Chapter 96

Chapter 96 The Mind Kraken’s response was immediate—117 magic circles formed around its colossal body. While they weren’t particularly powerful, the Floating Board wasn’t durable enough to withstand even one hit.

The monster cunningly aimed to eliminate the intruders’ means of flight first. The bombardment of otherworldly magic erupted from several kilometers away, darkening the sky.

“Force Field.”

Jack Russell responded by deploying a protective barrier around the flying disc. This Class 6 non-attribute defense spell had no vulnerabilities and was focused entirely on providing superior defense.

No sooner had the Force Field activated than several lightning bolts struck it. Judging by their crimson hue, they were far from natural.

Zapp!

The lightning bounced off the shield, scattering around it. Hundreds of more magical attacks rained down with precise timing; each time Leonard and Russell blocked or dodged one, another was already upon them. Even flying at over two hundred knots wasn’t enough to completely evade this relentless assault.

Since the creature housed the core within its body, its power was naturally off the charts.

It’s forcing us into making poor choices. We won’t get anywhere with defense and evasion. At this rate, we must break through at the shortest distance.

Russell saw through the Mind Kraken’s scheme, his eyes narrowing.

Crack! Crack!

The seemingly unbreakable Class 6 shield began to crack under the relentless barrage of magic, and Leonard and Russell still had over half the distance to cover before reaching the Mind Kraken.

The more they approached the monster, the faster and stronger its attacks would become.

“Leonard.”

“Yes.”

Inside the barrier, which bore spiderweb-like cracks, the two calmly and quickly decided on their next move.

“I’ll unleash a powerful attack. You need to buy me some time. Two minutes should be enough.”

“Understood.”

Controlling the Floating Board while maintaining the defensive spell left no room for an attack spell; they had to choose and give up on one. With several kilometers left, they couldn’t afford to give up their mobility, so there was only one option.

Crash!

The Force Field shattered with a sound reminiscent of breaking glass. At the same moment, Leonard drew two swords.

Five Elements Style

Black Tortoise Seventh Form: Ice Shell Barrier

The black sword energy of the Black Tortoise Qi enveloped the blades, exuding a chilling aura as it froze everything in its path. It was the energy itself that halted all movement, the frost being merely an aftereffect of that.

Leonard drew a circle with the two swords, forming a pitch-black sphere around him and Russell—a Sword Curtain born from an Aura Blade. Resembling the shell of a tortoise, the sphere enveloped the flying disk the two of them were on.

It was a defensive technique that had effortlessly withstood Conrad’s magical bombardment in his berserk state. More durable than the Force Field, the Ice Shell Barrier repelled all incoming otherworldly magic. Though it consumed a lot of energy, the barrier was easy to maintain as long as it didn’t sustain too much damage.

However...

“■■■■■■■■■—!!”

Recognizing the strength of the barrier, the Mind Kraken switched tactics and stopped focusing on quantity.

Four massive magic circles materialized overhead as if to disrupt the trajectory of the disc from above. Then, tentacles as large as small mountains emerged from them, whipping down at the shield.

The Ice Shell Barrier won’t hold up against this.

With their immense mass, momentum, and centrifugal force, the tentacles proved even more powerful than siege weapons. As if to affirm Leonard’s judgment, one tentacle smashed against the Ice Shell Barrier, causing the black sphere to crack and shatter like an eggshell, exposing him and Jack Russell. Then, the remaining three tentacles descended upon them.

Five Elements Style

Black Tortoise Ninth Form: Great Moon Anti-Yin Mirror

Leonard instantly increased his energy output, extending the augmented sword energy to intercept the descending tentacles. Despite the immense difference in mass, the tentacles bent against the black augmented sword energy.

Two of the tentacles collided, inadvertently blocking the third one as it whipped down vertically.

The Great Moon Anti-Yin Mirror, which was based on the principle of transference, proved to be unbelievably effective.

Boom!

A shockwave ensued from the collision of the three tentacles, rocking the Floating Board akin to a small boat caught in a storm. However, with Russell’s skillful control, the disc shot forward again.

The previous attack had taken considerable effort from the Mind Kraken, leading to a gap before its next assault. During that brief respite, Leonard and Russell surged forward to cover over a kilometer.

Just as the magical bombardment started anew, Russell stepped forward.

