As the clump of meat egged it on, the Kraken moved even more aggressively than before. It rushed towards the island without even caring about the two tentacles that had fallen off.
Buuuuuu! After staying hidden underneath the surface, the Kraken finally revealed itself. It slammed its tentacles violently against the ground and climbed on top of the island. Then, it rushed towards the place where Zich was without a moment of hesitation. Lyla withdrew her staff from the Kraken again. Hans, Snoc, and Elena also didn’t have the means to pay attention to Zich when they had to fight off the fluid-like monsters.
‘I have to do it!’ Lyla thought. Yet, the clump of meat recollected itself after escaping Zich’s consecutive attacks and blocked her.
Pop! A barrier made of water shot out from the lake and blocked Lyla’s large fireball. It turned an extraordinary amount of water into vapor, but it soon faded until it disappeared.
“Tch!” Lyla prepared her magic again. She planned to leave the defense to Hans, Snoc, and Elena, and focus on only attacking. Yet, because of the rushing waves about to blanket them, Lyla also couldn’t help but place her attention back on defending again. After cutting off any intervention from the rest of the party members, the clump of meat continued to attack Zich. As if it didn’t care whether the Kraken died or not, it rained down magic and water attacks at the area where Zich was. What was very frustrating for the meat clump was the fact that Zich evaded all these attacks, blocked them, and even used the Kraken that attacked him as a shield at times. Yet, he couldn’t keep this up for long.
Buoooooo! Even though Kraken didn’t rest even after getting beaten down by the meat clumps’ attacks, it finally let down its tentacles. As the ground vibrated, Kraken’s body floated in the air and tried to crush Zich.
“Tch!” Zich clicked his tongue and moved to escape. With his current level of skill, he didn’t have the capabilities to block the Kraken from above. The clump of meat didn’t miss this opening. It simultaneously activated the magic it had prepared with its many hands. Sound ceased to exist again. Colossal magic amplified the effects of each other’s magic and covered almost the entire island.
Buoooooooo! No matter how loyal it was to the meat clump, the Kraken seemed to have difficulty enduring this pain and cried. Half of its body flew away while four more of its tentacles were shredded apart. The Kraken was still able to move, as expected of one of the strongest monsters that existed in the ocean; yet, it wasn’t even the target of the meat clump’s attack. The meat clump had simply not cared if it would be affected. It was hard to imagine how much damage it could have caused the true target, Zich, if even the powerful Kraken received this level of injury when the attack wasn’t aimed at it. Still, the meat clump didn’t let its guard down. Remembering from experience, its judgments were right this time.
Whoosh! Zich penetrated the cloud of thick smoke. Like before, he was greatly injured, but he moved without considering the state of his body.
—This damn bastard is so hard to kill!
The meat clump raged. Then, it called.
—Kraken!
It prepared magic against Zich again. Although Zich managed to block and fight off the meat clump’s attacks extremely well with his injured body, the Kraken eventually grabbed one of his legs. Zich swung Windur and struck the Kraken’s tentacle that was gripping his, but it only made the monster’s grip harder.
Splash! The Kraken dived into the water and dragged Zich’s body along with it.
—Finally!
The meat clump cheered. No matter great Zich was or how injured the Kraken was, the Kraken had the advantage in the waters. Furthermore, this lake was directly connected to the ocean, and the offshores of Shootuol were infamous for their depth. No matter how resilient a person was, they would have no choice but to die. Still, just in case, the meat clump sent a good portion of the fluid monsters into the lake. After successfully forcing the most bothersome opponent into the bottom of the ocean, it decided on the next course of action. In the first place, Zich wasn’t even its original goal. The many eyes on its body searched for Lyla. Yet, it failed to spot Lyla and her companions although they had been battling the fluid monsters just a moment before.
Sliiirk! The pupils attached to the meat clump moved in unison. They circled the area and rolled their pupils so hard that one could almost hear the sound of eyes rolling. Fortunately, it was able to find what it was looking for easily. Lyla and her companions were fighting in front of the tightly sealed door.
—Are they trying to run away?
It snorted. The door was tightly shut by its mana. It wouldn’t open unless the meat clump wanted it to. Grrrr!
Yet, the door moved slightly and made all the eyes on the clump of meat open widely.
* * *
“It opened!”
Kooooo! Snoc and Nowem cheered. From behind, Lyla sighed in relief. ‘It was a good choice putting them in charge of it.’
Lyla’s prediction that Snoc would be able to move the door made from stone with his authority over the earth was correct. Yet, that wasn’t the only factor.
‘If the meat clump had paid attention to the door, they might not have been able to open it though.’
Thus, Zich had made the biggest contribution.
‘…He’s probably fine, right?’ Lyla thought of Zich who had been captured by the Kraken and sucked underneath the lake. She couldn’t help but feel worried, and she quickly brushed it off.
‘He’s someone who was called the ultimate Demon Lord. He’ll be able to escape a situation like that,’ she assured herself. She couldn’t even go in to save him. No one in the party was experienced in fighting underwater, and there was a high possibility that they would become a hindrance instead. Therefore, as soon as Zich was dragged into the lake, Lyla decided to immediately retreat.
