episode_0160

The Abyssal Kraken.

A named monster that appears through a specific event on the island of knowledge, surrounded by a vast lake of knowledge.

Upon seeing its massive body, or more accurately, its blue and giant tentacles covered in squid suckers, one could immediately recognize its appearance.

Of course, the reason why this boss monster suddenly emerged was not yet clear.

“Why the hell is that bastard showing up now?!”

In the storyline, there were two main ways to encounter the Abyssal Kraken.

The first was to participate in an episode where the former headmaster of the Luminaire Academy, Del Rondo Prime, was attacked by the Abyssal Kraken at the lakeside and defeat it.

The second was to visit the lake with a party character who met the ‘specific conditions’ before the incident occurred, forcibly summon the Abyssal Kraken, and then defeat it.

As far as I knew, there were only a few party characters at the academy who met the ‘specific conditions,’ including Agnes.

Given that the minimum condition to summon it was having a character with a maximum magic power of over 2000, it was no wonder that there were so few.

“But Agnes, Orion, and Lala are not here, so why is it suddenly…”

Even with Ethan’s rapid growth, there was no way his maximum magic power exceeded 2000.

And there didn’t seem to be any other boats passing by at the moment. Besides Ethan, there was only me here…

“…Ah.”

It was only after reaching that point in my thoughts that I realized what mistake I had made.

As I rode the boat into the lake, along with that subtle sense of impending danger flowing through my spine.

“Damn, I exceeded the maximum magic power of 2000.”

To be precise, it was 2460. In terms of maximum magic power alone, I was almost comparable to Agnes, walking around like a magic tank.

Only now did I realize my carelessness, and for a moment, I wanted to smack my head.

Of course, it was already challenging enough to hold onto the deck of the swaying boat, so I didn’t have the luxury to do such a thing.

“Re…Release!”

“Calm down, Ethan! First, grab your sword!”

“Oh, okay!”

Even in the midst of chaos, Ethan’s sword, which was of such high quality that it had the pattern of Blackwood engraved on it, did not leave its scabbard.

That’s a relief. At least he didn’t end up being fish food without doing anything.

The confusion caused by Ethan’s confession quickly dissipated as a real life-threatening crisis approached.

Whether it was a response to the confession or not, for now, the priority was to deal with the monster in front of us.

As much as I wanted to run away, there was no way to escape the attacks of the giant arms coming down from above while on the water.

It seemed inevitable that we had to face off against the monster, even if it meant pushing ourselves a little too hard.

“This is not good…”

To exploit the monster’s weakness, the combination of the protagonist and Agnes was the most excellent.

The most standard way to defeat the Kraken was to fend off the numerous tentacles rushing to attack the boat with the protagonist’s swordsmanship and increase the damage with Agnes’s fire magic.

I had never attempted to defeat the Kraken with Ethan and Rilis. Not only did the summoning conditions not match, but Ethan was not even a playable character to begin with.

The monster was strong enough to require at least a second-year academy student to defend against its attacks.

While Ethan was strong enough to be compared to the protagonist, whether he could fend off those giant tentacles… I couldn’t be sure.

Edan’s advantage over the protagonist was his slightly superior agility and the ability to use dual swords for more varied attacks.

With the addition of Lilith’s support magic, it was possible to make him formidable enough to face any opponent.

Even the ‘Hyumdahn’ was a great match with Lilith. With Edan’s current abilities, he would probably have an even better synergy with her.

Fortunately, Lilith had a skill that could be utilized in this suspicious battle.

『Water Walking: For a certain period of time, the target character can walk on water.』

Although it was a support skill at the 2nd level, it cost 4 points to use, there was no reason to hesitate.

Being able to fight while riding a small boat was only suitable for the protagonist and Agnes, but Edan and I had our own fighting style that suited us.

『Remaining Skill Points: 9 → 5』

After decisively using the saved skill points, I cast the skill on Edan and myself.

As soon as a thin magical barrier appeared around us, I shouted to Edan, “Abandon the boat, Edan!”

“What?! Are you suggesting we swim away?!”

“No, that’s not it! Just trust me and jump onto the water! Quickly!”

Edan seemed to show a slightly doubtful reaction, as if he didn’t fully believe my words, but he still followed my command and jumped off the boat onto the lake.

