I'm sort of getting used to my upgraded body. No longer am I as hopeless as earlier, where I couldn't even damage her in the slightest. However, I am wondering whether any of my attacks are actually hurting her. She seems to have a similar regeneration speed as Horrus, yet she doesn't bleed. Not a single blood of hers had been spilled which is why I'm questioning myself. What about the time I sliced her in half? Did that do nothing at all?
What I can guarantee is that she's getting angrier by the minute, since I kept dismembering her tentacles every time I attacked, albeit she seems to be able to regrow them back with ease. I charged in once again to attack her, and she readied her stance. She certainly knows how to use her tentacles offensively and defensively.
Time appears to be slowing down whenever I move fast. The loli jellyfish appears to be able to see my movements, but she can't react fast enough to prevent or dodge my attacks. Her eyes mostly matches my afterimages, which is why she can't react fast enough to my attacks; she was always too slow. Figuring out that she could no longer match my speed, she barricaded herself and used her tentacles to attack randomly as wide as she could, protecting herself from all angles. A sound plan, but ultimately useless.
Keeping an eye on her electrical field, I sliced a few of her tentacles apart, giving me the opportunity to get in close to those tentacles protecting her. She had widened her electrical field, making it wider than the length of Inazuma's blade. But what she hasn't realise is that my gauntlets are also resistant to lightning, which meant I can slice those tentacles protecting her without worries. After slicing away a couple, I was able to expose her to a direct attack from the front.
She gasped and quickly moved her other tentacles to protect the exposed area. What she doesn't realise is that I was actually baiting her. I had already made my way behind her, and I immediately sliced what few remaining tentacles were protecting her. Now that she is exposed, I attacked her with Kirin's Thunderbolt on her exposed back, which was something I couldn't do previously without using Focused Meditation. I made sure that the blade itself sliced her for maximum damage, as opposed to depending on Kirin's lightning alone.
She grunted and fell to her knees from the pointblank impact. Finally, green blood could be seen flowing from her wound. Is it due to using Kirin's lightning that she is finally bleeding? It would appear that only her body is seemingly vulnerable as opposed to her tentacles. Are they perhaps— hairs? Oh, that would make more sense as to why her tentacles doesn't bleed.
She lashed out her anger with a loud scream, and green lightning bolts began striking from the sky. I avoided all of it, even having enough time to save some elves who were in the way of the bolts. My brain and electrical pulses must be performing at ludicrous speed when my reaction speed is capable of even slowing down the speed of lightning bolts.
A loud boom erupted as a large lightning bolt struck where she stood. She must be using a different phase now that I've angered her. Will she be having some sort of armour similar to Lily's form?
The lightning strikes stopped as she stood up and glared at me after I saved the last elf. Strange, she doesn't look any different from her previous form. But I was not about to give her the luxury to prepare for a counterattack. I immediately continued my offence, appearing behind her to strike once again. I felt the impact of something extremely solid as my blade was stopped in its tracks as it met with a rather large tentacle. She placed more strength behind her large tentacle and flung me away with ease.
I slid across the ground and regained my bearings. She was fusing her other tentacles together to form a much larger, solid tentacles. A total of three rather intimidating tentacles were formed from combining all of them, and each of them are definitely strong enough to block my blade. Wait a minute, did she removed her electrical field? Why would she even do that?
Her eyes started glowing green as she continued to glare at me. The air around me was getting heavier from her aura, making it rather difficult to breathe. I thought I was seeing things when I noticed a circular, golden ball started glowing in between her chest. The golden ball slowly expanded and eventually exploded, covering her entire body with a wave of gold. Why do I get the feeling that she's finally using the power of the Cosmic Tree? I definitely need to be more cautious from here on out.
"YOU— you… stole my powers, used them against me, forcing me to use powers beyond what is needed! You'll pay for that, Hawthorn!" shouted the jellyfish.
Strong wind pressure was flowing from her, pushing anything away that tried to approach her. Her eyes were covered with green lightning and strange markings began to form around her body, along with occasional green sparks. Thankfully, there was still no electrical field in sight, which was good news for me. Maintaining this new form of hers must require a lot of her energy, which was probably wasted in maintaining her electrical field. Phase three of a Vessel is giving me déjà vu from my time fighting with Horrus. While he had his hellfire flames, this one uses green lightning instead. I just hope she don't start—
BOOOMMM!!!
