LEGEND

Chapter 332

「Rei, don’t let your guard down. I don’t think a monster like this would just die from a spear in its throat and right eye.」

As Rei held the Death Scythe and carefully closed the distance to the Lemrace, Egret, who had just thrust his spear into the Lemrace’s right eye, called out to him.

As Rei nodded at Egret’s words, Hendeka shouted towards him as he shot arrows at the Lemrace, who was writhing on the ground.

「Rei-san, wouldn’t it be better to attack with magic instead of the scythe?」

Hendeka’s arrow was aimed at the Lemrace’s head, but because it was writhing on the ground from having its throat and right eye injured, the arrow ended up hitting its body instead, soaking itself in the purple corrosive liquid before flying off in a unexpected direction. By the time the arrow hit the ground, it was almost completely gone due to the effect of the corrosive liquid.

Seeing that, Rei shook his head in response to Hendeka as he tried to think of a way to strike the Lemrace with the Death Scythe.

「If the purple liquid covering its body was evaporated, our damage would definitely increase. But……tch-!」

Rei wanted to cut off the Lemrace’s head with a single strike from the Death Scythe, but the Lemrace seemed to notice death approaching as it struggled. With a wide swing of its head, it used its momentum to restrain Rei from getting any closer.

If Rei had been in perfect condition, he might have been able to strike the Lemrace’s neck as it swung by and deal the fatal blow. However, as he tried to take a step, he felt a dull pain in his side, slowing his movement.

(Tch-, nothing is broken, but the pain is still a problem.)

Thinking to himself, Rei realised that it would be difficult to close the distance on his own.

(In that case, I’ll just have to use a means that isn’t just myself!)

Enduring the pain, Rei gave a loud shout as he kept an eye on the Lemrace.

「Egret, Miroir, Hendeka, distract the Lemrace. I’ll use that opportunity to deal the fatal blow!」

At the same time, Rei took a spear out of the Misty Ring and threw it at the Lemrace’s face to restrain it.

At this moment, what frustrated Rei the most was the fact that the Lemrace’s body, the largest and easiest part of the Lemrace to hit, was covered in corrosive liquid, giving the Lemrace the advantage.

However, the Lemrace, which was still wary of Rei after he had struck his throat, swung its ehad greatly and used its fangs to parry Rei’s spear as tears of blood fell from its right eye.

「Set!」

「Gururururururu~!」

Set quickly descended from the sky at Rei’s voice the moment the Lemrace moved. As Set passed by, Rei jumped onto his back.

「Guh-!」

Rei frowned at the dull pain in his sides due to the shock from his sudden series of actions.

However, the Lemrace wouldn’t let him rest and swung its head to flick away the arrows and stones thrown at it as it attack Rei and Set, who were the ones able to deal fatal injuries to it.

「Flying Slash!」

As the Lemrace opened its mouth wide and bared its fangs, Rei swung the Death Scythe sending out a Flying Slash that slightly wounded the Lemrace’s mouth.

(Tch, even without the corrosive liquid, the damage from Flying Slash barely scratches it.)

Rei clicked his tongue when he saw that, but the next moment, his eyes went wide.

「What-!?」

「Guru~? ……Gururu~!」

Set turned to looked towards the ground when he heard Rei’s voice. But soon, Set gave a cry of surprise just like Rei.

It was no wonder. The Lemrace, which was over 30m long, seemed to be grow smaller and smaller.

To be exact, the colour of the edges of its body was slowly changing to match the colour of its surroundings.

Rei quickly calmed down after a moment of astonishment.

(I see. It wasn’t just because it was lurking at the bottom of the sea that no one ever saw it even as it sank ships. I don’t know if it can consciously do it, but if it can change the colour of its skin to match its surroundings under the sea, it would be only natural that I couldn’t see it. ……However, it’s only really effective underwater, on land, it doesn’t do as much.)

Rei thought to himself as Set made a large turn in the sky back towards the Lemrace.

In fact, on the ground, Egret shouted at Hendeka, who had been astonished at the Lemrace’s sudden change, to continue attacking.

「Even if can blend into the surroundings, it doesn’t disappear completely. If an attack hits it, it will still take damage. Rather, it hurts to lose sight of the corrosive liquid.」

The purple corrosive liquid that oozed out from the Lemrace’s body significantly reduced the sharpness of weapons if it didn’t outright damage them. However, as the Lemrace’s skin changed colour, the corrosive liquid that had been poisonous purple until a moment ago also changed colour as well.

「At the very least, it’s a good thing it can’t use water breath anymore, although we can’t be completely sure. Woah-!」

It might not have been water breath, but the Lemrace coiled up its 30m long body like a spring before launching itself forward the next moment with fangs bared.

If someone had seen the scene of such a large monster launching itself towards Set, who was flying in the sky, they would have doubted if what they were seeing was reality.

Still, as expected of Set, he put some distance between himself and the Lemrace with a large flap of his wings, bringing him just out of range of the jaws that wanted to eat him.

At the same time, Rei threw another spear that he had taken out of the Misty Ring towards the falling Lemrace. He wasn’t standing on the ground, so his throw wasn’t as powerful as when his lower body had a stable stance, however the spear still succeed in piercing into the Lemrace’s head.

「SHAAAAA-!」

Whether it was due to the pain from the spear piercing its head or because its fangs had been avoided, the Lemrace gave a loud cry.

Seeing that, Rei gave a sigh of relief. However, the Lemrace soon coiled itself up again.

「Tch, it’s hard to get a sense of its distance because of its camouflage. Rather, since its clearly a Sea Serpent, how can it move so naturally on land?」

「Gurururu~!」

Rei complained to himself and tried to think of a way to attack the Lemrace as Set gave a cry in agreement.

