Weapons of Mass Destruction

Even before it fully climbs out, I find myself sliding into [Focus] as [Eclipse] activates, reaching out for the fish while Ley Lines crisscross their way through the area, the pressure just feels that strong.

Sophie deploys her webs; Luna grows to the size of a horse, nudging Leticia and prompting her to climb on her back as she begins to form a bow of mana in her hand.

Lucien quickly repositions, and Tess grabs him as she runs by, both of them keeping their distance.

Gareth steps forth, his armor taking on more bulk as the silver light condenses around him. He lifts his shield just in time as a stream of water erupts from the fish’s mouth, striking the shield as if drawn to it, though it’s difficult to tell whether the effect originates from man or fish. Gareth holds his ground, using both hands to fend off the assault.

Jean runs by him, and the fish turns to shoot that stream at him, but in quick succession, multiple lightning-charged javelins pierce it and make it miss.

In one smooth movement, Jean reaches the body and strikes the fish, only to be thrown back with incredible force, his body skipping across the lake’s surface like a stone.

I immediately recognize the skill’s similarity to [Reflection, and lift myself higher into the air before launching a few mana javelins at it, which hit the body. Does that mean it only works on physical attacks?

Lily reaches the same conclusion, so the axe stays on her back and coats her fist in [Disintegration] instead before throwing a punch of her own. The attack would almost seem gentle were it not for the gray mana eating a huge hole in the fish's body.

Moving surprisingly quickly given its huge size, the fish turns to her, swatting at her with one of its arms, only to be struck by a series of lightning javelins moving at incredible speeds, throwing the attack off course as Lily's punch takes a huge chunk out of that arm.

The fish moves again, two arms moving, but they freeze mid-air, held by Sophie.

Seizing upon the opportunity offered by the immobilized fish, Leticia showers it in a barrage of arrows, leaving some kind of corrosive effect in their wake, and Tess does the same with her javelins, both of them focusing on the eyes.

The surface of the lake moves unsteadily, a huge wave rising in the wake of the fish as it moves, turning its jet-like stream on Sophie, only to be blocked by Gareth once again. This time I notice the attack bend slightly in the air as if pulled towards the man. That same stream eventually moves up, targeting me, but I form a shield to intercept the stream in its entirety.

Having finished my preparations, compressing a projectile as long as a bus and as thick as a tree —woven from condensed mana and kinetic energy.

It erupts forth at high speed, piercing through the monster’s skull, gouging out massive chunks of flesh, leaving a big hole in its wake, wide enough to see through.

The creature’s blood begins to drip onto the surface of the lake and for a moment the fish wavers, just before its six arms reach out to stabilize it.

With incredible speed, the wounds heal—except for those inflicted by [Disintegration]. The flesh sizzles and bubbles as it regrows, rapidly mending the damage.

Two more pairs of arms emerge from the fish’s back in an eerie sort of twisting motion. Then they clap, sending vibrations through the air along with a powerful disrupting wave, weakening any mana-based skills in the area.

Not mine, though.

[Mana Domain] protects my body, and [Eclipse] drains the color from the air, making the varied hues of mana even more vibrant by comparison.

At that moment, Jean reaches the fish again, and I launch more projectiles its way, which pierce through its body, tearing the arms from its back.

Then Jean punches it again in an even greater show of strength than before.

This time, he isn’t immediately thrown back. A wide grin spreads across his bloodied face as the fish’s skin ripples at the point of impact, inflicting a fresh set of wounds—before Jean is hurled away with even greater speed and force than before.

As the fish regrows the arms and claps again, I release more of my mana, countering its attempts at disruption with [Eclipse], as more and more of the surrounding colors fade away under the spreading effects of my skill as it envelops the area.

Six huge arms form from the mana surrounding me, each extending forth and reaching down towards the monster, reaching out to me in turn with the pair on its back.

The six of my arms grab these two arms and pull them off, the blood exploding from the monster. Then the arms grab it to hold it in place.

The water swirls around us as another wave prepares to wash over the group, but Sophie moves her arm, causing the water to follow the gesture and roil in place before bursting forth in a series of pressurized streams, bombarding the fish with a myriad of imitations of its own attacks.

Three more javelins pierce its body, Tess's primordial lightning seeming to slow the healing a bit.

Striking from underneath, Lily attacks the head, her punches sending threads of gray mana through the body of the monster, stopping the healing fully.

Then Jean is there again, delivering another punch and stripping a fifth of the monster's body to the bone, blowing the flesh away in an explosion of blood. He isn't thrown away this time either, apparently having changed something in his approach. A roar of satisfaction erupts from his throat, and he throws another punch, stripping more of the monster's body spraying blood and flesh everywhere.

Gareth and Lily are blasted away in the aftershocks, sent tumbling and sliding across the surface of the lake.

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One of the fish’s arms moves to meet Jean's fist, only to be blown away, with the second following close behind.

The water that Sophie and Leticia have been holdng backstops spinning and drops back to the surface of the lake, falling like a quick summer’s rain.

As Jean moves to deliver another attack, two of the remaining four arms, connected to mostly bones and pieces of flesh, move and slap the surface of the lake. Like an enormous geyser, water under the monster explodes in swirling patterns, cutting into Jean's skin and pushing him away.

Then, behind the shroud of water, a light begins to shine forth.

I notice Tess lifting her hand high towards the sky and pulling it down, and as if she had drawn it with the stroke of a brush, a huge red and white bolt of coiling lightning crashes down from the sky, assaulting the shroud of water.

