Chapter 136: Kraken Subjugation Battle (2)

As soon as I saw the blue arrow that appeared along with Do Sihee’s voice, many thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

A sudden flicker of hope crossed my mind: Could it be that I had been so focused on the fight that I’d been confronting the Kraken for over two hours, and during that time, Eunbyul and Do Sihee had returned with reinforcements?

Unfortunately, judging by the sound of only one helicopter, such a hopeful future was obviously not the case.

“Sungchul-ssi!!”

…I definitely told them to run away.

Should I express my gratitude to Do Sihee and Eunbyul, who had saved my life once in a desperate situation?

Or should I get angry, feeling like they’d ruined my sacrifice? I didn’t know how I felt.

I also wondered if I should have suggested fighting together from the start, knowing it would end up like this anyway.

“…Haa, seriously.”

Anyway, for now, I had to put other things aside and focus all my strength on dealing with the Kraken right in front of me.

I couldn’t just give up because the situation seemed bleak and hopeless.

Because now, the moment I fell, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice to save someone else; it would be a pointless death alongside everyone else.

It wasn’t a very satisfying way to end my life.

“Get away from Sungchul-ssi!”

As soon as Do Sihee’s voice echoed from the air, a blue arcane arrow pierced the Kraken’s limb, and the tentacle that had been approaching to finish me off recoiled in surprise at the arrow.

So, even if it didn’t have enough power to destroy a limb, it had enough to startle it momentarily and make it retreat. The potential for utilizing this seemed sufficient in many ways.

The problem was my internal energy, which I’d already scraped to the bottom and completely used up. If I, who could deliver effective blows, couldn’t do anything, her enthusiastic support would be meaningless.

Although I felt my internal energy slightly recovering while catching my breath for a moment, I instinctively knew it was still impossible to use any proper skills.

‘Esila.’

“This is Esila.”

‘Anything is fine, like the point shop or whatever, but is there any way to replenish my internal energy?’

“We are currently selling a service in the point shop that uses all of Kim Sungchul-nim’s remaining points to replenish your internal energy accordingly.”

‘If I use all the remaining awakening points, how much will it fill?’

“It’s about 15% based on Kim Sungchul-nim’s current maximum internal energy.”

‘…For now, use it all and replenish it.’

It was disappointing that it didn’t fill up explosively as I’d hoped, but it couldn’t be helped. This must be the limit of what I could expect with just 60 points. Honestly, barely managing to cut off four legs with the internal energy I scraped together was far from enough.

…But that was only when Do Sihee wasn’t around.

“I told you to get away from Sungchul-ssi!!”

If that blonde young lady shooting arcane arrows from the helicopter could remove even just one or two of its legs, there might be a chance.

‘Esila, how much internal energy do I have left right now?’

“About 19%.”

‘Tell me every time it’s consumed. I need to calculate.’

“Understood.”

First, I used the replenished internal energy for emergency recovery, self-healing the fatigue-accumulated bones and muscles in my body. I didn’t have the luxury to heal the minor scratches and grazes, so I just healed enough not to hinder my free movement.

“Remaining internal energy is about 12%.”

It required consuming a whopping 7% just for that, but it was necessary. If I could somehow use the remaining 12% internal energy to cut off two legs, including a tentacle-arm, and if Do Sihee could remove even one of the remaining four legs. If that happened, I could finish it off before the legs cut off so far regenerated.

I explained the hastily put-together plan to Do Sihee, who was hovering in the air, to share my thoughts with the blonde archer.

“Sihee-ssi!”

“…Yes!!”

“Please keep drawing its attention! In the meantime, I will cut off another tentacle-arm!”

“…Yeees!!”

Taking advantage of the opening created by the Kraken’s attention being focused on the arcane arrows Do Sihee was shooting, I readjusted my grip on the greatsword and approached its main body. To disable its remaining tentacle-arms, I had to cut off more than half of at least one with a single strike. Therefore, while she was shooting arrows, I ran towards the tentacle-arm on the opposite side at full speed, greatsword in hand.

With a Kung! sound, as soon as I approached the monster, its longest leg moved to crush me. Perhaps instinctively knowing it was dangerous if its one remaining tentacle-arm was attacked, the monster’s other legs also joined forces to try and block my approach, but…

“Not like that!”

A volley of arcane arrows flying from the air hit multiple legs at once, making it recoil temporarily. Although the power of each individual arrow decreased as they scattered, there was no other Area of Effect skill quite like it for drawing attention.

“………!!!”

