As I lost too much blood in a short period of time, dizziness swept over me. I felt like I would scream if I opened my mouth, so I clenched my teeth and grabbed the tentacles poking through my chest. I then burnt the tentacles with the strongest lightning power I could muster and activated my ringâs regeneration ability. I had to regenerate my chest area.
[Diehard activates! Your HP is recovered to 50%!]
It seemed my HP had fallen to a dangerous level as Diehard activated and filled up my HP. That was dangerous. I almost died. Just by looking at Renâs expression, I could tell the grave situation I was in. I burnt the tentacles flying towards me with a spear attack and drank an HP Potion.
[You!]
Seeing that I had recovered from my injuries, the Mana Eater sounded shocked. I smirked and put my middle finger up, but in truth, I was still at a disadvantage. Regeneration could only be used once every 2 weeks, and Diehard could only be used once a day. In other words, if the same thing happened again, I would die. And what was that just now!? It pierced through my Epic-grade armor and put me on the brink of death! Although the Mana Eater must have carefully planned the attack, it was entirely possible that it still had more cards up its sleeve. I was doubtful that that was his trump card attack.
An attack that increased its attack power by eating the opponentâs mana and decreased the opponentâs defense. That was why the Mana Eater was so feared
[Y-You dare hurt my HeroâŠ!]
While I contemplated on how to defeat the Mana Eaterâs attack, Lotte said something with rage and trembled. I could feel the mana in her body surging up.
[You must pay the price!]
Lotte breathed out fierce flames. The trees around us with the tentacles hanging from them were devoured by Lotteâs black flames. Her flames, which carried a powerful curse, quickly spread and set other trees on fire.
[This isnât an ordinary flame⊠Iâll kill you first!]
âYou bastard!â
Chaos flames formed a whirlpool using Mad Typhoon. As the whirlpool undulated around me, I came to a decision. I poured a large amount of mana into my spear and shouted.
âEveryone, get on Lotte!â
âWhat!?â
âHold out in the air for a moment! Iâll take care of him during that time!â
âWhat are you talking about? Take care of him how!? And why should weââ
I jumped down from Lotteâs back and shouted.
âThis forest is dangerous! Much more than fighting the damned aerial army! So listen to me!â
âWhat about you!?â
Naturally, I had my methods. I didnât have the time to leisurely explain everything. Pushing away the tentacles with chaos flames, I ordered Lotte and Ruyue.
âProtect the others. Iâll finish it soon.â
[Hero, I want to end him!]
[Shin, this place is dangerous!]
âBut this is the best method.â
In truth, using Deific Manifestation and getting Perutaâs help was the best way of dealing with this situation. However, if I faced the worst-case possible scenario I envisioned, I wouldnât have a way out. As long as other methods were available to me, I had to try them first.
[I wonât let them escape!]
âYouâll have to!â
I heightened my Mana Detection and used chaos flame Tempests to hit away the tentacles attacking my companions. At the same time, I glared at the others who were still hesitant on getting on Lotte. I was signaling them to hurry.
âIn that case, Crown Prince, Iâll stay too!â
âI knew youâd say that. Unfortunately, youâre a burden! Just protect the children! If you have Mana Potions that arenât from the Floor Shop, give them to the children to drink!â
I turned down Ren bluntly. Lebuik was more sensible than Ren, as she was already moving the children to Lotteâs back. Ren seemed to want to say something, but he soon followed Lebuik with a look of resignation.
I formed more chaos flames as I anxiously waited for them to go. I didnât have much mana left. I was constantly using mana to maintain the materialized elementals and form chaos flames; not to mention, the Mana Eater kept stealing some away! My mana⊠Wait.
âIf I remember correctly, Deathblood Ringâs effect wasâŠâ
On attack, 2% chance to absorb 10% of enemyâs mana, and with 1% chance, using 5% of my HP to place the enemy under blood contamination status effect. As I had almost only seen the effect on ordinary trash monsters, the effect had never really felt impactful. However, it was different now.
âHuu⊠letâs try it.â
I was certain that the Mana Eater had at least ten times the mana I had. In other words, absorbing 10% of its mana meant recovering my mana entirely. I raised my spear. I didnât need to target anything specific. This entire forest was the Mana Eater. I breathed in, then shouted the skill I needed desperately.
