C354 - Ozdock (1)

"Oh, are you really reacting so quickly?" Mary smiled with a curious gleam in her eyes.

Jin reacted half-heartedly. Although Ozdock, the core monster, was weaker compared to its prime, Jin couldn't help but wonder if it was really possible for it to survive underground in the Black Sea for a thousand years.

Kuurur... The vibration suddenly intensified.

From the depths of the underground, a massive lifeform writhed and trembled as if erupting from a volcano, vividly transmitting its presence through the ground.

"It's like fishing for a whale with a fishing rod."

Mary licked her lips.

"Although we don't know how much it has weakened, both of you should stay vigilant."

Murakan found Mary's nonchalance amusing.

She seemed too confident, as she had never experienced Ozdock's full power in its prime.

Snap!

In an instant, what looked like Ozdock's "arm" shot out of the ground, splitting the earth.

It looked like a metallic pillar.

There were no apparent joints, making flexible movement impossible, but the arm moved with the fluidity of molten iron.

A body with the texture of steel and the fluid nature of water at the same time. Just by looking at it, Jin had the intuition that it wouldn't be easy to strike.

Ozdock's arm sought the gold scattered on the ground, and Mary watched the scene with fascination.

On the other hand, before Ozdock could fully reveal itself, Jin unsheathed his sword. Quick! The pale blade emerged from its sheath, emitting a faint glow as lightning bolts crackled.

Simultaneously, a flickering light emanated from Jin, and the next moment, even before Ozdock could fully reveal its body, Jin sliced off Ozdock's larger arm.

'I didn't cut it.'

Jin's premonition had come true.

It was as if he had sliced through water. There was only a strange and eerie sensation when the blade made contact with Ozdock's arm, but there was no sense of a dense impact as the blade cut through flesh and bone.

"Hey, younger one! What are you doing?" Mary exclaimed in frustration.

She had planned to wait for Ozdock to eat the gold scattered on the ground. It was a consideration for a fun fight.

"The prey was almost injured. It seems there's no significant damage. Phew."

"Now is not the time to be picky, big sister."

"This sister of yours was so excited she couldn't sleep last night. It's already weakened, so I wanted to improve its condition a bit before fighting..."

"I didn't mean that. Aren't you currently competing against me?"

Mary's gaze sharpened at those words.

"It means there's no time to waste. Before you finish off that thing, you also have to do something."

"Ugh, troublesome guy."

"Are you going to spread mana bomb again after wearing shiny armor like last time, big sister?"

"You're subtly cunning too."

Swoosh!

The joints of Mary's chain sword, "Venom," separated.

Dozens of blades were instantly imbued with aura and began to spread as she swung the sword.

Sharp shockwaves burst in all directions.

The pieces of gold sent flying by Shuri were sliced like tofu, and Ozdock's arm was pulverized to the point where its original shape couldn't be recognized.

However, it wasn't a successful strike.

Ozdock's arm had briefly lost its shape due to the Venom, and when Mary stopped the attack, it quickly regained its original form.

Then, it hesitated over the gold scattered on the ground.

The impact generated by the shockwaves had sent a few pieces of gold into the hole from which the arm had emerged.

Ching! Ching!

The sound of Ozdock awkwardly consuming the fallen gold could be heard.

The unpleasant resonance of the sound was filled with Ozdock's dark and vicious energy.

The two pieces of gold that fell into the hole were like sparks falling into a sea of oil.

[Grrooar...!]

Once again, the ground trembled with Ozdock's roar.

The tremors were several times stronger than when the creature first moved, as if the earth could overturn at any moment.

Kuuaaah!

Ozdock began to rise from the ground.

Explosions, both large and small, erupted from various points on the ground due to Ozdock's emitted energy.

Jin and Mary adjusted their stances, deflecting debris.

Meanwhile, Murakan mounted Shuri and positioned herself in the distance.

"Baldie's words were true. It's incomparably weaker than back then. But even so, it will be a challenge for these two."

It seems I'll have to step in and help at the right moment.

Murakan came to that conclusion.

Although it had been sealed for a thousand years, and its body had weakened, Ozdock had not entirely lost its former majesty.

The immense shadow of Ozdock cast a dark hue over the land.

'Does it have a strange shape?'

'Here it comes, that shuddering sensation of incredible strength.'

Jin and Mary gazed at Ozdock.

Its body was angular everywhere, hairless, and if there were a monkey the size of a fortress, it would resemble this.

Golden energy radiated from its chest, and that was Ozdock's inner core.

[Krrah. Ghooaaak]

Ozdock, after setting one foot on the ground, only made strange noises for a while. It seemed entirely disinterested in Jin and Mary.

It appeared that Ozdock hadn't even realized that Jin and Mary had attacked it. Its attention was solely on searching for gold, while it stared blankly with its large red eye in the center of its face.

"You slightly hurt my pride, you know?"

Although she said that, Mary's pupils shone as she looked at Ozdock.

