Chapter 508 - Our fish

Even before it fully climbs out, I slide into [Focus]. [Eclipse] activates, reaching towards the fish, and Ley Lines surround the area. The pressure just feels that strong.

Sophie deploys her web structures; Luna grows to the size of a big horse, nudging Leticia to climb on her back, who forms a bow made of mana in her hand.

Lucien quickly repositions, and Tess grabs him as she runs by, both of them keeping their distance.

Gareth steps ahead, his armor becoming bulkier and silver light denser. He lifts his shield just in time as, from the mouth of the fish, a stream of water shoots at it, seemingly even slightly redirected to hit that shield, either done by the man or the fish itself. Gareth doesn't get pushed back and uses both of his hands to hold it.

Jean runs by him, and the fish turns to shoot that stream at him, but in quick succession, multiple lightning-charged javelins pierce it and make it miss.

With one smooth movement, Jean reaches the body and hits the fish, only to be thrown back with incredible force, his body acting like a pebble as it skips on the lake’s surface.

I quickly recognize a skill similar to [Reflection], and I lift up into the air, shooting a few mana javelins at it, which hit the body. So it works on physical attacks only?

Lily reaches the same conclusion, so the axe stays on her back, and instead her fist coated in [Disintegration] hits it. The attack is nearly gentle, but that gray mana eats a huge chunk of the fish's body.

Moving surprisingly quickly at its huge size, the fish turns to her, an arm swatting at her, only to be hit by lightning javelins at incredible speed and making it miss, and Lily's punch takes a huge chunk of that arm.

The fish moves again, two arms moving, but they freeze mid-air, held by Sophie.

Using the opportunity of the immobilized body, Leticia showers it in a barrage of arrows that leave some corroding effect behind, and Tess with javelins, both of them focusing on the eyes.

The surface of the lake moves unsteadily, a huge wave shooting from the fish as it moves again, a jet-like stream of water turning to Sophie, but once again blocked by Gareth. This time I notice the attack bend slightly in the air as if pulled towards the man. The same stream moves up, shooting at me, but I form a shield in front of me and block it in its entirety.

Done with my preparations, the projectile as long as a bus and as thick as a tree is compressed—woven out of my mana and kinetic energy collected and condensed.

It shoots at high speed, piercing through the head of the monster, gouging out a big piece of it and a big hole that makes it possible to see through.

The blood starts dropping onto the surface of the lake and for a moment the fish wavers before its six arms stabilize it.

With incredible speed, the wounds heal—except for those inflicted by [Disintegration]. The flesh sizzles and bubbles as it regrows, rapidly mending the damage.

From the fish's back, two more pairs of arms grow in creepy and twisting movement. Then they clap, sending vibrations through the air and a powerful disrupting wave, weakening all mana-based skills.

Not mine.

[Mana Domain] protects my body, and [Eclipse] drains the colors from the air, making the mana even more vibrant.

At the same time as Jean reaches the fish again, I shoot more projectiles, which pierce through the body, tearing the arms on the back off.

Then Jean punches it again with strength even greater than before.

This time, he isn’t immediately thrown back. A wide grin spreads across his bloodied face as part of the fish’s skin ripples, fresh wounds appearing on it—before Jean is hurled away with even greater speed and force than before.

As the fish regrows the arms and claps again, I release more of my mana; an attempt to disrupt it is countered by [Eclipse], and more and more of the surrounding colors dim down as the effect of my skill envelops the area.

From the mana surrounding me, six huge arms form, each extending and reaching down towards the monster, whose two arms on the back also reach towards me.

The six of my arms grab these two arms and pull them off, the blood exploding from the monster. Then the arms grab it to hold it in place.

The water attacks swirl, another wave about to clash against the group, but Sophie moves her arm, the water following the gesture and instead swirling around before it pressurizes, the streams shooting at the fish in the same way the fish attacked before.

Three more javelins pierce the body of the monster, Tess's primordial lightning seemingly slowing the healing a bit.

Underneath, Lily attacks the head, her punches sending threads of gray mana through the body of the monster, stopping the healing fully.

Jean is there again, delivering another punch that strips a fifth of the monster's body to the bone, blowing the flesh away in an explosion of blood. He isn't thrown away anymore after changing something in the way he attacks. A roar of satisfaction sounds from him, and he punches again, stripping more of the monster's body, the blood and flesh spraying everywhere.

Gareth and Lily are blasted away by the shockwaves of the attack, tumbling and sliding across the surface of the lake.

One of the fish’s arms moves and meets Jean's fist, blown away, and the second one follows as well.

The water that Sophie and Leticia were defending against stops spinning in the area and drops like rain, falling to the surface of the lake.

As Jean moves to deliver another attack, two of the remaining four arms, connected to mostly bones and pieces of flesh, move and slap the surface of the lake. Like an enormous geyser, water under the monster explodes in swirling patterns, cutting into Jean's skin and pushing him away.

From behind the shroud of water, a light glows.

I notice Tess lifting her hand high towards the sky and pulling it down, and as if drawn by her, a huge red and white coiling lightning crashes down from the sky against that shroud of water.

