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"Oh, are you really reacting right away?"
Mary smiled with a curious glint in her eyes.
Jin reacted half-heartedly. Despite Ozdock, the core monster, being weaker compared to its prime, Jin couldn't help but wonder if it was really possible for it to survive underground in the Black Sea for a thousand years.
Kuurur... The vibration intensified suddenly.
From deep within the underground, a massive lifeform wriggled and trembled as if it were erupting from a volcano, vividly transmitting its presence through the ground.
"Oh, it feels like catching a whale on a fishing rod."
Mary licks her lips.
"Even though we don't know how weakened it has become, both of you should remain vigilant."
Murakan found such nonchalance from Mary rather amusing. He felt that she was overly confident, having never experienced the full power of Ozdock back in its prime.
Thud!
In an instant, what looked like Ozdock's 'arm' shot up from the ground, splitting the earth.
It resembled a metallic pillar. There were no apparent joints, making flexible movement seem impossible, yet the arm moved with the fluidity of molten iron.
A body with the texture of steel and the flowing nature of water at the same time. Just by looking at it, Jin had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be easy to strike.
Ozdock's arm searched for the scattered gold on the ground, and Mary watched the scene with fascination.
On the other hand, before Ozdock could fully reveal itself, Jin drew his sword. Swish! The pale blade emerged from its scabbard, releasing a faint gleam as the thunderbolts burst forth.
Simultaneously, a flashing light emanated from Jin, and the next moment, even before Ozdock could fully reveal its body, Jin sliced through Ozdock's larger arm.
'I didn't cut it.'
Jin's gut feeling had become a reality.
It was as if he had cut through water. There was only a strange and chilling sensation when the blade made contact with Ozdock's arm, but there was no sense of the dense impact when the blade sliced through flesh and bone.
"Hey, youngest! What are you doing!"
Mary shouted in frustration.
She had planned to wait for Ozdock to eat the scattered gold on the ground. It was a consideration for a fun fight.
"The prey was almost injured. It seems there's no significant damage. Phew."
"This isn't the time to be nitpicking, elder sister."
"This sister of yours was so excited that she couldn't sleep last night. It's already weakened, so I wanted to improve that monster's condition a bit before fighting..."
"That's not what I meant. Aren't you currently competing against me?"
Mary's gaze sharpened at those words.
"It means there's no time to spare. Before I finish that thing off, you need to do something too."
"Ugh, troublesome guy."
"Are you going to spread the mana bomb again after wearing a gleaming armor like last time, elder sister?"
"You're subtly tricky as well."
Swoosh!
The joints of Mary's chain sword, "Venom," separated. Dozens of blades were instantly stained with aura, and they began extending as she swung the sword.
Sharp shockwaves burst out in all directions. The chunks of gold expelled by Shuri were sliced like tofu, and Ozdock's arm was pulverized to the point where its form couldn't be recognized.
However, it wasn't a successful strike.
Ozdock's arm had only briefly lost its form due to the Venom, and as Mary stopped the attack, it swiftly regained its original shape.
Then, it hesitated over the scattered gold on the ground. The impact generated by shockwaves had sent a few pieces of gold into a pit where the arm came out.
Ching! Ching!
The sound of Ozdock clumsily consuming the fallen gold could be heard. The unpleasant resonance of the sound was full of the dark and vicious energy of Ozdock.
The two chunks of gold that fell into the pit were like sparks landing in an oil sea.
[Grrooar...!]
Once again, the ground shook with Ozdock's roar. The tremors were several times stronger than when the creature first moved, almost as if the earth could flip over any moment.
Kuuaaah!
Ozdock began rising from the ground. Explosions, large and small, erupted from various spots on the ground due to its emitted energy. Jin and Mary adjusted their stances, deflecting the debris.
Meanwhile, Murakan rode Shuri and positioned himself far away in the distance.
"Baldie's words were true. It's incomparably weaker than back then. But even so, it'll be quite challenging for these two kids."
Looks like I'll have to step in and help at the right moment.
Murakan came to that conclusion.
Even though it had been sealed for a thousand years and its body had grown feeble, Ozdock hadn't completely lost its former majesty.
Ozdock's immense shadow cast a dark hue over the land.
'It has a bizarre shape?'
'Here it comes, that thrill feeling of incredible strength.'
Jin and Mary looked up at Ozdock.
Its body was angular all over, hairless, and if there were a monkey that was the size of a fortress, it would look just like this.
A golden energy radiated from its chest, and that was Ozdock's inner core.
[Grraaah. Kooaaah.]
Ozdock, after setting foot on the ground, only made strange noises for a while. It seemed completely uninterested in Jin and Mary.
It seemed that Ozdock didn't even realize that Jin and Mary had attacked it. Its focus was solely on searching for gold, as it rolled its large red eye in the center of its face.
"It hurts my pride a bit, you know?"
Though she said that, Mary's pupils sparkled as she looked at Ozdock.
Perhaps one could feel terror at encountering an opponent who seemed invincible to physical attacks. No, most martial artists would undoubtedly feel that way when facing Ozdock.
