, plus he’s less intelligent than the octopus.”

“You may have your differences, but Starhair is an elite peak B-Grade with thousands of years of experience. You, on the other hand, have been cultivators for less than a decade. It would do you good to practice some humility.”

Jack and Brock deflated. They made fun of Starhair, but they had to admit Boatman had a point. “Yes, Master,” Jack said. Next time, he would wait for the stupid orders to actually arrive before disobeying them, so nobody could complain.

Starhair puffed up. “Serves you right, younglings.” He ignored their glares.

“Now, let’s get going,” Boatman said. “We’re only halfway there, and we don’t want to leave the Arch Priestess waiting.”