Chapter 174: For The Yet Unknown Tales (5) |
“With joy!”
“Capture him!”
“Let me touch your chest!”
The bizarre cries of the fishermen echoed from all sides.
Having accidentally fallen while trying to cross their encirclement, I found myself too close to them.
Close enough to be touched with an outstretched hand. For now, I was resisting with a magical shield, but it wouldn’t last much longer.
Creak.
The protective barrier was already starting to crack, signaling that I had little time to prepare for the next spell. There was only one thing to do.
After gathering mana from my heart in one burst, I released it without any refinement.
Boom!
A mana explosion.
A massive wave of mana, so powerful that it seemed like a spell, exploded around me, forming a blue storm that sent the fishermen stumbling backward.
Since it was not a proper spell, the recoil affected my body, but the effects of a still-active healing potion quickly mended the damage.
This was my chance.
With limbs tingling, I forcibly directed my staff toward the thinnest part of the encirclement.
“Burn. Fireball!”
It was a short chant. But its power should not be underestimated.
A fireball the size of a head struck a fisherman’s chest and exploded.
Boom!
Though it hit only one, the blast’s aftermath knocked down a half dozen nearby. Some were even blasted away.
Seizing the revealed gap, I sprinted. Escaping this encirclement was my priority.
But would they just let me go?
“Where do you think you’re running off to?!”
Melonia, floating in the air, stretched her hand towards me. A pink ray shot from her fingertip.
The beautifully captivating color grabbed my attention, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted.
That was a kind of magic beam.
Direct combat wasn’t a succubus’s forte, so they would use a mix of dark power and gathered energy as their main attack.
This indiscriminate attack was fast and, due to the mixed energies, quite powerful.
I immediately rolled to the side to avoid it.
Whoosh!
The beam struck the ground where I was seconds ago, leaving a deep mark. Had it hit me directly, I would have lost an arm—or, considering my shield, perhaps just been severely injured.
Either way, a direct hit could have rendered one of my arms useless.
With heightened vigilance, I started running again, but the gap had already been closed.
The fishermen were surprisingly quick.
Watching out for Melonia’s attack from above, I prepared another spell.
“Bloom, frozen flower. Ice Flower!”
A bluish flower made of ice bloomed in the air ahead.
It didn’t directly attack, but it emitted a powerful chill, which should discomfort the always damp fishermen. Indeed, some were already slowing down, frost forming on their bodies.
This lasting spell could keep the fishermen at bay if I lay down a few more Ice Flowers.
It was a tactic I often used in H&A to buy time when facing aquatic monsters.
“Damn it!”
Swoosh… Crash.
The magic beam from Melonia watching above shattered the Ice Flower.
Was Melonia attacking the Ice Flower instead of targeting me directly?
“Sigh…”
When I sneaked a glance upward, I saw Melonia playfully wagging her finger. Yet her eyes seemed to vigilantly follow my every move.
This was it. She kept throwing lesser foes at me endlessly, only to intervene when I tried to escape, forcing me back among them.
She must be planning to wear me down until I was an easy catch.
A typical tactic of commander-type enemies… but Melonia was using it?
Was this her strategy because I resisted all her charms?
“Tch.”
This was not the time to let her control the situation.
Continuing to fight this way would only play into Melonia’s hands, leading to my exhaustion and capture without achieving anything.
The thought of being impaled by tentacles sent shivers down my spine.
…I needed a powerful move.
As I mentally shifted strategies, a reinvigorated fisherman thrust a trident at me.
Clang!
I deflected its side with my dagger before it could fully strike. The blow sent the fisherman’s arm lifting naturally in a wide arc.
Normally, I would exploit such an opening to cast a simple spell on his unprotected torso.
But this time, I tripped him to disrupt his balance and used my shoulder to push him down, charging forward like a shield.
“Acha hii!”
He shouted something, swinging the shaft of his trident at my back, but I ignored it.
It was just a wrist-powered strike. There was no need to activate my shield; my robe’s impact absorption would handle it.
I kept chanting spells as I used him to break through a bit further.
“Storm of fury, sing your rage.”
