CHAPTER 45: 45 - UNEASINESS [2]

(Raven’s POV)

(Before the serpent emerged.)

I can see everyone fighting from my location. I’m with Levina.

Clifford and Oscar are pushing back the [Troll King], it won’t be long before they’re able to kill it.

With Clifford’s barrage of attacks and Oscar’s occasional but powerful offensive magics, the regeneration skill of the [Troll King] can’t keep up with the damage it was receiving.

On the other hand, the others are holding back the other hostile creatures—no, they’re actually winning little by little.

But even after seeing this...

There’s still uneasiness lingering in my mind.

Even when everything is going smoothly as planned—no, it’s actually going better than expected—I can’t help but still think that I missed something important.

Then, out of the blue...

-They’re strong, even without those humans called Clifford and Oscar. If I’m alone, I will be defeated by that group. I might not be able to kill even one of them.

Levina said that—she was looking at Ivan, Mark, Nerissa, Alina, and Diana who were fighting the other creatures.

"Huh?"

I immediately turned my head to her.

"What did you just say?"

I asked, something inside my head clicking.

-Haaaa... I can’t win against them even if Clifford and Oscar are not participating.

Levina shrugged with an annoyed look before repeating her words.

-I’m still an A+ rank, after all. I can’t fight multiple enemies that individually have almost the same strength as me, I wouldn’t be able to win.

She added and explained, trying not to appear weak.

But I didn’t care about that right now as my face crumbled and my thoughts accelerated.

-Well, if it’s one on one, then I’ll win against every one of them. Except Clifford. He might be weak against electricity, but if he can dodge it, then I’ll surely lose. I’m not good at close combat aft–

Before Levina even finished speaking, I got up with a frown on my face. Then without warning...

BAM!

I started running toward the B-Group!

I reached the worst conclusion I could with the new information I got from Levina.

-W-what... Where are you going?!

She flew beside me and asked, bewildered by my actions.

"That’s not the boss monster!"

I exclaimed, looking at the [Troll King] that had a rock spear pierced in its stomach.

-Huh? What do you mean?

"That monster, and the other monsters—they’re guarding the lake."

I said, then Levina frowned as if realizing something.

"At first, I thought there was a treasure they were guarding in there..."

"But what if they’re guarding the boss monster instead of that?"

My brows furrowed as I asked that.

Levina thought for a moment, then spoke.

-Then why did that troll attacked me before and not the boss itself? And why is it not showing itself in front of me?

She asked, pointing at the [Troll King].

"It’s easy. The boss monster is residing in the lake... What do you think its attribute is?"

I answered her question with a question.

But that was enough—seeing Levina frown.

-Water...

She whispered as she realized what I meant.

I nodded my head and started watching Alina’s every action.

The boss monster is most likely a water attribute monster, so it avoided Levina and sent the [Troll King] after her, as it has a high regeneration skill and can survive her lightnings. The [Troll King] is also good at close-quarter combat, which Levina is bad at.

I frowned, because if that’s true, then...

That means the boss monster is intelligent.

’It might be just my imagination, but it never hurts to be cautious.’

Also, the three women in Clifford’s group are supposed to die here. Levina said she can’t kill them if they attack her in a group, so it’s most likely that she wasn’t the reason the women died.

The [Troll King] is being easily handled by Clifford and Oscar, so it’s most likely not the reason they died either.

So there’s a high possibility that something unexpected happened while the two were fighting the [Troll King] in the novel.

And that unexpected thing is the eruption of the real boss monster...!

Just as I thought of that—

Alina, whom I’ve been observing for a while now, flinched and looked at a part of the lake near Diana.

"...!"

I didn’t miss that moment.

’It’s coming from there!’

I was observing Alina since she has a presence-detecting skill, so she would most likely notice first when something powerful is coming.

I didn’t think Oscar would react immediately, as he was focused on assisting Clifford.

Anyway, I faced the direction where Alina looked.

I used Electric Manipulation to stimulate the electricity in my cells and make my thinking and movements faster.

’Electric is fast and strong!’

I thought as dense and violent electric particles erupted from my whole body.

ZZZZZZITT—

The world seemed to slow down.

WHOOSH~

Two majestic black wings grew on my back.

"Levina, when something appears from the lake, make your presence known as much as possible... And don’t attack until I say so."

I commanded.

-I got it.

She replied seriously, no question asked.

Meanwhile, I activated Calm Thinker and Insight.

TAP—

I pressed my feet on the ground.

"[Accelerate], [Strengthen]"

I cast buffs on myself.

Swoosh~

Then a katana appeared in my right hand.

I channeled mana to my lower body.

CRACKLE— CRACKLE—!

The electric particles around my legs, all the way to my feet, grew more dense and violent.

FWOO~

Soon, gusts of wind began covering my legs and feet too. I used my newly acquired wind attribute.

"..."

I looked straight ahead with calm eyes.

"[Strike everything that is in your path...]"

BZZZZZZT—!

Electric sparks started appearing from my hands and soon covered the katana I was holding when I chanted that.

I tensed every muscle in my body.

Then, at that moment—

S W A A A A—!

A gigantic blue serpent appeared from the lake with its mouth wide open, trying to swallow Diana!

I also saw Alina jumping to shield her using her own body!

’So that’s how they were going to die, huh.’

The three female members were close to each other’s positions. Soon, they would all be swallowed by the serpent and probably die.

But not this time...

FWOOO–

Along with strong gusts of wind, Levina’s powerful and body-chilling presence suddenly scattered throughout the area.

-!!!

The serpent got startled when it felt the presence of something it was specifically avoiding, causing it to halt its movement.

BOOM!

SWOOSH—!

Not wasting that opportunity, I kicked the ground and flapped my wings once, propelling my body forward and leaving the ground I’d been standing on earlier full of cracks!

F W I S H—!!!

I shot myself forward at a terrifying speed, immediately passing by Alina and the others.

And in a split second—I was in front of the serpent’s mouth!

Not that I minded—in fact, I even purposely entered its wide-open mouth!

PHUK—

Then I thrust my katana forward and stabbed the inside of the serpent’s upper jaw!

Then opening my mouth—

"[Lightning Bolt!]"

I exclaimed and finished my chant earlier!