Translator: CinderTL
"Kill!"
With a roar, Roland charged forward instead of retreating.
The moment [Battle Frenzy] activated, the Mithril Longsword in his hand seemed to come alive. Every curve of the blade, every shift in its center of gravity, every tremor of its friction against the air—all these became intuitive languages pouring into Roland's senses.
By the time the sword hummed, Roland's body had already moved. Not with rigid steps, but with a fluid, seamless flow that perfectly matched the blade's edge.
Combining [A Knight Never Dies Empty-Handed] with [Martial Combat Step], the sword light transformed into a silver streak tearing through the gloom, stabbing straight for the nameless monster's head.
Purple light flashed in the monster's eyes. The mental assault it had been gathering was violently interrupted by the fatal thrust, forcing a tentacle to hastily block.
Clang!
Sparks flew!
At the instant the blade met the tentacle, Roland spun half a circle like a top, using the impact to both dissipate the force and channel all his rotational momentum and Battle Qi into his left fist.
That clenched fist now felt like a battering ram.
The reef shattered beneath his feet.
The punch was unadorned, carrying the raw power of mountain-splitting, earth-shattering force as it slammed into the nameless monster's exposed chest and abdomen, revealed by its block.
Bang!
A dull, thunderous impact shook the monster's towering frame.
It seemed utterly unable to comprehend this devastating strike, a fusion of pure physical force and refined martial technique.
The invisible force field wavered violently, wailing as it struggled to dissipate the force. Yet the remaining, terrifying impact still pierced through its body, which was clearly not designed for physical combat.
A silent mental scream erupted as the massive force sent the monster staggering backward, its movements becoming fatally rigid.
As expected, in close-quarters combat it is just a paper tiger!
Roland's heart soared as he surged forward again.
So fast as if teleporting, he intercepted the monster's retreating path with pinpoint precision.
Wrist Stab!
The sword tip struck like a viper's fang at the vulnerable root of a tentacle, forcing the creature to defend.
Armpit Sweep!
The blade slashed upward from below toward a suspected joint, the force field flickering erratically under the relentless assault.
Knee Slash!
Battle Qi surged into his blade as it slashed toward the creature's lower body with a heavy, whistling sound, forcing it off balance.
Bang! Bang!
Clang! Clang!
Squelch!
The rocky shore echoed with the continuous sounds of Battle Qi explosions, metal striking metal, and the dull thud of flesh against force fields.
The nameless monster found itself in a completely unprecedented state of passivity.
Its two deadly tentacles, so clumsy and slow under Roland's fluid, seamless offense and defense, were being relentlessly strangled by his close-quarters onslaught.
It desperately tried to gather mental power, but Roland's blade always found its most vulnerable points the instant its spirit wavered, forcing it to break concentration.
When it tried to slip away with speed, Roland's Martial Combat Step clung to it like a leech, each step landing precisely on the nodes where its strength shifted.
The suffocating, terrifying pressure it had exerted earlier was now being torn to shreds by Roland's peerless combat skills, leaving only its enraged fury and a trace of...
unbelievable humiliation.
The lines between hunter and prey had completely blurred.
And this narrow, ochre patch of land had become Roland's exclusive arena.
The perfect harmony between weapon and body forcibly dragged this desperate battle into a rhythm where he controlled life and death.
The Mithril Longsword transformed into an unending silver storm, each slash and thrust landing precisely on the nameless monster's defensive weak points or during the gaps between its movements.
The monster's resilient tentacles flailed desperately, its invisible force field flickering erratically under the onslaught of violent Battle Qi, emitting a strained, buzzing hum.
The cold purple light in its eyes flashed violently, as it fully realized that its vaunted mental attacks were almost completely ineffective against this human.
I can't be held back any longer!
With this realization, just as Roland unleashed a powerful diagonal slash, the blade tearing through the air as it aimed for the monster's relatively vulnerable waist and abdomen, the nameless monster made a perilous yet cunning decision.
Instead of clumsily evading or blocking, it thrust a slimy tentacle forward to meet the deadly sword light.
The tentacle didn't simply block the strike. At the moment of contact, it curled inward at a bizarre angle, dissipating the force of the blow. Simultaneously, it channeled a surge of power from within, like a coiled spring suddenly released, sending it surging along the tentacle.
Clang!
