Chapter 180: No Opportunity
Among the escaping adventurers, only four people had still remained outside the circle or rather a metre or two away from it, sprinting as fast as they could to reach it. The rest of them were already inside, huffing heavily as they anxiously waited for their companions to arrive.
For a moment, it felt as though time itself had slowed down, causing every movement to appear sluggish and drawn out.
At that moment, all four of the leaders lunged toward the creature at once.
The numerous jolts of lightning hovering above shot through the air and descended upon the creature like a vast net woven out of lightning, surrounding it from the front, both sides, and above in the blink of an eye while leaving it seemingly no opportunity to dodge or block.
At the same time, thick javelins made out of water burst from the ground both beneath and behind it, hurtling toward the creature to tear through its body.
Judging from its position, there seemed to be no possible way out of the barrage of spells. But despite that, its figure blurred as it shifted between nearby positions, evading the lightning strikes and water javelins one after another with astonishing speed.
In fact, out of all the attacks launched toward it, not a single one managed to touch its body, let alone harm it.
Having failed to hit their target, the lightning bolts crashed into the wall behind it, carving deep grooves and craters in their wake while shards of stone exploded outward.
The moment the creature came to a halt once more, tendrils of water shot from the ground and wrapped themselves around its legs, elbows, and torso, binding it firmly in place and preventing it from moving.
Though it would only last for a second... and perhaps that was all they needed.
Seraphina's entire figure was encased in dancing sparks of lightning, increasing her speed and agility by a considerable amount. The crackling energy rapidly gathered at the tip of her sword as she thrust upward, aiming directly at its neck.
At the same time, an elegant katana flashed through the air as it descended in a diagonal arc toward its knee, threatening to sever the limb clean off. From behind, a massive greatsword swept horizontally toward the creature's upper waist with enough force to split apart solid stone.
Out of the four leaders, three of them were professional swordsmen who heavily relied upon their weapons in battle. Under normal circumstances, attempting to strike a target only slightly taller than themselves from multiple directions at once would have caused their weapons to collide or obstruct one another's attacks, but despite that, they somehow managed to execute a flawless coordinated assault.
Valentina, on the other hand, possessed no tangible weapon at her side, nor was she familiar with wielding one.
That was perfectly fine with her, though.
She had never required one to begin with.
Her magic was a weapon in itself, after all.
Condensed water gathered around her fist and compressed under immense pressure, taking the shape of a miniature whirlpool whose swirling maw seemed capable of crushing anything in its path. With all of that force concentrated into a point, Valentina drove a devastating punch toward the creature's shoulder.
However...
Just as all of the attacks were about to land simultaneously, the creature leaned backward and tilted its head to the side, allowing the sword aimed at its neck to pass harmlessly by.
At the same time, the tendrils of water binding its body began to ripple around the points of contact before collapsing into ordinary water and spilling back onto the ground.
With nothing left restricting its movements, the creature showed no signs of hesitation.
It simply took a step backward, and the descending katana somehow missed its knee by a hair's breadth. In the same motion, it stepped forward again and delivered a devastating kick toward Mistwalker's wide-open chest.
Given the position she was in, the attack should have been impossible to dodge, yet she still managed to react by altering the trajectory of her weapon and bringing it in front of herself to block. Even so, the impact launched her through the air.
The creature then raised a hand toward the opposite side and allowed the miniature whirlpool to crash into its palm. A surge of water exploded outward upon impact like a powerful tide slamming against a riverbank and attempting to break through it.
Despite the undeniable force contained within the attack, however, it proved completely ineffective since the creature did not even sway from its position.
Valentina's eyes widened.
'Curse it!'
Seraphina, on the other hand, noticed that her sword had missed its target, so she immediately changed its trajectory from a thrust into a downward cut, intending to split its shoulder open. However, the creature simply sidestepped with a slight movement and avoided the blade with ease before driving forward and delivering a devastating fist straight into her abdomen, sending her flying back several metres.
At the same time, Valric's greatsword descended toward the creature's waist, but due to its earlier movement, the blade ended up cutting through nothing but empty air.
'Not good!'
Before Valric could even realize what had happened or react to it, the creature was already standing right in front of him, staring down at him from such a close distance that he could clearly see the strange patterns covering its armor.
Then it turned its head and cast his weapon a curious glance, as though studying every detail of it with genuine interest.
'What exactly is it trying to determine?'
He expected it to strike him or at least knock him aside after satisfying whatever curiosity it had, however, the creature simply lost interest, turned away, and began walking as though nothing had happened.
It was as if it had discovered a simple truth... he posed no threat to it whatsoever.
It deemed him unworthy of subduing!
He instinctively tightened his grip around the hilt until his fingers turned almost white, but after a moment, he loosened it again before letting out a quiet sigh.