“Now it’s my turn.”

With that, he extended his palm and conjured a magic circle. The spell formation appeared instantly, voraciously absorbing mana from the surroundings. Even before it fully activated, the spell exerted a palpable pressure.

A vortex swirled in the still sky above the Deep Sea City, drawing in heat and light from the distant Helios, creating a fiery storm before Russell. The temperature soared across several kilometers, causing the slimy buildings to dry out, crack, and collapse.

Finally, Russell chanted the incantation.

“Mega Drought.”

One cast of this spell was enough to turn the entire realm into a wasteland. In fact, both the Magic Tower and the Arcane Society prohibited the use of Mega Drought on farmlands and pastures. Of course, here in the Deep Sea City, such restrictions were irrelevant.

Having been fully unleashed, Mega Drought surged toward the Mind Kraken along with the summoned light and wind.

“■■■■■■■—!?!”

Despite being hundreds or even thousands of times larger than a normal Demon Octopus, a single hit from this spell would prove catastrophic for the Mind Kraken.

Its tentacles rooted throughout the Deep Sea City quickly surged up, forming a wall of flesh to block the golden vortex. Some sections of the city, now without support, began to collapse, but it was a necessary sacrifice in order to block the incoming attack. The Mind Kraken’s judgment seemed sharp.

Though the tentacles only bought a few seconds against Mega Drought, even a few seconds were significant in the realm of Masters.

Finally, the golden vortex struck the massive Mind Kraken.

“Hoo...” Russell was impressed with the monster’s response.

“Using Telekinesis to refract the air and disperse the light, all while sacrificing parts of its body to absorb the heat? If it had tried to use the surrounding moisture without any plan, I could have burned it to death with the flow of heat.”

Mega Drought, a Class 7 fire spell, wasn’t just about compressing and releasing light and heat. Rather, it was a spell that combined combustion, evaporation, and conduction. To withstand a direct hit, one would need to manipulate space and time or use ice magic close to the absolute zero point.

Yet, the Mind Kraken endured the Mega Drought using its overwhelming power and the unique properties of its alien body.

“■■■■■■!”

Nevertheless, the damage was substantial. Its body, previously over five hundred meters, shrank to around four hundred meters, making the creature seem less threatening than before.

Nevertheless, the power it emanated was still more than ten times that of Russell and Leonard combined. Not even the grand Archmage would be able to take it down in one swoop.

“Russell, how many times can you cast a spell like that?” Leonard asked after assessing the monster’s condition.

They were now less than a kilometer away, engaging in a final strategic discussion that lasted mere seconds.

“With enough time to prepare for it, I could manage five or six more times. But I doubt that monster will just let me prepare the spell.”

“There are only a few spells as effective as Mega Drought against this monster,” Russell went on. “It won’t fall for the same trick twice. My destructive power isn’t enough to take it down.”

“The techniques I’ve mastered aren’t effective on that scale either... We’ll need to find its vital point,” said Leonard.

“Mhm! Or destroy the core embedded somewhere in its body to seal the Rift. Either way, it’s a tough road ahead—”

As they watched dozens of tentacles rise before them like pillars of darkness, the duo abruptly ended their strategic discussion.

Five Elements Style, Two Swords Style

Azure Dragon First Form: Thundershock

Leonard’s augmented sword energy slashed out in an X-shape, tearing through the tentacles. The two streaks of lightning created a large opening, allowing the Floating Board to dart through and reach the Mind Kraken.

They were now within effective range.

Leonard’s sword and Russell’s magic would be hard to dodge or block, but the same was true for the Kraken’s attacks. Except for the psychic waves that hit instantly, other attacks were less effective against the small, nimble humans. But at this range, Leonard and Russell had little time to dodge or block as they had before.

“■■■■! ■■■■■—!”

The Mind Kraken telepathically unleashed a cacophony of noises, as if to ridicule the two small and insignificant humans in front of it.

Leonard smiled coldly before tossing one of his swords into the air.

“From here on, I’ll move on my own. I’ll let you know as soon as I find its vital points or the core.”

“What? Do you have a flight artifact?”

“It’s not an artifact.”

With that, Leonard leaped from the Floating Board, landing lightly on the airborne sword. Amazingly, the sword supported his weight without sinking or wobbling. It was a technique from the Sword Manipulation Art, known as Sword Flight.

