Chapter 76: Tentacle Assault

Since Raive was now deemed an "impostor," he passed the crown to Hazel instead, giving her the overall commanding right over the kingdom. Even if he kept it, he doubt anyone but his teammates would dare listen to him, anyway.

Her first command was to form two-man cells so they could alternate the night watch. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

After all, even though there were no monsters attacking now, that didn’t mean none would come later.

Raive and the other fifteen were tasked the same.

Raive alone stood at the roof of the tallest spire of the castle, watching all directions at once.

And he did so all through the night.

"Hmm..."

Just as the sky was starting to take on a lighter shade, Raive noticed movement coming from the surrounding forest. He didn’t even have to think to realize what it was.

"Monsters are coming."

It was the moment he’d been waiting for.

There was only about three hours left before the trial ended, and Raive planned to spend all his energy hunting, protecting everyone.

After alerting the others, he didn’t delay any further.

He ran toward the frontlines, past the chokepoints he’d made in addition to what Shymine and the girls had made. His goal was to hunt the monsters down before they even got close to those traps.

But just as he finished circling twice around the city...

"These monsters... where are they coming from?" The question lingered in his mind.

This was a trial space, that’s for sure. But it’s not like monsters grew from the ground, nor did they spawn randomly like in games.

There had to be a source somewhere.

"..."

Raive grew curious, and seeing that the defense was holding well enough, with just an hour left before the trial ended, he decided to check it out.

Instead of going round and round, he headed straight in one direction.

Toward where the presence of monsters felt thickest.

After spending ten minutes clearing his path, Raive arrived at the deepest, darkest part of the forest. But once there, he realized something was deeply wrong.

"What... is that?"

Ahead of him, roughly a hundred meters away, was a large black portal exuding a chilling presence.

From its middle, large black droplets emerged, and upon hitting the ground, slowly took the shape of random monsters. The portal was "giving birth" to them!

But that wasn’t the real problem.

It was the portal’s presence itself.

Even with Raive’s high stats, he couldn’t help but shiver before it. Almost like he was facing an archangel who’s ready to kill him at the drop of a hat.

’This is bad...!’

Raive thought, taking a step back, gradually retreating.

But it was too late. He was already detected by it.

From the portal, a tentacle like that of a giant octopus shot straight toward him. It was so fast that by the time he registered it, the tip was already right before his face.

Too late to dodge!

"Kuh...!"

He raised his sword, slashing to protect himself.

But the moment it hit the tentacle, it felt like striking solid metal instead of soft flesh. His Tree Knight’s sword cracked from the impact!

’H-Heavy...!’

The attack was heavy enough to drive him a few inches into the ground, nearly dropping him to his knees from the hit alone.

Seeing a second and third tentacle coming for him, he forced the first one aside and threw himself backward.

BOOM! BOOM!

The ground he’d been standing on exploded, flattened by the other two tentacles. Dirt and stones flew, forcing Raive to shield his face with his arms.

As soon as he landed, he spun around and ran.

There was no beating something like that. It was even worse than those boss-class monsters he fought before.

What’s more, he knew the tentacle was just a small part of whatever entity lived on the other side of the portal. Just imagining how powerful it must be sent a chill down his spine.

Even mid-run—

"Shit...! It can extend?!"

He still had to dodge the incoming attacks.

The three tentacles stretched far beyond normal, swiping at him again and again, forcing him to slow down to avoid them.

They were relentless, giving him no time to rest.

And then...

"...!"

A brief lapse in attention let one of the tentacles catch his ankle.

Past the pain, what bothered him more was getting tripped at all. He threw a hand forward to catch himself, pushing to keep running. But it was too late.

BAM!

"UGH!"

A tentacle slammed across his back, driving him into the ground. He coughed up blood from the damage, but that wasn’t the end of it.

The other two tentacles moved in, battering his body as if trying to flatten him.

They didn’t stop, striking again and again, his consciousness flickering in and out with each hit. Even with Healing Touch running, the recovery couldn’t keep pace with the damage piling up.

"..."

Within moments, Raive went limp.

His organs were a mess. His spine had snapped in several places. Even his skull had cracked, with his vision turning blood-red. It was almost a miracle he was still alive.

The tentacles stopped attacking, as if finally registering his condition.

Slowly, one wrapped around his leg, secured him tight, then dragged him across the ground toward the portal.

Raive stayed conscious the whole time.

He felt every bit of it.

But with his spine damaged, his body simply refused to move. Full paralysis.

He could only watch in dread as the distance to the portal closed.

’I need to get out of this...!’ He thought, pushing his Healing Touch to its limit.

He ignored his other injuries, focusing solely on his spine, hoping it would speed things up enough to break the paralysis.

Sweat poured down his forehead as the portal drew closer.

From within the darkness, he could feel something watching him.

Auto-Load or not, he feared something irreversible would happen if he got dragged inside.

The tentacle had him just ten meters from the portal now. The monsters it had spawned barely glanced at him before moving on.

Just a bit more, and whatever he feared would become real.

"Hiss...!"

But right at that moment, his spine finally healed.

His paralysis broke.