Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: S-Class Adventurer, Elena (4)
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Elena's dagger clashed head-on with the monster's tentacle.
She gripped it tightly, taking the full weight of the tentacle crashing down like a sledgehammer with her entire body. Her arms buzzed with numbness. The impact of meeting it straight on was beyond imagination.
'Strong.'
The tentacle before her eyes wasn't just big. This giant arm extending from the monster's body writhed with living flexibility while wielding overwhelming physical power.
Her arm holding the dagger began to tremble. It was a sensation she rarely ever felt.
A size dozens of times larger than a human.
Countless tentacles sprouting from its body.
That ferocious appearance wasn't mere intimidation or decoration.
'But.'
The power of lightning condensed into her right dagger. Mana spread over her quivering tendons, and a blue aura rose from her entire body.
The moment that aura flared and she swung her dagger!
Boom-!
A massive bolt of lightning rained down, knocking the heavy descending tentacle off course and sending it flying.
The monster reacted immediately. Second, third, and fourth tentacles charged at Elena in an instant.
Precise, fast, merciless.
Yet even amid that speed and pressure, Elena didn't falter. She twisted her blade tip slightly to deflect the tentacles' attacks, slicing through any that slipped into the gaps with just a flick of her wrist.
The space was tight, leaving no room to breathe. But on this battlefield where life and death hung in the balance, such situations were all too familiar to her.
'Stronger than I thought. No room for carelessness.'
Elena steadied her inner calm. Even among dungeon bosses, few possessed this level of skill.
It was fundamentally on another level from the monsters she'd faced in Nevis Forest and Pedros Gorge.
But she wasn't worried.
Composure was victory.
She possessed innate talent for battle. Not mere superiority in strength, but a sense for orchestrating the entire fight and turning the flow to her advantage. Elena knew it better than anyone.
The thought of losing never crossed her mind.
Tentacles flew at her from all directions, like a massive moving wall of assault. One from the left targeted her waist, while another plunged vertically from above toward her shoulder.
'Not on my watch!'
Elena stepped half a pace to the side with her toes and leaned her upper body. She let the leftward tentacle glance off her back, then immediately swung her dagger at the one crashing down from above.
Slash-!
The blade whipped like a flash of light, tracing a blue arc. Her dagger, infused with red flames, mercilessly severed the tentacle.
Splat-!
Thud-!
The severed tentacle hit the ground, shaking it violently. But the monster paid it no mind and launched more.
The fifth and sixth tentacles aimed for her neck and abdomen simultaneously.
These two were covered in particularly sharp thorns, their movements faster and more precise.
Elena quickly dropped into a low stance on bent knees, then spun half a turn and swung her dagger.
She knocked away the thorns on the abdomen-targeting tentacle with a single stroke, twisting her body to deflect its trajectory.
Crack-!
The tentacle rising toward her upper body was next. She slammed it into the ground with a mana-infused kick, pinning it firmly.
But it didn't end there.
'......This.'
Another thorned tentacle flew in from the left, while a massive hammer-shaped one reared up from above.
From the right and front, five tentacles approached at varying angles in a coordinated assault, and from behind, a bizarre-shaped one condensed mana and fired like bullets.
Tentacles hurtling from all sides at speeds that tore the air.
"Hoo."
Elena exhaled shortly and leaped forward from her low stance.
If every direction was blocked, she just needed to break through one.
She swung her left dagger, spreading flames ahead.
Lightning breath followed immediately, slicing the air and unleashing a powerful bolt, while her right dagger whipped fiercely.
Kaboom-!
The frontal tentacles halted, caught in the lightning's shock, then were engulfed and annihilated by the delayed flames and dagger strike.
Plop-
Bang-!
Severed tentacles rained to the ground, while those behind tangled with each other, flailing in the air after losing direction.
'Now.'
Elena halted abruptly and pivoted on her right foot.
Infusing that rotational force with mana, she hurled her lightning-charged dagger at full power.
"Thunder Fang Pierce!!"
Boom-!
A massive lightning bolt split the earth.
The dagger shot like an arrow, piercing the tangled mass of tentacles at light speed.
Kaboom-!
"Return!"
A line of light connected Elena's fingertip and the dagger.
She yanked it like a thread and charged forward. The thrown dagger flew straight back to her along the light. Catching it precisely, she plunged it deep into the center of the tentacle cluster.
"Falling Thunder!!"
Kaboom-!
A colossal bolt crashed from the sky.
The impact point was instantly engulfed in a pillar of lightning, and the tentacles shattered into pieces, burned by electricity before they could react.
The monster belatedly threw more tentacles to block her strike, but-
"Spear Flame!"
Fwoosh-!
Elena twisted low and thrust her left dagger upward like skewering.
A flaming spear erupted along the arc, soaring skyward and impaling all incoming tentacles, incinerating them.
Thud-!
As the tentacles fell powerless, Elena reversed her grip on both daggers, crossing them tightly at her waist.
"Haa."
A short breath escaped her lips.
Mana flowed with the air in her body, wrapping her arms, shoulders, and daggers.
She poured the maximum mana each dagger could hold.
Vmmm-!
Flames blazed from the left dagger, while lightning whirled and hummed from the right.
The daggers vibrated as if about to explode.
And at the peak of that vibration-
"Twin Fangs Fall!!"
Swoosh-!
The air tore.