Perhaps one could feel terror when facing an opponent seemingly invulnerable to physical attacks.

No, undoubtedly, most Warriors would feel that way when facing Ozdock.

But this story didn't apply to Mary. Jin felt the same.

'It's probably not regeneration, but is its body like a ghost?'

While Jin pondered for a moment, Mary had already charged toward Ozdock.

Ozdock extended its long, dark tongue toward the gold scattered on the ground.

"I'll keep slicing until you vanish, Ozdock."

Chaaak!

She severed Ozdock's tongue. Or rather, what seemed like a cut was just the beginning.

Mary's sword, "Venom," released blades randomly like scattered beams of light.

The rays overlapped at a speed even Jin had trouble keeping up with, and with each flash, Ozdock's massive body became blurry.

For the first few seconds, Ozdock continued to ignore Mary.

However, when the gold it was about to swallow turned to dust due to Mary's aura, Ozdock finally reacted, its red eyes glaring.

Zas!

Right after Ozdock shifted its gaze to Mary, that sound rang out.

It was the unmistakable sound of a trained Warrior's punch or a blunt weapon strike against a human body.

"Kuk!"

At the same time, Mary was sent flying and bit her lip. It was the result of being hit by Ozdock's tail in her side.

Fortunately, thanks to her last-minute defense, she managed to avoid a fatal wound, but the mental shock was greater than the physical one.

'I almost took a direct hit...?'

Just one blow.

Not even a properly prepared strike, it was an attack that resembled an unconscious hand movement to swat a fly.

She could have been incapacitated in an instant. If her defense had been delayed even slightly, it wouldn't have ended with just a few broken ribs.

Watching this, Jin couldn't help but be amazed.

'With that size, it moves at a speed even big sister Mary can't react to.'

He became nervous.

"Murakan! Is this its weakened state?"

Jin shouted, and Murakan raised both arms, drawing a circle in the air.

"If it gets really tough, this mighty Black Dragon here will lend you a hand, so give it your all. Hahaha!"

Mary got up again, her eyes shining. Her entire body trembled, a mix of embarrassment and anger quickly rising.

Instead of expressing it directly, she decided to keep her composure.

In the world of Warriors, there was no one who didn't know that Mary was a crazy fighting maniac. Furthermore, it was a well-known fact that she loved to fight recklessly without any calculations.

Most Warriors, therefore, thought of Mary as a hot-blooded and straightforward person.

However, those who truly knew Mary had said that she was the most fearsome when her eyes seemed as icy as they did now.

'It was like this when I fought the younger one, when I killed those damn Specters, and even now. Since the younger one returned, the fights have been thrilling. Now, how should I deal with this guy?'

Kak, kak!

The fallen gold was being absorbed by Ozdock's belly.

The surprise attacks of the two hadn't been entirely ineffective. Although they hadn't inflicted wounds on Ozdock, more than half of the gold ingots they had brought as bait had been lost in the attacks.

Since gold was the source of Ozdock's power, if it had consumed it all, it would probably have regained its vitality twice as much as now.

"Younger one."

"Yes, sister."

"To inflict physical damage on Ozdock, we'll probably have to target when it hardens its body for an attack."

"I was thinking the same. It seems to be in a state similar to air most of the time. It would have been nice if that damned Black Dragon we have behind us had warned us about this."

Murakan lay on Shuri's back, watching the siblings with a smile. He even nibbled on the Latrie cookies they had brought.

"Even so, its entire body isn't always in a state like air. If it were, it couldn't chew and swallow gold like this."

"Must there be weak points?"

"Yes, and there could also be ways to expose its body to physical attacks."

Swoosh, crack!

Jin wielded fire and ice magic in his palms, chanting simultaneously.

"I'll look for a way to land an effective blow using magic and strength. In the meantime, big sister, please find its weaknesses."

"Understood."

Splat!

Spitting out the blood accumulated in her mouth, Mary closed the distance between her and Ozdock.

Now, Ozdock was aware of Jin and Mary's presence.

At first, Ozdock had almost lost consciousness due to the smell of gold after being recently awakened from its seal, but its intelligence had recovered somewhat.

[Grrraah!]

The Poison Sword traced a sharp path tainted with aura once again. This time, Ozdock didn't dodge the attack, it simply brushed Mary aside.

Despite being slammed into the ground several times, Mary extended her sword toward Ozdock without showing any signs of fatigue. However, in just a minute, she had to experience being pushed aside more than ten times, hitting the ground each time.

But it was no longer about Mary's wounded pride.

It was because she had accepted that Ozdock was stronger than her.

'It seems to be immune to magic too.'

Fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning. Jin had tried all types of magic, but none of them seemed to hit their mark.

It appeared to be an impregnable fortress.

Unless Jin discovered one more thing:

'He can't have simultaneous immunity to both physical and magical attacks...!'

Jin had almost overlooked this. Since Mary was being pushed back so much, there hadn't been many opportunities for them to attack simultaneously.

It was easier said than done. Normally, the toughest tasks weren't simple.