SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Chapter 165: Magma Queen and Baby Magmas

The sheer number of smaller magma creatures visible before their eyes was staggering. Selene mentally counted approximately fifty separate entities swimming and playing in the lava lake, and based on the mana signatures she could detect even from this distance, they ranged from approximately level fifteen to level twenty in power.

Whilst they weren’t individually threatening to experienced awakeners, but in such overwhelming numbers…It was a problem worth noting.

She turned toward Moon with growing concern, only to find him grinning with obvious excitement rather than showing appropriate worry.

“What are you grinning about like that?” Selene demanded with exasperation. “I’m not confident I can handle this number of enemies simultaneously. There are simply too many, and fighting in a lava lake adds impossible environmental complications.”

“Oh, don’t worry at all, Selene. You got this, but first…” Moon said with infuriating confidence, his grin widening.

“First what?” Selene pressed warily.

“First, we’re going to use those baby magma creatures to our advantage. These should be enough to make you reach level 25, I can sense some high level ones among them, you can also tell by their size. Most importantly…If we slaughter all fifty of her offspring right in front of her, the Magma Queen is going to become absolutely enraged and emerge fully from that lava lake to attack us directly. Which gives us solid ground to fight on instead of trying to engage her while she’s submerged in her natural element.”

Selene stared at Moon with a mixture of horrified admiration and resigned acceptance. “You want to deliberately provoke a protective mother by killing all her children in front of her.”

“Exactly,” Moon confirmed with a single nod.

Despite herself, Selene couldn’t help but smile slightly at the audacious plan. Some might call it terrible, others might call it cruel, but to her and everyone on this mountain…It was probably going to work.

♢♢♢♢

Lightning began crackling intensely in Moon’s hands, energy building and arcing between his fingers. Simultaneously, water manifested and accumulated in Selene’s palms, the liquid gathering in growing spheres as she channeled enormous amounts of mana into her spell.

Moon spent nearly thirty percent of his total mana reserves forming the most concentrated lightning attack he could conjure without draining his reserves for the upcoming fight. Selene similarly invested a considerable portion of her own mana to create a massive water technique.

“Don’t hit the big one directly, I absolutely don’t want to lose credit for the S-rank kill on my evolution task advancement, even if that means you have to deliberately leave some of the magma creatures untouched,” Moon instructed firmly while preparing to unleash his devastating attack. His tone was harder than usual, showing how serious he was in his command.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just drench the smaller ones that are positioned away from the Magma Queen,” Selene confirmed with a focused nod.

“Three… Two… One. Now!” Selene unleashed an enormous wave of water that cascaded down into the crater like a tidal surge, specifically targeting the cluster of baby magma creatures that had been playing furthest from their mother’s protective proximity.

Violent sizzling and crackling sounds erupted alongside the agonized cries of the little magma spirits as the water made contact with their molten forms. Steam exploded upward in thick clouds as magma battled against cooling water.

However, the water attack alone didn’t persist long before Moon’s follow-up lightning joined the fray, creating a devastating combination.

CRACK! BZZZZT!

Electrical energy flashed across the summit, traveling effortlessly through the conductive steam clouds, across the wet stone surfaces, and even through the molten lava itself which had been partially cooled by Selene’s water technique.

Unlike the water attack, Moon’s lightning spread indiscriminately across every single magma creature in the affected zone with terrifying speed. The electricity jumped between targets like a living thing seeking victims.

The Magma Queen, who had been resting peacefully moments before, jolted violently awake the instant her offspring came under attack. She was immediately and absolutely furious beyond rational thought—a terrifying roar of pure flame escaped her massive mouth as she desperately tried to intercept the incoming lightning with her own elemental power.

But it was far too late and the attack traveled far too quickly.

Before her enormous eyes, dozens upon dozens of her children died instantly, their life forces snuffed out by the overwhelming electrical surge coursing through their bodies.

[You have killed level 15 Magma Spirit.]

[You have killed level 16 Magma Spirit.]

[You have killed level 18 Magma Spirit.]

[You have killed level 21 Magma Spirit.]

[You have killed level 17 Magma Spirit.]

Notifications flashed rapidly across both Moon’s and Selene’s vision, confirming each kill. But neither awakener focused on reading the detailed reports, they were far too occupied with their immediate priority.

“RUN!” Moon shouted at maximum volume, already switching positions and sprinting away from the crater’s edge along the rocky mountainside.

He’d already identified a relatively smooth and stable section of terrain approximately fifty meters from the crater rim, a natural platform that would provide decent footing for combat without being so close to the lava lake that they’d be instantly incinerated.

It would have been significantly more ideal to fight at the mountain’s base where the lava was minimal and escape routes were abundant. But that simply wasn’t viable given their current position and circumstances.

The base of the mountain was too far down, they’d need to carefully navigate the treacherous descending slope while simultaneously being pursued by an enraged S-rank elemental beast. And fighting while descending meant giving their backs to the pursuing Magma Queen, which would be absolutely suicidal.

It was better to make their stand on prepared ground at this elevation. Moon reached the designated combat zone and spun around to face the crater just as an absolutely earth-shaking roar erupted from within.

ROOOAAARRR!

The Magma Queen exploded from the lava lake like an erupting volcano. Molten rock sprayed in all directions as her massive body climbed the summit hole, arriving at the peak of the mountain.

Her eyes—previously closed—now blazed with fury that matched the heat of her glowing core that seemed to glow even brighter.

Moon and the Magma Queen made eye contact for a brief moment. At that moment, the Magma Queen found the ones who’d slaughtered her children and she was coming for revenge.