CHAPTER 383: FALL OF AN ALPHA? [1]

An object of incredible mass fell upon Lillian, crushing her into another newly-made crater that cracked outwards from the point of impact.

The ground trembled, the walls shuddered, and the dust that masked the abominable Alpha became parted to reveal a hulking creature encased in thick segmented layers of metal.

The aura radiated from its presence caused the entire room to fall into panic, besides its kin, who revelled in the magical enhancements bestowed upon them.

Brexistence, once able to take care of the average Barrel Mole, struggled even more. Brexten, who was previously able to resist the enemy’s attacks, found that them to be able to inflict wounds on his armour.

He winced.

Millis, who had once been able to hide safely behind her stone guards, was now unable to as they crumbled under the moles’ quick and powerful slashes.

After swiftly ducking under a swipe, Millis stabbed into the underside of the attacking mole. Her jagged-black blade pierced through its armour with superhuman strength, even if its armour was further enhanced by the Alpha’s presence.

And as Millis and the others fought, Lillian was doing her best to survive.

Having reformed back into her human form, Lillian continued to narrowly dodge the Alpha’s devastating strikes that tore apart the ground.

Although the Alpha was incapable of damaging her, Lillian too was unable to damage it, for whenever she even got close—

SWISH.

—Its whiskers would always be one step ahead of her.

Lillian warped her body around a whisker and watched as it pierced through her body with seamless ease. She couldn’t help but grimace at her situation.

However, she couldn’t help but also see the positives in the situation.

Looking around her, and at the spots that were decorated with craters and cracks, were crushed Barrel Moles. Their metallic armour was crushed flat, and their muscles were squashed into a meat paste with blood as its lubricant.

It gave off not only a bone-chilling sensation but also a hopeful sensation.

Before the fight with the Alpha, one would try their best to pick apart and kill all of the Barrel Moles to remove any excess trouble in the fight. However, with what was going on and due to time, she had failed in that regard.

But!

That didn’t mean Lillian couldn’t accomplish it in the end.

Moving and weaving through the maze of moles, she caused the Alpha to accidentally crush its kin underneath its claws.

DUM! DUM! DUM!

While Lillian’s plan did work and proved helpful in clearing out the remaining moles, it also caused the Alpha to shift into a state of rage.

Lillian, who had arrived by Millis’s side, watched as the woman gave her a look of both shock and panic as the Alpha leapt over them.

Lillian, who was about to transform back into water, watched expectantly as Millis phased through the earth beneath her as though she were a ghost.

After Lillian had avoided another blow that would’ve "did her in", she went on to circle around the nursery and the massive hole in the centre of it.

Once a minute had passed, Lillian spun back around and swiped her hand through the air—sending a large arc of pressurised water, which Lillian hoped would deal some damage.

Lillian, who had aimed at one of its many large eyes, watched as one of its whiskers swiped it out of the air and took not even a cut of damage.

Lillian clicked her tongue. Her mind raced for new ideas.

As she continued to brainstorm for new ideas, she lashed her hand out and sent water blades one after the other.

And as expected, the Alpha broke each and every single one of them with minimal ease. It truly seemed as though its whiskers were sentient enough to know when to move.

When Lillian’s attacks were destroyed, it moved forward once again. This caused her face to twitch uncontrollably.

Due to her water attacks and her continuous use of mana, she was beginning to run low. She would need to find a chance to buy and drink a mana potion soon.

As Lillian continued to dodge, she couldn’t help but notice streaks of water painted on the monster’s face; had her earlier attacks managed to reach it?

If it did... She felt that she had finally managed to gauge a good plan.

Lillian ran in between the retreating masses of Barrel Moles, who ran away from the charging Alpha. She then heard an abrupt sound erupt behind her, like the sound of something shattering through stone.

Taking a curious glance back, she found a looming dust cloud gliding over her. Confusion flashed through her mind before she noticed something else inside it.

Several large chunks of stone wrapped in flames due to Millis’s torchplants descended towards her like meteors.

The Alpha, having struck the walls of its nursery, ripped through it with its right claw and hurled a flurry of large debris at the Rabbit.

Lillian, who was about to morph back into water and dodge the large-scale attack, couldn’t help but wonder the reason for this attack.

Although she knew the monster wasn’t capable of thinking too much, it should at least be able to instinctively understand that Lillian was capable of escaping this attack unscathed... Right?

...

Twisting her head back and looking forward, Lillian found something that caused her eyes to widen and her mind to darken.

It was Brexten’s group, and they seemed to be running away from the Alpha as well. However, the difference between them and her was that... She had noticed the falling rubble.

The average human’s reaction time under the effects of adrenaline was around 0.25 seconds. However, for mages, especially Lillian—who was under the effects of [Electrifying Aura]—her reaction time was ultimately lowered.

And with that time, her mind raced as thoughts flew through her mind like panicked jets. Then, her eyes managed to catch a glimpse of Millis to the side—across the hole in the centre of the room.

As the sight of the Heroine reflected in her eyes, so did a conversation that happened earlier today.

And because of that, Lillian’s mind was split between two decisions.

Should she risk her life and use whatever amount of mana she had left to save the mage party and continue to use their strength in this fight? Or... Should she completely disregard their lives and save herself from possibly a serious injury?

...

Fortunately, she didn’t have to make that decision for what she could only assume to be a rope wrapped around itself around the group of 3...