'It's no time to feel sentimental about that. Whether it looks down on me or not changes nothing,... I will just have to make sure it regrets making that decision.'
Not long after, Valentina stepped forward once more and delivered another crushing blow with her other hand aimed at the approaching creature. Condensed water spiraled around her arm like a massive whirlpool which was nearly twice the size of her body, while mana continuously surged through her muscles to push the attack to an even greater speed.
Just as the enormous whirlpool was about to engulf the creature, it lunged forward and drove its fist straight into the centre of the attack, taking it head-on.
The raging whirlpool immediately tried to stop the incoming fist, its torrents twisting violently around the bone armored gauntlet in an attempt to crush it beneath the overwhelming pressure, but the creature's fist tore through the condensed water as though it meant nothing at all before colliding directly with Valentina's own fist, sending a terrible shockwave mixed with countless streams of water sweeping throughout the hall.
Despite her arm being constantly augmented by mana, it still failed to withstand the monstrous strength behind the collision. And so, the bones inside her hand shattered apart while flesh was mangled, causing her elbow joint to protrude outward in a ghastly manner.
"Argh!"
The creature, however, did not even allow her the chance to comprehend the pain before it lashed out with its claws, tearing across her body from chest to abdomen while carving deep crossed gashes into her flesh.
Blood poured from the wounds in great quantities, but before even a drop could reach the floor, another strike sent her flying away like a broken doll.
At that moment, a jolt of lightning tore across the hall as Seraphina appeared before the creature in the blink of an eye.
'Third Form:'
Her sword, shrouded in radiant lightning, descended from above in a wide arc with unbelievable speed and flawless precision.
Above her, a massive serpent loomed like a scythe, its scales and fangs formed from condensed lightning that continuously flowed through its body. Its enormous maw was wide open as though prepared to devour the creature, while its eyes reflected her own with blue flames dancing deep within both of their pupils.
Every movement it made remained perfectly synchronized with the motion of her sword, making it appear as though the serpent itself was delivering the attack.
'Serpent's Wrath!'
Since its armor was impossible to pierce, she had decided to use the third form of her sword technique... which allowed her to cut through anything she wished.
Or so she thought.
The creature calmly raised one hand and caught the descending blade without the slightest trace of effort, as though neither its incredible speed nor its impossible sharpness held any meaning before it.
The moment the serpent descended, its hand should have been severed cleanly from the wrist, but instead, the enormous serpent dissolved into countless strands of lightning before it could even reach its target.
Her most powerful attack, which she had never seen blocked by anything or fail to cut anything ever before... turned out to be completely useless against it as well.
'Ah!'
In the next moment, the creature thrust its claw straight through her chest, tearing through both her armor and flesh before bursting out from her back with chunks of flesh clinging to its claws.
She tasted salt in her mouth.
The creature slowly lifted her body high into the air so that everyone could see her from behind, blood poured out from the wound like a miniature fountain.
Her fingers gradually lost all strength as the sword slipped from her hand and fell onto the ground with a soft thud.
Kael froze in shock, his heart sank.
For a moment, everything fell into absolute silence where no one spoke a word but only kept staring at her with wide eyes and shocked expressions. Even the adventurers who had been running toward the circle came to an unconscious halt and turned their heads in disbelief.
Amidst the suffocating silence, Seraphina raised her trembling hand and grabbed the creature's wrist.
Then she ordered through blood-strained lips, "Don't look back! Keep running!"
Blue flames danced behind the visor of her helm as her lips curved upward into a cold, deadly smile.
'Incomplete Lightning Field!'
In the next moment, countless bolts of lightning burst outward from her body before spreading wildly through the surrounding space, forming an unstable field that trapped both her and the creature inside. One after another, massive pillars of lightning descended from above and struck them both with deafening thunderous roars, illuminating the entire hall in a brilliant blue light that swallowed everything else from sight.
Every strike carried overwhelming destructive force, causing the floor beneath them to shake until deep cracks spread across the floor in every direction. Curling smoke continuously rose from those fractures as though something beneath them had begun to burn.
Kael could only make out their vague silhouettes through the blinding light, completely unable to see what was truly happening inside the storm. But the lingering currents spreading through the air made his skin tingle from time to time.
'Will she be able to do it?'
As time passed though, the relentless barrage continued, each thunderous strike arriving before the echoes of the previous one had faded, until...
Everything came to an abrupt halt just as it had begun. The deafening thunder vanished, the violent lightning disappeared without leaving behind even a spark. Only the thick hot smoke continued rising from what remained of the shattered floor.
His heart nearly stopped.
'What? It's... over... just like that?'
But Seraphina was not someone who could be stopped that easily, not when she had gone all out, unless she had lost consciousness or perhaps...
