Chapter 1896 - Ricochet, Final Decision

At that moment, Luke and the giant octopus were locked in a tug-of-war.

With every step he took, the symbiote tentacles that could freely transform pulled at him from all directions.

However, if Luke slashed at them with the blade that contained the power of faith, they were injured.

The power of faith wasn’t as destructive as Elementary Annihilation, but there was a lot of it, and the enemy couldn’t escape the mental impact.

Even the ancient Enchantress had been afraid of this attack.

That was because once the impact exceeded a certain limit, the mind would completely collapse. Even if the body wasn’t injured, it would still turn into a vegetable.

Luke hadn’t used the power of faith much in the last few years, and had already accumulated almost a million.

At his current consumption rate, it would take him an hour or two to open a path in the octopus’s head.

But who knew if the giant octopus’s brain could withstand the attack.

Shriek was immune to mental attacks, and the power of faith was far less lethal to it than to the giant octopus.

However, it wasn’t as resistant to mental damage as the gifted giant octopus.

So, when there was a lull, the symbiote and its host immediately changed the mode of attack.

Countless tentacles stretched out to bombard Luke like ‘bullets,’ just like in the South Pole.

As soon as the enemy changed tactics, Luke was under more than ten times the initial pressure.

Given the strength of the giant octopus’s body and the speed of the symbiote’s transformation, it was impossible to guard against this ‘ricochet strategy.’

Last time, he had lost a big katana like this.

But it was also because he had lost his katana last time that Luke had specially studied and analyzed this strategy, and had a fully developed countermeasure for it.

This time, he had Shock Wave to clear the way.

Not only could this ability suppress the symbiote’s transformation, it helped him sense the giant octopus and Shriek’s next move.

If it were anyone else, they might not be able to sense things like Luke to begin with, or even if they did, they might not necessarily be able to react fast enough.

Or even if they had both, they still might not be strong enough to withstand the giant octopus’s bombardment.

Luke, on the other hand, had Vibration, his big katana + the power of faith.

Finally, the giant octopus couldn’t take it anymore. This was the third time Luke had pierced its head.

This time, he was especially fast and ruthless, and the octopus felt like close to 100 meters into its head had already been injured.

Its chaotic mind instantly cleared up from its instinctive desire to live, and it reached a compromise with Shriek.

Luke, who was struggling to move forward, suddenly had a bad feeling.

The next moment, the octopus’s body caved in, away from Luke.

Luke immediately switched directions.

With Shock Wave, he could sense that the octopus was accumulating strength, just like before in the South Pole, when it sent Luke flying.

Then, his expression froze, and he smiled bitterly. “Damn, you’ve really become smart.”

That was because the octopus flesh was pulling back around him no matter his position.

After switching directions several times in a second, he was stepping on water.

All the octopus flesh around him had pulled back.

Luke didn’t despair.

This was just a head-on clash. It wouldn’t be that easy to die.

Bang!

The octopus finally puffed up.

Luke gripped the big katana tightly in both hands to meet the wall of flesh.

Puchi!

The katana cut one meter through the octopus flesh.

Luke’s face suddenly darkened.

Just as he cut through this first layer, a second layer had already popped up in front of him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five layers popped up, giving him no time to dodge.

Luke: “Motherf*cker…”

Bang!

There was a muffled thud, and the huge suit instantly disappeared.

The outermost layer of the octopus’s head suddenly softened, and a hole opened up.

Luke was sent flying.

Bang! Bang!

Two octopus tentacles lashed out at him.

Although it didn’t hit the armor, the strong current they created pushed the armor out even harder.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The other main tentacles also lashed out.

Luke’s suit was lost in the turbulent current and disappeared.

The giant octopus, however, didn’t seem pleased at all. Water gushed out of its tubes and tentacles as it sped northeast.

This wasn’t a counterattack at all; it was just trying to ditch Luke and escape.

It had no intention of continuing to fight. It never wanted to touch an enemy who could blow up its head at the slightest provocation.

It was so determined to escape that even Shriek was affected. There was now faint fear mixed into the initial anger.

The fear enabled it to perceive the earlier battle more clearly.

Even when it worked with its exceptionally talented host, it had just barely been able to get Luke out of the octopus head.

Victory? They had taken a beating since the beginning and hadn’t even been able to resist, let alone win.

So, Shriek helped the giant octopus out and quickly fled.

There was another thought in the giant octopus’s head, which had been transferred from the killer whale that it had eaten before

It had been urging the giant octopus to go somewhere not far away.

This was supposed to be the killer whale’s mission, but it had been eaten by the giant octopus, and so it had become the octopus’s mission.

Shriek didn’t know what would happen if they went, but there was no way to dispel this urge – it had to be carried out.

Even Shriek had been influenced by this urge, which was why it had never left after combining with the giant octopus.

…

Luke finally stopped and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The cracked virtual screen in the helmet projected the damage to the armor: 68.4%.

That ‘multi-layered ricochet attack’ had actually caused more than 50% damage to the defense gear.

Luke wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage even if he were fighting the Hulk right now. This octopus + Shriek combo was simply a cheat!

Luke had already prepared for the worst.

If the ‘final negotiation’ later failed and he couldn’t kill this giant octopus, he had to beat it up as much as possible and also teach that Shriek symbiote a lesson at the same time.

No matter how stupid the giant octopus was, the symbiote still had the intelligence of an ordinary person.

For example, although the dog head wasn’t good at math, it had been infected by humans.

When it came to cursing others out, it was definitely smarter than most humans.

This proved that the symbiotes weren’t dumb – it was just that their intellects were skewed at most.

As long as he could communicate with the giant octopus and the symbiote, he would make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Wasn’t this the kind of friendly negotiation he was best at?

Why hadn’t he started out with talking at the beginning? Because the other party wouldn’t sue for peace without a fight.

In the face of two non-human creatures who thought nothing of human life, they wouldn’t bat an eyelid if he didn’t show enough combat strength.

Thinking this, Luke looked at the deep sea android attached to the giant octopus before he returned to the surface.

Quickly switching into a backup suit and defense gear, he then chased after the giant octopus once more.