Leonel really did feel like an unlucky star was following him around everywhere.
The reason he dared to jump into the skies like this despite knowing the octopus might make an all out last assault was because he was hoping that it would disappear after it died just like Invalids. In that case, there would be nothing to worry about.
But, who could have guessed that not only would it not disappear, but the final momentum of its dying embers of life were enough to threaten him to this extent?
Even though the tentacles had lost the power backing them, thus making them far weaker than when the creature was alive, they were still falling toward Leonel and Aina. Considering the size of the octopus, Leonel didn't even want to calculate the weight each of those tentacles carried, or else he might pass out in shock before he even had a chance to resist.
Suddenly, Aina's voice called out.
"Catch the ax!"
Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned quickly to find that the ax he had left embedded within the octopus's limb had pulled itself free and was now flying toward them.
Leonel understood Aina's intention immediately. If an ax that heavy soared toward them fast enough, it would be able to knock them off the path of trajectory the tentacles were aimed toward!
Leonel twisted his body in the air, catching the flying ax with both hands.
"Oof…"
Though Leonel felt his arms go numb as a strong force rammed into him, he couldn't have been more happy. This was enough!
Their direction was forcefully altered, sending them flying through a gap in the octopus's limbs and crashing toward the remains of a collapsed building.
Leonel braced himself, circulating the last dregs of his Force into his legs and landing heavily.
Thunderous booms sounded as the octopus finally collapsed. That battle hadn't lasted for even a minute, but Leonel felt completely spent.
'Weird…' Leonel frowned. '… Why aren't there any Invalids here yet?'
Before Leonel could ask his father's dictionary to see if it had an answer, he suddenly felt his spatial bracelet activate on its own.
The Segmented Cube flew out, its numerous pieces breaking apart and enveloping the octopus's corpse before forming back into the size of Leonel's palm once again.
Leonel blinked in astonishment. 'This thing seems to have intelligence of its own? How else do you explain this?'
Though Leonel wanted to scrutinize the cube more, he didn't have the luxury. After putting it away, he broke out into another sprint.
Without a spear, it would be difficult for him to use [Call of the Wind] again. Force techniques were too dangerous so he had learned to not modify them on a whim. It was impossible for him to change it into a technique suitable for axes.
Plus, even if he could… What Force would he do it with?
"Why are there no Invalids here?" Leonel asked the dictionary which now lay in his palm.
[ *Ping* Calculating… The most likely cause is related to the nature of Invalids. Invalids are creatures of instinct whose sole aim is to devour and evolve. However, they can only devour creatures of their species. Powerful creatures of a differing species are great deterrences to them as they are sources of danger without profit. ]
Hearing this, Leonel skidded to a stop. That A-grade Invalid only appeared after he was a distance away from the octopus now that he thought about it. It was just that the octopus could cover obscene distances with that leaping ability of its.
But, if there was a species limitation, then why would this octopus come after him so fervently?
'Wait… This octopus didn't disappear, so it's unlikely to be an Invalid. There must be another reason it saw me as a potential meal, and that reason may very well be related to why the Segmented Cube acted on its own… Forget it, now isn't the time to think about this. I need to focus on getting back to the Fort.'
"Quickly, how do Invalids differentiate between members of their species and those that are not?"
Leonel realized that this likely meant that not all Invalids were humans, but he didn't have time to ponder on this.
[ *Ping* Responding to Seed, it depends. Low level Invalids mostly rely on olfactory senses. High level Invalids have many more options, too variable to list. ]
Leonel's gaze shone. The place he had skidded to a stop by was exactly the place he had sliced into the octopus's tentacle. There just so happened to be ghastly blue blood here.
Gritting his teeth, he made a decision.
"Sorry about this, Aina."
**
A day and a half later, in the depths of the night, the patrol unit of Royal Blue Fort felt as though they were walking on eggshells.
In recent days, the number of Invalids had taken a sharp tick upward. According to the superiors, something big had happened in Perimeter 7, causing the first instances of Invalid Tides to form.
The good news was that their target wasn't the Fort, but the residual effects had made what once was a fairly easy job to gain Ascension Points to become a life and death struggle.
The Head Patrol Guard during this round was a certain Tier 2 Officer Doran. He could only curse his bad luck. Had this happened just a day later, he would have been able to apply to enter an F-grade Zone and dodge all of this nonsense.
But now, the superiors didn't want to risk having to train inexperienced patrol units at such a dangerous time, so he could only swallow his grievances and continue on with his patrol job. At least he had gotten off better than those Tier 3 Officers who had Perimeters to patrol.
'Hmph… That's what you all get for looking down on me…'
Realizing that others had it worse than him seemed to make Doran feel much better.
He swept a gaze from the top of the Fort walls. He had completed this action so many times already that he had lost count. He had expected this time to be no different from the others, but he suddenly froze this time around.
Without hesitation, he pulled out a telescope, extending it and looking through. With the restrictions on technology, he could only use such a primitive tool. But, that didn't change its effectiveness.
Doran blinked. What he saw shocked him.
There were two humans, but covered in some weird, cracking dark blue substance. One of them seemed to be carrying the other, but their states could only be described as sorry.
The young man carrying the young woman dragged a massive ax along the ground. He probably knew that such an action would slow his steps, but his arms didn't have the strength to lift that large weapon up anymore.
Who else could these two be if not Leonel and Aina?
Though the octopus blood had worked to a certain extent… it was just a certain extent.
It had 100% effectiveness on Invalids below the B-grade, but at the B-grade, it was barely 50% effective. For A-grade Invalids, it was not even 20% effective.
In the end, it had taken them over a day to cross just 50 kilometers because the initial commotion Leonel raised had caused an Invalid Tide. He felt spent to the point that his legs didn't even feel like his own anymore.
However, despite seeing the looming Fort walls, the unease in Leonel's heart didn't settle down. Instead, it grew… because the danger he had been waiting for hadn't appeared yet.
Doran's pupils constricted.
'It's them. I need to inform the Junior Governor Duke.'