Fwoosh-.Ciel was the first to move.With a speed clearly faster than before, Ciel charged at Gon.It was thanks to her healing her injuries with recovery potions and boosting her stats with various physical enhancement stones.Shrrk-.Twisting her body, she lightly dodged Gon’s incoming tentacle and closed in right under its nose.[krrr!]As Ciel approached, Gon spread its maw wide to threaten her.When it opened its mouth, abnormally developed sharp teeth were revealed, and highly acidic bodily fluids sprayed everywhere.Swish-.Gon stretched its neck forward to bite Ciel.In response, Ciel focused mana into her feet and sharply changed her line of charge.Thud-.Gon’s maw snapped vainly through empty air where Ciel had just been.Evading Gon’s attack, Ciel gathered fighting energy into her fist and smashed Gon’s gill area.Whud-.A dull impact resounded along with the sound of something being crushed.Ciel’s blow, packed with monstrous strength, made Gon’s body sway for a moment. But—Whoosh-.Gon just gave its head a sharp shake, then lunged at Ciel again.[krr!]It was a strike that could easily shatter a boulder the size of a house, yet it hadn’t dealt any notable damage to Gon.Ciel’s knuckles, on the other hand, were scraped raw and bleeding freely.That was because Gon’s thick scales were covered in hard barnacles.Sssrrrk-.On top of that, the scales and barnacles that had been smashed by Ciel’s fist were quickly healed over by the sticky mucus coating them.[k.k.]Gon looked at Ciel and twisted its face into a grotesque smile.It was like it was mocking her, saying an attack of that level wouldn’t work on it."Tch."Apparently offended, Ciel clicked her tongue and rushed Gon again.With dazzling movements, Ciel drew Gon’s gaze toward herself.She couldn’t land a fatal hit, but with the help of the various enhancements, she could fight on even footing with the thing.While Ciel stalled Gon, I pulled out a scroll and tore it.Shaaa-.Killing intent imbued the Azoth Sword.It was a Sharpen spell that enhanced the sword’s cutting power.'I only need to land a single wound.'Whether it regenerated or not, as long as I could drive the Azoth Sword into its hide once—"Hoo."Taking advantage of Ciel keeping its attention, I slowly approached Gon from behind.If the other fishmen had interfered, that wouldn’t have been easy, but maybe because of Gon’s command, they stayed where they were and just watched.Then—"Haaaap!"Ciel suddenly grabbed Gon’s tentacle with both hands.Wrapping the tentacle around her hands, she twisted her body and yanked it with all her strength.[kr!]Just like that, she grabbed its tail and flipped Gon over her shoulder.Whooom-.Gon’s huge body floated briefly in the air, then flew over and crashed onto the sandy beach.Boom-!Spreading dusty sand everywhere, Gon flopped onto its back on the shore.'Now!'Not missing the opening Ciel had created, I jumped straight onto Gon’s body and aimed for the back of its neck.My palms were shredded and bleeding as they brushed its sharp scales and barnacles, but that actually worked out in my favor.[kr!]The moment I climbed onto its back, Gon, enraged by the unexpected counterattack, immediately tried to rise.The recoil nearly threw me backward, but I locked my legs around its body and stabbed the Azoth Sword toward its nape.Klang-!A numbing shock rang up both my hands as the Azoth Sword bounced off.Unfazed, I brought the sword down on the back of its neck again.Klang-!The sword bounced off again, but this time, some of the barnacles on its nape were knocked away and its scales were damaged.'Just one more time!'As I raised the sword again, Gon, sensing the threat on instinct, tried to use its tail to peel me off its back.I could feel its back muscles and spine twitching, the intention to move its tail coming through clearly.Twitch-.However—"Where do you think you’re going!"Ciel drove both of her feet into the sand, then grabbed Gon’s tail tentacle and held on like she was playing tug-of-war.Crrrk-."Well done!"With Ciel securing my safety, I slammed the Azoth Sword down again, driving it into the wounded scales.Squelch-.A sickening sensation traveled up through my hands.The Azoth Sword had sunk properly into its neck![kr…… ]Of course, this alone wouldn’t be enough to deal a fatal blow to Gon.Even a regular fishman could recover after having its forehead pierced; Gon, a superior species, boasted even greater regeneration and toughness.On top of that, Gon, seemingly enraged by my attack, flushed red in the eyes and began thrashing wildly."Ugh."As it did, Ciel, who had been gripping its tail, couldn’t hold on and was flung away.I was about to be thrown from its back as well.But I clung to the Azoth Sword embedded in its neck and held on as I used Transmutation magic.A Transmutation spell slightly different from the ones I’d used so far.I let the blood smeared all over my palm soak into the Azoth Sword and quietly murmured,"Body Transmutation."At the same time—Crackle-.Blue lightning erupted as mana poured into the creature’s body.