"Is it possible for you to force him out of the lake?" Zowen asked. She was quite nervous to meet a Legend Rank monster for the first time. It reminded her of the Kraken in the past.
Tang Shaoyang narrowed his eyes, considering the idea. He understood Zowen's idea. The Kraken was vulnerable on the land, so it was easier for them to kill the monster. The size was the problem. The Mutated Lesser Kraken was too big unless he used the Dragon Transformation and then used [Attribute Shift] to increase his Strength. It would be hard for him to pull the enormous monster out of the lake, and he did not want to use the transformation.
In his eyes, the Legend Rank monster was a jackpot, not a disaster. He wanted to do a limit test of how far he could go against the Legend Rank monster without the transformation. For some reason, he was confident in killing the monster without the transformation.
Tang Shaoyang waved his hand at Zowen and Rosalie, "I will take over from now on. Get to a safe distance." Then he used telepathy to the Skelly Family, telling them to retreat as well.
"What? No! Let us help you too," Zowen was the first one to protest. Half of her intention was to get to the level, and the other half genuinely wanted to be useful, helping him to kill the monster.
"It's Legend Rank. I don't know how strong it is, and I am afraid I can't protect you while fighting this thing. Remember, you haven't taken any trials yet. Don't risk your life over petty levels when you just got your life back. Take it slow and steady, don't be greedy," Tang Shaoyang advised her.
Despite his confidence in killing the monster without the transformation, he was still not sure how strong the monster was. He did not want to kill the monster as fast as he could and got the level of killing the Kraken. Limit testing was what he tried to do, finding the ceiling of his current strength. Knowing one's limits would benefit more than not, so he would not take unnecessary risks in the future. So he knew when to run and when to fight.
Tang Shaoyang glanced at Rosalie, and the latter nodded her head, "You have a bad influence on her," The Flame Empress said while pulling the Lightning Magus with her to a safe distance.
Rosalie was not wrong about that. Zowen had been watching Tang Shaoyang almost a year, risking his life-fighting someone above his rank for most of the time. The mindset grew on her, and now she wanted to fight the monster that was several ranks above her.
Tang Shaoyang just let out a chuckle, shaking his head. However, it was not wrong that he brought a bad influence on her, maybe. He had reasons for taking the risk. Most of the time, he had the ability to escape even if he could not win against his enemy. Especially after his trip to the Ortis Continent, gaining Seven Souls skill. He had several lives while Zowen was not the same.
Suddenly a shadow hovered on him. He took out [Mzed] and swung the battle-ax above him, slashing the tentacle in two. A big chunk of tentacle fell on him, and he easily sidestepped the falling tentacle. Regaining his focus on the massive monster, he noticed the missing tentacle had regenerated.
The Mutated Lesser Kraken had a regeneration, super fast regeneration as it took the monster a few seconds to regain its missing piece.
'High Regeneration ability… I can use Slayer Energy to stop that regeneration,' He had the ability to counter regeneration.
The massive monster moved its several tentacles and seemed to be angered. Tang Shaoyang stayed still, looking up at the incoming several tentacles. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before swinging [Mzed] once more. With a single swing, the incoming tentacles were obliterated. Several big chunks fell around him while most of the cut tentacles were blown away.
'Aren't you too weak for a Legend Rank….' He did not finish his thoughts as he activated [Mana Shroud] and [Dragon Scale]. Black spikes suddenly burst out from the tentacle cuts, and those spikes came for him. The black spike tore apart [Mana Shroud] and even pierced through [Dragon Scale], leaving many swallow holes around his body.
The second Mutated Lesser Kraken's ability, controlling its flesh even if the flesh was cut from the main body. With a single flick in, the flesh was burned by Chaos Fire. Blood seeped out from those small holes in her body, a little bit sting but the wounds healed quickly. The small holes were closed, returning to their original state.
More giant tentacles came after him, giving him no chance to retaliate. He did the same thing, swinging his battle-ax, cutting the tentacles into pieces. Learning his lesson, he burnt the tentacles piece midair, leaving a burnt smell behind. He then followed with [Wild Axes], throwing two axes made of firestorms.
