Chapter 117: The Xytheris

Then Gray saw the creature descend, its long, luminous body moving slowly toward him.

Gray swallowed, even though as a jellyfish he had no saliva to swallow.

’How many giant monsters are there in this damn place?!’ he cursed inwardly.

Cindy, still cradled in his tentacles, stared at the creature with her frills rigid with fear.

"Gray... I don’t think we can fight that," she whispered.

The system flickered in his mind, and an analysis window appeared before him.

[MONSTER DETECTED: XYTHERIS]

Level: ???

HP: ??? / ???

MP: ??? / ???

« Analysis »

A being born from the accumulation of wild mana over countless years. Its body is entirely composed of crystallized mana, rendering it nearly immune to conventional physical attacks. It feeds on the mana of living creatures, and its mere presence is enough to drain the energy of everything around it.

Warning: Do not engage. Target level far exceeds current capabilities.

Gray stared at the window, then at the massive creature still descending slowly toward him. Its dozens of eyes blinked in unison, and its luminous body radiated an aura that made the mana inside Gray’s own body tremble, as if pulled by something far greater.

’Oh...’ he murmured quietly in his mind. ’So this is what a nightmare looks like.’

Cindy turned toward him, though in her small axolotl body, the motion only looked like a slight tilt of her head.

"A nightmare?" she asked, confused.

’No,’ Gray said. ’I mean, this creature. We just found a mana spring, and now... there’s a king of all mana springs coming to take it back.’

The Xytheris opened its mouth, and pure mana light poured from its throat, illuminating the entire seafloor around them with a beautiful yet deadly rainbow shimmer.

Gray pushed Cindy’s small body deeper into the coils of his tentacles, shielding her.

’Cindy,’ he said. ’Can you still calm that mana?’

"I... I’ll try," Cindy answered, her voice trembling. "But Gray, I’m not sure I can do it while that thing is—"

Gray steadied himself, forcing his mind to clear.

’Easy,’ he said calmly. ’I’ll think of something. You can still use your barrier, right?’

"I can," Cindy said, "with this much mana being supplied."

’Good. Then protect yourself, and focus on calming the mana around us so I can move freely.’

Cindy nodded, her frills steadying.

"Alright. I’ll try."

Gray gently loosened his tentacles and let her small body drift free. Cindy floated in the dense mana, her glow pulsing as she began to reach into the currents, trying to soothe the wild energy swirling around the spring.

Gray turned his gaze back to the massive creature descending toward him.

’Every day, I keep running into you things,’ he muttered, his mental voice cold. ’How many of you are there? Do you want me to wipe you out one by one?’

The Xytheris kept coming, its dozens of eyes locked onto him, unblinking.

’Impossible,’ Gray thought. ’Fighting it head-on is impossible. Holding it back is impossible too. But... that body full of pure mana... that gives me a few ideas.’

He felt it the water around him beginning to settle. The chaotic churn of mana was softening, smoothing, like a storm calming at the edges. Cindy was doing it. Her glow pulsed steadily, and a thin silver-blue barrier shimmered into place around her small form.

’The orb,’ he thought. ’If I can lure this thing there... let it feed on something that drains it back...’

He flexed his tentacles, already positioning himself between the Wyrm and the open water.

’Then that’s what we do. I’ll introduce it to something with a bigger appetite.’

The Xytheris drew closer, its dozens of eyes fixed on the mana spring below.

Gray struck first.

He fired a Riptide Slash directly at the Xytheris’s flank. The crescent blade tore through the water and struck its crystalline hide but the creature didn’t even flinch. The attack dissolved against its body like water thrown at stone, absorbed into the lattice of pure mana without leaving a mark.

[MAGICAL BARRIER — ATTACK NULLIFIED]

’As expected,’ Gray muttered. ’Physical attacks do nothing.’

He tried again with Cavitation Pulse this time, superheated water and crystal shrapnel aimed at one of its clustered eyes. The blast struck true, but the Xytheris only blinked, slow and unbothered, as if a fly had landed on its skin.

[ATTACK ABSORBED — NO DAMAGE]

’Tch. It doesn’t even care.’

Gray fired a third attack, then a fourth. Neurotoxic Drift, Riptide Slash, another Cavitation Pulse. Each one was absorbed or shrugged off. The Xytheris kept descending toward the spring, ignoring him completely.

’Fine,’ Gray thought. ’Then I’ll make it angry.’

He surged forward, driving Abyssal Lance straight into the creature’s face. The crystalline barbs punched into the mana lattice and for the first time, the Xytheris reacted.

Its dozens of eyes snapped toward him in unison, and a low, resonant hum vibrated through the water. The creature was annoyed.

’That’s it,’ Gray said. ’Look at me.’

But the Xytheris didn’t chase him.

Instead, its body rippled, and the water around Gray turned thick and heavy. He tried to pulse backward, but his tentacles wouldn’t move. His bell wouldn’t contract. The water itself had locked around him, dense with mana, pressing in from every direction.

’Mana... it’s using mana to hold me in place!’

[-20 MP DRAIN]

[GRAY ASHFORD — MP: 815 / 850]

Gray strained against the invisible grip, but his body refused to obey. The Xytheris’s eyes rotated slowly, watching him struggle with cold curiosity.

’What are you looking at, fucker?!’

The Xytheris’s mouth opened wider, and the light pouring from its throat intensified. The mana around Gray tightened, squeezing his bell, pulling at his core.

’Shit! This turned out to be a bad idea!’

Then the system flickered, and a cold warning appeared in Gray’s vision.

[WARNING: MANA DRAIN DETECTED]

[External entity is absorbing your mana.]

[MP: 815 / 850 → 790 / 850]

[Mana drain rate: 25 MP per second.]

’Twenty-five per second?!’

He thrashed against the invisible grip, but the mana-laced water held him firm. Every second he stayed trapped, the Xytheris pulled more of his energy into itself. The creature’s crystalline body pulsed brighter with each mouthful, its veins glowing a little richer, a little fuller.

[Mana drain rate increasing...]

[MP: 790 / 850 → 750 / 850 → 700 / 850]

[WARNING: PROLONGED DRAIN WILL RESULT IN SYSTEMIC MANA FAILURE.]