Fuck! That was close! Almost didn't react in time to dodge her lightning. She could summon her lightning from the sky and toss it at me, like Lily. While I knew what Lily's blue lightning is capable of doing, I still have no idea what her green lightning does. And apparently, it is capable of moving so fast that it doesn't get slowed down, unlike the ones that strike directly from the sky.
"If memory serves me well, I briefly recalled a book that I had read a long time ago. Green seems to represent— immobility," explained Kirin telepathically.
H— Huh? There's a book of colours of lightning?! Why didn't you mention this before? I would have loved to hear about it. Although— what you just said doesn't make sense. Immobility? I've absorbed her powers but I seems to be moving just fine. Although it would seemed that most of the elves still could not move even until now.
"Let's not forget that I've added my powers into the mix. Basically, you are faster and stronger thanks to me, as for hers— well, let's just say there's a reason as to why you're seeing things slower than they are from your view," spoke Kirin.
Hang on— I'm… slowing things down because of her powers? Are you saying that I'm actively— "immobilising" my surroundings? Holy shit… that's awesome!
"Not quite. Stronger foes will be able to bypass this effect since it's something foreign from your body. She, on the other hand, has complete control over them. I suggest using Higher State of Mind immediately as there's no telling what she is capable of immobilising with this new phase of hers. My take, since Horrus is capable of burning his surroundings with his fire, she should be able to actively slow anything within her vicinity. Perhaps that's why she had stopped using her electrical field now that she has a different passive," he explained.
Roger that. Focused Meditation activated. Try to keep me alive, my Celestial Beast.
She called forth another green lightning bolt to her left palm. Damn it, why does it feel like I'm fighting against myself who have unlimited charges? What an unfair boss battle when I have limits and she doesn't.
"Use your gauntlet's powers too. You cannot afford to hold back here since you're fighting against her alone. Being able to use lightning does not mean one is completely immune to all types," explained Kirin.
Just like Horrus, who wasn't immune to his own fire. Gotcha.
She tossed her lightning towards me once more, but I was ready this time. Dodging it as best as I could, since it's literally moving at the speed of lightning, I readied myself to call forth my own lightning bolt. But before I was able to lift my arm after dodging, she appeared in front of me and slammed her giant tentacle on me, sending me flying once again.
My back was slammed against a tree, which halted my tracks. How far had I ended up being flung away? I tried to recover myself, but she appeared in front of me once again, attempting to squash me with those tentacles of hers. I managed to block it this time, but her strength had been amplified, so it still sent me some distance away with each attack.
She had an annoyed look on her face, and honestly speaking, I was getting annoyed fighting her too. Being ragdolled around in real life isn't fun; and what's with her speed? It's atrocious how she's able to move this fast in this phase. It's like she's capable of teleporting. I have no idea how far I was from the Elementalist after she sent me flying. I should get back to where he is so he can cover me.
"Dad, are you ok? You hit your back against a tree earlier," asked Daisy.
I'm fine. My cloak had dampened most of the damage, but I can't say I mind a back massage when I get back. Maintain silence whenever possible, my dear daughter, I need to focus. Hate to admit it but Kirin is right, I can't afford to hold back. While my gauntlets have limited charges, it's rechargeable. I got nothing to lose here aside from my life.
The loli jellyfish struck again, seemingly trying to prevent me from gaining much bearing. She attacked with her large tentacles furiously, trying to knock me off my feet as well as my weapon. I had to guide her tentacles aside rather than blocking directly since it was futile without me getting pushed around. But it seems like she's getting faster as the fight continues. Shit, is this due to her ability to immobilise her surroundings?!
"You need to steer clear of her. There's a reason why she's constantly on the offensive," spoke Kirin.
I would love to, but she's literally sticking close to me! How am I to outrun her when she moves so quickly? Damn it, running will get me nowhere. Even with my overhauled body, she's still moving faster than me.
"Use your head. You're a genius when it comes to odd ideas," spoke Kirin.
"I can vouch on that," said Daisy.
Oh great, even my daughter is teaming up with Kirin-sama to poke fun at me. Ah, screw it, it's all or nothing then!