The massive monster felt threatened by the two spinning axes. It used one of its tentacles to block the spinning axes. The spinning axes pierced the tentacle and stuck on it before a firestorm exploded. The firestorm engulfed that single tentacle, then it spread out.
The Mutated Lesser Kraken tried to put off the firestorm, dipping its burning tentacle into the water. However, the water was not enough to subside the firestorm, making the water bubbling and rising in temperature. At the same time, the other tentacles kept coming toward Tang Shaoyang.
"Isn't this disappointingly weak for a Legend Rank monster?" Tang Shaoyang muttered, disappointed with how little resistance from the monster. He used Sky Walk, walking through the air, and easily avoided the incoming tentacles. He dodged all the tentacles and arrived in front of the Mutated Lesser Kraken's main body. The one in front of him was the giant head of the Kraken. Crushing the head would kill the monster.
[Mzed] was covered in Chaos Fire and also Slayer Energy, assimilated perfectly instead of rejecting each other. He raised the battle-ax and flung it to the Mutated Lesser Kraken's head. He aimed the black core in its head which he detected much earlier with [Spirit Eyes].
The Mutated Lesser Kraken's giant head exploded as the black blood poured into the water, tainting the clear lake with its blood.
A series of notifications rang in his head, telling him he leveled up. However, he still had a pensive look on his face because he heard another voice, deafening and clear right in his ears.
[Tch. It's another failure. It's indeed too weak for a Legend Rank. Thank you for your help to test my experiment, Mortal. I leave a reward for you inside my Mutated Kraken. You can have it.]
Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brow, looking down at the muddy lake. He noticed a black box floating among the burned remains of the Mutated Lesser Kraken.
Before he could register what actually happened, he heard another voice. This time the voice was clear and right close to him, from behind.
"It's actually impressive that you can kill a Legend Rank monster effortlessly."
Tang Shaoyang subconsciously turned his head, but what greeted him was a fist on his body. He felt an intense pain from the punch as his body flew backward.
Whoosh!
He crashed on the ground, creating a small pit from the impact. Of course, despite the pain, the punch did not really leave any injury. His instinct however told him to use everything he had to fight the approaching enemy. The Dragon Scale on his stomach crumbled from the single punch.
Tang Shaoyang immediately activated [Grand Dragon Transformation]. He was about to get up, but the enemy was right above him, looking down at him with his red eyes.
"Half-demon and half-dragon? No wonder you are quite arrogant. You inherited a terrifying bloodline."
Tang Shaoyang flew to get repositioned from the enemy, but the enemy caught his right leg in midair. A huge force pulled him, slamming him to the ground. Not just one, but repeatedly slammed him to the ground, creating another pit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the fifth time, Tang Shaoyang twisted his right leg in midair, forcefully tearing his leg from the grip, and breaking free from the enemy. He then used [Blink], creating a safe distance from the unknown yet strong enemy. He floated in the air as blood dripped from his missing right ankle. The white bone could be seen at the end of his right leg.
It was painful, excruciatingly painful but the pain sobered him. He could not afford to avert his attention from his enemy. But then he realized the person that slammed him down earlier was no longer there, and he sensed someone from behind him.
Before he could react, a force pushed him down to the ground, pinning him down. The force was greater than his, making him not be able to budge from the ground. Then he sensed someone touching his wing.
"It seems you are quite good at enduring the pain, but what about this one?" The unknown enemy pulled his right wing, tearing it apart from his body.
Tang Shaoyang's face scrunched in pain obviously, but he did not make noise despite the pain. The man reached his left wing, but this time, Tang Shaoyang activated [Infernal Wrath] and [Attribute Shift]. He overpowered the enemy, managed to turn around, and held the unknown enemy's head. He pulled the enemy's head and smashed it against his head.
The impact loosened the grip on him, pushing the enemy back. He pushed himself up with his hand, facing the enemy head-on. Gathering the Slayer Energy in his right fist, he sent a punch to the enemy's face. That single punch sent the enemy flying backward as he regained his footing for the first time after the ambush.