[krrrr!!]Gon let out a horrific scream and thrashed violently.The mana flowing from the Azoth Sword rampaged through its insides, Transmuting its body tissues and tearing them apart into a complete mess.Its bones, muscles, and nervous system twisted together and festered from within so much that even I could vividly see it.[krrrr!!]No matter how high its regeneration was, there was nothing it could do if I tore it up from the inside like this.I guided the Azoth Sword again, scrambling the inside of its skull and blowing it apart.Whud-.With a sound like it had been hit by a shotgun, its head exploded.Thud-.The giant body that had been raging around collapsed onto the sand, headless."Hoo, hoo."Wiping my face, soaked with its black blood, I got to my feet and looked down at the corpse.'If this were a game, I wouldn’t have been able to do much damage with Transmutation magic because of its magic resistance.'But this was reality.Reality was more brutal, but there were that many more angles to exploit.As long as you had enough Agility to drive the Azoth Sword into the monster, it was fully possible to take it down."Hoo."After catching my breath for a while, I let out a sigh of relief and looked around.I’d taken down Gon, but there was no time to rest.[krrr!!]Once their commander Gon fell, the fishmen that had been watching suddenly rushed at us.I didn’t have the leeway to face them right now. First, I had to get us out of here."Ciel, over here!"Even as I called Ciel, I deployed a Cube I’d kept aside and Transmuted it.Crackle-.With a burst of blue lightning, the Cube expanded into a hemispherical shape like the one I’d used against Elena before, enveloping Ciel and me.Boom-. Boom-.Fishmen pounded on the outside of the Cube, threatening us.After confirming they couldn’t break through the Cube, I finally took a breath."Hoo, that’s one we barely got rid of.""Good work."Ciel took out a handkerchief from the subspace pouch and offered it to me.As I wiped Gon’s black blood from my face, I asked Ciel,"Any injuries?""Only my hands are a bit scraped.""Same here."Ciel and I applied recovery potions and healed our wounds."You know there’s one more, right?"From what we’d confirmed, the number of Gons was at least two. There was still one left."Yes, and it’s already heading this way."Ciel must have felt the approach of the other Gon, because her expression hardened.I handed Aegis to her and said,"This time, the other fishmen might rush us too, so we need to be even more careful. Take this.""Then what about you, Loen…""You’re the one drawing the dangerous aggro. And I’ve got this suit."I brushed the Altair suit I was wearing and smiled as if there was no problem.Aside from the acidic spit, most of Gon’s attacks were physical. Altair’s suit would be very effective.'And fishmen, as a species, don’t actually have particularly high offensive power.'If their durability and regeneration were that high and their attack power was also high, that’d be completely broken balance.At best, they relied on their regeneration and threw themselves into melee to overpower their enemies.A suit that provided physical defense was enough.Thud-.Thud-.All the while, the fishmen outside kept pounding on the Cube’s walls, trying to intimidate us.And then, in an instant—KWAANG-!!With a tremendous crash, the entire Cube shook.It was surely the other Gon that had arrived and slammed its tentacle into the Cube."Ready?""Yes."After catching our breath for a moment, we prepared to face the enemy again.Crackle-.First, I used Transmutation magic to cover the outer surface of the Cube with sharp spikes like a hedgehog.Shhhhk-.[krrr!]When the spikes suddenly sprouted, the fishmen clinging to the Cube were impaled on them.After clearing out the fishmen around the Cube once, I immediately dispelled it.Then I moved at once and fought exactly the way Ciel and I had planned beforehand.Whish-.While Ciel drew Gon’s attention and took its tentacle attacks, I watched for an opening and hit it with Body Transmutation magic.There wasn’t much difference from the method I’d just used to take down the first Gon.No, it was actually easier than before.The fishmen’s attacks were fierce, but I could block them with Transmuted sand walls, and since I’d already taken down Gon once, I had my own tricks now.[krrrr!!]Whud-.Another Gon let out a horrific scream and collapsed under my Body Transmutation magic.Thud-.Its bulk toppled to the ground, and I landed safely off its back.That took care of all the Gons that had been commanding the fishmen. There’d be no more sudden ambushes from tentacles attacking other students up on the wall.No, with their commanders gone, the walls wouldn’t be breached at all.All that was left was to return and hold the walls again.Wiping the sweat pouring down my forehead, I held out a hand to Ciel."All right, let’s head back. Good work.""Yes!"Ciel answered with a bright expression.I Transmuted a sand surfing board and got on with Ciel.Just as we were about to head back to the fortress after killing the two Gons—Whish-.Whishhh-."