‘I need to at least get the others out.’ Lyla tried to teleport, but it didn’t work. It felt as if the whole space was being blocked, and the meat clump was probably the most likely culprit. Thus, Lyla ordered Snoc to open the door, and fortunately, the door opened. There was now enough of a gap for one person to pass through.
Lyla raised her staff and shouted, “All of you, run away!”
The fireballs that were instantly generated by Lyla’s silent incantations indiscriminately shot and hit the approaching liquid monsters.
Elena shouted, “B-but what about you, Teacher!”
“I can go after sending all of you off, so just go!”
“But…!”
At that moment, a hand grabbed Elena’s shoulder—it was Hans’.
“Move immediately! It’s time to retreat now! Are you doubting your teacher’s judgment! We’re no help at all!” Estellade let out a bright light and blasted off a few liquid monsters. However, a much greater number of liquid monsters quickly filled up the hole he made.
Elena gritted her teeth. She was smart, and she knew that Hans was right; she also knew that her teacher’s judgment was correct, and they, especially her, were of no help.
Grip! Snoc grabbed her hand. “Let’s go!”
Koo! Snoc and Nowem hurried her along. Elena ran out the door.
Crasssssh! The door firmly shut not long after the three went outside the door. Snoc did not close the door. Lyla glared while facing the front; she saw a gross meat clump behind the swarming liquid monsters.
—Did I lose them? Well, it’s fine. They weren’t my targets anyways.
The meat clump moved. While one part of its body was firmly attached to the tree’s root, it expanded in size.
Drip! Drrrrip! The meat clump’s flesh began to melt.
Splash! The melted pieces of flesh reached the ground and slowly increased in size. Some stretched to the top and some stretched out to the wall and attached themselves there. Corpses were also stuck all over the stretched-out flesh.
Lyla’s expression wavered as the meat clump seemed to be trying to cover the entire space with its body. Something came bursting out of the main body—it was the same face that the creature had before it changed shape.
—You’re the only one left.
While aiming her staff at the main body, Lyla said, “It somehow turned out like this. I’m really not happy about it.” In order to ensure safety for those three who ran away, Lyla needed to hold back the meat clump.
—Fufufu! Our positions have been completely reversed from before, Princess. It serves you right.
“Yeah, about that. Have we met each other before?”
The meat clump’s expression slightly twisted in annoyance, but this expression did not last long; it seemed to have understood something.
—You really seem to have forgotten about it. As expected, are you not able to extract the memories? No, for that to be true, your entire personality seems to have changed…
The meat clump, which was tilting its head, seemed to have reached an answer.
—Your memories must have been reset.
Crackle! Lightning shot out from Lyla’s staff; it immediately flew towards the meat clump’s main body. However, Lyla’s magic was blocked by the meat clump’s multi-layered barrier. Lyla clicked her tongue as she saw that her surprise attack had failed.
—You’re still barbaric. I’m certain that the people who worshipped you as a goddess were all idiots.
“Can you stop murmuring to yourself about things I have no idea about? It gets on my nerves. If you really need to talk things out, I recommend you to do it in a small room. If you keep talking to yourself like that, it seems like you have no friends.”
As expected of Zich’s companion, Lyla spewed out insults while she felt nervous.
—I wonder how long you’ll be able to talk like that?
The meat clump continued to expand, and the speed at which it increased grew faster and faster. Lyla continued to shoot out magic towards the expanding meat clump, but the lake’s water and the meat clump’s magic nullified all of Lyla’s magic.
—You said you don’t remember, right? That’s okay. The memories are all inside your brain anyways. So I’ll help you remember them. You don’t need to thank me. That’s the reason why I was made in the first place.
* * *
The cold water lowered Zich’s body temperature. The blood flowing out of his body mixed in with the surrounding waters and made a horrifying sight.
‘This is getting really dangerous.’ Zich’s mind was getting dizzy. He had lost too much blood. The blood he let out today was probably more than half of all the blood in his body. If he hadn’t drunk a potion just a few moments ago, even he would have died from blood loss. Moreover, the water pressure tightened around his body and blocked his breathing to lead him one step closer to death. But there was another problem.
Thud! Shockwaves that carried across the water scattered in all directions. The currents were being pushed back and distorted the light in a mysterious and fascinating way, but there was no one there to appreciate the sight.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Zich continuously swung Windur, and shockwaves formed every time he swung it.
‘How bothersome!’
The liquid monster had followed him to the ocean and continued to attack him. As expected, their skills were on a whole different level underwater. The liquid monsters could basically move as if they could teleport, and they continued to move their arms made out of weapons to rip Zich apart. At the same time, the Kraken continued to pull Zich deeper into the ocean.
‘I should make my final decision.’ If he moved passively like this, only death would be waiting for him. However, there weren’t many solutions to his current situation. The Kraken’s tentacles were tough, and Zich didn’t have the leisure to pierce and rip apart the Kraken’s tough tentacles because of the liquid monsters. Zich made his decision.
Slice! He cut off his leg without hesitation.