“...A flying sword? It’s not even a magic sword though?”

Leonard had no time to explain this to Russel, who was staring wide-eyed at him.

“I’ll go ahead. Please give me a heads-up before you use any wide-area spells.”

With those words, Leonard shot forward on his sword. Though it couldn’t fly in a refined trajectory like the Floating Board, it was far faster and sharper.

Reaching subsonic speed, Leonard quickly got behind the Mind Kraken. The plan was to divert the monster’s attention, reducing the intensity of its barrage by forcing it to split its attacks between two targets.

The Mind Kraken had no choice but to respond to Karyl’s move, despite knowing what he was trying to do.

“■■■■■■■—!”

Its four hundred-meter body, a mass of formless darkness, began to bubble like magma. But there was no heat—only cold, damp malice and hatred shaping its form.

The monster’s giant octopus form was merely a mimicry of an Outer God it served. Fundamentally, the Mind Kraken was a being of darkness and void, and as such, it could change its shape as easily as one flipped their hand.

Tens of thousands of dark tentacles surged up, aiming to skewer Leonard and Russell.

In this situation, a prolonged battle was not an option. Realizing this, Leonard immediately unleashed a technique using the Three Swords Style.

Five Elements Style, Three Swords Style

Vermillion Bird Extra Form: Three-Legged Crow’s Flight

This was different from the battle at Galapagos Island. Leonard, now closer to the Transcendence Tier, could temporarily use a more complete form of the Five Elements Augmented Qi. The power he displayed now was incomparable to when he had fought the Fifth Shadow, with whom he had been equally matched.

The three swords, ablaze with a blinding glow, flew from his grasp.

The concentrated augmented qi enveloped the First Sword, encasing it like a bead and scattering brilliant light and heat. The Second Sword followed suit, enhancing the heat to surpass the Miniature Sun from before; and with the addition of the Third Sword, the concentrated Miniature Sun blazed ferociously, scorching the tips of the dark tentacles before even making contact with them.

With the Helios hovering tens of kilometers away, it was as though two suns were now shining upon the Deep Sea City.

With this, the ghostly wails of the Demon Octopuses sounded even more desperate as they echoed throughout the city.

Sizzle...!

The countless thick tentacles of darkness unleashed by the Mind Kraken were nothing but kindling for the Miniature Sun. Beams or explosions were unnecessary, as the overwhelming heat was enough to keep the monster at bay.

Leonard, with the blazing sphere positioned behind him, looked down at the grotesque Mind Kraken as it writhed.

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...I can’t see it, no matter how hard I look.

He couldn’t pinpoint the creature’s weak spot or locate the core. He had initially thought the head might be the weak point, as with the Demon Octopus, but after the Kraken fully transformed, he realized it was different.

Unlike the Demon Octopuses, the Kraken’s entire body was amorphous, lacking a fixed form. Its weak point was either extremely well hidden or simply nonexistent.

At this rate, evaporating the colossal creature demanded more power than Leonard could muster, and locating the core seemed impossible without an alternative strategy.

Even with my mana mastery, I can’t pinpoint the core. I can’t dismantle that huge body either.

Russell, who had been dealing with the tentacles in his own way, was wrestling with similar thoughts. Even Mega Drought had only managed to reduce its volume slightly, so any lesser spell would be a waste of mana. Unlike the Kraken, the two of them had clear limits in terms of power and resources.

Maintaining this stalemate would likely work against them.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to try to attack it head-on.”

The good news was that the Mind Kraken’s attacks weren’t particularly threatening. Despite its terrifying destructive power, its attacks lacked decisiveness. It was for that reason that Leonard and Russell could approach and confront the Mind Kraken like this.

Even if a single hit from the enemy would kill them, they could still maintain the upper hand by adroitly dodging everything while landing their own strikes. However, if the opponent unleashed unavoidable attacks or was simply invincible, they would have had no choice but to retreat.

Kiiing...

Leonard drew another sword from his subspace pouch, aiming it while maneuvering the Miniature Sun linked to his mind. A very small opening formed on the massive orb of power.

Light of the Miniature Sun

Eruption

At that moment, Leonard fired a beam of light capable of melting down the gates of a major city.