Chapter 85: Monster

Force howled around Leonel's body. A towering aura surged from him, causing the octopus to hesitate. Its tentacles continuously twitched as though sensing something more monstrous than itself was standing before it.

From its vantage point, it could barely see Leonel. Its eyes were too high and Leonel was too short. Such a bug should have been all too easy to kill. So, why was it feeling like this?

Aina laid on Leonel's back, her breathing incredibly steady. Though every time Leonel made a sudden movement, she would feel a jolting pain rampage across her body, she hadn't had the slightest change in expression, nor had she made the slightest sound.

But now, she was surprised once more. This form of intimidation was so potent.

'… However… He isn't yet strong enough to boast such an aura… After a while, the beast will just be more infuriated…'

SSSSSSKKKRRRREEEEEEEEEEE

Aina had hardly finished her thoughts when the roars of the octopus shook the surroundings once more.

The two tentacles closest to Leonel slammed toward him. Due to the size of the octopus, Leonel could only stand between the two of them.

"Pour your Force into the ax." Aina quickly said. "It has one main ability that can be used now, you've seen it before."

Leonel hadn't needed Aina to tell him this. He was already prepared.

His Force surged, causing the red glow of the battle ax to grow several times. An illusory blade extended from the ax's edge, expanding the size of the weapon by several fold.

"Ha!"

A roar left Leonel's lips.

His body flexed as one. His Force was wild, but his muscles churned in a controlled rage as he swung down with all his might.

The extended blade pierced into the right tentacle by several meters, but failed to make it all the way through.

At that time, the mournful howl of the octopus was followed by the strike of its second tentacle which lashed against Leonel's back.

There was nothing in this world that would have allowed Leonel to let such a thing happen. After all, Aina was on his back and she was already injured. How could she suffer such a strike?

The moment he realized he didn't have the strength to sever the tentacle in one strike, he immediately executed his secondary plan.

As though the massive ax was the hook of a rock climber, he pulled down hard, making use of the octopus's tough skin as an anchor to launch himself up and above the second strike.

Leonel landed on the top of the half severed tentacle, his steps faltering. He hadn't accounted for just how slippery the skin of the octopus would be and his feet were almost swept out from beneath him.

BANG!

The second tentacle landed on the first, having failed to squash Leonel between them like pincers. But, the impact caused Leonel, who had just barely regained his footing, to falter once more. And this time, he couldn't regain it in time.

'Dammit!'

Leonel fell to the side, the enraged and pained roars of the octopus playing as the backdrop to his clown show.

Seeing that Leonel was now within striking range of its third tentacle, the maddened beast didn't hesitate to swing toward Leonel's falling figure.

Leonel's mind spun hard and his gaze flashed.

'Since it's like this, don't blame me for taking advantage!'

Staying on top of its tentacle was too dangerous, even if it was a tentacle that he had just severely injured. If this beast grit its way through the pain, launching Leonel into the air with a casual flick would basically guarantee his death.

Leonel knew how risky this would be before he did it, which is why he tested to see if he could sever a tentacle first. After he was forced to take such a risk, he wanted to run toward the octopus's head as quickly as possible. After all, even though this monster was large, it was still only 50 meters from edge to edge, and the distance from one tip of the tentacle to its head was barely 20 meters. In that case, Leonel could still cover the distance in time.

But, who knew this damned thing would be so slippery even to the point where he, who boasted maybe the highest coordination stat on Earth, stumbled around like a newborn calf?

It should have been hopeless, he should have been finished. But, Leonel's gaze was burning as bright as two torches in the depths of the night.

Without hesitation, Leonel raised the ax once more, slicing into the already injured tentacle he was falling from without hesitation.

In one swift motion, he stopped his falling and used the ax as a hook once more, launching him forward at blinding speeds.

Leonel was a madman. As though the slippery liquid coating the octopus was a surfboard and its body was an ocean, he slid across it, leaving afterimages in his wake.

The octopus's tentacle missed, lashing against its own injured limb once again.

It couldn't grasp how it could accurately knock a ship flying in the air at 300 kilometers an hour, yet couldn't swat this annoying fly to death. It had yet to evolve to the point of understanding that hitting something going in a straight line with a predestined path was far easier than hitting something which adapted to the situation like a feather drifting in the wind.

However, Leonel still had a price to pay. He needed speed. He practically thirsted for it.

He was using his Force to the limits, not to mention the fact his body was already reaching its limits. He couldn't afford to stay here any longer. Who knew if there was another monster like this lumbering toward him now?

But, most importantly, he needed to glide across the tentacle as quickly as possible. So… He left Aina's ax embedded into this thing's skin.

Leonel, like a streaking flash, careened toward the octopus's head. However, he wasn't as weaponless as one would expect. Instead, a primitive spear had appeared in his hand, his aura rising and billowing in the air.

His blood boiled, a seething excitement bubbling forth from its depths. But, Leonel couldn't afford to let the primitive consciousness possess him this time. Right now… Only he could do this.

The octopus felt the looming danger. It tried to lift its injured tentacle to launch Leonel away, but by the time it did, Leonel was already near the end of it. So… Though Leonel was sent flying… It was right toward the center of its head!

To the octopus, Leonel was like a god of death descending from the skies. The murderous intent was enough to make the beast freeze. For a moment, it really couldn't tell which of them was meant to be the true monster.

In its panic, the octopus launched everything it had at Leonel, not minding its head as all eight of its tentacles bent backward and toward the demon in the skies headed for it.

The first time Leonel used [Call of the Wind] with his spear, he had only formed one Force Node. The last time he used it, the Force Art on his hand was restricting how much Force he could use.

But now… he had no such restrictions.

The spear in his hand vibrated wildly, but his hand was like a steel clamp, holding it down as the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

'[Call of the Wind]!'

The wind around Leonel's spear tip grew so wild that it could be seen with the naked eye, a violent cyclone concentrated into a single point.

The moment Leonel pierced forward, his primitive spear burst into a rain of shrapnel. But, the attack stayed true, tearing through the air toward the octopus's head.

SSSSSSKKKKKRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE

The world was silent for a moment. It seemed as though Leonel's final strike had done nothing.

However, an instant later, the center of the octopus's head began to twist. Then, its tough skin ruptured, following the twisting pattern and ripping itself apart.

The twisting tunneled through, its speed picking up. At first, everything seemed to slow to a crawl, but in the next moment, it accelerated. It seemed to take several seconds for the first layer of skin to be pierced, but in the blink of an eye, a torrent of wind had exited from the back of the octopus's head.

A mournful cry left the massive monster, the last of its tentacles lashing toward Leonel as a final, desperate plea.

In the air, Leonel had no way to dodge. The cool down on his shoes still hadn't ended. And, even if it had, he wasn't sure he had any Force left to activate them. He had put everything he had into that last strike.

This wasn't the most important point either. Even if his chain necklace could save him from dying, what about Aina who was strapped to his back?

Leonel's fighting intent blazed as he fell from the skies, the last bits of his strength blooming forth.