-Splash!

“What, what?!”

“Water Walking! As long as I have my magic, you can stand…”

-Squelch!

“Ahhhh?!”

“Lilith!”

A moment too late, as we jumped off the boat, one of the tentacles attacked the boat we were on.

If we had stayed there, I would have been stuck to the bottom of the lake by now, the thought made my head go blank for a moment.

It was a moment where I couldn’t relax, a life-threatening battle scene.

-Splash!

“Ha, haa….”

Luckily, since Water Walking was also cast on me, my body didn’t lose balance and fall into the lake, but it was a close call.

Thank goodness. I couldn’t swim even in my past life.

With that thought in mind, I roughly brushed off my wet clothes and stood up.

Anyway, to survive, we needed to either defeat the enemy or at least deliver a blow that would make them unable to chase us.

“Lilith, are you okay?!”

“…Just focus on the battle, Edan! Is this the time to worry about me?!”

“Oh, okay!”

Upon hearing my words, Edan quickly drew his dual swords from both sides of his waist.

His eyes, focused on the Abyssal Kraken, burned with determination.

-Swish!

“It’s coming, Lilith!”

“I see it too… What?!”

A tentacle swiped diagonally towards Edan and me from above on the right.

Facing the Kraken’s tentacle, Edan fearlessly stood his ground with his dual swords.

In a moment of panic, I released Water Walking and Edan’s body plunged into the water.

-Splash!

“Ugh?!”

-Swish!

As the effect of Water Walking disappeared, Edan fell into the water, narrowly avoiding the tentacle that passed by.

If I had hesitated a little longer, Edan would have been flattened like a fly in that hand.

Anyway, why is he always so surprising?

As Edan struggled in the water for a moment, I cast Water Walking on him again, and at the same time, his body floated back to the surface.

“Phew, Li, Lilith?!”

“The Kraken’s tentacles are tough. Probably, Edan’s swordsmanship won’t be able to withstand it.”

“But, but my father even cut through the walls of Hwangdo with his sword…”

“That monstrous human and Edan can’t be on the same level! At least, he should know what he can and can’t do!”

“Ah, okay…! I won’t be greedy!”

It wasn’t that Edan’s swordsmanship was lacking. It’s just that his father was an unbelievable monster.

And probably, even the current combination of Edan and me wouldn’t be able to cut through those thick tentacles with our own strength alone, so letting them slip through was the limit.

The problem was that with that kind of combat strategy, we couldn’t defeat the Kraken with Edan and me alone.

Unlike Agnes, who could accumulate damage by using small spells multiple times, I only had one attack spell that I could properly use against that huge monster.

‘I have to somehow buy time to use Mana Blast.’

The casting time for Mana Blast is 10 seconds.

And standing in front of a creature like the Abyssal Kraken and doing nothing for 10 seconds was no different from just giving up on life quickly.

However, with Edan’s sword, he could only manage to scratch the main body of that huge monster.

Above all, the range was too short. Edan was still a swordsman who hadn’t even reached the level of a Sword Expert, so it was impossible for him to release a sword strike filled with full power.

In the end, whether we liked it or not, the most viable option was my Mana Blast.

Edan’s role in this situation was to buy time until my magic was ready.

It wouldn’t be easy for Edan, who was struggling to even deflect the pressing tentacles, to defend for 10 seconds, but I had a plan for that as well.

I almost depleted all my skill points and raised another support skill.

『Sharp Blade: Increases the power of attacks using the sword.』

『Remaining Skill Points: 5 → 1』

Now, there were no more points left to learn other skills.

If this didn’t work, well, I would just have to accept it as fate.

With that thought in mind, I bestowed the newly acquired support magic ‘Sharp Blade’ on Edan.

Immediately, a tentacle came flying towards Edan to test the performance of the support magic once again.

“Edan! I cast a support magic! Give it all you’ve got this time!”

“Aaahhh!!!”

Holding two paired swords in an X shape, Edan swung them with all his might towards the approaching tentacle.

His swords sliced through the massive tentacle coming towards him, piercing and cutting through the Abyssal Kraken’s tentacle.

– Shyaaaah!

‘Mwahhh!!!’

As soon as one of its tentacles was cut, the Kraken let out a deafening roar.

Clearly, it had an effect.