The Author Reincarnated As An Extra
Chapter 43: • Squidkiller

Chapter 43: • Squidkiller

Just when it seemed that Elora was actually going to do it, the thorns from the vines were even already piercing deeper and deeper, reaching the glowing spores inside the beast, its colors shifted.

From a dull orange it changed to red and it became clear to Deremiah and Elora that the NeonSquid wasn’t finished.

She strained her fingers more, pressing them together in a forceful clench to strengthen the vines, but the beast let out a last-ditch effort.

At this point, the energy strain and its inability to glow brighter due to the sun’s presence had left the NeonSquid very drained. Whatever energy it had managed to siphon during the night was surely almost finished now, so Deremiah knew that this attack would likely drain everything left of in the monster’s Reserves.

The colors inside it gathered around the center, retracting as it prepared for an attack, while Elora kept trying to keep the vines intact, veins popping in her neck as she strained.

But the beast’s power was much stronger than hers and it released a powerful pulse of neon spores.

The spores exploded into the air like storming plagues and quickly began to infect the vines, disintegrating them in bare seconds.

Letting out a groan of frustration, Elora skidded backwards, covering her nose with the inside of her elbow. Then, she lowered her hand, picked up her sword and raised it when she saw the beast lunge itself towards her.

"Elora!" Deremiah yelled, panicking like a lion that felt its prey was about to be stolen. He rushed to his feet and sped in her direction.

But the slithering tentacles of the NeonSquid actually were faster than his legs. It struck one of those bright red blasts from its head at Elora.

But a round shield of vines covered her at the same time, although shattering at instant impact, they managed to protect her from the brunt of the blast.

She formed an X with the blade and her left hand, covering her face from the wind and muck whipping at her after the vines had dispersed.

And once the wind stopped, she glared at the monster with her brows furrowed with anger. "Why won’t you die, Paragon?!"

Aether left her Reserves and rushed into her legs, fueling her feet that sped on the ground, mud splashing about, silver plants squeezing under the sole of her armored boots.

"Just die!" her voice raged as she leaped up.

Deremiah paused on his tracks and stared at the cinematic scene before his eyes. Elora was high in the air, legs bent behind her, sword raised with one hand in a stabbing attack, while the wild tentacles of the NeonSquid were dancing threateningly in front of her.

’Fucking hell. Is she not even afraid?!’

She met the beast’s charge head-on with her own, the golden light of the sun glinting on her sword as she found way through the barrage of tentacles and landed on the beast’s head.

She stabbed and stabbed, trying to pierce through that dense rubber protecting the glowing brain inside. But tentacles came her way, and she did her best to block them with both sword and vines, strike after strike.

However, the beast’s strength was monstrous, and its unpredictable movements overwhelmed her.

One of its thinner tentacles wrapped around her leg and pulled her down. This caused her to land jaw-first on the beast’s head, then it dragged her almost lifeless body, spun her around like a ragdoll and flung her hand on the ground.

Deremiah swore, praying she wasn’t dead.

Everywhere turned silent, the hill reverberated for a while and stones rolled down to the ground. The beast waited, just like Deremiah, for the smoke to settle.

When it did, both he and the Paragon were surprised to see her struggling to rise, groaning in pain, but not giving up.

The beast raised another tentacle and landed it on her, causing the earth to go boom and stones to shatter, plants uprooting.

Deremiah gasped. He stood still and frozen, heart pounding. ’No. No. She can’t be dead.’

Silence again. Deremiah hurried closer, desperation fueling his footsteps as he climbed on a mushroom to get a better view.

Then they both waited.

Suddenly, his ears perked. He had heard a sound — faint but unmistakable — it was a cough. Deremiah’s mind went ablaze, completely in disbelief. She was still alive.

Elora’s body twitched, she could barely feel anything but pain, even her fingers refused to respond as she tried to push herself up.

Blood dripped from a deep gash on her forehead, running down her cheek and staining her lips crimson before dripping to the mucky ground.

Her face was covered with dirt, sweat and agony, her breath was uneven and difficult, and her lungs burned inside her. Yet, she was fighting all of this to get on her feet.

Her sword lay just inches away, its hilt smeared with dirt. She tried to reach for it, but her movements were too sluggish, her limbs were too weak. Yet she kept trying. Through groans and gasps, she stretched her shaking hand, brushing the tip of the hilt with her finger.

It was as if she had accepted that if this was the end, she would die with her sword in her hand.

Or, she needed the sword to anchor herself to her feet. Either way, she kept trying.

Watching from on top the mushroom, Deremiah stared in utter shock, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He felt a strange feeling twisted in his chest, something sharp and raw.

He wasn’t sure if it was admiration or something dangerously close to pity. He hated pity. But this — this was different.

’Whyisshestillfighting?’

The NeonSquid, clearly not a fan of the theatrical show of resilience, let out an angry moan, like a child throwing a tantrum because it couldn’t get what it wanted.

Then, it lifted a tentacle once again, and the shadow loomed over Elora, just as she was dragging herself up to her knees. And then, it began to fall on her.

"No!" Deremiah warped and appeared right below the tentacle. He lifted his arms up to catch and stop it, but at the same time, the [Writhe of Command] extended from his arms and formed a pair of larger ones which caught the tentacle.

The NeonSquid let out a confused noise. Deremiah let out a deep breath of relief, looking down at Elora who simply just collapsed and fainted.

Another rush of relief left him, thankful that she hadn’t turned around. "Alright," he muttered, then looked up at the rubber monster.

The tentacle basically felt weightless in his hands as the entire weight was carried by the Writhe. And if that was the case, then that meant the monster itself wouldn’t be that much heavier.

So, he placed one foot backwards, then dragged the NeonSquid with the tentacle. The Writhe pulled the giant beast right over Deremiah’s head, suplexing it on the earth below.

It was like thunder of rocks. The boom caused the entire mountain to shake and even dust rose from the earth below.

Deremiah retracted the Writhe and almost smiled to himself when he saw what he had done.

Lying on its back, the Paragon Beast was unable to move, so it just wriggled its tentacles like a terrified cockroach.

Deremiah sighed. "Whatever I can imagine, you can create." He opened his reserves and poured out everything he had left in it. The Void energy fueled the Writhe of Command which rippled out of his outstretched palm and coalesced into an unrealistically massive, black sword.

"I’ve always wanted to hold one of these."

With a roar, he ran forward and leaped high into the air, pointing the weapon down at the beast.

With no more energy to fuel any attacks, the pores turned orange as the NeonSquid cried out in fear.

The tip of the sword glistened just before it pierced straight into its head, stabbing the glowing brain inside.

Green blood splattered out instantly and the NeonSquid let out a final, ear-splitting screech before its tentacle stopped moving and all plopped to the ground like dead snakes.

Deremiah’s energy ran out, and the mega sword dissipated. He knelt there for a while though, breathing heavily though feeling a great wave of relief throughout his body.

When he regained himself, he slid down from the squid’s head and slowly walked to where Elora was lying down.

He looked down at her. Her hand was sprawled at both sides, her face pale and bloody.

Deremiah saw it in that moment, a moment he knew would be defining for him. He finally had Elora Cassiel of Dawn in the perfect position. She was unconscious and weak.

Defenseless.

Now was his chance. If he wanted to kill her, to claim her Marks and increase the retention capacity of his Soul Core, this was it.

All he had to do... was kill her.