I shifted Inazuma to my left hand and lifted my right arm. A white lightning struck from the sky and onto my gauntlet as I attempted to defend myself. The jellyfish took advantage of the moment and closed the distance with her speed. She slammed one of her tentacles horizontally onto my stomach, pinning me against a large tree. The impact was bone-shattering as I lost my breath and spat blood from my mouth.
She smirked and approached closer to me. Seemingly thinking she had won now that I was pinned, she moved her face closer to mine.
"Is this really all you can do, Zen Hawthorn? Seems like some fluke that you had defeated all those Vessels before me," she chuckled.
"Well… I had help," I spoke with barely any air in my lungs.
She smiled once more and I quickly took advantage of her obliviousness. I struck with Inazuma, attempting to pierce through her stomach. Alas, she was just stupidly fast; so fast that Inazuma only pierced her afterimage rather than her actual body. She had already dodged to her left to avoid my blade, but what she doesn't know is that she had fallen for my trap.
Being within my reach, I moved my right hand the same time as my left, resulting in my charged gauntlet gripping onto her face directly. She might be fast, but still predictable.
With only her left surprised eye visible under my palm, I unleashed Lightning Strike point-blank onto her face, hoping that different coloured lightning would at least have some sort of effect on her. Judging from her cry of pain, it seemed that it does have an effect on her.
She swung her tentacle that was pinning me against a tree, tossing me some distance aside and covered her face. I lay flat on the ground, writhing in pain. I needed to pull myself up as I knew full well that I didn't have much time before she starts attacking me again. My ribs were flaring up in pain, possibly broken or fractured in some places, yet I forced myself to lift my head to check on the jellyfish. She had her hands completely covering her face while she sobs. What the hell? Was she trying to guilt-trip me for zapping her at point-blank range? I should be the one crying under this intense pain in my ribs.
I pushed myself up and the pain intensified. Damn it, I don't have any healing potion that can heal broken or fractured bones, only adrenaline potion to power through it. As I gripped my ribs with my right hand, the jellyfish stopped sobbing and exposed a portion of her wet face as she glared at me.
Well, she fared better compared to the Demon Queen who was charred from head to toe. Only the portion where I gripped her with my gauntlet was charred and it appears to be healing albeit slowly. Her eyes were still teary as she continued to glare at me. Everything was eerily silent as we continued to stare at each other.
She yelled loudly all of a sudden and used her tentacles to attack me once again. I leapt backwards as far as I could and started running. I powered through the pain and ran as fast as I could. Despite my newfound speed, the jellyfish was gaining on me.
I leapt upwards on top of a tree and began jumping from tree to tree in hopes of figuring out where I am in this darkness. I thought of using Conceal, but when I'm being chased to this extent, it is rather difficult for me to cast the spell without it ending up being useless. There! Some purple light could be seen in the distance; it must be where the Elementalist is.
Rumbles could be heard behind me as the jellyfish was seemingly destroying trees that I leapt from. Geez, is she planning to destroy the entire landscape just to stop my track? What caught me off guard was a sudden rumble coming from above me. I managed to glance upwards as I noticed a green flash heading towards my direction. Thank God for my passive ability to slow my surroundings, or I would have been roasted. Literally dodging by a hair's breadth from the lightning, the jellyfish took advantage of my situation and closed the distance quickly. As though she had teleported to my location, she attacked me with all three of her tentacles, knocking Inazuma away from the impact. I had to resort to using my gauntlets to block the tentacles when she attacked again, sending me straight back to the ground.
I crashed-landed back to Earth with a deeply sore back and an even soaring pain on my ribs. I shouldn't be too far from where the Elementalist is. Why hadn't the Elementalist checked up on me by now? And where the hell is John anyway?! I'm in no condition to be fighting this jellyfish alone in this phase any longer.
I managed to pull myself up, but I could already see the jellyfish in my vision coming after me. Despite still being some distance away, I doubt I can outrun her in my current condition. What am I supposed to do now? Will my guild spells even work on her in this phase? I need— something that can give me an edge in fighting against her. Something that's not affected by her ability to slow things down around her.
"Dad? If I may? Any particular reason you're moving— so slowly?" asked Daisy.
What did you just say to me?