The Acid Tentacler's Fury
The Acid Tentacler (4) The Acid Tentacler had started to come into view, but it would still take an eternity to reach the wall. Before that, we had to deal with all the lesser monsters. They clawed uselessly at the wall until arrows pierced their skulls and dropped them dead. Watching it, Dohyun felt the faintest twinge of pity for the monsters.
――About ten minutes later, the monsters were cleared and the Acid Tentacler finally entered firing range. The wall blocked its path, so it stopped short. Being halted by something was a first for the creature. It regarded whatever had stopped it with extreme caution.
“Aim at the monster ahead!”
Everyone trained their weapons on it. At Nayoon’s command, another volley launched.
“Fire!”
Dozens of arrows streaked toward a single target. Yet the arrows that had once sliced through the air so impressively bounced harmlessly off the Acid Tentacler’s hide and clattered to the ground.
“This is insane……”
“Those arrows punched through cars……”
“Don’t panic! Keep shooting! This was expected!”
Both Dohyun and Nayoon had known this would happen from the start. The barrage was only meant to show the monster we weren’t pushovers—and if even one arrow landed, firing hundreds or thousands more would still be worth it.
The arrows kept flying until the real firepower stepped forward.
“I’m counting on you, Seorin!”
“Leave it to me!”
Seorin stared at the Acid Tentacler, focusing hard. The creature was the perfect test subject for her newly leveled Word Magic. She decided to go all out from the beginning.
“【Thunderbolt】!”
The moment the words left her mouth, the surroundings flashed brilliantly, followed by a deafening roar. A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky and struck the Acid Tentacler. The power was devastating. Part of its shell charred and tore away, drawing the first real reaction from the beast.
『Kiiiiiiiiiiiiii――!!』
Its cry was grating, yet morale soared.
“The magic works!”
“It’s hurting!”
“Amazing, Han Seorin!”
“Seriously incredible… just one extra character and the power jumped like that!”
“I’m pretty good, huh!”
Dohyun was impressed by the spell’s strength, and Seorin shrugged it off. With Word Magic leveled up, she could now manifest two characters at once. That alone had boosted its power by a stage… no, two stages. There had been a reason her skill refused to rise while everyone else’s did.
“Something’s coming out of its mouth!”
The Acid Tentacler wasn’t just screaming. It hurriedly extended its tentacles. The front-line fighters’ turn had come.
“Sohyun, let’s go! We can’t afford to let our guard down!”
“I wasn’t planning to! Probably……”
“Probably……”
Dohyun and Sohyun climbed onto the rampart while Nayoon left the wall in the hands of her most trusted subordinate.
“Jaehun, I’m leaving the rear to you!”
“I’ll do my best, Boss! ……Be careful!”
“Yeah!”
Nayoon joined them on the wall, and the three leaped down without a moment’s hesitation, as if they had counted down together.
“Let’s go!”
They landed on the ground. Dropping straight from five meters hadn’t been a problem. Right in front of them stood the Acid Tentacler. This was the second time Dohyun had seen it, yet he still couldn’t get used to the sight. If he and Nayoon felt that way, Sohyun must have been even worse off. She had jumped down boldly, but tension was written all over her face.
This called for a direct approach.
“If you’re scared, you can still go back up. There’s still time!”
“……. I can hit you too, you know! Something like that disgusting bug doesn’t scare me――!”
Sohyun caught his intent and relaxed a little. In the past she wouldn’t have noticed at all… she really was growing. He wanted to tell her to stay back, but they needed her. Just him and Nayoon wouldn’t be enough.
Their job was to keep the Acid Tentacler’s tentacles from reaching the wall. Arrows continued to whistle overhead, and another thunderbolt slammed into the monster’s back.
『Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii……!』
Taking that as the signal, they charged. They had to block the tentacles at all costs. Nayoon swung her greatsword and severed one tentacle, slamming it into the ground. As expected of Nayoon! The tentacles were tough, but nowhere near as durable as the main body.
Yet there was a problem.
Chiiik――.
“Watch out—its blood is acidic too!”
Blood sprayed from the severed tentacle, melting everything it touched. Fortunately, Nayoon dodged skillfully and avoided injury.
“Even the blood…… This thing is nothing but trouble……”
Dohyun didn’t just stand there either.
“Sohyun, pull back!”
“Got it!”
One of Sohyun’s strikes staggered a tentacle, and Dohyun finished it off. Acidic blood erupted again, but he had already moved clear.
“Keep doing exactly that! I’ll handle the cutting!”
“Understood, Oppa!”
They had cut two, but dozens remained. The name Acid Tentacler was living up to its reputation. Fighting one felt like fighting dozens. Each tentacle had to be at least level 20……
***
Up on the wall, Jaehun carried out his assigned duty diligently. He had experience leading people before, but only as a thug. Commanding this many people was beyond him. Still, watching and learning from Nayoon had paid off. He handled the situation well enough that her absence wasn’t too noticeable.
“A-a tentacle’s coming!”
