Medusa on the 31st Floor

It wasn’t like you could see everything just by sensing Electrical Signals.

[Medusa] missed the greatest opportunity when she had the upper hand.

An opportunity to end it easily.

Americano immediately pursued [Medusa].

[Medusa]’s greatest strength was Petrification.

[Medusa]’s greatest weakness was also Petrification.

[Medusa]’s ability to turn anything to stone just by looking at it was powerful and practically a wide-area Skill.

But compared to her powerful ability, it was easy to avoid if you closed your eyes.

Of course, your vision would be blocked.

Americano’s Slash cut through the air.

[Medusa] freely moved her snake lower body to evade the Slash. It was flexible, and the snake lower body that formed her lower half was all muscle.

It possessed strength that couldn’t be compared to a human’s thighs.

[Medusa], with the upper body of a giant three times the size of a human and the lower body of a snake.

[Slash]

Clang!

A clash with a spear.

The sword was pushed back.

“Kugh…!”

What she felt colliding with the spear was rock.

No, [Ultra Iron Golem].

She struck with her sword, but [Medusa] didn’t budge.

The snake’s lower body supported her upper body by making contact with the floor over a wide area, so the spear strike supported by that was as heavy as a Golem.

[Medusa], who picked up the spear, began to counter Americano’s sword.

“Medusa!”

Her spearmanship was naturally not comparable to [High Knight Evga].

Perhaps because [Medusa]’s Petrification ability was too outstanding, her movements in handling the spear were predictable.

The spear posture and movements were roughly captured by Electrical Signals.

Combined with the electrical properties of the spear, avoiding [Medusa]’s spearmanship was easier than expected.

Clang!!!

The power contained in the spear was the problem, though.

It felt like her arm would be torn off.

“Kugh…!”

She had only been hitting the nearly stationary torso of the [Ultra Iron Golem].

A spear strike that utilized the body with will and attacked was more threatening than the [Ultra Iron Golem].

One hit and she’d be done for.

In the midst of that, her eyes.

She had to close her eyes.

The Electrical Signals were there.

But,

A rock.

A stumble.

“Medu-sa!!”

Taking advantage of the moment Americano lost her balance, she thrust her spear.

The spear came flying.

She received a strong Electrical Signal.

She twisted her body.

She avoided the spear.

She flattened herself to the ground.

She pushed off the ground with both hands and feet to create distance.

She stepped on dirt.

She grabbed grass.

───.

Electrical Signal.

The identity of what was crawling low on the ground was a snake.

It wasn’t even breathing, as if it were lying in ambush.

And there wasn’t just one or two of them.

“….”

‘What kind of stage was the 31st floor?’

A glance.

Her narrowly opened eyes surveyed the environment of the [31st floor].

There was grass.

There was dirt.

There was also warm sunlight.

This was an indoor jungle.

There was an artificially formed jungle inside a facility enclosed by a ceiling.

“Medu-!”

[Medusa] chased after her.

As she hurriedly got up,

Thwack.

“Cough…”

A tree branch.

It hit her head.

Ouch.

While the center where the stairs were located had a wide open space and a brick-paved floor,

This place, away from the center, was a lush mini-jungle where the vitality of nature lived.

Electrical Signal.

Electrical Signal.

Electrical Signal.

The surroundings were covered with creatures.

Snakes were coiled up.

At that moment, as she became unconsciously cautious with each step,

[Medusa] overtook her.

“Medu-sa.”

She brought down her spear.

She raised her sword.

[Block]!

Clang!!!

The level 1 [Block] was weak.

Americano imitated a footwork technique for a moment, dodging as if spreading her body 90 degrees.

But [Medusa]’s physical strength was strong, and without pause, the spear was swung sideways.

She was hit by the spear shaft and sent flying.

She rolled several times on the ground.

She righted her body with inertia.

“Hoo…”

It was difficult.

She didn’t have a good sense of how to deal with [Medusa].

Not quite human, not quite monster, but some strange mix of both.

Even though she had closed her eyes, it was more challenging than she thought.

Her impression from fighting her was that [Medusa] wasn’t that difficult of a monster.

If you dodged and clashed with the spear a few times, everything except the power was sloppy.

She thought she could end it quickly.

But the more she fought, the more she realized it felt different from the existing methods.

Looking back, she realized that [Medusa] was the first monster she had encountered who used skills while possessing the overwhelming physical strength of a giant.

If she looked for similar cases among the past floors, there was the [Mountain King Ogre]. But he just swung his club around as he pleased.

The [Mountain King Lord Kobold] also fought instinctively with the physical strength of speed.

A weapon called a spear.

A technique called spearmanship.

[Medusa] was the first monster to learn and use both of those with that giant body.

On top of that, Americano had even closed her eyes.

‘Annoying.’

Electrical Signals couldn’t completely replace her eyes.

Her ears and the movement of the air, excluding her eyes, added to the accuracy of the Electrical Signals, but even so, she only knew the approximate movements.

It was somewhat unstable to accurately sense the trajectory of the spearmanship.

Since sight accounted for 80 percent of the five senses, an unfamiliar restriction was holding her back.

‘Should I use my Awakened Ability?’

After all, she had already done her second Rebirth.

No, should she not use it because she had done it?

‘Ah…’

She realized.

10 minutes after the start of the battle.

She realized a beat late.

‘I did my second Rebirth.’

The goal she had strongly set this morning.

The firm goal of reaching the 50th floor.

The reason she set that goal was precisely for the second Rebirth.

She had resolved not to hesitate to use her Awakened Ability for the second Rebirth.

