Vol 2 Chapter 20

The boss mob, Kalap Titan, which they had been trying so hard to avoid, had properly recognized them. Watching the massive Kalap Titan charging towards them with a terrifying appearance, Kapros shouted to the two who had just arrived at his side.

"It's spotted us. Go ahead!"

The two turned around and gasped simultaneously.

"What are you saying? Kap, you go first!"

Kran shouted urgently, as if stamping his feet. But that wasn't possible.

In this situation, Kapros had a means of escape several times faster than Yu-wan or Kran, but they didn't. This meant that if Kapros escaped first using Blink, the remaining two would have almost no chance of catching up to him. Kapros steeled himself and spoke.

"It's easier for me to hold it back. I still have a lot of mana left, and I can escape with Blink if necessary. If you understand, run quickly!"

"You can't do it alone."

Yu-wan shook his head.

"I'm not trying to defeat it, just hold it back. I'll just drain its energy a bit and then get out, and even if you both stay, you can't do better than me alone. It would be fortunate if you didn't get in the way when I'm using magic."

It sounded a bit harsh, but it was the truth nonetheless. Kapros urgently pushed the two away.

"Go quickly."

However, the two didn't budge easily and instead tried to grab Kapros's arms. Kapros quickly stepped back.

"You won't go? If you make me say more, I won't let you off easy."

At Kapros's low voice, both visibly flinched. Seeing this, Kapros hid an inner smile and turned his back to them, facing the approaching Kalap Titan.

"Go!"

"...Damn it!"

With Kran's regretful curse and the sensation of Yu-wan's hand briefly touching his shoulder, the two finally turned their backs on Kapros. Not being stupid, they must have quickly realized which option was better.

Kapros thought he might not be entirely without a chance. With Blink, he had an incomparable advantage over before. He planned to make the most of the ability to move freely regardless of position, attacking and defending at will.

As he watched the large body of the Kalap Titan drawing closer, Kapros cooled his mind. He slowly inhaled and exhaled, suppressing his rapidly beating heart from the tension. Having someone by your side can be more reassuring, but conversely, being left alone can intensify anxiety about the opponent you're about to face. But this time was different. Kapros had stayed here of his own will to protect them. Everything had changed from the time when he had nothing to protect, no hope.

Yes. He was standing on his own two feet, here and now...

His mind, entering a state of concentration, became clear as if washed with cold water. Erasing even the last trace of fear deep in his heart, he opened his eyes towards the enemy.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Kapros stared straight ahead. Although he had used a few spells while fleeing earlier, fortunately, it didn't seem like his mana had been depleted much.

'Alright. Now then...'

Changing the faint smile he had worn thinking of Yu-wan and Kran into a cold grin directed at the enemy he was about to face, Kapros stretched out both hands forcefully.

"Lightning Bolt!"

Reflecting on his experiences so far, boss monsters had much stronger defenses compared to regular monsters. Therefore, to first check how strong the Kalap Titan's magic defense was, Kapros quickly fired off a Lightning Bolt. However, the Lightning Bolt disappeared without leaving even a scratch, making a mockery of its 3rd circle status.

"Tsaak!"

To make matters worse, the ticklish attack seemed to have only further provoked the enemy's anger. Kapros fell into thought while continuously moving here and there to dodge using Blink. If even a 3rd circle attack spell barely worked, he would need to use higher-level magic, but in this situation, he hadn't learned any of Superior's attack spells that would be most helpful.

'But that doesn't mean there's no way.'

In fact, there was something he had wanted to try if such a situation ever arose. Even if it failed, it was worth attempting at least once. If it didn't work, he could just throw it away and dodge with Blink.

"Blink!"

Kapros used Blink to retreat backward and then opened his mouth.

"Now the power of the raging wind is the wound of a storm that devours all. Become my sacrifice. Dust Wind!"

Whoosh!

The wind that appeared in response to the call howled fiercely as it swirled. The hood flew back from the violent force, making his hair flutter, but there was no time to put it back on.

The important part was yet to come. Previously, Kapros had managed to change the image of Fireball to freely adjust its size or create a spinning Screw Ball. This new attempt was inspired by that very experience.

Kapros intended to change the whirlwind form of Dust Wind into the shape he desired according to his image.

He anticipated that it wouldn't be easy, of course, as Dust Wind was a 5th circle magic requiring much more mana and imaging compared to the lower circle Fireball. Currently, just maintaining the spell normally was enough to make sweat drip down his chin.

But that wasn't reason enough to give up.

"Go!"

As the swirling wind moved forward, it began to grow larger and larger. Kapros strongly imagined pressing down on the Dust Wind, continuously exerting force to make the wind spread out horizontally. However, as expected, Dust Wind didn't transform as easily as Fireball. As if rebelling, it kept deflecting nearby rocks and trees, repeatedly starting to flatten but then stopping.

Crash, clatter!

"Ugh!"

While trying to control it by pressing down with both hands from above, a small stone deflected from within the wind grazed Kapros's face. Blood splattered with a hot sensation, but Kapros didn't stop what he was doing.

If he couldn't even succeed at this, how could he move on to the next step!

"Kuk..."