Although no cry was heard, I heard the slimy friction sound of the monster nervously moving its tentacles, as if annoyed. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the time Do Sihee bought me, I was able to reach the midpoint of the monster’s left tentacle-arm. I slashed the Mithril greatsword, imbued with something-whether Ki or Nae-ryeok, I didn’t know-directly onto its tentacle-arm. An unpleasant sensation flowed through my hands as I cut through something squishy yet solid, but with this, I had somehow managed to deal with the monster’s most troublesome weapon.

“………!!!”

“Kkwaaak!”

“Sungchul-ssi!”

Of course, the monster wouldn’t stay still after losing a leg, so I had to fly through the air again after being hit by its thrashing tentacles, but… Fortunately, this time I landed on the sandy beach with less debris from the Kraken’s corpse, so the situation was relatively better.

…Obviously, it still hurt.

“Awe, damn…”

I tried to quickly get my aching body up, but unfortunately, the monster moved faster than I could. Thinking survival came first, just as I was about to channel my internal energy into a slash against the approaching leg…

“I told you to get away!!”

A few arrows flew in once again, making the Kraken flinch. Thanks to that, I could somehow preserve what little internal energy I had left. I didn’t know how much, though.

“Currently remaining internal energy is 2%.”

‘What?’

“The Kraken’s tentacle-arm has stronger durability than its other legs, so cutting it off required consuming much more internal energy.”

…If Do Sihee hadn’t created that opening for me, I would have been crushed. I had already used all the awakening points I scraped together, and now my remaining internal energy was only enough for maybe one or two spells. It was truly a situation where I had to entrust the handling of the remaining legs to Do Sihee.

“………!!!”

Meanwhile, perhaps annoyed by the arrows that had repeatedly interfered with it, the Kraken shifted its focus from me to the helicopter in the air. Just like before, it fired an ink cannonball directly towards the helicopter.

Hit by the suddenly incoming ink cannonball, the helicopter swayed violently, and Do Sihee leaned out past the door due to the impact.

“…Kyaaak!”

“Master!”

Fortunately, she managed to hang on by grabbing the helicopter’s floor strut with one arm just before falling, but it was a very difficult position to get back into the cabin from mid-air. Furthermore, the Kraken seemed to be preparing its next ink cannonball immediately, and sensing the crisis, I quickly shouted to Do Sihee.

“Let go and fall, Sihee!”

The blonde young lady let go without hesitation as soon as she heard my words. Her body fell from 50 meters in the air, and immediately after, the ink cannonball struck the underside of the hull she had been clinging to. I put the greatsword into my subspace pocket and ran towards her as she fell, at full speed.

“Kyaaaaaaak!!!”

Even while falling, Do Sihee tightly clutched her bow and curled up, getting closer and closer to the ground. Finally, when she reached about 20 meters above the ground, I threw myself forward at a 45-degree angle. I felt Do Sihee’s soft body fit snugly into my arms mid-air, and right after, holding her, I landed firmly on my feet on the sandy beach.

“Are you okay?!”

“Y-yes… Sungchul-ssi…”

Do Sihee, blushing within my arms, quietly nodded. Her expression was quite cute, but obviously, it wasn’t the time for a leisurely moment confirming our feelings.

“W-what do we do now, Sungchul-ssi?”

“What else? We need to defeat that half-dead Kraken and escape again. Seeing as no monster stronger than the Kraken has appeared yet, it seems like this monster wave’s boss is that one.”

Monster waves usually subside once the boss monster is defeated, so if we just defeat the Kraken, we should be fine somehow.

“At least we cut off two tentacle-arms, so it’s not entirely impossible.”

“B-but my arrows can’t destroy the legs of an S-rank monster like the Kraken. At best, the impact just stops it from approaching for a moment…”

“What about Eunbyul-ssi? Is Eunbyul-ssi’s ability the same?”

“Eunbyul’s awakened ability is controlling blades using magnetism. However, there’s a limit to the weight of blades she can control, so it would similarly be difficult to deliver effective blows.”

“Neither option is ideal…”

Moreover, while I was thinking it would be difficult just to reunite with her piloting the helicopter…

“Master! I’m coming down too!”

Suddenly, Maid Eunbyul’s voice seemed to reach me from the air. Wondering what she meant, I looked up at the sky and saw Maid Eunbyul, wearing a parachute, falling from above Do Sihee and me… the helicopter that had been flying moments before flew off in the opposite direction and began to crash.

The aerial vehicle made a cheerful Kwa-kwang! explosion sound as it spectacularly blew up along with one of the Kraken’s legs. It was fortunate that the number of tentacles to deal with had decreased, but…

“…I have joined you, Master, Kim Sungchul-nim.”

…Now who’s going to give me a ride home?