Chapter 85: Monster (1/2)

Force howled around Leonel's body. A towering aura surged from him, causing the octopus to hesitate. Its tentacles continuously twitched as though sensing something more monstrous than itself was standing before it.

From its vantage point, it could barely see Leonel. Its eyes were too high and Leonel was too short. Such a bug should have been all too easy to kill. So, why was it feeling like this?

Aina laid on Leonel's back, her breathing incredibly steady. Though every time Leonel made a sudden movement, she would feel a jolting pain rampage across her body, she hadn't had the slightest change in expression, nor had she made the slightest sound.

But now, she was surprised once more. This form of intimidation was so potent.

'… However… He isn't yet strong enough to boast such an aura… After a while, the beast will just be more infuriated…'

SSSSSSKKKRRRREEEEEEEEEEE

Aina had hardly finished her thoughts when the roars of the octopus shook the surroundings once more.

The two tentacles closest to Leonel slammed toward him. Due to the size of the octopus, Leonel could only stand between the two of them.

”Pour your Force into the ax.” Aina quickly said. ”It has one main ability that can be used now, you've seen it before.”

Leonel hadn't needed Aina to tell him this. He was already prepared.

His Force surged, causing the red glow of the battle ax to grow several times. An illusory blade extended from the ax's edge, expanding the size of the weapon by several fold.

”Ha!”

A roar left Leonel's lips.

His body flexed as one. His Force was wild, but his muscles churned in a controlled rage as he swung down with all his might.

The extended blade pierced into the right tentacle by several meters, but failed to make it all the way through.

At that time, the mournful howl of the octopus was followed by the strike of its second tentacle which lashed against Leonel's back.

There was nothing in this world that would have allowed Leonel to let such a thing happen. After all, Aina was on his back and she was already injured. How could she suffer such a strike?

The moment he realized he didn't have the strength to sever the tentacle in one strike, he immediately executed his secondary plan.

As though the massive ax was the hook of a rock climber, he pulled down hard, making use of the octopus's tough skin as an anchor to launch himself up and above the second strike.

Leonel landed on the top of the half severed tentacle, his steps faltering. He hadn't accounted for just how slippery the skin of the octopus would be and his feet were almost swept out from beneath him.

BANG!

The second tentacle landed on the first, having failed to squash Leonel between them like pincers. But, the impact caused Leonel, who had just barely regained his footing, to falter once more. And this time, he couldn't regain it in time.

'Dammit!'

Leonel fell to the side, the enraged and pained roars of the octopus playing as the backdrop to his clown show.

Seeing that Leonel was now within striking range of its third tentacle, the maddened beast didn't hesitate to swing toward Leonel's falling figure.

Leonel's mind spun hard and his gaze flashed.

'Since it's like this, don't blame me for taking advantage!'

Staying on top of its tentacle was too dangerous, even if it was a tentacle that he had just severely injured. If this beast grit its way through the pain, launching Leonel into the air with a casual flick would basically guarantee his death.

Leonel knew how risky this would be before he did it, which is why he tested to see if he could sever a tentacle first. After he was forced to take such a risk, he wanted to run toward the octopus's head as quickly as possible. After all, even though this monster was large, it was still only 50 meters from edge to edge, and the distance from one tip of the tentacle to its head was barely 20 meters. In that case, Leonel could still cover the distance in time.