……!"Along with an ominous sound slicing through the air, a bunch of other tentacles suddenly came flying at us from somewhere.Tentacles so numerous, I couldn’t even count them."Tch."I quickly deployed a Cube to block the tentacles.CLAAANG-!A barrier made of Cube, which boasted absolute defensive power at least inside Full Moon Island.But contrary to its fearsome reputation, the Cube was shattered in an instant by the tentacles.Considering it had even allowed Elena’s attacks before, the Cube was hardly invincible.Though the Cube broken by Full Moon Island’s rites did regenerate—Whish-.Another tentacle appeared, hooked the Cube, and flung it far away.The Cube vanished into the fishmen’s horde.Maybe they’d decided the Cube was too annoying.Unlike the fishmen, who were no better than zombies, the commander-class Gons at least had a shred of intelligence.[krrrr…….]The Gons that had snatched the Cube and thrown it away surrounded us in a circle.Back to back with Ciel, I glared at the monsters closing in around us."This is… a bit dangerous."Just counting the ones in sight, there were more than five Gons encircling us.Behind them, the beach was packed solid with the fishmen horde.Swallowing hard, I stared at the Gons and fishmen baring their hostility as they surrounded us.'This many fishmen and Gons showing up—it’s ridiculous no matter how you look at it.'Even if their master Kral had surfaced from beneath the sea.The numbers were too high and the attack too serious to say they’d just come ashore responding to their master’s will.However—'If their objective had been me from the start.'If Kral’s appearance, and the purpose of the fishmen under its command, had all been solely to kill me… then this scale of troops and the number of Gons made sense.'This was my mistake.'I should have considered from the beginning that their goal might be me."Loen…"Ciel called my name in a trembling voice.Without answering, I let out a long sigh.'At this point, there’s no helping it.'I really hadn’t wanted to use it, but now I had no choice but to reveal my power.Shff-.Having made up my mind, I pulled out another Cube from my coat.[kr?]When I took out another Cube, the Gon at the very front tilted its head.Staring at it, I let out a faint laugh."What, did you think I only brought one Cube?"I had five hundred Cubes left after using some to Transmute the ship and fortress.With the Cube in hand, I looked at Derod’s Ring on my finger.'First, I’ll use the Cube to partition the space, then demonize inside.'If I spread the Cube wide and block all outside sight, then take them down inside, I could minimize the chance of my identity being exposed.Elena might grow suspicious from my powerful demonic energy, but that was still far better than dying here to fishmen.'This is the final measure I left for myself.'It was the source of my confidence when I’d thrown myself into the fishmen’s horde with just my body.At the very least, I could save myself—no, even Ciel.No matter how things turned out afterward.Crackle-.Under Transmutation magic, the Cube spread into a wide hemispherical shape and instantly covered the surroundings.Thud-.The Cube completely separated the inside from the outside.The Gons and fishmen looked around at the suddenly darkened space, tilting their heads.Watching them, I raised my hand toward Derod’s Ring on my ring finger.Just as I was about to pull the ring off—[kr…… krr…….][krrr!!]The fishmen all around us suddenly started acting strangely.They rolled their eyes back and grabbed their throats.Clutching at their gills, they scratched wildly in agony, then began flopping to the ground with wet thuds one by one.[krr, kr!]Even the commander-class Gons twisted their bodies violently, then collapsed onto the ground.'What the…?'At the sudden turn of events, I hastily dispelled the Cube and looked around.Outside, it was even more dramatic.The mountains «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» of monsters that had been endlessly climbing the walls suddenly collapsed, and all the writhing, insect-like movement came to a complete stop.The fishmen lay piled up like corpses, not a twitch from any of them.The ghastly cries that had filled our ears also cut off, and the shore fell into total silence.At the same time—Whoosh-.The thick sea fog that had wrapped the island peeled away.As the mist obscuring our vision cleared, a floating ship in the sky came into view.A pure-white sky whale with a beautiful, graceful silhouette.A blue beam of light poured down from the floating ship, blanketing the jungle island as if blessing it.Vwoooom-.And on the bow of that ship stood an old man with a familiar face, proud and unshaken.Looking up at him, I smiled."…You’re late."

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