The fish runs out of it, its mouth wide open, a thick stream of water clashing against Jean. Three more jet-like attacks focus on Lily, who blocks them with her bone axe, and two of the monster's arms grab Gareth.

Luna starts running much faster than before, and the water under her starts exploding into geysers, the attack following them. Tess is experiencing the same.

It seems like we've come to the final stage.

Satisfied with what I have learned about the abilities of other members of the expedition, I pull my mana back to my crown. Mana starts spinning inside of it, ready to destabilize as I modify the frequency according to the fish's mana.

Then I notice the first expedition moving closer. All of them are in tip-top shape, seemingly having had an easy job with their fish, which seemed much weaker.

I don't like the way they are looking at us, so I use one of the Ley Lines and teleport between them and the fish.

Our fish.

***

POV Duncan

"That distance should be as far as you go," Noname says as he appears in front of us. His voice has that permanent calmness to it that is reflected in his expression.

It's dark down here, but his crown throws a bit of pale blue light onto his face. It might be only me, but the colors in the area around him seem to be washed out, other than the pale blue of the mana.

Myrril, the leader of the expedition, stops ahead; as he does so, I hear one of the remaining two B-ranks snort with amusement.

"We came to help you. Looks like you were unlucky and attracted one that’s way too strong. We won’t ask for much—70 percent should be fair for helping you take it down, right?"

It's unfortunate, but I have seen things like this happen often. When you aren't from the same planet or the same guild, the attendees are often like that. Especially now, they seem to recognize the strength of Noname's group, but at the same time, they want to take advantage of the fact they will likely be tired from the fight. Myrril stands out as particularly strong, a cut above the other two B-ranks and ranking somewhere in the lower mid-tier of B-ranks overall.

The fish Noname's group lured must be at least 200 years old, judging from the color. There is no way Myrril will let the opportunity pass, especially when it comes to a group of rookies with just a few D-ranks.

"It's fine," Noname rejects him anyway.

"You seem to misunderstand, human. It’s only because we lured our fish that you got lucky." Impatience laces his voice—typical of Myrril, a demon, and demons were never known for their patience.

Even then, Noname doesn't seem to hesitate or seem worried, "I don't know, man, you might just suck at fishing."

Like most of our group, I can hardly believe this blatant provocation. I try to convey with my expression that he should stop, that provoking the demon is a bad idea. Noname, however, merely glances at me before turning his attention back to Myrril.

"Your heart is weak, too," he adds.

Said with his blank expression, these words hit even harder.

"I bet baby demons have stronger ones. Maybe even the pets royal ladies used to have."

Ripples spread across the surface, and the fish the group had been battling in the distance is all but forgotten. Myrril’s smile widens, his eyes deepening to a darker shade of red as his black hair rises, fanning out around his head. A powerful thump echoes through the area, resonating from his heart.

I take a step ahead, just to try, "Myrril, can—"

The words freeze in my throat, my movement held at bay, and I find myself unable to move—not even a blink, not even to breathe.

"Damn, the little baby demon got an ouchie. Did I hurt your feelings?" I would expect Noname to at least change his expression or to smirk, yet it's still the same, and it makes it worse.

Myrril takes a step towards him, and incredible vibrations are sent through the area, his powerful heart generating an incredible amount of energy.

"Human, I will enjoy this very much."

"Sure. If you take another step, you will die."

The confidence Noname shows makes Myrril hesitate for a moment, but he then smirks and takes another step. "What now?"

Noname shrugs. "Kill him."

Before anyone can react, another figure stands by Myrril's side—a human girl, slim with eyes peeking from under brown hair.

That powerful demon heart beats a few times, and Myrril turns towards her, energy exploding around his body.

Then, it falters. The energy dissipates, and the demon stumbles. At that moment, his head begins to slide down his neck, falling toward the water’s surface where it lands with a splash and comes to a stop. The light in his red eyes fades slowly, surprise etched in them, and as the last glimmer vanishes, the head sinks beneath the surface.

I lift my eyes to look at that woman, but she is gone.

A panic ensues in the group as they stand in formation, skills deploying around them. Two remaining B-ranks separate from that formation, stopping near Myrril's body and grabbing it before it goes under the surface.

Both of them are demons. One who grabs the body is K'len, and the other one, Janryc, activates his mana that starts crawling on his skin, drawing blue tattoos on it; it even reaches his horns, lighting them in pale blue light.

K'len stretches and looks towards the group still fighting in the distance. "Which one of your team members should I kill first?" There is a lot of anger in his voice. He and Myrril were close and he doesn't seem to think straight currently.

Noname's own heart releases a loud thump so similar to the demons'.

K'len and Janryc both take a step ahead, their eyes becoming bloodthirsty and mouths opening in dangerous smiles at the clear challenge.

Wave after wave of kinetic energy radiates from Noname, and with it his mana. It increases more and more, the crown over his head spinning slowly and a golden shine appearing in his eyes.

The amount of mana is incredible, crashing in waves, flickering around his body with its blue light as the pressure on us increases, and this time I'm sure the colors are losing their hues, making the mana shine.

There are no more words exchanged, and it is K'len who attacks first.

***

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