Watching the mist slowly closing in, Akimi's expression grew serious.
After a brief moment of thought, he made a decision—
"Asuna, I'm going to test the exact effect of this mist. If it turns out to be too troublesome, we'll have to retreat for now."
He spoke quickly, and even as he spoke, he had already begun moving—leaving Asuna no time to react.
He pulled an antidote crystal from his quick slot and held it in his left hand, then reached his right hand toward the mist.
This startled Asuna so much that she instinctively reached out to grab him, but she was a step too late.
Glancing at his HP bar, Akimi's tense expression eased slightly.
He then silently withdrew his somewhat weakened arm.
In just a few seconds of contact with the mist, it had spread from his wrist to his elbow.
As he used the antidote crystal, Akimi smiled faintly and said, "It's nothing major, just a high-level debuff… Judging by its effect, it probably reduces our Strength and Agility stats all the way down to zero."
Hearing that, Asuna looked at him in bewilderment—
Did he hear what he just said? A debuff that can drop stats to zero is nothing major?
"…Forget it. Whether your brain's broken or not, we need to get out of here. In another moment, we might not even be able to run."
Asuna spoke while tugging at Akimi, ready to leave.
But Akimi instead pulled her back, gently patted her on the head, and said with a helpless tone, "Come on, no need to rush… I've got a way to deal with this. Still, keep your antidote crystal ready—we'll be using it soon."
Although still worried, Asuna stopped, trusting Akimi, and took out her antidote crystal.
By now, the mist had completely covered the area.
The thick, milky-white fog reduced visibility to just over three meters.
From somewhere beyond their sight came wet, squelching noises—sometimes near, sometimes far—circling them like a predator, adding to the pressure.
Asuna felt her body growing weaker by the moment, to the point where even moving her feet felt like a luxury.
She glanced at Akimi, bit her lip, but said nothing.
"Heh… really cautious, huh…" Akimi casually swept his gaze around, speaking in a light tone.
"But let's not waste any more time…"
As soon as he finished, a dozen or so tentacle-like appendages tipped with leech suckers burst through the fog, shooting toward them.
Along with them came Wakuraba's eerie laughter and the sound of the air being torn apart.
Faced with the imminent danger, Akimi showed not the slightest trace of panic.
Raising his Nichirin Blade, he told Asuna, "Use your antidote crystal, activate all the Water Breathing enhancements… then use that special buff we got back on the 30th floor."
That special buff allowed them to use Nichirin Blade · Pseudo—its effect was far weaker than a true Nichirin Blade's.
It could only slightly inhibit a demon's regeneration and provide a small attack boost, lasting for just five minutes.
Even though it was a nerfed, time-limited version, right now it was the key to turning the battle around.
"Let's finish this in one go."
Akimi spoke softly, his grip on the Nichirin Blade tightening even further.
In the next moment, a streak of dark red appeared at the base of the water-blue blade, quickly spreading to cover the entire sword.
A wave of scorching heat radiated outward, burning away all the milky-white mist around Akimi until nothing remained.
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
The Nichirin Blade twisted and flowed like a surging tide, sweeping over all the tentacles and severing them in an instant.
The cross-sections of the tentacles' wounds looked different from normal—usually, they would be light red with a faint mesh-like pattern.
But now, the wounds cut by the Nichirin Blade's crimson edge were tinged with black, the kind of charred color you'd see when flesh was overcooked.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Akimi could have sworn the tentacles gave off a faint scent of burnt protein.
"HRAAAAH—!"
At the same time the tentacles were severed, a shrill scream echoed from somewhere within the mist.
If one were close enough, they would see an expression of disbelief and rage twisting across Wakuraba's already mangled face.
It glared in their direction and rasped in a confused, furious tone, "Impossible… how are you not affected by my paralytic toxin…?"
Though the mist concealed its form, its hoarse, penetrating voice carried clearly through the dense fog to the two of them.
Akimi cast a sidelong glance toward the source of the voice, casually swung his Nichirin Blade twice, and said—
"Take a guess… Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
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