âDivine Speed!â
[No matter what you do, itâs useleââ
âHaaaaaap!â
I focused entirely on stabbing consecutively. Although I had to use 10% of my remaining mana, my speed became 1000% for 3 seconds! During that time, if I gave up on destructive force and focused solely on numbers, I could attack at least 100 times.
I stabbed the ground like a madman. Not even using a jackhammer would make such a sound. Once the Mana Eater noticed my strange actions, it gave up chasing the others and aimed toward me with all of its tentacles. I ignored them. Unlike last time, I had an insurance!
[Bulwark of Wind! Master, it wonât last long!]
âI just need 3 seconds!â
Because of how quickly I talked, she might not have understood. In any case, when was this mana absorption thing going to happen!? Donât tell me it wonât work because Deathblood Ringâs grade is too low!?
I stabbed the ground repeatedly, resolving to steal the Mana Eaterâs mana. A large hole was dug through and the trees around me fell. At the same time, the tentacles buried under the ground became shredded.
[Deathblood activates, taking 10% of the enemyâs mana.]
[Kuuuak!]
At that moment, something completely unexpected happened. The tentacles flying toward me deflated like a balloon out of air. Not only that, the trees in the area lost their vitality and looked as if theyâd been rotting for 100 years. Of course, the intended effect was still there. My mana had gone back up to full!
âDonât tell me, is mana this bastardâs entire life force?â
Well, it was a monster that freely stole mana, so in that sense, it wasnât all that surprising! Unexpectedly, stealing its mana with Deathblood had dealt more damage than all the attacks I had done combined!
Feeling my body overflowing with mana, I immediately materialized Sharana. The Mana Eaterâs rage became focused on me.
[Youuuu! M-My mana, you dare take my mana!]
âDonât be so stingy, you bastard. You drilled holes in my chest!â
Ten times. If I stole its mana ten times, it would die. The moment I pulled my spear out of the ground, the ground exploded and dozens of tentacles shot toward me. With materialized Sharanaâs overwhelming power of wind, I blew them away. Even so, it would be hard to leisurely strike as I did previously.
[Return my mana!]
âThanks for the meal, you bastard! Sharana, stir up wind in the entire forest!â
When I gave Sharana almost half the mana I took from the Mana Eater, her body gave off a dazzling light. The wind blowing around us became fiercer, and the Mana Eaterâs tentacles became like rice plants pained by a storm. Meanwhile, everyone riding on Ruyue had successfully switched to Lotte.
[Hero, if Hero becomes unable to pay my reward, this Dark Wing Lotte will drag Hero out of his grave! Hurry up and end him!]
[Shin, Iâll go back for a bit!]
After safely completing her mission, Ruyue returned to Fairy Garden. At the same time, Lotte cheered me on and soared up into the sky. The Mana Eater didnât forget to send some tentacles their way even while he was focused on me, but Ren and Lebuik pushed away the tentacles with their aura attacks. The trees blocking their way out of the forest were also cut down.
âIf Crown Prince doesnât come quick, weâll come back. So hurry!â
âJust focus on getting out!â
âOppa, donât die!â
Before they left the forest, Ren and the others shouted at the top of their lungs. Even so, they wouldnât be safe just by leaving the forest. Outside of the forest was the aerial army of the El Patiz. Though Lotte, Ren, and Lebuik were surely able to hold their ground, I still had to finish the Mana Eater as soon as possible.
After confirming that the others left the forest, I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, the Mana Eaterâs tentacles were still slashing across my face and leaving injuries.
[Iâll blow a hole in your chest again! Letâs see if you can regenerate again!]
âSharana, make my voice ring out in the entire forest!â
[No problem!]
It wouldnât make sense if a wind elemental like Sharana was unable to amplify my voice, especially when she was materialized. Along with her answer, my voice indeed rang out sonorously whenever I talked. With the Evil Eyes and Soul Guard, I had increased my soulâs league. I had also constantly increased my strength in other areas. Now, just my voice carried a certain level of power, which seemed to be able to impact the Mana Eater, albeit only slightly.
[Noisy brat! I wonât let you fool around with wind!]
âNow, Sharana! Dematerialize and go back!â
[Yes!]
Sharanaâs immediately returned to the Spirit World the moment I gave the order. Her elemental magic was still in effect. I had to finish it before it ended.
[Become my food, Human!]
âBuuuuuurn!â
[You used Crimson Roar. Everything blazes as flames.]
