First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 147
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Third person POV)
One of the Octopus King’s tentacles was lifted up and swung downward at both Ichiko and Izumi, with the Octopus King’s subordinates around him also caught in the flailing.
“Argh!” “Mun!”
Through the teleportation ability of ?Sword of the Formless King?Weak?, Ichiko was able to free herself from the range of the downward swing, whereas Izumi successfully maneuvered her axes in both hands to deflect the Octopus King’s legs.
Nevertheless, the recoil from the devastating blow proved to be too severe, resulting in Izumi’s hands being bent in an unnatural shape.
“Izumi!?”
“Don’t worry!”
Her arms, though, after being bent in such an abnormal posture, returned to their original configuration with a peculiar movement, followed by the complete restoration of her broken arms.
“More importantly, there are more monsters incoming again!”
“Tsk! How ill-fated we are!”
While Izumi healed her wounds and Ichiko slightly diverted her attention away from the Octopus King, the situation deteriorated.
From the Octopus King’s body, tons of demons were summoned yet again, and they began to enclose the area around Ichiko and Izumi.
“We must defeat these monsters first!”
“Got it!!”
When Ichiko ejected an enormous number of Flying Swords, she let them soar around in all directions, while Izumi spawned a great number of wolves and let them charge forward.
With their attacks, the number of demons will not increase any further but neither will they decrease. It was likely their speed of extermination was counterbalanced by the Octopus King’s speed of summoning.
So when will the equilibrium falter?
“?Chaos Plosion?.”
[[!?]]
That had already been decided. It was when another force was exerted on the state of equilibrium.
The name of the skill unleashed by the Octopus King was ?Chaos Plosion?. It was an explosion-type skill that was a ranged attack. Nonetheless, the current situation was that Ichiko and Izumi were surrounded by a multitude of the Octopus King’s subordinates. Given such a situation, what would happen if a ranged attack skill was employed?
The ?Chaos Plosion? launched by the Octopus King will wreak havoc on all those around him, friend or foe alike, while scattering waves of blackened water caused by the blending of all colors. In addition…
“What! He even attacked all his allies!?”
“On top of that, he’s recovering!?”
“Chaos”, the attribute of ?Chaos Plosion?, contained the power to heal the HP of the practitioner equivalent to the damage inflicted.
Furthermore, the Octopus King had the capacity to call a substantial array of demons at a low cost.
What would ensue should these two conditions be combined? The outcome was fairly simple.
“Ichiko nee-chan, this is not good!”
“I know! If this continues, we will be in an endless loop!”
By using ?Birth of the One Deeper Than Chaos…?, the Octopus King summoned a mass of demons to encircle the enemies and immobilize them. Once the movement was restrained, he will execute ?Chaos Plosion? to affect all allies and deliver damage to enemies. He then consumed the recovered HP to produce a vast amount of demons again via ?Birth of the One Deeper Than Chaos…?, causing the infinite loop to be formed.
Not to mention, owing to the high status that was unique to a Demon King, in the case of the Octopus King, not only was the loop established, but his recovery rate was even greater.
“?Sword of the Formless King?Weak?!”
“?Pack of Wolf Carrying Life and Death?!”
Needless to say, Ichiko and Izumi immediately realized this looping tactic, and they set their sights on the main body, the Octopus King, with little attention focused on the demons in the surroundings. There were only two methods to break this loop tactic with the cards in their hands.
Of the two options, they opted for the measure that would reduce the Octopus King’s HP by surpassing the speed of recovery from the absorption attack.
“qwdcvfrtgbnmk!!”
“Aaahhhh!!”
“?????”
The Octopus King, on the other hand, wasn’t so naive as to let them proceed with ease. With a squeal, the Octopus King momentarily interrupted their movements, then seized this brief opening to perform ?Cut Off? and sent them both flying to the bottom of Ryo and the others in a heartbeat.
“Ichiko!?”
“Ugh… Lady Ryo.”
“Are you alright!?”
“I can heal myself in no time, so take care of Ichiko nee-chan!”
The two were flung away and collided with Deborah’s ?Faith Barrier? and naturally, Ichiko and Izumi sustained corresponding damages.
Izumi, nonetheless, healed her wounds with her own skills, and Ichiko returned to the front line after Hachi tended to her injuries.
“Still, the Octopus King’s tactic is the worst of all…”
“Ranged absorption and low-cost, high-speed summoning. You won’t find a craftier tactic anytime soon.”
“What do we do now? Should I call Fox Princess-sama?”
As Ryo and Ichiko discussed this while adjusting their positions, Mugi showed them the pendant she must have kept in her pocket: “The King Acts for the Sake of His People”
“No, we have enough firepower on our own right now. But in order to collapse the Octopus King’s tactic, what we need is ranged firepower. Therefore, the Fox Princess is incompatible.”
“So are you calling in the Mist King?”
Mugi looked at Ichiko as if to say, “What are we planning to do?”
“Ichiko. Are you going to use that?”
Ryo, however, gave Ichiko a trusting gaze, as if understanding her intentions.
“Yes, I will use the ?The Lord Transcends Reason for My Sake?. So please buy me some time,” Ichiko said, her face solemn as though she had already made up her decision.
“I see.”
“Understood, Ichiko nee-chan.”
“I don’t follow the details, but if you’ve got a trick up your sleeve, show it to us.”
Everyone present there nodded in agreement with Ichiko’s words.
Ichiko then drew in a deep breath once, meditates, and began to assemble her words.
————–
(Kurokiri POV)
[Kurokiri. Can you hear me?]
“Is that you, Ichiko?”
A message from Ichiko reached my ears as I was monitoring the battles in various locations in my private room.
“Since you called me up like this, does that mean something has happened?”
Ichiko and the others were now in the dungeon of the Octopus King.
Under normal circumstances, communication was not possible in a dungeon to which one does not belong, but in Ichiko’s case, communication was possible only when she invoked the power of ?The Lord Transcends Reason for My Sake?, hence her message was delivered to me.
And the fact that the communication was coming in now was a sign that they were struggling reasonably hard.
[Yes, I am counting on you.]
“Okay, whenever you’re ready.”
After Ichiko’s words, I hastily made preparations, using the Fox Princess’ special pressure-resistant technology.
As for the battle on the surface, I had already issued all the instructions, so with or without me, things will just have to flow in their course.
[Let’s begin.]
Before my feet, a glowing magic circle was conjured up.
Now, as a King, let me strive to exert my utmost efforts for the sake of my beloved Princess.