'No! It can't be!'
He kept staring at the scene with an inexplicable feeling weighing heavily inside his heart until, through the thinning smoke, he noticed a lone silhouette standing perfectly still.
His heart skipped a beat.
Suddenly, something shot out from the smoke before crashing onto the ground some distance away from him, then rolled several times across the broken floor before finally coming to a halt.
It was Seraphina.
Some parts of her armor had cracked while others were scorched black, thin streams of smoke rising through the damaged plates. Her neatly combed silver hair had become disheveled with many strands burned away. The moonlight-white skin of her beautiful face was covered in severe burns, some parts damaged to the point where they were barely recognizable.
Kael immediately rushed toward her.
Not far away, the creature took a step forward before emerging from the lingering smoke and revealing its body once again.
Surprisingly, this time it was no longer completely unharmed as thin streams of steam continued rising from its body, while the seemingly impenetrable bone armor covering its shoulder and chest had developed several visible cracks.
Although the damage Seraphina had inflicted seemed insignificant when compared to the creature's outstanding endurance, it was more than enough to prove that the creature was not truly invincible.
It could be harmed.
Which also meant... it could be stopped.
It was simply that none of them possessed enough strength to accomplish such a feat yet.
He was not sure whether Seraphina would still be capable of casting another spell like that, or even lifting her sword again for now. Judging from her pitiful condition, it was obvious that whatever she had unleashed was a double-edged sword.
She undoubtedly possessed one of the finest lightning affinities, but that did not mean she was immune to its destructive power either, especially after allowing such violent lightning to strike without restraint while leaving herself completely defenseless in the process.
As he reached her, the creature bent down, picked up the sword lying on the ground, then threw it toward her.
The blade tore through the air and appeared before Seraphina in a flash, its tip hovering dangerously close to her neck, barely an inch away from severing it clean.
Just then, Kael thrust out his only hand and caught the blade in mid-air with his bare palm. His fingers tightened around the sharp edge until it dug deeply into his flesh, warm drops of blood trickling down from between his fingers.
Still kneeling beside Seraphina, he raised his head and shot the creature a look filled with cold hostility, dark flames dancing in the depths of his eyes.
Cough! Cough!
The sound of his wife's cough reached his ears, pulling him back to his senses. He immediately turned away from the creature before gently putting the sword aside.
'What the hell am I doing? It's no time to get distracted like that... I need to focus.'
Seraphina had received one fatal wound which the lightning strikes had made even worse along with several burn injuries, though that was all he could see... so, he was unaware of the damage hidden inside her body. Perhaps it would be safe to assume that the rest of her body had suffered the same way as her face.
'Damn it, darling, why are you so reckless?'
Taking a soft sigh, he was about to place his hand over her chest when her hand suddenly rose and slapped his hand away.
Her sleepy blue eyes stared at him with a strange hint of emotion, her lips parting slightly as she said, "Don't... you dare."
Kael was dumbfounded for a moment.
At first, he didn't quite understand what she was trying to stop him from, but then he recalled how he had tried to touch her before, just to get on her bad side so that she would continue ignoring him.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
'Do I seriously look like the sort of shameless pervert who would use healing as an excuse to touch an injured woman... my own wife, no less? Really?'
Of course, he wanted to say those words straight to her face, but to avoid exposing his true identity... he decided against it.
Regardless, any other healer would have found it difficult to treat such severe injuries without examining the wounds first, but things were much simpler in his case. Though he still had to be careful about what kind of spells or healing methods he revealed. His wife was aware of his element, after all.
Eventually, he let his hand hover a few inches above her wound as a radiant green glow blossomed from his palm, engulfing her chest like a miniature sun. The charred flesh rippled gently before restoring itself little by little, steadily, yet miraculously.
'This speed should be convincing enough.'
Although he was capable of healing her much faster than this, there was no reason to do so since attracting unnecessary attention was the last thing he wanted.
His gaze wandered toward the creature.
Out of nowhere, a massive greatsword descended from above, its blade wrapped in swirling water before crashing down upon the creature's head, only to be intercepted by a jian, causing a powerful shockwave that swept through the hall.
The creature knocked the greatsword aside before driving a devastating kick into the man's waist, crushing his armor inward and sending him hurtling through the air.
With the last of the leaders defeated, there was no one left to keep the creature occupied anymore. The worst part was that the adventurers still had not managed to escape, which meant the leaders had failed to buy the time they needed.
'What now? Who is going to stop it?'
..At the far end of the hall, opposite Kael, Valentina lay motionless upon the blood-stained, broken floor like a lifeless corpse. The fingers of her outstretched hand twitched ever so slightly.
'I won't let you... go anywhere near them.'
Her fingers curled into a tight fist.
'Now... drown!'
---
(Chapter Ended)