But this story didn't apply to Mary. It was the same for Jin.
'It's probably not regeneration, but is its body like a ghost?'
As Jin pondered for a moment, Mary had already charged toward Ozdock.
Ozdock extended its long, dark tongue toward the scattered gold on the ground.
"I will keep slashing until you are gone, Ozdock."
Shaaak!
She cut Ozdock's tongue. Or rather, what seemed like slashing was the beginning.
Mary's sword, the "Venom," released blades randomly like scattered beams of light.
Streaks overlapped at a speed even Jin found hard to track with his eyes, and with each flash, Ozdock's massive body grew blurry.
For the initial few seconds, Ozdock continued to ignore Mary.
However, when the gold it was about to swallow turned into dust due to Mary's aura, Ozdock finally reacted, its red eyes glaring.
Thud!
Right after Ozdock shifted its gaze to Mary, that sound echoed.
It was the distinct sound of a trained martial artist's punch or a strike with a blunt weapon on a human body.
"Kuk!"
At the same time, Mary was sent flying and bit her lip. It was the result of being struck by Ozdock's tail on her side.
Fortunately, due to her last-minute defense, she managed to avoid fatal injury, but the mental shock was greater than the physical one.
'I almost took a direct hit...?'
A single blow.
Not even a properly prepared strike, it was an attack that seemed like an unconscious hand movement to kill a fly.
She could have almost been incapacitated in an instant. If her defense had been even slightly delayed, it wouldn't have ended with just a few broken ribs.
Observing this, Jin couldn't help but be astonished.
'With that size, it moves at a speed even elder sister Mary can't react to?'
He was on edge.
"Murakan! Is this its weakened state?"
Jin shouted and Murakan raised both arms, drawing a circle in the air.
"If it gets really tough, this mighty Black Dragon here will lend a hand, so give it your best shot. Kuhaha!"
Mary stood up again, her eyes gleaming brightly. Her whole body trembled, a mix of embarrassment and anger surged rapidly.
Instead of expressing that directly, she decided to remain composed.
In the world of martial artists, there was no one who didn't know that Mary was a mad fighting maniac Furthermore, it was a well-known fact that she loved fighting recklessly without any calculations.
Most martial artists, therefore, thought of Mary as a hot-blooded and simple person.
However, those who really knew Mary had said that she was the most fearsome when her eyes looked as icy as they did now.
'It was like this when I fought the youngest, when I killed those spectre bastards, and even now. Ever since the youngest returned, the fights have been thrilling. Now, how should I deal with this guy?'
Chirp, chirp! The fallen gold was being absorbed into Ozdock's belly.
The surprise attacks from the two hadn't been entirely ineffective. Although they hadn't inflicted injuries on Ozdock, but more than half of the gold ingots they had brought for temptation were lost in attacks.
Since the gold was the source of Ozdock's power, if it had consumed it all, it would have likely regained its vitality twice as much as now.
"The youngest."
"Yes, sister."
"To inflict physical damage on Ozdock, we'll probably have to aim for when it hardened its body for an attack."
"I was thinking the same thing. It seems to be in a state similar to air most of the time. It would have been nice if that damned Black Dragon behind us had advised us about this."
Murakan was lying on Shuri's back, watching the siblings with a grin. He even munched on the Latrie cookies they had brought along.
"Still, its entire body isn't always in a state like air. If it were, it wouldn't be able to chew and swallow gold like that."
"There must be weaknesses?"
"Yes, and there might be ways to expose its body to physical attacks as well."
Fwoosh, crackle!
Jin wielded both fire and ice magic in his palms, with simultaneous chanting.
"I'll search for a way to inflict an effective strike by using magic and strength. In the meantime, elder sister, please find its weaknesses."
"Understood."
Splat!
Spitting out the accumulated blood in her mouth, Mary closed the distance between herself and Ozdock.
Now, Ozdock was aware of Jin and Mary. At first, it had almost lost consciousness due to the smell of gold after being recently awakened from its seal, but its intelligence had somewhat recovered.
[Grrraah!]
The Venom sword was once again drawing a sharp trajectory stained with aura. This time too, Ozdock didn't dodge the attack, simply pushing Mary aside.
Despite being slammed into the ground several times, Mary extended her sword toward Ozdock without showing any sign of fatigue. However, within just about a minute, she had to experience being pushed away over ten times, hitting the ground each time.
But it was no longer a matter of Mary's wounded pride. It was because she had accepted that Ozdock was stronger than her.
'It seems to be immune to magic too.'
Fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning. Jin had tried all types of magic, yet none of them managed to land a proper hit.
It felt like an impregnable fortress.
Unless Jin discovered one more thing:
'It can't have simultaneous immunity to both physical and magical attacks...!'
Jin almost overlooked this. Since Mary was being pushed back so much, there hadn't been many opportunities for them to attack simultaneously.
It's like he has found a way out.
'Now, all that's left is... the timing to successfully execute a magic attack in line with my sister's attack?'
Easier said than done. Usually, the hardest tasks weren't straightforward.