Chapter : 110
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Chapter : 110
Ira stepped forward, her face completely flat and emotionless. She swung her high-pressure water whips at the Lamia, trying to tangle her arms. But the Lamia just used two of her six hands to easily catch the water whips, yanking them so hard that Ira stumbled forward.
Luna tried to shoot a fast bolt of yellow lightning, but the Lamia simply raised her thick, armored tail. The lightning bounced right off the metallic green scales, doing absolutely zero damage.
The girls were throwing everything they had, but it wasn't working. The Lamia was a true, high-level dungeon boss. She was incredibly fast, she had six arms to attack and defend with, and her scaly armor was too thick for their normal magic to break through. In less than two minutes, the 13th Unit was getting completely pushed back toward the entrance of the cavern.
Princess Iris watched her vanguard struggle, her violet eyes filling with worry. She gripped her silver rapier tightly, desperately trying to think of a tactical plan to break the monster's defenses.
Ken was still standing safely near the back wall, keeping his distance. He was watching the fight with his usual lazy, sleepy expression.
He casually looked at Sayma’s cracking barriers. He watched Naomi struggle to catch her breath. He saw that Laxmi’s fireballs were completely missing their mark because the snake was simply too fast.
Ken tilted his head and let out a quiet sigh.
He didn't think about his own power. He didn't monologue about how he could easily defeat the monster with a single finger. He simply looked at the situation like a guy watching a highly frustrating video game where the players were clearly under-leveled.
"Yeah, they are definitely not going to win this one," Ken mumbled to himself, scratching the back of his messy black hair. "This snake lady has way too many arms. The math is completely unfair. If they keep fighting like this, someone is going to get seriously hurt."
Ken knew he had to do something to help them. But he also knew he couldn't just pull out a magic sword and cut the monster in half. He had to keep his cover story safe. He needed a way to completely ruin the Lamia's day while still looking like the absolute biggest idiot in the entire Empire.
Ken looked down at his right hand. Sitting on his index finger was the incredibly cheap, shiny blue plastic ring he had bought from the street scammer earlier that morning.
A massive, goofy smile spread across Ken's face.
"Alright," Ken said happily. "Time to put this piece of junk to good use."
Without warning anyone, Ken suddenly broke away from the safety of the back wall. He threw his arms up in the air and started running right into the middle of the chaotic battlefield.
He didn't look brave. He looked completely ridiculous. His tie was flapping over his shoulder, and his untucked shirt was bouncing around as he ran straight toward the terrifying, towering snake monster.
"Hey! Giant snake lady!" Ken yelled at the top of his lungs, waving his hands to get her attention.
Naomi turned her head and saw Ken running forward. Her green eyes nearly popped right out of her skull.
"Ken! What are you doing?!" Naomi screamed in total panic. "Get back here right now! She is going to bite you in half!"
Ken completely ignored Naomi. He ran right up to the front line, stopping just a few feet away from the Lamia’s massive, slithering tail.
The Lamia stopped attacking Sayma’s shield. The monster turned her terrifying, glowing yellow eyes down to look at the messy, loud boy standing in front of her. She opened her mouth, baring her long, venomous fangs, ready to eat him in one single bite.
Ken didn't flinch. He didn't make a fake scared face. He puffed his chest out proudly and shoved his right hand straight up into the air, pointing his index finger right at the monster's face.
The bright light of the cavern crystals caught the shiny blue plastic stone on his ring, making it glimmer.
"You can't hurt me!" Ken yelled loudly, making sure every single person in the room could hear him. "This is my good luck ring! As long as I wear this, no one can beat me! My luck is absolutely unbreakable!"
The entire cavern went dead silent. The girls stopped fighting. Princess Iris froze.
Naomi slowly raised her hand and slapped it directly onto her own face. She dragged her hand down her cheek in a motion of pure, agonizing despair. She could not believe it.
"He is an absolute idiot," Naomi groaned miserably, watching Ken hold up his $2 street scam ring to a giant boss monster. "He actually believes that plastic toy is going to save him. He is totally going to die."
---
The giant Lamia stared down at Ken Eliot.
She paused, her massive, scaly body coiled tight like a spring. Her glowing yellow eyes locked directly onto the cheap, shiny blue plastic ring that Ken was proudly holding up in the air.
To Naomi, Sayma, and the rest of the girls, it looked like Ken was just being a naive, hopelessly stupid boy relying on a fake good luck charm. They were absolutely sure the monster was going to laugh, lunge forward, and bite his head clean off.
But as the Lamia looked directly at the ring, something completely unexplainable happened.
The monster did not lunge. She did not bite.
Instead, the Lamia suddenly flinched. She let out a highly confused, burbling hiss. She violently jerked her head to the left, staring at a completely empty patch of air near a crystal wall.
Then, she raised two of her six massive arms and swung her sharp claws wildly at the empty space.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
She hit absolutely nothing. She was just slashing the air.
"Die, you invisible ghosts!" Ken yelled happily, keeping his ring held high. "My good luck is confusing her! The ring is working!"
The girls stood there completely dumbfounded. They had no idea what was going on. They couldn't see the complex, mind-bending illusion that Ken had just secretly dropped over the monster's brain. Because the Lamia looked directly at the ring, she was instantly trapped in a fake reality.
In the monster's mind, she wasn't looking at Ken anymore. She was suddenly surrounded by a hundred fake, glowing enemies attacking her from every single angle.
The Lamia shrieked in absolute panic. She started thrashing her massive tail around randomly, smashing it against the solid stone walls of the cavern instead of aiming at the girls. She swung her six arms in totally chaotic, erratic directions. She stumbled backward, tripping over her own long tail and falling heavily onto the floor.
Her movements, which had been incredibly fast and flawless just a minute ago, were now completely sloppy and incredibly slow. She looked exactly like someone trying to fight a swarm of angry bees while blindfolded.
"What is she doing?" Laxmi asked, lowering her flaming fists slightly. She looked completely confused. "Why is she punching the ceiling?"