The two daggers, laden with flame and lightning like beast fangs, cleaved the sky simultaneously.
Dizziness flickered from maxing out her mana, but Elena quickly refocused.
Boom-!
"......What."
The daggers flew precisely toward the monster's core. But a massive shield-like tentacle blocked the way.
Its overwhelming size and density halted both daggers.
Twin Fangs Fall was one of Elena's ultimate techniques. That tentacle had clearly superior defense compared to the others.
"Damn it."
The others had been sliced with a single cut...... but it blocked that?
Elena gritted her teeth and charged toward the tentacle's main body.
Losing her daggers didn't weaken her.
The monster rallied its remaining tentacles to meet her.
Hammer-tipped, thorned, and slick tentacles swarmed from all sides to crush her-
She drew in another breath.
"......Flame Barrier Rending Thunder!"
In an instant, a massive wall of flame erupted ahead.
The fiery curtain blocked the tentacles' trajectories head-on. Amid earth-shaking impacts, the tentacles twisted in agony against the wall.
Crackle-!
In that moment-
Blue lightning tore through the flame barrier, piercing straight ahead.
The current wrapped ferociously like a beast, penetrating the tentacles dead-on. They convulsed in chain reactions amid painful vibrations.
Kaboom-!!
Flame and lightning exploded simultaneously.
The attacking tentacles burned or electrocuted, pouring to the ground. The monster's offensive was neutralized in one breath.
Only one remained.
The massive shield-shaped tentacle that had blocked Twin Fangs Fall.
Elena spun once atop the flaming curtain at her feet.
Her breath vibrated again.
Flame and lightning condensed in her legs together.
Heat and current burst from her toes-
She charged, tearing through the curtain.
A red trail slashed the air, lightning's intensity racing with her.
"Blazing Thunder Kick!!"
Boom-!
The explosive kick slammed into the shield tentacle dead-center.
The shield twisted severely.
Flame's residual heat and lightning's shock cracked it, and the two daggers from Twin Fangs Fall sprang back into the sky.
The shield withstood even this, but Elena's assault wasn't over.
Still airborne, she reached out.
Click-
Both daggers returned to her hands.
Flame in the left,
lightning in the right.
Her breath exploded outward.
The daggers trembled.
Sharp mana enveloped them, roaring like a living beast.
Elena's eyes blazed.
"Refined Thunder Final Fang."
She slammed both daggers down.
At speed leaving no afterimage.
Flame and lightning burst from the space-rending daggers, crossing to bite into the shield like the monster's maw.
Craaack-!
The shield was tough. Even this technique hadn't fully pierced it.
Sizzle-!
Tssst-!
Repeated flames and lightning tore at the monster's body beyond, but it wasn't enough to finish.
Elena closed her eyes. She steadied her breath slowly.
And-
She poured additional mana into both daggers.
Flame wrapped her heart.
Lightning coursed inside.
Her ultimate finisher: channeling mana through Refined Thunder Final Fang's jaws into the target, exploding it from within.
Elena's eyes gleamed.
"......Refined Thunder Star Collapse!!"
Kaaaa-BOOM!!!
The explosion erupted from inside.
Lightning shredded the monster's skin to ribbons, flames incinerating its innards to ash. A massive technique blasting everything from within with lightning and fire.
The monster shattered into light and heat without a final scream.
Red sparks rained like a downpour from the sky.
In the center, Elena panted raggedly, quietly sheathing her daggers.
'Used too many techniques.'
Already burdened with debuffs from the dungeon environment. Plus, she'd been rushing through dungeons without proper rest for a week, so her condition was off. Without the combat rations she'd brought, it might have been dangerous.
Even staying composed, she'd used far more mana and techniques than usual. The anger from her sister nearly being raped lingered.
'But I won......'
The opponent was that powerful from the start. The swarm of tentacles and the final shield defense. She couldn't have won without unleashing techniques like this.
Against a multi-limbed monster like that, ending it quickly was key. Dragging it out would just let it wear her down inevitably.
Plip plop-
Remnants of the tentacle monster still fell like rain overhead. Seeing it, Elena finally relaxed.
"Haaa......"
Drip, plop, plop.....
This was definitively the end.
The tentacle monster that had been so overwhelming was now miserably exploded, without a trace of its size. Only purple slime remnants dotted the area from its body.
Elena took a deep breath to calm herself, then dashed straight to Elrine.
"Elrine! Are you okay!?"
Now it was time to see her sister.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine...... Hehe."
But oddly, Elrine stared at where the tentacle monster had been, her face like she might cry.
"Elrine? What's wrong, are you hurt?"
"Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing, sis."
She returned to her usual self.
Elena stroked Elrine's face.
"Elrine...... I missed you. So much. So much...... I'm so glad you're safe."
"Me too, sis. I missed you a lot."
"But- why did you enter Luis Forest anyway? Even if it's not that dangerous, it's still a forest! Huh?!"
"Hehe, sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it? You know how I always say-."
Relief, joy, guilt, worry.
All emotions swirled, her voice choking as she naturally began to nag, but Elena stopped mid-sentence.
Not the right time or place.
"S-sorry, Elrine. I must be crazy. Whew, let me free you quick."
"Yeah, it's okay. I'll explain everything later."
"Okay, okay."
Elena hurriedly began slicing away the slime bindings one by one.
Elrine watched her sister, her eyes gleaming coldly.