Chapter 74: Chopping blocks

Chapter 74: Chopping blocks

Thats also a way I could use to attack, dropping things from very high. Sofia dropped the debris of crystal bricks on the roof.

The chunks of Midenicite collided with the roof in a heavy crash. This time the reaction was instantaneous. A stretchy tentacle that still somehow looked like it was carved out of blue stone pierced the roof from the inside. Who could tell what had happened to the crystal chunks, all that was certain was that you didnt want to be at the end of these tentacles. They had effortlessly smashed through the roof and even extended tens of meters beyond that before retracting back into the mansion.

We can have the Phageid collapse the whole roof on itself if it reacts like that every time. Who knows whether that would actually hurt it though

Despite the pestering thus far, the monster was still perched on its crystal sphere.

So it most likely wont move unless we really attack it. And the tentacles have a reach of at least forty meters in all directions That means I can fly high enough to be safe, if they cant attack further than that. If they climb the walls its another story.

Maybe we could lure it out with a magic item Nothing I can afford to risk losing, so guess not.

Sofia flew back up to Alith, they had a few ways they could approach this.

They ended up going with a rather straightforward approach. Sofia softly landed on the roof, holding Alith, who jumped out of her grasp without a sound. Sofia didnt move and activated her armor. Pareth was on standby on the stairs leading to the Phageids floor, and Alith was standing on the roofs edge, right above one of the third floors windows.

Her [Hidden Presence] skill was finally being useful, coupled with [Shinobi] she had a double stealth buff.

The only problem was that they didnt know how the monster perceived things, since they couldnt see any eyes, but their tests did hint that hearing was at least one of its capacities. Hence their emphasis on being silent.

Alith gave the ok from her position.

Its time.

Sofia used [Graveyard of the righteous], they had tried and activating it on a different floor above or below worked fine as long as it was in the skills range around her.

Out of nowhere on the third floor of the mansion that had only been occupied by the monster and its sphere, dozens of gravestones rose. Curiously enough they were all made of Midenicite.

Remnants of a chicken carcass appeared in the air near Sofia, it was engulfed in a ray of healing light coming from above. Pareths life was high enough by the time he landed on the roof again and rushed in through the first hole the Squid had made during their previous tests.

During the time that the free tentacle spent attacking Alith, the graveyard skeletons buried another quarter of their assigned tentacle.

Pareth ran straight to the Phageid, launching an attack with his holy light coated talons. It scratched the giant Squids skin a few times, drawing some trickle of white blood, the free tentacle turned on him.

That was Aliths opportunity to jump out of the window. Sofia caught her mid-air and flew her right down into the second floor through a window on another side of the mansion. That led them to the room full of graveyard skeletons holding for dear unlife on half a tentacle that kept twitching and stretching around to free itself.

It had been more than three seconds so Aliths [Heir of fire]s stacks had expired. It would take a few seconds to build them back up and chop off this tentacle in two halves. Sofia flew back up, she had to be above the roof to heal Pareth if need be.

Now that Pareth was near the Squids body, dodging the tentacle was easier as he could turn around the monster, forcing it to be very precise with its attacks, lest it hits itself. When Alith started attacking the tentacle on the floor below, the tentacle shifted to slamming the floor to free the other, it slammed down indiscriminately, only trying to destroy everything.

Each hit was a new tentacle shaped hole through the floor.

Sofia was still micromanaging the skeletons, she observed the situation through Pareths eyes, at this rate the whole third floor might collapse. Meanwhile Pareth was free to attack as much as he could, focusing on the main body.

Sofias mana hit the halfway mark.

The tentacle slammed into the floor again. Opening a large hole, through the projected debris and dust, it lunged at Alith, who dodged with a twirl, jumping out of the window again. Sofia wasnt here to catch her this time so she softened her landing with the slow fall ring. It was hers now that Sofia had wings. Breaking her last bit of momentum with a roll, Alith jumped straight back up. Stepping on a balcony and then a windowsill, she reached the third floor again.

Now both remaining tentacles were free, though one had a few straggler skeletons still clutching it. Sofia was reforming skeletons as fast as she could. The skill could be managed with a lot more depth than the description suggested, and things like investing more mana to rebuild the half skeletons faster could be done. This time she would spread them equally to both tentacles.

Alith reached the Squid, side stepping a slam and a pierce from the two tentacles. By now the monster had completely given up attacking Pareth. Perhaps his damage was irrelevant.

Alith did her best to attack the tentacle she had already damaged. Since she had time to build up some momentum with [AvoiDance] this time, she managed to land a few hits. Then the Phageid managed to riposte with its other limb. The whip-like tentacle hit her, bursting through Dopples invisible armor without slowing. The clean hit went straight through her. It pulverized her body from the navel to the knees in an explosion of blood and gore.

Paralyzed by the pain, she couldnt even scream.