Even while things were going smoothly, one tentacle had slipped through the defenders below. He couldn’t blame them. Three people were trying to hold back dozens of tentacles. Gaps were inevitable……
That was why Jaehun had stayed on the wall.
“We stop it no matter what. Boss’s orders!”
Jaehun’s skill, Command Execution, was an enhancement-type ability that boosted stamina and agility when following a superior’s instructions. He etched Nayoon’s command firmly into his mind and felt his body heat up. With enhanced agility he reached the tentacle before it could strike anyone and sliced it clean off with his sashimi knife.
Acidic blood sprayed out. Jaehun, already aware of the situation below, knew what it was. He pulled the person who had nearly been hit away with him.
“Don’t get close! Even a little contact will cause serious injury!”
The severed tentacle writhed, splattering acid everywhere. Thanks to Jaehun’s warning, everyone managed to avoid it.
“Thank you so much!”
“Get back into position— we’re not done yet!”
“R-right……!”
Jaehun glanced down at the battlefield. The fight was still fierce. Boss…… Dohyun…… and even his little sister—please let them all be safe!
While Jaehun prayed for everyone’s safety, Daon, positioned at the opposite wall below, was thinking the same thing. She hadn’t had a chance to act yet, but she sensed that moment wouldn’t last. The time when she could say “this was worth it” would come soon. Daon prepared herself to save as many people as possible when that moment arrived.
Oppa…… I’ll do my best!
Seorin was in a difficult spot. When she first saw the power of her magic, she had thought, This will work! But the Acid Tentacler was far tougher than imagined. Whether she hurled lightning or fire, she only managed to damage the outer shell—the creature itself remained unscathed.
We have to take it down quickly……
Everyone was counting on her. She didn’t want to burden Seorin further, but she was the only one in the group capable of damaging the Acid Tentacler. There was no choice.
“I need to do better!”
She steeled herself once more. She couldn’t die here. She refused to let the feeling buried deep in her heart remain asleep forever. She drew up every last drop of her mana. At level 30, mana—and stats in general—grew dramatically stronger every ten levels. Among the group, only Nayoon’s strength and Seorin’s mana had reached that threshold.
The mana Seorin gathered was so potent that even a layman could feel it.
“All I can say is that it’s awe-inspiring!”
Jaehun, closest to her, muttered in amazement. Below, Dohyun, Nayoon, and Sohyun also sensed the surge.
Seorin visualized the image of the words and poured every ounce of her strength into them.
“【Thunderbolt】…… 【Thunderbolt】…… 【Thunderbolt】――!!”
Three consecutive bolts of lightning slammed into the Acid Tentacler’s back. Charred fragments of its shell rained down mercilessly. The monster let out the loudest scream yet.
『Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii――!!』
***
The flash was so bright they couldn’t keep their eyes open, and the roar was loud enough to require covering their ears. Having lost half its tentacles and with its back heavily burned, the Acid Tentacler howled in agony. We didn’t stop.
“Well done, Seorin!”
Thanking their friend for creating the opening, we ignored our exhaustion and charged again.
――But the monster’s wail stopped us cold. It shouldn’t have been possible for a mere scream to halt us, yet the sound was that overwhelming. The thunder from earlier seemed insignificant by comparison.
『Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa――!!』
“Ugh―― Wh-what……?!”
We had no choice but to cover our ears and stop. After the roar, the creature spread its remaining tentacles in every direction, ignoring us completely……
We obviously weren’t going to just stand there, but there was nothing more we could do. How could we approach when acid that melted everything sprayed from the tentacles? The moment Dohyun saw it, a vision of the future flashed through his mind. He shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Everyone, get down――!!”
He wasn’t sure if his words reached the people above. His own neck was on the line first. The Acid Tentacler swung its tentacles wildly, showering acid everywhere like a sprinkler. Everything around them began to melt. They dodged as best they could, but a few drops still hit them. Thanks to Pain Resistance, it was bearable. Nayoon blocked what she could with her greatsword and retreated into a building on the opposite side. The only one left nearby was Sohyun.
Sohyun stood frozen in panic. Dohyun sprinted to her and wrapped her in his arms.
“O-Oppa……?”
“Use my body as a shield as much as you can!”
“O-Oppa……?!”
“I’m fine! …Let’s get inside that building!”
Taking a few acid splashes, he pulled Sohyun into the nearby building for cover. His back felt like it was burning, but it was still manageable.
“Oppa……”
Sohyun looked at him worriedly, but Dohyun’s attention was already on the Acid Tentacler. An enormous amount of acid poured from its mouth and slammed into the wall. Fortunately, even the monster’s acid couldn’t easily destroy the wall he had built.
“Thank goodness…… Huh……?”
The wall itself was fine. But the joints……
The connection points. The building Dohyun was in and the opposite building where Nayoon had taken shelter. Since the opposite building wasn’t one he had constructed, the acid was eating through it. The joints were melting away.
That meant the wall they had built was now nothing more than a massive concrete slab barely anchored a meter into the ground. A forty-meter-long wall relying on a single meter of foundation. It was holding for now, but……
“We need to get back up top……!”