‘But I did it?’

She did her second Rebirth.

She achieved her goal.

Awakened Ability?

She didn’t need to use it.

The moment she thought it was okay to die anytime now, a chill emanated from her body.

The sense of duty that had unknowingly weighed down on her, such as ‘I have to do it’, ‘I will definitely do it’, ‘I can’t die here’, was stripped away, and a cool sense of liberation that could be mistaken for a chill filled its place.

“That’s right.”

Her body became lighter.

Her head was refreshed.

A smile spread across her lips.

“It’s okay to die?”

She, who had been creating distance,

Stopped.

[Medusa], who had been chasing after her, thrust her spear strongly.

A spear in the shape of a trident.

[Destroying Heaven Sword]

Bang!

It deflected it.

The spear, held by [Medusa]’s strength, only paused slightly.

She infused the [Destroying Heaven Sword] with even stronger Magical Power.

She used all Enhancement Skills.

[Ready Posture]

[Mana Cultivation]

[Berserk]

Boom!

The sword and spear.

They were both knocked away.

Americano, whose body was relatively light, was knocked far away, but

She was filled with a pleasant smile.

“Hahaha! You thought you could win by pushing with strength?!”

Three times bigger than herself.

More than that in volume.

Even though her body structure was disadvantageous, she was evenly matched in a power struggle.

No, was she still a bit disadvantaged?

She fitted the last puzzle piece.

Sword and spear.

They clashed again.

Boom!

“Medu-?!”

“Ha…”

[Leap]

“Hahaha!!! This is it!! This is fun!!!!”

She enhanced the power a little more with [Leap].

Compensating for the lacking power.

She contended with [Medusa] in power.

The thrill of contending in a power struggle against an opponent with a much higher weight class than herself.

Exhilaration.

Her body trembled.

Her bones creaked, but she didn’t care about her body’s screams.

This moment was the most enjoyable.

[Destroying Heaven Sword]

Boom!

[Destroying Heaven Sword]

Boom!

[Destroying Heaven]!

Boom!

Power.

Americano deflected the spear with her powerfully swung sword.

Still, because she was light, she almost flew away several times, but she maintained her balance with [Leap] and forcibly moved her body to take one step towards [Medusa].

Two steps.

Three steps.

She approached.

[Destroying Heaven Sword]

Boom!

The spear that was knocked away.

[Medusa] pulled the spear back and struck down again.

‘Clumsy.’

Each movement was large.

Every time she swung the spear,

Boom!

A gap was created.

A gap to regain balance.

This was because [Medusa] was handling the spear with one arm.

She was showing a very basic gap of not being able to balance her center of gravity.

[Destroying Heaven Sword]

Boom!

“Medu-!!!”

“Medusa.”

Medusa this, Medusa that.

‘I can see everything.’

A gap.

She charged in.

[Leap]

[Phantom Sword]

[Thrust]

“Medusa?!?!!”

But [Medusa] was faster.

She quickly pulled her body away with a snake-like wave.

[Thrust] pierced the air.

[Medusa] created distance.

She tilted her head.

“Annoying.”

That movement.

It would be annoying even if she could see, but it was even more challenging since she couldn’t see.

Her snake lower body muscles seemed to be more developed than she thought.

The speed at which [Medusa] pulled her body away was faster than the speed at which Americano thrust her sword.

The wave created by her snake lower body was like a footwork technique in itself.

Snake lower body, annoying.

‘I’ll cut it.’

A heavy exchange of blows ensued.

She approached with booms and bangs.

[Medusa] dodged the attacks with her snake lower body like a wave.

The moment she dodged, her snake lower body came into the attack range.

She raised her sword.

[Execution Sword]

Thwack.

It was embedded in the ground.

She missed.

“Me, Medu…”

She’s not coming.

Why isn’t she coming?

You’re supposed to come since you can see.

“What are you doing not coming.”

“Medu…sa.”

[Medusa]’s momentum subsided.

Then,

Rustle.

“Huh?”

The presence disappeared.

A glance.

Where she opened her eyes,

“Where did she go.”

[Medusa] was gone.

She ran away.

She called Cappuccino.

‘So you called me for this?’

“A mage is needed in times like these.”

‘Hmm…’

Dream Frog Cappuccino.

He might be worse than [Medusa], but Cappuccino was also clearly a high-level monster that appeared with black letters.

Cappuccino’s mental magic was strong, and Americano held him in her hand and used him like a magical tool.

She brainwashed the snakes lurking around and found out where [Medusa] had gone.

Of course, how much could she hide her tracks with that size, anyway?

As she cut through the jungle with her sword,

A pond… no, a swamp?

A swamp appeared.

In the middle of the swamp, a building was submerged in water.

An ancient Greek-style building.

It looked like a temple from a cartoon.

‘A temple?’

The temple was large in size.

It was a size that [Medusa] could freely roam around in.

By the time she entered the temple, the water level had risen to Americano’s chest.

She entered the temple.

A wide stage appeared.

Inside, [Medusa] was standing in front of a certain statue with her back to the entrance.

Since her snake lower body was submerged in the swamp and not visible, it looked like an ordinary beautiful woman was standing with her lower body submerged in the swamp.

Was she offering a prayer?

It was hidden by her back and couldn’t be seen.

‘What is she trying to do?’

“Who knows.”

She didn’t know what it was, but it felt ominous.

She couldn’t summon the [Pet House].

It would be submerged in the swamp.

She left Cappuccino attached to the temple wall, and

She approached [Medusa].