Chapter 71: CRITICAL HIT!
Gray’s tentacles went rigid. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. The Kraken was already between him and the open water, its massive body blocking the only escape route.
’This is insane.... I killed it, and it came back.’
With its tentacles fully restored, the Kraken surged forward and reached for Gray with every limb at once.
’Tch!’
Gray pulsed sideways, slipping between two coral spires as a tentacle slammed into the rock where he’d been floating. The impact shattered the coral into fragments.
’This trait is complete bullshit,’ Gray thought, his mental voice sharp with frustration. ’Full regeneration from zero HP? That’s cheating. What kind of broken game design is this?’
Cindy’s voice came, still carrying that note of awe. "This monster... it’s like the legends. Regeneration on this level isn’t just survival. It’s a miracle."
’This is not the time to be impressed,’ Gray snapped, dodging another sweeping arm. ’Help me think.’
Cindy fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.
"You said octopuses have three hearts. What if this one must be killed three times? Once for each heart?"
Gray weaved through a narrow gap between two coral towers, the Kraken’s arms flowing after him like liquid shadow.
’That’s the same as fighting three enemies back to back. I don’t have the stamina. I can’t keep this up.’
A tentacle caught him from the blind side.
It wrapped around his bell before he could react, the suckers clamping down with crushing force. Gray’s crystalline armor groaned under the pressure. The Kraken yanked him forward, pulling him toward the gaping beak at the center of its arms.
’Not today—!’
He activated Cavitation Pulse at the tentacle coiled around him. The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel tore through the arm, severing it cleanly just above the suckers.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 52 DAMAGE]
[REEF KRAKEN — HP: 428 / 480]
The severed limb went slack. Gray tore himself free and pulsed backward, breathing hard or as close to it as a jellyfish could manage.
Cindy’s voice echoed in his mind, urgent.
"You already destroyed its head. Maybe two hearts were there, and you took them out. That means there’s only one left, hiding somewhere in those tentacles."
A ripple of tension ran through Gray’s tentacles. The Kraken was already regenerating the severed arm, new tissue sprouting from the stump with unnatural speed.
’That’s a gamble,’ he said. ’If you’re wrong, we die.’
"Then what do we do?" Cindy asked, her voice taut.
Gray pulsed sideways as another arm swept toward him, the suckers missing his bell by inches.
’Do you have any skill you can use to attack?’ he asked.
Cindy paused. "Are you asking me to drain your mana?"
Gray fired Cavitation Pulse at the incoming tentacle, severing it just above the suckers.
’Yes,’ he said. ’If we don’t do something, we’ll die here. And you told me your locket has its own stored energy. Can’t we use that?’
Cindy’s voice came, uncertain.
"Attacking is difficult. The stored energy isn’t enough to cast a proper offensive spell. But... binding? I think I can do that."
The Kraken’s arms closed in from every direction, cutting off the gaps between the coral spires one by one. Gray’s escape routes were vanishing fast.
’Damn it!!’
A tentacle slammed into the coral to his left, the impact sending tremors through the water. Gray spun, looking for another path, but a second arm had already snaked around the right side, its suckers dragging across the stone as it closed in. Every direction he turned, the Kraken was already there. He was cornered.
[EMP SHROUD — ACTIVATED]
The electromagnetic pulse radiated outward, erasing his electrical signature. Gray vanished from the Kraken’s electroreception. The arms hesitated, their suckers twitching as they lost their target.
Then the Kraken released its ink.
A thick black cloud exploded from its siphon, flooding the narrow space between the corals. Gray moved slowly, carefully, but the water was thick with the ink and every tiny motion sent ripples through the cloud.
The Kraken’s golden eyes narrowed. It couldn’t sense him but it could feel the ink move.
A tentacle shot toward him through the darkness.
Gray pulsed hard to the left, barely avoiding the strike. The arm tore through the ink, and the water churned around him.
’Tch—! It’s tracking me through the ink!’
Cindy’s voice was sharp. "It can feel the movement! Don’t let it trap you again!"
Gray fired Cavitation Pulse at the nearest arm, forcing it back, then shot upward through a gap in the coral. The Kraken’s arms followed, but he was faster now.
’Fine,’ Gray said, his voice hard. ’We’ll do it your way. But you have to bind it properly. This thing is too flexible. It slips through everything.’
"Leave it to me," Cindy said. "I’ll make it count. Just give me an opening."
Gray turned back toward the Kraken, his crystalline barbs clicking as he prepared himself.
’Then get ready. This is going to be close.’
Gray’s bell pulsed hard, 135 SPD cutting through the water as he closed the distance. Neurotoxic Drift bled from his tentacles in thick, invisible waves, surrounding his body like a shroud of silent death.
The Kraken hesitated. Its arms, which had been so eager to crush him moments before, now hovered at the edge of the venom cloud.
Gray drifted in place, calm.
’What’s wrong?’ he said, his mental voice cold. ’Are you afraid to touch me?’
The Kraken’s eyes narrowed. Its arms twitched and then it struck.
The tentacles shot forward, plunging straight through the toxic cloud without hesitation. The venom seared into its flesh but the creature didn’t care. Pain was meaningless to something that had already died once tonight. The arms closed around Gray’s bell and squeezed.
’Now!’ Gray shouted.
Cindy’s voice rang out, sharp and clear.
"[PHYSICAL BARRIER!]"
Light flared from the locket. Silver-blue energy exploded outward, forming a perfect sphere around them — Gray, the Kraken’s arms, and the space between. The barrier sealed shut with a sound like a bell being struck.
The Kraken’s grip tightened, but Gray was already moving.
’This is better,’ he said.
He released Neurotoxic Drift at full force. The venom flooded the enclosed sphere, thick and concentrated, until the water inside was saturated with poison. The Kraken’s arms spasmed, but it couldn’t retreat — the barrier held it in place.
Then Gray activated Overcharge.
Blue-white lightning erupted from his bell. The electricity arced through the toxic water, turning the sphere into a storm of venom and lightning. The barrier reflected the energy inward, the currents bouncing off the walls and crashing back into the Kraken’s flesh again and again. Each rebound amplified the damage, the confined space forcing every volt and every particle of poison back onto the creature.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[CRITICAL HIT!]
The Kraken’s arms went rigid as its golden eyes flared wide.
Gray tore himself free.
He pulsed backward just as Cindy opened the barrier. For a heartbeat, there was a gap and the Kraken’s remaining arm shot through, reaching for him. But the barrier snapped shut again before the creature could pull itself free, trapping the limb outside.
The tentacle lashed toward Gray, desperate and blind.
’You still don’t know when to stop.’
He aimed and fired Cavitation Pulse directly at the exposed limb. The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel tore through the arm at the joint, severing it cleanly.
The severed limb drifted down as the Kraken’s scream filled the sphere.
Cindy’s voice came, strained and trembling.
"Gray... I can’t hold this much longer... finish it now!"
Gray turned back toward the sphere. The water inside was still crackling with residual electricity and thick with poison. The Kraken was barely moving now, its body twitching.
’Understood,’ he said.