Chapter 420: Cull Crocodile (Part 2)

Point-of-View: Cleo Nova———————————————————————————

"Damn it, this can’t be happening...I should’ve just stayed in retirement," The Water Mage muttered with a tense look on her face, before firing out a volley of water arrows towards the Cull Crocodile, the Monster swiftly racing across the space to evade the incoming projectiles.

It was too fast, her attacks couldn’t catch up to it. The rest of the party was hanging back by the entrance, and everyone was panicking, besides me.

I’m not exactly calm, but...somehow, I don’t feel all that scared. Is it because of how much stronger I’ve gotten? Am I just being cocky, or can I trust this confidence?

I don’t want to reveal my powers, not yet, but st the same time, I...I don’t want to see anyone die...

As the Water Mage’s barrage began to peter out, she tensed as the Cull Crocodile suddenly shot straight towards her, rushing in for the kill with a murderous gleam in its eyes.

She stumbled slightly as she began to back away, but she was too slow as the Monster leapt towards her, starting to snap its jaws shut around her head...

"Damn it...<Harpy Wind>," I chanted as I raced forward, leaping over the Water Mage and firing out a rapid blast of wind from my mouth, striking the inside of the Monster’s mouth, a startled roar of pain ringing out.

I stepped in front of the Water Mage as the Monster stumbled back with a growl, eyeing me warily.

"Wh-What...?" The Water Mage uttered in bewilderment.

"Let me take it from here. I really didn’t want to do this, but I don’t exactly have a choice," I sighed, before sliding the blades over my knuckles across each other, chanting as I shot forward, "<Supersonic Screech>!"

I unleashed a loud, ringing burst of sound towards the Cull Crocodile, the Monster quickly racing across to its left, stumbling as it failed to fully avoid the attack, a dazed look on its face.

As I closed in on it, I swiftly got low as it swiped at my head with its claws, the Monster severing a couple of strands of my hair as I narrowly evaded the slash of its claws.

I then elicited a snarl of pain from it as I whipped my right arm across, inflicting a deep gash across its right side as I shot past it.

A slight chuckle escaped my lips as I slipped behind him, my heart starting to race as I spun around, a wide smirk spreading out across my face as I felt the adrenaline starting to pump through my veins.

I quickly crossed my arms in front of myself as the Monster whipped its tail back towards me, striking my gauntlets with a strong, thudding impact, my feet skidding back along the ground, my arms stinging slightly.

Wh-What...what is the feeling? I feel so...so amped up...

"<Giant Slime Electric Cloak>," I chanted as the Monster spun around and lunged at me, secreting a thin layer of electricity-generating slime around my entire body, a sharp snarl of pain ringing out as the Cull Crocodile swiped its claws at me, before quickly pulling back its arm.

As the Monster stiffened up and stumbled slightly, I smirked as I took a swift step forward and whipped my left arm across, a shallow cut appearing across the front of the Monster’s neck as the blades on my gauntlets grazed it, the electrifying slime around me fading as it backed away.

Damn it, even with its body slowed down thanks to the electrocution, it was still able to react and move fast enough to dodge. I was a bit too slow, that should’ve been my finishing blow.

With the Skills I acquire from Monsters, I can use each one continuously for a maximum of five seconds, and then there’s a one minute cooldown before I can use the same one again.

Thanks to Kai and Aria, I’ve got a good number of Skills stocked up, and the cooldowns should run out by the time I cycle through most of them, but...my MP is far from infinite, I’ve got a decent amount, but some of my Skills use up a fair bit of MP, so I can’t let this drag on for too long.

"What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to attack?" I inquired as the Cull Crocodile kept its distance, before adding as I cracked my neck and took a step forward, "Well, that’s fine...if you’re not going to attack, then I’ll just have to take the initiative myself!"

I sprinted forward with a gleeful chuckle, the Monster getting low and bracing itself as I began to close in on it...

"Now, <Giant Taratect Web Net>, <Sonic Screech>!"

Several sticky spider threads burst out of my fingertips and weaved together, forming a net and shooting towards the Cull Crocodile, the Monster’s arms getting tangled in it as I began to try and tear the net apart with its claws, before a dazed roar rang out as I inflicted a direct impact with Sonic Screech.

Hm, if I attack head-on, I’ll get caught up in the webs too, so...

I got low and zipped across, slashing at the Monster’s left heel, bringing it doen onto one knee, before slipping behind it.

I leapt up as it shakily whipped its tail across at my legs, evading the swing of its tail, before chanting...

"<Thunderbird Lightning>!"

I unleashed a devastating blast of lightning from my mouth, striking the back of the Monster’s head and drilling its skull.

Its body seized up sharply as a loud, brief roar of pain rang out, before its arms slumped to its sides as it went limp, the back of its head deeply scorched black, chills running down my spine as I let out a giddy chuckle.

I trembled slightly as the Monster hit the ground with a thud, the sight of its corpse filling me with pleasure. I...I finally killed a Monster, and it feels so...so good!

Th-This feeling, it’s so-...

I tensed and lost my train of thought as I heard footsteps approaching, glancing back to see my classmates and the escorts walking over with bewildered looks on their faces.

Oh...crap. What am I supposed to say here?