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Chapter 64
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As soon as Fernia undid the knot.
Thud!
‘It’ was released from its seal.
“Groooo…!”
Blood-tinged foam bubbled from the mouth of its bull-like head.
It still maintained the appearance of a “Minotaur,” rampaging wildly and emitting terrifying screams.
Roaaaaaaaar!
A deeply unsettling and unpleasant roar.
What followed was a frantic struggle, driven by extreme hunger.
It was starving.
So hungry it couldn’t bear it.
It wanted to immediately bite into something alive, chew, and swallow to fill its empty stomach.
“Raaaah!”
Fueled by its burning desire, it moved.
Its heightened sense of smell caught the sweet scent of life.
Boom, boom, boom!
Drooling viscous saliva,
It charged toward its prey.
And then, it saw—
“Wh-what is that?!”
A blonde-haired woman.
A delicious aroma wafted from her.
It wanted to devour her body, piece by piece, to sate its insatiable hunger.
“A Minotaur… but something’s wrong…!”
The girl who had become its prey.
Angela squinted her eyes and analyzed the situation.
‘This isn’t an ordinary monster!’
Its muscular body was shriveled to the point where only bones and skin remained.
Its eyes bulged unnaturally, exuding an eerie atmosphere.
But more than anything.
“Ugh…!”
An instinctive sense of ‘Fear.’
It wasn’t the usual fear one felt when facing a strong monster.
This was a deeply alien and unfamiliar type of terror.
It was as if she was witnessing something that shouldn’t exist in this world.
Even being in the same space made her legs tremble.
Slap!
As she was being consumed by fear,
The Black Thread Snake slapped Angela’s cheek.
Slap slap!
It kept smacking her, as if urging her to snap out of it.
Thanks to this, she managed to regain some composure.
“Thanks.”
She briefly expressed her gratitude.
Then, gripping her sword, she cautiously stepped back.
Engaging it head-on in this state would be foolish.
‘I need to assess its condition first….’
And then.
Thunk!
“…Huh?”
It lunged at her with unbelievable speed.
The Minotaur was a bipedal monster.
But now, this creature—
‘It’s running on all fours…?’
Like a frog.
Its legs and arms coiled like springs, propelling it forward and closing the distance in an instant.
It didn’t make sense.
All living creatures have movements suited to their forms.
Just as a human running on all fours wouldn’t match a dog’s speed,
A Minotaur shouldn’t move like that and achieve such speed.
Yes.
If it were truly a “Minotaur.”
‘What… is that…?’
In the slowly unfolding gap of time,
Angela saw it.
The Minotaur’s elongated and twisted limbs, transforming into frog-like forelegs.
‘It’s morphing its body?’
She had never heard of a monster capable of such a thing.
So it was only natural that she couldn’t react in time.
“Ah… ugh!”
As its massive jaws closed in on Angela’s head—
“Look out—!”
Someone darted in from the side, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to the ground.
Barely escaping the attack’s range.
Crash!
The Minotaur’s massive body slammed into the dungeon wall.
“Ouch, ouch… are you okay?”
“You are….”
Angela widened her eyes as she looked at her rescuer.
“Haha, that was close.”
Jane Rune forced a playful smile.
“Get a grip. This is all real combat.”
“Y-yes….”
“Sheesh. I knew I shouldn’t have wasted my strength during the tournament.”
Despite the unexpected accident, Jane seemed relatively unscathed.
“Are… are you okay, senior?”
“Hmm? Oh, I was a little startled, but yeah.”
She hadn’t anticipated an entire floor collapsing or being thrown into a place like this.
But her experience in real battles and ‘gaps’ allowed her to stay calm and respond effectively.
“Staying frozen in place won’t help you survive, will it?”
In this world, there are two kinds of events:
The impossible and the possible.
The former isn’t worth considering.
The latter shouldn’t be overthought.
Once it happens, you just have to deal with it.
That’s why she was the Disciplinary Leader.
“Come on, get up. Rookie.”
Jane extended a hand to Angela, pulling her to her feet.
“That thing will be back soon.”
“…Yes!”
Angela nodded energetically, grabbing Jane’s hand to stand.
Swish!
She drew her sword from her waist.
Though she couldn’t yet display the overwhelming prowess she had shown against Lienna.
‘I’m no longer the helpless person I once was.’
Now, she was considered a full-fledged “force” as a swordsman.
Thud… thud…
Debris from the wall fell to the floor.
The grotesque creature slowly rose, twisting its neck as it fixed its gaze on them.
“From a distance, I could already tell… that thing isn’t an ordinary monster, is it?”
Just looking at it was repulsive.
