Vol 16 Chapter 10-2
The octopus shocked most of the group. It appeared all out of a sudden and its entrance was breathtaking. Gigantic objects were always breathtaking to look at. The octopus's body was over fifty meters.
"Uh. This isn't the fish I am fishing for." Merry said. He seemed dumbfounded.
Gungnir was standing nearest to the water. He submerged his hands in the water then pulled out two ice spikes. He threw the spikes at the octopus.
It obviously didn't expect the humans to attack so fast when it just came out of the water. The spikes pierced into its head and a tentacle before it reacted. Despite the sharpness of the spikes, the throw was lacking in power. They only went a few centimeters in before they stopped. The attack did not cause much damage.
The octoups howled in an appalling voice being hit. It quickly went toward the shore. The tentacles swiped at Gungnir. By the looks of it, the force from the swipes would kill him if they hit. Gungnir yelled. "Save me! Zheng!"
Zheng sighed. He realized why Gungnir picked him for the alliance. His attacks were flawed. They required energy stones and they left big openings in between moves. So the attacks were powerful but borne huge risks. Gungnir needed someone to bear the risks.
Zheng didn't avoid his responsibility. He had to do his part since he agreed to the alliance. He stepped in front of Gungnir before the tentacles hit. Tiger's Soul reached out and slashed the incoming tentacles. He raised the sword to attack the octopus's head. The light blade extended to ten meters long. It would cut off a part of the octopus if it hit.
However, Gandalf yelled. "Get away!"
Ice spikes formed in the air next to the octopus. The spikes shot toward Zheng as he swung his sword. If he were to continue with his attack, the spikes were going to pierce both him and Gungnir for sure. Zheng was shocked. He immediately pulled back the sword to block. The light blade also covered Gungnir's front. All the ice spikes hit the light blade.
Zheng paused as if something struck him. He seemed to have discovered something strange. He stared at Tiger's Soul. But the octopus didn't stop. Its tentacles swept at the two of them from all sides.
Tzz. Legolas and Heng both used Explosive Shot. The arrows underwent an impact on the way then shot into the octopus's body with unperceivable speed. Then they broke their way through the body and out from the other end.
Despite critically injuring the octopus, Zheng was still staring at his sword. Gungnir gave a shout as he charged at the octopus. The water froze with each step he took. He took several steps forward, clenched his teeth then leaped at the octopus's body. He got on the body before the tentacles got him. Its body began to freeze from the point of contact. In just a few seconds, a quarter of the octopus had turned into ice.
Things were straightforward from this point on. The group quickly finished the octopus off now that it was injured and frozen. Gungnir got the kill as he wished. He revealed that he got 3000 points and a rank C reward. There was also a rank C water attribute energy stone in the body which made him smile.
Zheng was still spacing out as he stared at the sword. Xuan sat down next to him. He was eating a white fruit unique to the Lord of the Rings world. Its taste was fragrant. The fruit was white as jade and had recently become Xuan's main dish. "I know of your agreement with Gungnir. Even though you are being used, you won't lose out much due to your strength. It also increases our relationship with team Northern Ice Land. That's why I didn't stop you. I am curious what made you give up on the rewards. I need to know the details as soon as possible. So I can plan accordingly."
Zheng finally shouted with excitement. He laughed out loud and didn't care for the others looking toward him. He took off the Dragonshard necklace then said to Xuan. "Shoot me with your Gauss pistol."
"Oh." Xuan didn't hesitate and slid a pistol into his hand. He pointed the pistol at Zheng's head which scared Zheng's face white. He was only just raising his sword. "Wait. Wait. At least give me time to prepare. Wait for me to say go."
He channeled his Qi into Tiger's Soul. The light blade extended out. Then he said to Xuan. "Go, shoot wherever you want!"
Xuan didn't know what holding back meant. He fired multiple shots all at Zheng's head. However, an invisible shield blocked the bullets. The Gauss pistols weren't as powerful as Zero's rifle but they were still powerful. They could kill the bugs in Starship Troopers with ease but couldn't break through Zheng's defense. Ten shots later, Xuan stopped.
He frowned. "Barriers would show themselves in a translucent manner when attacked. So this can't be a barrier ability hidden in Tiger's Soul. The only possibility is that you changed the shape of the light blade and turned it invisible."
Zheng laughed. "That's right. When the octopus attacked me, I subconsciously enlarged the light blade. So I thought that the light blade might change its shape according to my will. I tried it and it indeed works. Ha. I am going to be invincible with this. If I cover my whole body in the light blade then attack in Explosion and Destruction, nothing can beat me."
Xuan put his hand over his forehead. He suddenly felt a strange sensation despite having no feelings. "How much time did you spend shaping the light blade to cover your body just now?"
Zheng thought for a moment and said. "About a second. Less than two seconds."
Xuan nodded. "How much Qi did it use?"
"About 20%." Zheng was getting guilty. He noticed the flaw to this method.
Xuan continued calmly. "You said that once your Qi turns into light blade, it will dissipate naturally. You can't convert it back to Qi. The light blade lasts less than ten minutes. This means assassins like Zero and Heng counters this ability. They just needed to find that one second vulnerability and you are dead. Furthermore, the light blade is tough but there's precedents of it being shattered. If your enemies have those type of magical items, you are also dead."
Zheng's excitement died down. He smiled bitterly. "I thought this ability wa going to be effective but it's of little value in the end. I was too full of myself."
"It's not of little value. Your effectiveness doubles in the ten minutes before it disappears. It's also a good survival ability. Try to increase its cast speed. If you can reduce the time to 0.5 seconds, the flaw will be gone. You will only have to worry about magical attacks and attacks that are too powerful."
Xuan wasn't as harsh as usual. He actually consoled Zheng. This surprised Zheng. Just then, the movie characters called for them. Frodo solved the riddle on the door like he did in the movie. They read friend in the tongue of the elves. The door to Moria finally opened.