The tentacles of the monster's body come together at the top of the body, forming something resembling armor, as the monster advances towards me with a powerful punch.
Ayane creates a barrier to protect me while I prepare for the opening that will arise, but surprisingly to both me and Ayane, the punch breaks the barrier and hits me hard in the stomach, as he continues the motion, throwing me against a tree.
'...' I fall to the ground in pain. This sudden increase in strength was simply absurd. He just covered the upper part of his body with these strange tentacles, and that increased his strength so much?
I get up as the monster prepares to advance towards Ayane. I grab a branch from the tree and throw it at the monster to obstruct his visibility while I run towards Ayane.
I manage to reach her first, but I don't have much time, so I just grab Ayane by the waist and jump, barely avoiding the monster. It seems I underestimated the situation.
