Tentacles

[Nanos]’s eyes were bloodshot.

The will to kill permeated her Magical Power, and she glared menacingly at Americano.

Receiving that gaze made me reflect on whether I had gone too far.

I reflected, and,

Huh?

‘That wasn’t my intention?’

I felt like I had become the villain.

This was a bit unfair.

Bronze Arm had been activated, so I used it on a whim. The power of possession became available, stimulating my possessiveness.

So, I simply possessed Lilietta.

Taking the form of a transaction was generous, considering it could have been a one-sided exploitation.

There was nothing more to the reason for possessing Lilietta than mere interest.

Swordsmanship?

Power?

Both were pathetic by my standards.

Her abundant pink hair and pink eyes.

It was a shame to kill her.

I had no intention of turning her into a mindless Doll.

Nor did I plan to pit her against my queen.

It felt unfair to receive that look, but,

‘Well, what’s done is done.’

I was bewildered but also amused.

Twitch.

It’s coming.

A tentacle shot out like an arrow, and Lilietta flew away powerlessly.

She defended, but only enough to barely survive, and crashed into the wall of the building behind her.

The anthropomorphic building [House] swallowed Lilietta into its mouth.

“How dare you brainwash my beloved child?”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding. We made a deal.”

“Your excuse is pathetic.”

The tentacle swung like a heavy whip, and I jumped to avoid it. The moment I dodged, the tentacle curved and wrapped around my body.

It wrapped around me quickly while I was in the air, making it impossible to escape.

Just as my body was surrounded by tentacles and they were closing in.

I cut the ends of the tentacles with my levitating sword and landed on the ground through the gap.

[Nanos] clicked her tongue.

“She asked me to spare you.”

“You cowardly bastard.”

“Cowardly?”

Ah, I realized what she meant.

I quickly corrected myself.

“No, I didn’t suggest it. I was trying to kill you.”

“….”

She launched tentacles at me without a word.

I dodged.

I said.

“I’ll spare you. Surrender.”

“….”

Still no words.

Instead, she answered with tentacles.

[Nanos] sent out all her tentacles at once, and they writhed in unison.

They seemed to squirm, then swung wildly, shattering the buildings that formed the alley.

The ground was deeply gouged, and a cloud of Dust spread, obscuring even the faint moonlight, casting a pitch-black darkness over the alley.

I can’t see anything.

But I have Electrical Ability.

I caught an Electrical Signal.

———.

The Electrical Signal was approaching.

Tentacles.

They flew in under the cover of darkness.

The tentacles swept across the area where I was, layering like floors.

They flew at supersonic speed.

I couldn’t avoid it.

I reacted, but it was too late to escape the entire area covered by the approaching tentacles.

I braced myself.

I flew.

I collided.

I flew away violently, bounced off the roof of a building, and soared high into the air.

[Heal]

Recovery.

It was much stronger than Chief Ogre’s clubbing.

While healing my broken arm and spine in the air, I looked at the anthropomorphic Crescent Moon.

[Crescent Moon]

Crimson letters.

Ha…

I made eye contact with [Crescent Moon].

It grinned, showing its white teeth.

It was mocking me.

‘This is absurd.’

My body rotated with inertia, and I looked down at the Dust Cloud-covered clearing.

The Dust Cloud hadn’t settled, but I could see a human face in the Dust Cloud that was faintly lit by the moonlight.

[Dust Cloud]

Red letters.

“….”

I was bewildered.

What is that?

That’s when it happened.

I was caught.

“???”

While distracted by the surreal scene, my body was seized by a giant hand.

There shouldn’t have been anyone in the air, but,

There was.

[Crescent Moon].

“….”

I was so dumbfounded and amazed that I couldn’t bring myself to retaliate.

[Crescent Moon] had reached out and grabbed me with a clumsy hand.

As I wondered what it was going to do,

It threw me towards [Dust Cloud].

[Dust Cloud] opened its mouth wide and swallowed me.

I turned both feet down and landed on the ground inside [Dust Cloud].

“Haha.”

It was absurd, but,

It’s fun.

It was refreshing.

And,

The tentacles welcomed my return.

Thick tentacles, large enough to swallow a person from head to toe, slammed down on the spot where I had been.

The tentacles dug into the ground up to my knees, strongly vibrating the buildings on the outskirts of the clearing.