Jane swallowed hard and spoke with a serious tone.
“A monster that can transform its body.”
If her assumption was correct,
That thing was a creature far beyond the fourth-floor class.
‘Indeed.’
A being from the deep levels.
An entity classified individually as a “Boss.”
“A fifth-floor-class monster…!”
At the very least, it had to be of that level.
Gigik! Gigiik!
Tentacles sprouted from its body.
Its original form tore apart, spraying black, viscous liquid everywhere.
“Kaaa… argghh…!”
Its host.
The Minotaur let out its final death throes.
Crunch!
The mouth on one of the tentacles snapped shut, biting into and devouring the bull’s head.
“…Ugh!”
“Urk….”
Jane and Angela barely suppressed their nausea.
That’s how grotesque it was.
A grotesque creature, entirely composed of black tentacles.
From the suction cup-like mouths on the tentacles, saliva dripped incessantly, while scattered beast-like eyes rolled restlessly.
This was an entity of the distorted exterior realm.
A Chimera.
On several of the tentacles, blades began to emerge.
Grooooook!
The Chimera let out a sickening cry,
Swinging its tentacles in a wide arc.
Clang!
“Ugh?!”
The force of the tentacle Jane blocked caused her brow to furrow.
It was faster and stronger than she had anticipated.
‘Even though I enhanced my body with Qi.’
Her grip throbbed painfully.
Before she could steady herself,
Whoosh!
Countless tentacles lashed out simultaneously.
Each one morphed into forms resembling an orc’s claws, a gargoyle’s fangs, or a troll’s fists.
Diverse shapes of tentacles attacked her from all directions.
“…Ugh! This is giving me a headache!”
She knew the creature could transform its body.
But she hadn’t expected it to manifest in such a troublesome way.
‘I’m fighting only one monster.’
Yet it felt like battling a myriad of different monsters at once.
Jane gritted her teeth and drove her sword into the ground.
「Magic Sword Style」
What she was about to unleash was a large-scale technique.
Normally, she would never use it out of embarrassment.
But now wasn’t the time to hold back.
“Blades of the earth! Manifest as miracles to vanquish my foes and protect me!”
Wooooom!
Her chant resonated with the surrounding Qi, causing it to stir.
“Blade Land!”
A tremendous amount of Qi seeped into the ground.
And then,
Crack, crack, crack!
Countless stone blades erupted from the earth.
A wide-area attack technique, Blade Land.
One of the more magic-infused abilities of the Magic Sword Style.
Slice!
Dozens of tentacles were severed by the stone blades.
However, a few remaining tentacles still rushed toward them.
“Ugh… I couldn’t get them all, huh.”
“I’ll handle the rest!”
Before Jane, who was momentarily drained of energy,
Angela charged forward, sword in hand.
Fwoosh!
Though much weaker than before,
A sliver of moonlight energy flickered at the tip of Angela’s sword, solely powered by her strength.
「Moonlit Style」
Her sword slashed sharply.
Slash!
The remaining tentacles were all severed.
“Got… got them…!”
She felt a small sense of pride at her successful attack.
But before she could fully relish it,
“Shhh!”
The Black Thread Snake let out a warning hiss.
The reason was simple.
Squelch, squelch!
The Chimera’s severed tentacles all began to regenerate simultaneously.
“What the… you’ve got to be kidding me!”
Jane shouted in frustration.
After expending so much effort to remove the tentacles,
They regenerated so easily.
Worse still,
“There are even more of them now!”
Each severed end sprouted multiple new tentacles.
“This… is unwinnable.”
It was an objective conclusion.
Not only were they outmatched in brute strength,
But their stamina was also vastly inferior.
If it came to a war of attrition, defeat was inevitable.
“Rookie, let’s run!”
“Huh? Oh… okay!”
Fighting any longer would only increase their chances of dying.
Jane and Angela immediately turned and prepared to flee.
Crunch!
At that moment, the Chimera’s body began to transform again.
Long arms and legs.
A humanoid shape, but without a head.
Instead, eyes were embedded in its stomach.
Won’t… let… you… escape.
‘That thing!’
Jane gasped in shock at the Chimera’s posture.
‘It’s mimicking my running stance!’
The creature was learning human behaviour.
Capture… and… devour…!
Its knee joints bent as it lowered its body.
Groooooak!
And then, it pushed off the ground,
Charging at full force!
“Goddammit!”
An involuntary curse slipped out.
Roaaaaar!
Just as the Chimera’s claws were about to grab them,
Tap tap tap!
Someone appeared in front of them.
“…Killing Qi: Sword Break.”
A force that defied the monstrous being.
“Qi Imbued Sword Strike.”
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