In an instant, my entire view became filled with flames. Amplified by Sharanaâs wind, my voice, which reached every corner of the forest, turned into flames and burnt everything. Other than the crackling sound of the fire, only the Mana Eaterâs scream rang out.
[Kuaaaaaaaa!]
Its tentacles flew toward me, but they became scorched and crumbled. The entire world was dyed red. I used Divine Speed once again and struck the ground crazily. Before Crimson Roarâs effect ran out, I trusted that I would be able to steal its mana again.
[Y-You⊠T-This flame!]
âShut it!â
[Deathblood activates, using 5% of your HP to inject contaminated blood into the enemy! The Mana Eater fell under the âblood contaminationâ status effect! Its attack power and movement speed decreases, and it loses mana continuously! This effect cannot be dispelled unless the target dies!]
Oh, a different effect? As it continuously drained the Mana Eaterâs mana, it was excellent against the Mana Eater. However, as I wanted to refill my mana, I couldnât help but be disappointed. The flames covering the forest were beginning to disappear.
[The forest I grew for hundreds of years⊠I-It has been burnt⊠by a mere human!]
What was once a dense forest was now entirely scorched to ashes. Protruding out of the black ground, the Mana Eaterâs circular body and its dozens of tentacles caught my attention. Half of the tentacles were still burrowed.
âI can finally see.â
I raised my head and looked up at the sky. At the same time, a few boulders fell down. They were the monsters that had been flying in the air. Even though we cleaned up a lot of them before, they had already increased in numbers during the time we stayed in the Forest of Tranquility. I could also see Ren and Lebuik fighting on top of Lotte. Thankfully, the children seemed to be doing well.
[Kahak! Iâll kill you!]
Thanks to the blood contamination effect, the Mana Eater was slower than before. Even so, its tentacles were still fast and powerful. Seeing them shooting toward me, I summoned Sharana and infused her in my body. Now that I knew the Mana Eater could spring up tentacles from the ground, it wasnât wise to fight on ground.
However, almost as if it seemed to be waiting for me to fly, the Mana Eaterâs tentacles changed direction. It was aiming at the sky.
âDamn!â
Was it trying to attack the others again!? I raised my voice to warn them. However, it was in vain. The Mana Eaterâs target werenât my companions.
[Mana, give me your mana!]
[Guaaaaaa!]
[Kiaaaaa!]
The tentacles danced and pierced through a countless number of monsters. Surprisingly, the moment the tentacles sucked up the monstersâ mana, they absorbed the brain wormsâ mana and killed them effortlessly. I understood why the brain worms had left the Forest of Tranquility alone.
âWait, now isnât the time to be surprised!â
I quickly charged through the air. However, the Mana Eater was continuously recovering mana and regaining its vitality. The number of tentacles attacking me increased as well. As more tentacles sprung up, they pierced through more monsters in the air and created more tentacles. Evil Eyes were indeed good for fighting against a large army, but the Mana Eater was miles ahead of me! As long as there were monsters it could feed on, it would never run out of steam!
At the same time, the increased number of tentacles attacking me made it hard for me to block them all. The distance between us wasnât something that could be covered by one or two Divine Speed. In the end, I gritted my teeth and used another skill.
âGigant Time! Prepare to die!â
[No one can threaten my lifâ kuk!]
It wasnât my spear. The spear enlarged to dozens of meters by Gigant Time was only used to slash away dozens of tentacles attacking me. Then who was it? I burnt away the tentacles blocking my vision and looked forward. The Mana Eaterâs circular body, which was protruding out of the ground like a flower bud, had two horns piercing through it.
Two horns, is that�
âGood, note late. I came to help.â
In the air, a 7 meter drake was flapping its wings. A relatively small drake that possessed immense strength. As I could tell that it was undead, there was only one answer as to its identity. As if to wash away any doubt I might have, a beautiful woman carrying a chain whip stood up above the drake, flashing her red eyes. Flowing ash-grey hair and a beret shining like a gemstone. There was no doubt.
[Guooooo!]
A large undead rhinoceros beetle stabbed its horns deeper into the Mana Eater and roared. The Mana Eater screamed in pain and attacked the rhinoceros beetle with its tentacles. However, seemingly from a special buff, the rhinoceros beetleâs carapace could not be penetrated.
âLoro, nice. Cool.â
âReally! Canât you give it a cooler name, Daisy!?â
Right, Revivalâs newest member, Daisy, had come as reinforcement.