Whoosh.
Green and red magic circles slowly formed at the tip of my staff, a familiar prelude to the Tempest Burn spell.
Seeing something ominous, the fishermen charged even more fiercely.
They pushed forward, weapons first, or clustered together as if to crush me with their mass.
Even without using magic, I could handle them for a while.
I took hits that my shield and robe could absorb, using my dagger to deflect incoming spears and swords, intertwining them in defense.
Dodging attacks from difficult angles by twisting my body excessively was a given.
Running around like a madman while casting delicate spells was nearly impossible… but I had the system correction.
As long as I didn’t interrupt the chant, I could cast spells from any posture.
Melonia, watching from afar, started bombarding me with various spells and divine powers, seeing that I wouldn’t be subdued easily.
“If you keep resisting, it’ll be troublesome…”
A magic beam flew towards me at a difficult moment, accompanied by an overly sweet scent, a pink fog that obscured vision, and hallucinations and auditory illusions from somewhere.
Even though I had the system correction, physical limits existed.
“Guh…”
I twisted and turned among the fishermen, as if dancing, but Melonia’s magic beam grazed one shoulder.
Blood trickled down. I felt strength leaving my left arm, which held the dagger.
Though I could still swing it, it was impossible for me to make quick movements now.
But it didn’t matter. The spell was ready.
Surrounded by the crowd of fishermen and Melonia frowning from afar, I lifted my staff high.
“Tempest Burn!”
I uttered the activation word clearly, and the magic vibrated wildly, scattering its majesty around.
Whoosh!
A giant fireball formed above, its heat prickling even my skin. The moment their attention focused on the fireball…
It unleashed its heat in all directions.
Kwaaaa!!
Like a tornado blazing around me, fishermen relying on their tough scales turned to ash, and those who belatedly tried to flee were caught in the strong updraft and burned in the air.
Of course, I properly chanted the spell, with resonance in the magic circle and an overload of mana infused into the Tempest Burn, making its power closer to an intermediate level than a lower one.
This should reach Melonia.
Yes, if it could hit her.
Just before the rising flames could touch her, Melonia fluttered her wings and soared away, avoiding the Tempest Burn.
“Wow… are you really just a student? Setting aside our plans getting completely ruined, I didn’t understand how that annoying Edmerek died… but now I see. You’re quite strong, aren’t you?”
“Well. Maybe I’m weaker than I appear. Who knows until you get hit?”
“Ah, seeing how hot you’ve gotten up to this point, it would’ve hurt to get hit, right? So, a genius does exist, huh? Did you know? People with talent also have delicious energy. I wonder what yours tastes like. Aren’t you done struggling? Why not just let yourself be caught?”
“Go to hell.”
“Whose refusal should I start with? You know I have my ways, right?”
“……”
Seeing Melonia’s giggling face made me impulsively cast another spell.
“Thunder Bolt!”
Crackle!
A quick bolt of lightning struck Melonia’s shield. As expected, it was completely blocked.
There was not a single crack on her smooth shield, and behind it, Melonia frowned in annoyance.
“Hmm… still full of energy, I see. Let’s talk again when you’re a bit more drained.”
With a light wave of her hand in the air, the fishermen, who had retreated in fear of the full-power Tempest Burn, began charging like madmen again.
Their appearance, with swollen lower parts, was incredibly irritating.
I gritted my teeth, dealing with the onslaught of fishermen and the occasional attacks from Melonia.
Even though Tempest Burn was the most powerful spell I had, it wouldn’t work on Melonia.
It was too slow, despite its power. It couldn’t catch up to her agility in the air.
If things continued like this, I’d just end up exhausted and fall into her trap.
What should I do?
What spells did I have that could bring down Melonia?
Average projectile speed wouldn’t do. With that prerequisite, only lightning and wind elements remained.
But wind, while having a wide range and being fast, was comparatively weaker.
Even if it reached Melonia, it wouldn’t break through her shield, so it was out of the question.
So, was lightning all that was left?
It wasn’t an element I was familiar with, but a slight opening might be enough.
If I could just get the dagger through a crack in her shield…