"MOVE!" Elisa shouted.
"I'M TRYING!!" Mark shouted back as he jumped to the side, leaving space for the huge tentacle to descend upon the ground powerfully. "Tsk. Twelve of them at once... And more are rising from the-"
The white-scaled Monster let its body fall flat on the ground and another tentacle wiped the area just above it.
"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO CROSS THIS PLACE?? THERE'S NO END TO THEM OR TO THE WATER!!"
Elisa clicked her tongue.
Dodging wasn't an issue for her, but damaging the gigantic and numerous enemies wasn't as simple a matter.
"I don't know. Let's focus on buying time for now." With a side flip, Elisa moved out of the way. Her Timeworn Elven Daggers drew six wounds instantaneously on the tentacle that had approached, but the lack of damage incurred by the toad-like Monster made her click her tongue again.
The Monsters were about ten to fifteen times their size, and that was simply counting the main body and not the long tentacles that seemed able to cross endless distances.
'Too big. Too many Health Points. We'll run out of Mana or Endurance Points before we can finish them. Who knows what else might be lurking under the water. If we decide to cross, we'll need plenty of energy to do that. Should we run along the border? Find when the water ends? What if it doesn't? What if we need to go back to the Rift to get around...?'
Mark jumped up to dodge the vertical swipe but,
BAM-
His body was thrown to the ground with great strength. The force was enough to make his body bounce against the ground, but Mark took that bounce as an opportunity to get back on his feet.
'Fucking blindspot... With so many of them around-'
"MARK! KRISTA!" Elisa shouted.
The two which had been struggling to dodge and fight back turned towards her without taking focus off the enemies.
"Aim for their mouths!"
"Oh..." Mark and Krista exchanged a look before they were forced to dodge the attacks.
It was a sound assumption.
The Krishren kept their bodies underwater. Anything below their upper jaw remained under at all times. At all times except when it was time to shoot the stream of compressed water. Assuming their mouth or the inside of it to be a weak point was reasonable.
"Heh..."
In the first place, attacking large enemies from the inside was a tactic Mark had learned and started using long ago.
Against the Chimera Boss Monster on the Dungeon's Ninth Floor for the first time. A fight he remembered sourly.
But this was different.
It wasn't a wound he could enter, but the Monster's mouth. Still, being inside there would be the quickest and simplest way to deal with the enemy.
Except there are 12 of those large enemies in front of him currently.
"Ke... Ke... Kek..." Muffled chuckles escaped Mark's mouth.
Aim for the mouth.
Don't get hit.
Aim for the mouth.
Don't get hit.
Keep an eye on the tentacles. Every single one of them.
Turn around to make sure you don't get hit from a blind spot.
Keep an eye on their heads. Notice when any of them opens its mouth to take in the water.
On the left, the right, behind you.
A tentacle being slammed from above.
Mark took a deep breath in.
'Do it... Just like Elisa playing tag...'
His feet started moving.
'Naturally... And casually...'
But what moved more than his feet was,
'Keep an eye... On everything!'
Notice the attack approaching.
No time to waste. Gauge how much time the attack needs to reach you. Turn around. Find the next threat. Dodge the first while glancing at the Krishren's heads. None opened its mouth. Turn left. Turn right. Oh... By moving towards the one approaching on the left, I can dodge both at once.
'Now!'
'Now!'
A fraction of a second apart, both Mark and Elisa aimed at the Krishren that had just opened its mouth.
There were eleven Krishrens by its side, so it really wasn't worried about being attacked.
A grave mistake, as a Wind Arrow and a Great Fire Ball embued with the Flames Of Chaos entered its mouth at once.
Elisa's eyes widened and the corner of her lips curled up as she noticed his attack.
'He got it-'
But just as she turned towards him, a tentacle slammed him against the ground.
'Still got some work to do...' She thought to herself.
The Krishren, having felt something enter its mouth, immediately and instinctively closed its jaws shut.
Another grave mistake that only added to the pressure, making the explosion even more violent.
'Up fast... Up fast...!' Mark repeated to himself internally as he used the momentum of his rolling body to rise on all fours and start running again. 'Those two are... Too late. I won't have the time to reach them. Keep the streams they're about to shoot in mind. Two coming from above, one from the left. This is...!'
[Your Passive Skill "Wind Burst[C+]" activates to the fullest extent!]
'The more I move, the lighter my body becomes...!' Mark felt incessant shivers go down his spine.
The smile on his face kept getting larger and larger.
The boy whose body was born with chains could run freely.
More than freely.
[Your Passive Skill "Wind Burst[C+]" is Evolving!]
Anything that dares attempt to move has to fight.
Whether to run, walk, jump, or even fall.
Anything moving fights to do so.
But only the blessed few do not need to do so.
Only those blessed by the Wind do not need to fight it.
Only those blessed by it, do not run against the Wind, but with it.
Your every movement, facilitated by the Wind.
Your every move, encouraged by it.
'This is...' With wide eyes and a light heart, the white-scaled Monster moved faster and faster, with ever-growing efficacy and efficiency. 'So much fun!'
Five seconds later, Mark's eyebrow twitched.
The movements, the rhythm, the tempo.
It had all changed.
Why so suddenly?"
"Found you." She whispered, her clenched fist pulled back.
Her speed was such that Mark couldn't dodge at all.
Turning around and raising his arms defensively was as much as he could do.
BAM-
His feet drifted on the ground about a dozen meters away.
He was still standing.
That strength.
Looking down at his broken wrists wasn't necessary for him to know how powerful she was.
Excluding Raven, she was the strongest he had ever laid eyes upon.
"Time to die, little snake." Ani declared as she slammed her fists together.
Krishrens behind him.
A Commander in front of him.
The Monster's smile grew wider.