I [Leap]ed and then [Leap]ed again towards [Nanos], who was emitting Electrical Signals in front of me.

Tentacle 2 was flung out, pushing an arm from the inside out, and I jumped over Tentacle 2 like a high jumper.

The moment I landed, I kicked off the ground and moved forward.

The pressure of the air above my head intensified, and the surroundings darkened slightly, obscuring even the faint moonlight.

Tentacle 3 was slamming down.

I tried to jump to the side, but Tentacle 2.

I looked to the other side, but there was Tentacle 1 there too.

The tentacles I had just dodged blocked the left and right, and the three tentacles converged on me, along with Tentacle 3, which was slamming down from above.

The tentacles, which had converged at supersonic speed, created a huge clap, and [Dust Cloud] was startled as if fireworks had exploded in its stomach.

“….”

I landed on one foot.

I pulled my body out into the diagonal empty space.

I couldn’t avoid it completely.

The tip of my foot slightly touched a tentacle, and my knee joint snapped violently upwards. Sideways. Bent 90 degrees.

It hurt.

I grabbed my leg and put it back in place.

I healed it with [Heal].

I tapped the ground with the tip of my foot.

It was tingling, but it soon subsided.

‘Fast.’

The tentacles moved incessantly, and this time they swept across the ground like a wave.

Without retracting the ends of the tentacles, the middle of the body undulated and flew towards me.

I [Leap]ed.

I dodged.

I tried to approach [Nanos], but I had to be careful of the rear the closer I got.

The wave that had ridden the tentacle body reached the end of the rear, and the tip of the tentacle quickly returned with the recoil, covering my back.

I dodged, but,

Front.

Rear.

Side.

The space around me was filled with tentacles, like a snake coiling around its prey. I pulled my body out of the gap before it was completely filled.

[Leap]

[Leap]

[Leap]

I created distance.

It’s difficult to approach.

“Hoo…”

There’s no breath.

That’s because I’m not using Magical Power.

Thanks to my stats, I was able to exert enough Strength without using Magical Power.

Still, it was a bit tough.

The speed was faster than sound, but that wasn’t the problem itself.

Death Knight was faster in terms of speed alone.

The moment sword and sword clashed was several times faster than sound.

Rather, the large size of the tentacles made it easier to predict the movements because the movements were larger.

However, because the area to avoid was also larger, I had to move my entire body greatly, unlike with Death Knight, where I could avoid it by slightly twisting my body.

Backstepping was useless.

All evasion was unified with [Leap].

And because I had to dodge with [Leap], my own movements became larger, creating larger gaps.

It had only grazed me slightly, but even [Nanos], a novice in combat, had managed to land an attack.

I applauded inwardly.

Still, she landed a hit.

Not bad for a novice. Clap clap.

“….”

Clang.

Handcuffs.

My hands were tied.

Awkward.

I pulled with Strength, but the handcuffs were strong.

A tentacle flew.

In fact, I was relaxed.

I admit that the tentacles were threatening.

The power of the tentacles was comparable to Sword Aura.

Sword Aura maintained like a whip and swung around wildly?

I’ve never met a Sword Master, but I bet even a Sword Master would feel threatened.

But I was relaxed.

It was definitely threatening, but.

Where did this relaxed feeling come from?

I dodged the tentacles and threw my sword into the air.

I don’t know why.

I feel like I know, but,

It was almost reflexive.

After dodging the tentacles about 20 times after throwing the sword, the sword I had thrown upwards drew an arc and pierced [Nanos]’s shoulder.

“Kugh..?!”

“….”

[Nanos] pulled out the sword that was vertically embedded in her shoulder and glared at me intensely.

[Nanos]’s current state was like a newly Awakened high-rank Awakened pouring her Awakened Ability on a Monster without knowing her own weight class.

She had gained great power, but the fact that [Nanos] was a pen pusher hadn’t changed.

Her combat skills were so clumsy that she was injured by a casually thrown sword. If I had aimed for her head, it would have been over.

Tentacles.

Yes.

Dangerous.

If I got hit properly once, I would die instantly without even having time to recover.

But it was easy to avoid compared to its attack power.

It was clear that if I got hit even once, it would be game over, but,

In the end, if I didn’t get hit even once, my HP would be at 100 percent.

