章節 195: Chapter 354
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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.
章節 196: Chapter 355
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[Grrraah!]
Ozdock roared as it slammed both its hands into the ground. The impact not only caused the ground to crack and rocks to scatter like roasted beans but also triggered an earthquake. Mary's body was propelled into the air by the shockwave.
Then, Ozdock extended its fist toward Mary as she hovered in the air.
Crunch!
The enormous fist tore through the air, emitting an unsettling cracking sound. If Mary took a direct hit, even her blessed Runcandel's body would have been heavily injured.
However, just like Barton had done, Mary released sword aura into the air, rapidly altering her position.
Moreover, at the moment Ozdock's fist struck the air, she managed to wrap her sword, Venom, around its arm.
Twist, twist!
Mary pulled coiled venom, elongating Ozdock's arm into a spiral.
Although sparks flew due to the friction between the Venom and Ozdock's arm, she was still unable to a effective strike.
Ironically, before Mary could even touch the ground, she was countered. As Ozdock's tail reached out along with its fist, Mary had to lift her arm to block the attack.
Swoosh!
Mary exhaled as she staggered back. The gruesome mark on the ground followed the direction she had retreated.
"It is much better than I expected."
However, rather than disheartening Mary, it only further ignited her fighting spirit.
In fact, she was feeling a bit disappointed.
'If it weren't for the youngest and Lord Murakan, I could have enjoyed a more thrilling fight.'
That was the source of Mary's disappointment.
No matter how outmatched she was against Ozdock, the stakes were not about "risking her life."
She trusted her youngest brother behind her, and the same applied to Murakan behind them.
No matter how strong of a monster Ozdock might be, as long as they were there, Mary believed their odds of winning were close to 100%.
'I need to read the flow before my sister gets tired.'
Jin hadn't yet initiated any attacks.
He was reading "Mary's flow."
It involved attacking from a different angle, in a different way, at the same time.
Even for a duo that had perfected their teamwork, successfully pulling off such a feat was far from easy.
For a while, Jin just observed without taking any action, and Mary didn't show any resentment. She had sensed what her youngest brother was calculating.
As the exchange of attacks between Mary and Ozdock continued several more times, Jin slowly gathered his mana in his palms, as if his calculations were coming to an end.
'The little brat is truly remarkable. Did he manage to read his sister's attack flow during that short opening?'
Of course, Murakan was also secretly admiring Jin's plan.
And on the battlefield, there was another man who shared similar thoughts with Murakan.
'Ohoho, Jin Runcandel. This is interesting. They didn't praise him for nothing.'
He concealed his presence completely, hiding on one side of the battlefield and observing the group since earlier.
And no one had noticed his presence.
With a sly smile, the man continued to watch the fight unfold.
Sizzle!
The blue flames of the ruler of flames flared up.
Then, the ruler of the Flame World extended its long neck through a dimensional gate, roaring as Ozdock flinched and turned its head.
"Where is this monster bastard looking in front of me!"
Seizing the opportunity, Mary leaped upward and thrust her sword into Ozdock's jaw.
Until now, she hadn't found any openings, so it's the first time she attacked the face.
Bang! The Venom's blade was stopped by the teeth, unable to enter the creature's throat. But a wicked grin spread across Mary's lips.
"Oh, you have a weak tooth?"
Ozdock trembled.
One of the teeth that touched the blade was clearly shaking unsteadily, transmitting a sensation through the blade of the sword.
A weak tooth – that was Ozdock's first weakness. Moreover, the creature seemed to shudder quite painfully upon its tooth being struck, as if in discomfort.
"The youngest!"
At Mary's call, Jin nodded as if understanding. He immediately signaled Tess to use its breath at Ozdock's jaw, while simultaneously weaving new offensive magic in his hands.
A 7-star Flame orb and an 8-star Hellwind. The swelling mass of flames and wind grew to the point where they seemed ready to burst. As they were released, Ozdock took its first steps backward.
Blocking the magic wasn't a challenging task, but Ozdock realized it instinctively. The two humans before it had found two ways to hurt it.
The teeth and physical blow simultaneously with magic attack.
A thousand years ago, when Ozdock first became a core monster, humans took quite a long time to discover this weakness.
Back then, Ozdock was several times stronger than it was now, and there weren't many individuals capable of close combat and searching for its weakness.
[Grrooaaar!]
Ozdock roared as it raised its fist.
However, the flames of Tess penetrated between its fists and headed toward its jaw, causing all of Ozdock's focus to be drawn to the flames.
Mary, being clever, targeted its ankle. If it were her youngest brother, he would have likely known that hitting a different spot instead of focusing on the teeth would be more advantageous.
That thought hit the mark.
