⟪You have slain…⟫
I ignored the notifications and vigilantly looked at the frog monster facing me. Its tongue was submerged in the lake. If it attacked from beneath, I wouldn't be able to predict the strike, or so the monster thought.
The mana covering my body dissipated, but I didn't stop using
A thick and slimy object was moving underwater.
The frog leaped towards the other wolf. While our attention was divided, it used its tongue to attack me, and the wolf I was on, from below.
"Jump!"
My wolf leaped into the air at my shout. A pink-colored tongue came out of the water and attacked us. However, we had already moved away from that position.
The frog was surprised but it immediately tried to continue with a follow-up attack. Unfortunately for it, my wolf had already closed the distance between us.
I grasped the hilt of the black sword and swung it powerfully.
'Holy Slash!'
Black tendrils made of mana emerged from my heart and wrapped around my arms. The ominous mana continued moving. It then weaved into the sword.
A tyrannical pressure spread when the black arc of energy shot from the blade. It carried the sickening aura of death and struck the frog.
The frog monster clamored. A black gash was engraved onto its torso! Black wisps of mana were seeping into its body through the laceration and destroying everything inside!
'That's… Holy slash?'
The corrosion effect of holy slash had a very low probability to activate but it seemed I was lucky this time. The black wisps were caused by the corrosion effect melting the insides of the frog monster.
Ding!
⟪You have slain Tongue-shooter Anura, 2-star Master⟫
'I'm handsome, smart, strong, and it turns out I'm lucky, too. Sigh, I'm too good for myself.'
I took a moment to relax. The Master rank monsters were almost completely wiped out and the horde hadn't moved yet. It would take a minute at best to kill the last Master rank monster.
'Summon Hound Wolf'
I jumped back into the lake to restore my MP and summoned another wolf.
Suddenly, an acute pain shot through my mind. My eyes widened when I recognized the pain. It was the signal of my summons dying. But the amount of pain I received was too sharp.
I searched for the number of wolves remaining alive and found the reason behind the sharp pain.
The 10th Master rank monster who had stayed behind was holding two massive logs in each arm and using them to kill the wolves. Other than the 2 wolves besides me, only 2 more remained alive.
There was another log floating in the lake, hinting that the monster had thrown the log to kill a few wolves.
The monster who caused the wolves' death was of a towering 10-meter height. It was bellowing repeatedly while clubbing the wolves who attempted to approach it. Its fur had burnt at various places due to the explosions but it was completely ignoring the injuries as if they weren't there, to begin with.
I sucked in a sharp breath. The chimpanzee monster had a different appearance from what I had seen at the beginning. Its fur had turned red and it was continuing to increase in size.
It powerfully swung the log and killed the two remaining wolves at the edge of the lake. It then bent its knees and leaped towards me.
"Pick me!"
Heeding my command, the wolf picked me up by biting the back of my shirt. I used
at the same time along withThe black arc of mana struck the chimpanzee in the face, but the monster simply shrugged it off. The attack, however, changed the monster's trajectory and it fell into the lake.
"Move out of the lake!" Unconsciously, I clenched my jaws .
'Is that a berserk type skill that raises its physique in proportion to damage it receives?'
While battling the frog monsters, I thought that the other Master rank monsters didn't initiate the horde to attack because they were confident in winning. However, I now realized that I had been wrong.
The Jet Dragonflies' bombardment had gravely injured the Master rank monster, the chimpanzee. It caused the monster to go berserk. Ultimately, rendering it unable to command the horde as it had lost its mind.
The wolves jumped to cover the last section of the lake and reach the ground. However, the chimpanzee grabbed the legs of both wolves' and smashed them into the water.
Before the wolves were caught, I used them as a foothold and leaped towards the ground. I crashed on the ground and rolled to soften the impact. Ignoring the blunt pain, I canceled the wolves before they were also killed.
I was waiting for the chimpanzee to come out. Mana Sense detected a presence leaving the lake. But the thing that did come out of the water wasn't the chimpanzee.
The monster had picked a large rock from the surface of the lake and flung it at me. I coated my legs in mana and evaded the attack. It was a wrong decision.
The chimpanzee abruptly came out of the lake and punched the ground. It caused the earth to shake and I lost my footing. I swiftly regained my bearings but a massive crimson fist was already approaching me.
!'Activate Crown. Duration: 1 second!'
Ding!
[Physique]: 36.5 (+30) → [Physique]: 83.5 (+30)
'
At the last second, I used my skills to increase my Physique and attacked the fist to reduce the force behind the monster's attack.
BAMMMM!!!!
My body was thrown dozens of meters away. The impact rattled my insides. It was as if a truck had smashed into me.
I was coughing blood as I tried to stand. At the same time, the berserk transformation of the chimpanzee started wearing off.
Fortunately, I wasn't dead. Unfortunately, I wasn't dead.
My vision was painted red and the continuous ringing in my ears wasn't stopping either. I stood by using my sword as support, only to realize that I was sinking into the water.
'Lake… that's good… I can restore MP and create summons to…'
Those were my last thoughts before I lost consciousness... again.