Chapter 104: Deadly Assassin vs Siren
It was as if I were watching a choreographed dance performance.
As if Amanda had told the siren how and when to attack beforehand to create this elaborate performance.
Either that or she was a regressor that had fought with the siren a thousand times and knew all its premeditated movements.
It was as if she knew every attack. Every swing of the tail and every scream that threatened to shatter her eardrums.
It was even more impressive that she did all of this while underwater.
Within a few seconds, the siren was covered in blood. There wasn’t an inch of her body that wasn’t sliced opened. It was as if I were watching the monster being skinned alive while its trident fell to the bottom of the sea.
Her Fishman army rushed forward, carrying spears but they were cut down like blades of grass in the path of a lawnmower.
I was so entranced by her fluid movements and grace that at some point, I even forgot I was injured.
’I want to fight like that.’
It was only when the siren was so bloody that she was on the verge of passing out that Amanda finally decided to end her suffering, but before she could, I hastily stopped her.
"Wait! Don’t kill her!"
Amanda turned and looked at me incredulously, her blade resting on the Siren’s throat ready to pierce her flesh.
Being underwater, Amanda couldn’t open her mouth to speak, so I quickly explained as much as I could even though I was in agonizing pain.
"I can use her... Just trust me."
If there was one thing that I realized since having this form, it was that monsters were much more likely to speak to other monsters.
It was as if they were programmed to not reveal information to humans. But since I had a monster core, I was technically one of them.
Amanda stared at me for a few seconds as if contemplating whether it was worth the risk to trust me, but after an intense staring match, she finally withdrew her weapon.
So the siren would be more inclined to talk to me. If I could convince her, that is.
Still, it would work better for us to have one of the monsters that knew this place on our side.
The look on her face said, ’You better know what you’re doing.’
She quickly swam to the surface to fill her lungs with air while I used the chance to molt.
...
The moment Amanda resurfaced, she gasped loudly and sucked in a lungful of air.
After she caught her breath, she couldn’t help but frown while remembering what had just taken place.
’What am I doing?’
This was the first time she hesitated to kill a monster. She didn’t even think she could. After killing thousands of monsters since coming to this world, she was practically programmed to do so.
The only reason she had decided to listen to Liam is because of what took place the moment the battle started.
He risked his life to save her. Took an almost fatal wound to the stomach for her.
It reminded her of the first people to risk their lives for her. Her party.
Thinking of them made her feel an emptiness in her chest. Along with a strong sense of guilt.
Just the memory of their faces caused her more pain. They were like family to her. A family she built for herself. Just like her sister did.
"I just hope they are alright."
She prayed for their safety, yet she couldn’t do anything to help them even though she knew their chances of surviving were slim to none.
In the end she decided to dismiss the thought before taking a deep breath and diving back underwater.
...
The moment I broke through my old exoskeleton, I knew a tougher exoskeleton was already waiting for me.
My monster core also healed instantly. Every time I molt, it is as if I were born anew.
I honestly didn’t expect Siren’s trident to be able to pierce through my exoskeleton.
She was supposed to be a B-ranked monster.
What even is that weapon? She didn’t have it the last time I saw her.
Curious, I quickly wrapped the unconscious siren in googum before swimming down to the sea floor to retrieve the trident.
The storm stopped the moment Amanda knocked the weapon out of her hand.
Could it have been caused by this thing?
For now I quickly added it to my storage space before swimming back to the siren.
At the same time I spotted Amanda retrieving the cores from the fishmen she killed.
When she was finished, the two of us swam back to the surface while I pulled the siren along with us.
"Are you sure about this?" Amanda asked as she placed the massive siren onto my back and sat down beside her.
"I’m certain. If only we could gain a little information about this place; it would be well worth it."
Amanda went quiet.
I raised my wings once again and propelled us across the surface of the water.
The sea became much calmer than it was before.
"Oh, by the way," Amanda’s voice suddenly cut through the silence that had begun since we started moving. "Thank you for saving me."
"No problem. Though I didn’t save you, you managed to break through the obsidian I wrapped around."
"More like cut through it."
Remind me to never underestimate her. However hard my exoskeleton is, it clearly isn’t hard enough.
"And umm..." Suddenly her tone became even more serious. "Let’s talk when we reach land; there are some things I need to tell you."
That’s surprising.
"OK."
We traveled in silence for a few more hours until we arrived at where I found the landmass.
But to my surprise. The landmass I saw was gone as if it had disappeared into thin air.
’What the hell happened? Land doesn’t just get up and move!’
"There it is! The blue ocean you told us," Amanda suddenly shouted.
The blue ocean was still there, but the land was gone.
Confused, I swam into the crystal blue ocean, leaving the murky Black Sea behind. I traveled for another hour, and just as I was finally about to give up, I finally spotted what I was looking for.
It was land just beyond the horizon. I was certain it was the same one I had seen, but it had moved from its original position.
How?
Putting it aside for now, I swam until my body hit the sandy shores of the beach.