The two spells Jin had prepared were flying towards Ozdock's right ankle. They were perfectly aligned with Mary's charge toward that spot.
At the moment when both attacks struck the ankle, there was not even a second of discrepancy.
Thud, crack!
"Well, you managed to hit it all at once! Good job, my youngest."
The characteristic sticky blood of demonic creatures sprayed from Ozdock's ankle. The spewing blood coated Mary's hair and armor, but she was smiling with a sense of satisfaction.
On the other hand, Ozdock intended to tear the blue flames from its face and regenerate its ankle.
So it let out an unpleasant scream that surpassed the cry of ruler of blue flames, attempting to delay the two's attacks even a little. But the Runcandels weren't the type to retreat just because of a scream.
"Now's the time to take the hits until you fall, Ozdock!"
Mary shouted as she put a new aura on Venom. After being hit by Ozdock's fist and tail on the ground dozens of times within just a few minutes, so the moment of counterattack was bound to be exhilarating.
Jin prepared successive offensive magic spells.
As things were, they could likely achieve victory without resorting to techniques like decimating effusive flame orb.
"Ahahaha!"
Mary felt like a "Magic Swordsman."
Whenever she attacks, Jin's attack magic assists her, just like two frames that fit perfectly together.
Even if she were to awaken to another level as a martial artist, she even started to wonder whether she could perform attacks that were even better and more efficient with Jin's magic attack assistance.
'Now I understand why Lord Murakan said that the ancient Runcandel Magic Swordsmen were the most powerful of the time.'
Nevertheless, they had the upper hand.
Ozdock's gigantic body was now almost completely bloodied and its movements had notably slowed down.
Its fingers had been severed, and a few of its teeths had melted away from Tess's flames.
However, as time went on, Mary and Jin's attacks were growing stronger.
In particular, Mary's stamina was recovering as she didn't have to avoid or block Ozdock's attacks like before.
'My sister is also a monster. After taking such a beating earlier, she's only becoming more fierce.'
If only considering pure stamina, even calling her the second-best after Luna among the flagbearers was far from inadequate.
[Groooan...]
Thud!
Ozdock kneeled with a low groan.
Amidst the sharp roar of Tess cleaving through the sky, it seemed that just a little more attack would end the fight.
However, Jin and Mary were thinking differently.
'He didn't seem like the type to be defeated this easily.'
Was it enough to end this demonic creature that had only been provoked once? It had become weaker beyond measure, but this was the same gold eating monster that terrified the world a thousand years ago.
But there was no need to cautiously wait for its end.
Slash, tear, cleave, shatter—whatever it took to bring it down.
Jin and Mary's gazes focused on the center of Ozdock's chest.
It was the spot where its inner core resided. Despite its entire body being reddened, only the center of its chest where the inner core was located radiated a faint golden light.
Attack the inner core.
They didn't need to voice this thought; it was mutually understood between the siblings.
Despite being surrounded, Ozdock had consistently protected its inner core.
It might even be a trap.
'Attack the inner core, and when the elder sister approaches, it might unveil a new attack.'
It was a plausible development.
However, Mary had made those considerations as well. Even if Ozdock used its inner core as bait for a surprise attack, she had confidence she could avoid a fatal injury.
Jin didn't offer any separate advice since he had read Mary's thoughts.
Instead, he prepared the appropriate magic to perfectly synchronize with her until the very end.
'From one to ten, every move you make pleases me, my youngest brother. Here's a thoughtful gift for you.'
The corners of Mary's mouth lifted up.
Then, as she firmly fixed the slackened Chain Sword straight, her eyes glowed.
A brilliant radiance shone from the blade that had been suddenly soaked in aura, blinding like it might cause one's eyes to sting.
A stance for thrusting.
A secret technique.
Unlike the decisive killing moves, this was another category of Runcandel's special moves.
The thrust Mary was about to perform was one of the seven secret techniques of the Runcandels.
Jin had never seen this technique before, but he could easily tell it wasn't an ordinary thrust.
'Last time, she showed me the transformed version of the Volcano. Is she trying to surprise me again?'
There was no time to deduce what this technique was.
The tempo that had naturally matched until now suddenly surged.
Before Mary's movement was completed, Jin had to prepare his magic at the same speed as her.
'It seems like the Lord cared about the Seventh flagbearer. Judging by the stance, it looks like he personally taught her.'
The eyes of man, who was observing them, lit up with interest.
'Moreover, it is undoubtedly new to the Twelfth Flagbearer, yet he's already following its flow and providing support....'
It was a good decision to come and see for himself.
As the man organized his thoughts,
Swaack!
Mary extended the Chain Sword straight.
Runcandel's Fifth Secret Technique:
Lightspeed Thrust.
That was the name of her unfolded sword.
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