Chapter 133: Awakened Tournament Crisis (39)

Eden tightened his grip around his Dark Matter blade. The weapon’s black surface reflected the crimson glow illuminating the battlefield, while thin tendrils of Devour crawled along its edge like living creatures, snapping their jaws at the air.

His breathing was heavier than he would have liked.

His Essence reserves were dangerously low. Corrupted Surge had already consumed a considerable amount, and sharing its effects with Obsidian had only made the drain worse. Even with his elevated attributes, maintaining the pressure required to cut through the monster’s increasingly durable tentacles was becoming a problem.

Beside him, Elio rolled his shoulders and tightened his grip on his whipblade, currently retracted into the shape of an ordinary sword. Purple Essence coiled around its edge, forming the faint outline of a serpent that occasionally opened its jaws.

Neither of them looked particularly healthy.

They had already pushed themselves far beyond what anyone their age should have been capable of.

Eden exhaled slowly.

’At this rate, we’ll run out of Essence before we even reach the damn thing.’

He could continue fighting conservatively. He could keep using his Dark Matter blade to cut through the tentacles, rely on Obsidian to protect him, and wait for the others to find an opening.

But that would only prolong the inevitable.

Eden glanced at Elio.

The silver-haired young man was staring at the skull with a frighteningly calm expression, his purple Essence flickering around his sword.

"How much do you have left?" Eden asked.

Elio briefly glanced at him.

"Not much."

He turned his attention back to the monster.

"Then we’re doing it now."

Elio’s expression sharpened.

"Our finishing move?"

"The one we never got to use."

For a brief moment, the two men recalled their interrupted clash in the tournament arena.

Now, the same two attacks would have to do more than determine the winner of a match.

They would have to end this nightmare.

Eden raised his left hand, spreading his fingers toward the battlefield.

"Everyone, clear us a path!"

The moment the words left his mouth, he unleashed Devour.

He didn’t bother conserving Essence. He didn’t bother restricting its range or carefully selecting his targets. For the first time since the battle began, he released the skill without holding anything back.

A violent crimson glow erupted from his palm.

Then it became a beam.

The torrent of red Essence tore across the battlefield, spreading through the air like a ravenous river. It struck the nearest tentacles and swallowed them whole, devouring their flesh before they could even twist toward him. The beam continued beyond them, sweeping across the ground and consuming the writhing masses that had yet to attack the group.

Tentacles disappeared in rapid succession.

The crimson light crawled over broken concrete, climbed across enormous black limbs, and devoured everything it touched. Vicious mouths emerged within the beam, their countless teeth tearing through the creature’s flesh as though the monster were little more than a meal laid out before them.

The skull’s hollow eyes flared.

Several tentacles immediately changed direction, abandoning their attacks on the stadium and turning toward Eden.

He didn’t care.

He had already begun moving.

With the last of his available Essence pouring into Devour, Eden charged forward, his Dark Matter blade held low beside him. The crimson energy concentrated around its edge, growing denser and more vicious with every step. The weapon seemed to disappear beneath a layer of living red flesh, its sharpened silhouette resembling the jaws of some enormous predator.

Elio moved alongside him.

Purple Essence erupted from the young man’s body, winding around his sword in countless serpentine coils. The energy gathered at the blade’s tip, compressing until its glow became almost blinding.

Neither man could afford to stop charging their attacks.

Neither man could afford to look away from the skull.

And so, the others would have to make sure nothing reached them.

Several tentacles tore free from the surrounding masses and lunged toward the two charging Awakeneds, their spiked surfaces ripping through the air with enough force to create deafening sonic booms.

Sophia stepped forward.

Her expression was pale, and her hands trembled slightly around the shaft of her Amethyst Spear.

She was a C-Rank Awakened standing before a monster whose individual limbs were becoming difficult even for A-Ranks to damage. Under ordinary circumstances, there was little she could do.

But Sophia had never needed to overpower an enemy to be useful.

She moved first.

Her spear flashed, its amethyst tip striking the first tentacle at a precise angle. A faint purple mark appeared where the weapon made contact. She pivoted, ducked beneath a second attack, and thrust again, leaving another mark on the underside of a thick black limb.

Then another.

And another.

"Kael! The marks!"

"Right!"

Kael swept past her with both golden blades drawn.

His dual Judgment Blades flashed in a brilliant cross, striking the exact spots Sophia had identified. The tentacles split apart with startling ease, their otherwise impenetrable flesh parting around the marked weak points.

A severed limb crashed into the ground behind them.

Kael spun into his next slash, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Behold! The unstoppable power of justice! No evil shall stand before the righteous blades of the protagonist!"

"Could you PLEASE concentrate?!" Sophia shouted.

"I AM concentrating! I’m concentrating on delivering a victory worthy of my glorious legend!"

"That’s not what concentrating means!"

Sophia thrust her spear into another tentacle, marking its weak point before Kael cut through it. The two continued working together, one identifying vulnerabilities and the other exploiting them with devastating precision.

Behind them, Eden and Elio rushed past the opening.

"Don’t look back!" Sophia shouted. "Just keep going! We’ll handle these!"

Kael raised both blades toward the sky.

"Go forth, my fellow heroes! Deliver justice in my name! And when the people sing of this glorious day, remember to tell them that Kael, the magnificent protagonist, made your victory possible!"

Eden didn’t turn around.

"Sure thing, Main Character."

Kael’s eyes widened.

"He acknowledged me!"

Sophia closed her eyes for half a second.

Then she opened them, lowered her spear, and charged at the next wave.