I felt that the surplus from that was being converted into relaxation.

Ominous black letters.

I hadn’t overcome it.

[Nanos]’s letter color was an ominous black, but the difference in compatibility was severe. Compatibility? It was more like a difference in substance.

It was the same reason why a level 79 Hunter Hero was easily defeated by me.

“Sigh.”

I shook my head.

The world was getting darker.

Dust Cloud was obscuring my vision.

[Dust Cloud] had gathered.

[Dust Cloud], which had been torn apart by the tentacles. It approached like a sandstorm and snugly swallowed me.

Pitch-black darkness.

Frost flowed.

Magical Power 30 percent.

I increased the output and applied it to my legs.

Ready Posture

Leap

Electrical Ability.

As I gathered the power that could be used for instantaneous acceleration, sparks flew in the Dust Cloud.

The world slowed down.

The Electricity emitted by an Electrical Ability user is the will of the Ability user itself.

From the eyes to the brain.

From brain to brain.

Sparks flew and connected, and the whole process was like lightning.

The world seemed slow as the speed of thought processing increased, and I saw that the number of tentacles had increased to five, after [Dust Cloud] obscured my vision.

Those five tentacles wrapped around [Dust Cloud] and launched an unavoidable attack.

Crackle.

Crackle.

Sparks flew in [Dust Cloud] as I accelerated. I jumped over the tentacles and charged towards [Nanos].

Digging through the dirt floor, I heavily shifted the direction of my body, which had become heavy with speed.

There were no obstacles like tentacles.

A straight line to [Nanos].

I felt my body getting faster and faster, and the world returned to its original speed.

“Hoo…”

My breath was thick.

It wasn’t cold.

“….”

“….”

I stood in front of [Nanos] and looked down at her.

[Nanos]’s shoulders flinched.

[Nanos] looked up at Americano, who had suddenly appeared, and she said.

“Surrender.”

“….”

[Nanos], her eyes wide, reached out and pushed herself away.

The space in front of her palm.

A hole was created.

A tentacle flew like a cannonball.

….Gently.

I landed on that tentacle.

I crouched down and asked.

“I’ll spare you.”

“….”

“Stubborn. Do you think you can beat me with borrowed power?”

This was the first time I had faced a buffed opponent, but I understood after fighting her.

There was a difference in the details between those who had built their own power and those who hadn’t.

Details meant gaps.

The former could fill and stab those gaps, but the latter couldn’t.

That small difference was the decisive difference that determined victory or defeat.

Of course, it would be useful in its own way if it was just ridiculously strong. But it wasn’t suitable for personal combat and was more suited for large boss battles.

What’s the point of having strong tentacles?

If the main body is weak.

“…Kill me.”

“Are you ordering me?”

“Kill me.”

“How pathetic.”

I stroked [Nanos]’s head.

She gnashed her teeth as if she was resentful.

At that moment,

Shadow.

The tentacles all returned and slammed down on me and [Nanos] together.

“..?”

‘Suicide?’

First, I reflexively slipped through the gaps in the tentacles.

I also escaped with [Nanos] in both arms.

Her surprised expression soon turned sullen.

She put Strength into her Magical Power,

The floor twisted.

A large hole was drilled in the floor, and an Abyss was created below.

A tentacle shot up from the hole that seemed to swallow several buildings, and it was as big as the hole.

Americano,

“….”

Flew to the roof of a building and landed,

And looked up at the highly soaring tentacle.

The end of the giant tentacle bowed its head like ripened grain.

The end split and split, creating tens of thousands of small tentacles.

Tens of thousands of thin tentacles the thickness of an arm.

Gradually.

Gradually.

It bowed down.

The giant tentacle.

The writhing small tentacles glistened, dripping mucus like saliva.

I avoided the falling mucus. Eww.

Disgust.

Goosebumps all over my body.

I wondered what that was.

Ugh.

‘I don’t want to fight.’

But I have to kill it.

I really don’t want to, but,

It looks strong.

I felt that I would unconsciously put more Strength than usual because I hated it so much.

As the giant tentacle completely bowed its head towards me, I saw the identity of the light source shining in the middle of it.

The tentacle’s eye.

A giant eyeball.

Receiving the spotlight, I made eye contact with that giant eyeball.

An information window popped up.