(Even if the outside effect isn’t that good, if I attack from the inside……『Dancing Fire Snakes』 should be effective. As its body has a corrosive liquid, the Death Scythe……no, wait a moment. If I use magic power to enhance the Death Scythe, would I be able to ignore the corrisive liquid?)

Rei felt some excitement for a moment at the idea that came to his mind, but he shook his head immediately.

(Yes, that might work. But I still can’t ignore the possibility that the corrosive liquid can’t be ignored. And, considering how thick the body of the Lemrace is, I would have to put a lot of magic power into the Death Scythe to cut through it. In that case, the best choice would be to use 『Dancing Fire Snakes』 in its head, but its huge body……no, wait. The original reason why I wanted to use 『Dancing Fire Snakes』 was because the effect of any fire magic outside of it would probably have had little effect against the Lemrace under the sea. It’s true that the Lemrace is now secreting the corrosive liquid all over itself, so I can’t attack it carelessly, but its head……? I can attack an enemy larger than me from in the inside. And I have the means to do that.)

The Lemrace crawled around, looking for an opening to jump at Set while Set just casually flew through the air to avoid it. Ignoring the tense exchanges between the two monsters, Rei quickly collected the thoughts in his mind. It was only possible for Rei and Set as they weren’t the same person while the Lemrace had to focus all its attention on waiting for Set to show and opening.

Also, Set wasn’t Rei’s only companion. Right now, he also had Egret, Miroir, Hendeka and Shen, an Icebird who could fly in the sky like Set.

The four of them continued to attack the Lemrace, which had coiled itself up, to try to give Rei and Set an advantage.

Of course, it wasn’t possible for them to inflict fatal damage, but it was still enough to distract the Lemrace and prevent it from focusing on Rei.

For the Lemrace, the attacks from the others were definitely a hindrance, but it couldn’t draw its attention away from Rei and Set.

This state continued for several minutes before Rei stroked Set’s neck and spoke after deciding on something.

「Set, I’ve thought of a way to beat it. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to kill it. However, there is considerable risk. ……Will you still believe in me?」

「Gurururu~!」

At Rei’s question, Set gave an immediate cry in response without a moments hesitation.

Smiling at Set’s response, Rei explained his plan.

「It’s simple. I just need to throw a barrel of scrap iron and blade fragments, like the ones I used in the fight against the Bestir Empire, into its mouth then blow it up with fire magic. It will shred its head from the inside when the barrel explodes.」

「Guru~?」

Set gave a worried cry at the risk that it would put not only himself but also Rei. Rei stroked Set’s neck to reassure him.

「Just as you believe in me, I’ll believe in you as well. So……Set, get me as close to the Lemrace as possible. Then, just before it attacks us with its fangs, we have to get out. ……What do you think?」

「Gurururu~!」

Set gave a high pitched cry, saying to leave it to him.

Then, the next moment, he flapped his wings greatly as he plunged towards the Lemrace.

Naturally, instead of watching them silently, the Lemrace gauged its timing and prepared to leap towards Rei and Set and as it was about to jump up……

「Kikikikikikiki-!」

Shen, who had been approaching the Lemrace from the opposite side to Set, shot out nearly 30 ice arrows.

Most of them just hit he Lemrace’s body and slid off the corrosive liquid, but some of them also struck the back of the Lemrace’s head, injuring it. And above all, those attacks succeeded in disrupting the concentration of the Lemrace.

「SHA-SHAAAAAAA-!」

It was just a moments’ delay. 　Trying to make up for that delay, the Lemrace sprung up and opened it’s mouth wide as it tried to swallow Set.

「Take thiiiiiis-!」

With Rei’s loud shout, he lifted a barrel he took out from the Misty Ring with just his right arm and with Set’s speed, threw it into the mouth of the Lemrace.

「SHA-!?」

It must have realised that something had just been thrown into its mouth. The Lemrace gave a panicked cry. However, its confusion didn’t end there.

『Fire, burn my enemies according to my will.』

Rei moved the Death Scythe from his left to right hand as he spoke a short incantation.

What he needed right now wasn’t a long incantation with high magic power, but the same amount of magic power with short incantations.

(Although the efficiency is bad for the amount of magic power I have to use, it’s still possible to forcibly increase the power of my magic this way!)

A magic’s power was determined by the composition of the magic and the amount of magic power supplied. Short incantations had low magic power conversion efficiency while long incantations had higher magic power amplification effects. However, if you used enough magic power, even if the conversion efficiency of short incantations was low, it would still eventually become a powerful magic.

Rei poured a lot of magic power into his short incantations.

Near the blade of the Death Scythe, a 30cm diameter fireball appeared.

『Fireball.』

The fireball, created with a massive amount of magic power, flew alongside Rei as it orbited around the Death Scythe.

Then, he threw the fireball into the mouth of the Lemrace after the barrel.

「Set!」

「Gurururu-!」

Set responded to Rei’s shout immediately as he flapped his wings greatly and flew away from the Lemrace.

The Lemrace looked back at Rei for a moment……

BOOM-!

The next moment, the barrel thrown into the Lemrace’s mouth was blown up by the fireball.

The Lemrace’s mouth was torn to shreds by all the metal fragments and burned at the same time. It wasn’t just limited to its mouth, the Lemrace’s head was also blown to pieces, scattering pieces of flesh, bone, blood, brain and the Lemrace’s eyes into the surroundings.

When the adventurers from Emoshion finally arrived at the scene, they saw 4 people and 2 monsters sitting on the ground, soaking in the aftermath of a fierce fight with a 30m long monster, which was lying on the ground next to them.