Chapter 956 |
Chapter 956
It was speculated that at last, there had been a change in the strange crack, which served as an entrance for the monsters to surge out.
Consider the monsters and the strange crack as grains of rice or beans packed into a bottle or a pouch with a narrow opening. The grains, soaked in water, had become soft and mushy, barely escaping through the small gaps as they stuck together stickily whenever the bottle was shaken.
If such a bottle were turned upside down, naturally, at first, the contents would not come out easily. It required vigorous shaking or stirring inside the bottle to push the contents toward the opening, from where they would emerge in clumps. Given the excessive amount of content, this was to be expected. If one were to think of the first eight times the monsters emerged, what could be said about the ninth?
The smooth flow of the grains from the bottle would only begin when a significant portion of the contents had diminished. From that point, a moderate force or a slight tilt would suffice for the contents to flow out much faster than before.
‘Either way, since the cracks serve as an entrance through which monsters emerge, the reason the time has extended up to the ninth is that some change is finally occurring within the cracks. And if that change is manifested through the monsters’ transformation…’
The lengthy period leading up to the ninth occurrence was by no means insignificant.
And at the same time...
‘The tentacle-like monsters that were emerging might not possess the same solid union as before, and perhaps…’
Before he could finish his thought, another tentacle aimed for Yuder's back. With almost superhuman senses, Yuder twisted his body to dodge it. However, he was unable to completely avoid another tentacle that rose from the spot he had evaded and struck him.
Boom. A tentacle as thick as a giant tree smacked his back, and his body fell downwards. As he received the resistance of the water with his entire body, his consciousness momentarily blurred, but Yuder, sensing another tentacle coming from a different direction, exerted his strength desperately.
Swoosh. By a hair's breadth, he twisted his body and narrowly avoided the attack. Several more attacks came in a frenzied manner, but he managed to dodge them all somehow. In fact, the attacks were much slower compared to on land due to the resistance and pressure of the water, but because they were slow, their power felt several times more intense.
"Damn."
Had he not utilized the power of both wind and water to protect his vitals in that instant, his bones would have been damaged or at least his internal organs would have burst. Looking around, he saw that his team members were also frantically alternating between attacking and defending against the attacks from the numerous tentacles.
Yuder confirmed that there were exactly five tentacles.
The number of tentacles being close to the number of cracks was clearly not a coincidence. There was definitely a change in the cracks. A giant mass of monsters that had been blocked and unable to escape properly previously could now come out.
However, these entities lacked the solidity of before, their cohesion weakened, making them more malleable and easily severed by the team member's attacks. Though their speed had increased, this was not entirely to their disadvantage.
‘If we are not exhausted, and if we do not panic, that is.’
The enemy's transformation was both a crisis and an opportunity for them.
Yuder knew he had to turn this into an opportunity by any means necessary.
In the face of the suddenly increased number of tentacles, the team members, taken aback, had yet to fully regain their composure. Those struck by the tentacles struggled desperately, exerting their strength haphazardly, while others, exhausted, floundered to maintain control over their weakened bodies.
Yuder gathered his strength to calm the chaos. One of his eyes glowed fiercely, as if it would go blind, and a massive current started to whirl around him.
Kwaah!
Sensing the unusual current, the tentacles hesitated momentarily, then, like moths drawn to a flame, changed direction toward it. In the dark depths, the sight of the giant tentacles collectively targeting him would have been enough to instill fear in anyone, but Yuder did not flinch and stood alone against them. As he extended his hand, the current he had absorbed suddenly grew, generating a sweeping force that repeated what had been done eight times before.
A giant storm brewed beneath the sea.
The water erupted fiercely, thrashing the five tentacles. Pieces cut off by the members' attacks screamed as they were swept away by the waves, and the five tentacles began to target Yuder all at once, piercing through the currents.
When there was only one tentacle, the members could block it, but not now. The members continued to attack the tentacles targeting Yuder, but it was impossible to protect him completely as before.
Yuder, while dodging the tentacles that rushed through the massive currents, continued to exert his strength but inevitably allowed a few attacks to hit. Merely grazing him caused blood to spurt and swell on his limbs, but the currents he summoned did not waver or disappear because of that.
However, the tentacles and the abnormal cracks were not just passively taking it as before.
The currents generated from the five tentacles and cracks started to fiercely entangle with the currents created by Yuder. It was like a massive wave relentlessly crashing into a breakwater, vibrating and causing a tremendous shock to occur in succession.
Rumble!
The darkness veiling his sight, the foam created by the clashing currents, the flashing attacks, all the powers being desperately exerted. The spectacle filling the vast sea looked like a war of stars filling the night sky.
The currents Yuder created were undoubtedly powerful, but in front of the currents stirred up by the monsters, they seemed to be on the verge of being swallowed, crumbling and recovering repeatedly, unsettlingly. As he squeezed out more strength to push it back, pain began to wash over him, along with a dizzying sensation as if all the strength was being drained from his body.
Yuder clenched his teeth and widened his eyes, ignoring the sensation of his muscles being wrung out.
‘I must not be pushed back here. More.’
More!
Responding to his will, the power of water surged, forcefully repelling the tentacles' attack.
Kwaah!
Unable to withstand the force, one particularly loosely combined tentacle bent halfway, fluttering wildly like a cloth wrapped in the wind. However, the remaining tentacles, and the strange cracks connected to them like roots deep below, remained steadfast. Approaching the weakened tentacle, Yuder eyed the writhing movements of the remaining ones and thought,
"If I can just sever even one of these fraying tentacles."
Doing so might instantly overturn the balance of the colliding currents in their favor, but no matter how much strength he poured in, it didn't work as he wished. Watching the tentacle, fluttering as if it would be severed yet somehow holding its ground, Yuder clenched his teeth. If this continued, the remaining tentacles might protect the fraying one, combining or escaping downward. However, Yuder and his team had already expended much strength to simply watch this happen.
‘They must not be allowed to retreat like this.’
More, even more strength!
It was then that it happened.
As if responding to Yuder's will, a current, slightly different in nature and more swollen, abruptly interjected itself among the surging currents.
This current, although significantly smaller in size than Yuder's power, exerted a greater effect upon colliding with the tentacles.
It was as if to Yuder's storm, which resembled a giant but blunt blade, a smaller but sharply serrated saw had been added. The tentacle began to be finely sliced and pushed back. As Yuder turned his head, he saw, amidst the wildly flailing storm of currents, a faint glimpse of Steiber leading this force.
Despite bleeding from his shoulder, Steiber was raising both hands, controlling the current.
Following him, other weaker water forces began to join Yuder's power. These were the currents summoned by the other team members. Their handling was clumsy, betraying their unfamiliarity with this method of power; compared to the massive storm Yuder had conjured, they were but small breezes.
However, when these small forces combined and rode upon Yuder's power, they exerted a strength incomparable to when they stood alone.
Yuder's current, which seemed endlessly fragile and weak in front of the monsters, kept collapsing. But the currents summoned by the others did not crumble so easily. As they entwined and united, supporting each other, something miraculous happened.
The loosely combined tentacle, faced with the currents stirred by Yuder and his team, was finally and utterly ravaged, torn away completely amidst a loud crashing sound.
A shock that felt like it would deafen the eyes and ears.
Waves that seemed to engulf and crash over the entire body.
The crack at the seabed screamed madly and shook violently.
The sea, the earth, the sky, it felt as if the entire world was being torn apart.
It was the moment when the barely maintained balance of the scales finally began to waver.