A piercing metallic clash rang out, accompanied by a sickening tearing sound.
Amidst a shower of sparks, Roland's blade sank deep into the tentacle's tough keratinous layer, cleaving a wound deep enough to expose bone.
A gush of thick, oil-like purple blood erupted instantly.
But this was exactly what the nameless monster wanted.
It wasn't passively enduring the attack; it was actively borrowing the force.
The instant the blade struck the tentacle, the monster's towering body used the direction of the sword's slash and the recoil from Roland's Battle Qi burst to "launch" itself backward and upward with a force akin to a catapult.
Its speed far surpassed its previous "sliding" or "drifting" retreats.
"Damn!"
Roland's heart skipped a beat as he immediately understood the creature's intention.
It had endured his sword strike only to buy itself precious space to escape.
Thump!
As his boots kicked up a small crater in the earth, the monster shot forward again like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Though the battle raged fiercely, the entire exchange—from Roland's daring close-quarters assault to the nameless monster's force-borrowing escape—had unfolded in mere moments.
On the deck, Theresa remained unconscious.
The small halfling huddled in a ball, moaning softly.
Kneeling on the deck, clutching his head, Galvis forced his bloodshot eyes open just enough to witness the nameless monster being sent flying by Roland's sword, purple blood splattering through the air.
His cracked lips seemed to want to shout something, but the searing pain in his head only allowed him to emit a pained hiss.
The other crew members, still reeling from the aftershocks of the mental assault, staggered and collapsed onto the deck.
Just as Roland was about to strike again, and before the nameless monster's airborne form had stabilized, a deafening roar erupted from beneath their feet.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The unusually flat, solid, earth-yellow "ground"—so out of place among the jagged black reefs—began to shake violently without warning.
In an instant, it felt as though the very seabed of the Howling Gorge was roaring in fury.
The tremors were so violent they seemed to overturn the world itself. The entire "ground" heaved and tore like a living creature.
Vast, bottomless fissures spread like a spiderweb across the surface.
Crushed stone, wet mud, and massive amounts of icy seawater were hurled into the air by this terrifying force.
"Ah!"
A chorus of terrified screams rose from the deck.
The already unstable crew members tumbled to the ground like rolling gourds.
The sudden, violent tremor sent Galvis flying, his head slamming against the ship's railing. Stars swam before his eyes, but he clung on, one hand gripping the wooden seams of the railing, the other abandoning his lyre to seize Theresa's wrist.
Below, on the reef, Roland bore the brunt of the impact.
His body, moving at high speed, was violently thrown upward by the colossal force from beneath. He tumbled backward like a kite with a snapped string.
His Mithril Longsword instinctively slashed through the air, its silver arc plunging deep into a black reef that had yet to crumble.
Only when gravel and debris sprayed outward did he manage to arrest his momentum. Suspended above the raging waves, he stared down in horror.
The massive, ochre-colored "ground" beneath him was tearing apart and heaving upward in a soul-chilling manner, gradually revealing its true form.
Part of a colossal entity, its edges covered in thick, blue-black armor, was rising from the sea and the "ground." This behemoth, encrusted with barnacles and coral reefs, rose like a mountain from hell, its movement stirring up monstrous waves and emitting a low growl like an ancient beast awakening.
The nameless monster, having been hurled into the air by borrowing the force, now floated above the churning waves and shattered earth and stone, coldly surveying the scene below.
Its tentacle, severely wounded by Roland, hung limply, purple blood dripping into the sea.
Yet two violet lights on its smooth head locked onto Roland, who had been thrown into the air by the massive tremor and lay in disarray. These lights burned with a cold, all-seeing cruelty and mockery.
The monster didn't even glance at the colossal entity that was now fully revealing its terrifying form beneath the "ground."
Clearly, the awakening of this ship-destroying behemoth was merely an insignificant step in its grand plan.
Under the cover of the swirling sea mist, flying debris, and towering waves, the nameless monster dissolved into the shadows like a phantom, transforming into a faint purple streak of light.
It vanished instantly into the depths of the distant, even more turbulent and dark waves, leaving no trace behind.
Only Roland remained, clinging to a precarious reef.
Alone, he faced the true form of the terrifying beast below—a colossal entity whose mere rising had triggered a tsunami-like catastrophe, its disguise completely stripped away.
The unknown, monstrous terror.
(End of the Chapter)
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