The fish runs from its cover, mouth wide open, sending a thick stream of water crashing into Jean. Three more jet-like attacks focus on Lily, who simply deflects them with her bone axe, and two of the monster's arms grab Gareth.

Luna starts running even faster, picking up speed as the water under her starts exploding into geysers, tracing her path as she does. Tess isn’t doing much better.

It seems like we've come to the final stage.

Satisfied with what I have learned about the abilities of other members of the expedition, I pull my mana back to my crown. Mana starts spinning inside of it, ready to destabilize as I modify the frequency according to the fish's mana.

Then I notice the first expedition moving closer. All of them seem to be in tip-top shape, seemingly having had an easy job with their fish, which seemed much weaker.

I don't like the way they are looking at us, so I use one of my Ley Lines to appear between them and the fish.

Our fish.

POV Duncan

"That should be as far as you go," Noname says as he appears in front of us. His voice projecting the permanent calm reflected in his expression.

It's dark down here, but his crown throws a bit of pale blue light across his face. It might just be me, but the colors in the area around him seem almost washed out, aside from the pale blue of his mana.

Myrril, the leader of our expedition, steps forward, coming to a stop in front of him, and as he does so, I hear one of the other B-ranks snort in amusement.

"We came to help you. Looks like you were unfortunate enough to attract one way too strong for you. We won’t ask for much—70 percent should be fair for our assistance in taking it down, right?"

It's unfortunate, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this. Attendees tend to get this way when they find themselves dealing with people from other planets and guilds. Especially now, granted, they seem to recognize the strength of Noname's group, but at the same time, they won’t hesitate to take advantage of their exhaustion from the fight. Myrril stands out as particularly strong, a cut above the other B-ranks, ranking somewhere in the lower mid-tier of B-ranks overall.

The fish Noname's group lured must be at least 200 years old, judging by the color. There is no way Myrril will let the opportunity pass, especially when it comes to a group of rookies with nothing beyond a few D-ranks.

"It's fine," Noname rejects him anyway.

"You seem to misunderstand, human. It’s only because we lured our fish that you got lucky." Impatience laces his voice—typical of Myrril. He is, after all, a demon, and demons have never been known for their patience.

Even then, Noname doesn't seem to hesitate or be worried, "I don't know, man, you might just suck at fishing."

Like most of our group, I can hardly believe this blatant provocation. I try to convey with my expression that he should stop, that provoking the demon like this is a bad idea. Noname, however, simply glances at me before turning his attention back to Myrril.

"Your heart is weak, too," he adds.

As he says this, his expression remains blank, only making the words hit harder.

"I bet baby demons have stronger hearts. Yours is probably worse than the pets of the royal ladies."

Ripples spread across the surface, and the fish being fought by the group battling in the distance is all but forgotten. Myrril’s smile widens, his eyes glowing a darker shade of red as his black hair rises, fanning out around his head. A powerful thump echoing through the area, resonating from his heart.

I take a step ahead, just to try, "Myrril, can—"

The words freeze in my throat, my movement held at bay, and I find myself unable to move—not to blink, not even to breathe.

"Damn, the little baby demon got an ouchie. Did I hurt your feelings?" I would’ve expected Noname to at least change his expression or even to smirk a bit, yet his face remains the same, and that only makes it worse.

Myrril takes a step towards him, and incredible vibrations rumble through the area as his powerful heart generates an incredible amount of energy.

"Human, I will enjoy this very much."

"Sure. If you take another step, you will die."

The confidence in Noname’s words makes Myrril hesitate for a moment, but he simply smirks and takes another step. "What now?"

Noname shrugs. "Kill him."

Before anyone can react, another figure appears by Myrril's side—a human girl, slim with eyes peeking out from under her brown hair.

That powerful demon heart only manages to beat a few times as Myrril turns towards her, energy exploding around his body.

Then, it falters. The energy dissipates, and the demon stumbles. At that moment, his head begins to slide down his neck, falling toward the water’s surface landing with a splash before coming to a stop. The light in his red eyes slowly begins to fade, surprise etched in his expression, and as the last glimmer of light vanishes, his head sinks beneath the surface.

I lift my eyes to look at the woman once again, but she is gone.

A panic ensues in the group as they stand in formation, skills deploying around them. The two remaining B-ranks separate from their formation, coming to a stop beside Myrril's body and grabbing it before it can sink beneath the surface.

Both of them are demons. The one who grabs the body is K'len, and the other, Janryc, activates his mana, leaving a tracery of blue tattoos in its wake as it crawls across his skin, eventually reaching his horns and illuminating them in its pale blue light.

K'len stretches and looks towards the group still fighting in the distance. "Which member of your party should I kill first?" A lot of anger seeps into his voice. He and Myrril were close and he doesn't seem to be thinking straight at the moment.

Then Noname's own heart releases a loud thump, much like the demon he just had killed.

K'len and Janryc both take a step forward, their eyes filling with bloodlust as their mouths twist upwards in a pair of dangerous smiles at the obvious challenge.

Wave after wave of kinetic energy radiates from Noname, along with his mana. It increases more and more, the crown over his head spinning slowly as a golden shine appears in his eyes.

The amount of mana pouring off him is incredible, crashing over us in waves, flickering around his body, emitting its signature blue light as the pressure around us increases, and this time, I'm sure, the colors are losing their hues, making his mana shine.

No more words pass between them, and K'len attacks first.