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Chapter 23: To Protect

Nimbly dodging to the left, Makoto was able to escape the enormous and slimy tentacle that crashed against the sand.

"All ranged stay back! His reach is insane!"

The Warrior screamed while evading a tentacle.

The Kraken was an enemy he had never dealt with before, at least never with anything of this size for sure.

Makoto's heartbeat increased every time he narrowly dodged a sweep or strike from this beast.

A mad grin was visible on his face, his eyes glowed in a deep red and incredible killing intent was seeping through his pores.

Slaughter, death, destruction.

That was all he could think about right now while his senses heightened to a point where he felt like he could hear Lilliana's breath right next to his ear while in reality she was more than 20 feet behind him.

A switch had been tripped inside of him and excitement rushed through him while he looked at the thing that towered over him.

This giant Octopus was his prey.

It was a life and death battle and just thinking about slicing its flesh made the corners of his mouth twitch.

Naturally he knew that even if he died it was not really a problem but after fighting and escaping the jaws of death so many times inside the game he had somewhat become addicted to this mad rush of desire to live and kill that both rolled through him.

Dodging a sideways swipe by jumping into the air, he used the tentacle beneath him to kick off even further and wielded his sword with both hands while leaving a long and nasty gash on its body.

345 Damage dealt!

You have put a status affect on your opponent!

Bleed: -32 hp every 2 seconds for 16 seconds.

Still in the same motion and his mind and body reaching the highest gear, Makoto decided to use his momentum to his advantage and kicked against the soft body of the Kraken with all of his strength.

121 Damage dealt!

Surprisingly enough the damage he had dealt with that kick was not bad.

Spinning in mid air he had no time to even attempt to dodge the next tentacle that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

You have received 401 Damage!

The gigantic slimy arm had caught him right in the side, carrying him a good distance until his own body moved faster than the tentacle and he flew a couple of feet through the air until hitting knee deep water.

"Aiding Light!"

He could hear Sanja scream and immediately his health shot back up to full.

It really was useful having a healer in the party for situations like this.

Still feeling a phantom pain in his side, Makoto stood up and ran back to the Warrior that was now holding his ground alone.

The Archer was shooting a constant rain of arrows while Lilliana mainly used ice spears to potentially slow down the Kraken.

Sanja had her hands full with healing the Warrior so Makoto focused on doing the damage he could.

While sprinting back he opened his inventory and smeared the inside of a 'Venom Sack' on his blade.

The more Damage or status effects he could deal, the better.

Roaring as loud as he could, Makoto jumped back into the fray and sliced against one of the many tentacles.

It was like hitting the bark of a tree, surprisingly the things main body was a hell of a lot softer and easier to hurt than the 8 arms it used to attack.

After chipping away a good 20% of the Kraken's health with the effort of everyone in the party, it increased the overall speed of its attacks.

Looking at these 8 arms all having an overall girth equal to a normal car flying through the air at a breakneck speed was enough to make nearly everyone in the party go pale.

Nearly everyone as Makoto only showed a wry smile while jumping right back into the beast's range.

Every time he was hit it was like getting hit by a speeding car and he visibly flew through the air only to come back after a few moments.

Sanja and Lilliana could not believe their eyes as they watched Makoto jump back in against this Mammoth of the sea.

As far as they could see from his expression or eyes there was not one single trace of fear inside this man, only a mad grin and a fire burning in his eyes was visible.

While the Warrior took his distance more and more during the extended battle, Makoto on the other hand only gotten closer and closer to the Kraken.

He learned its pattern while slicing against everything that he could reach while making sure not to be hit by anything otherwise he had to fight his way back to where he was right now.

When only 40% health was left the only one near it was Makoto.

The Warrior used a mid ranged Skill he had from time to time but otherwise kept his distance.

The speed at which each tentacle whipped around had only increased during this fight, it was like standing next to a typhoon.

Everyone only had one question in their mind.

Just how the hell was Makoto able to approach it at this point?

Even he himself probably would have been unable to answer this very intriguing question.

Maybe it was his instinct that had been honed during every fight, or his high Agility and reaction time.

Truth be told it was a mystery to him just like to the others.

All he really cared about was that he actually could get closer, so he could hurt it, so he could kill it.

From time to time he still was hit and Lilliana and Sanja could watch the body of Makoto suddenly disappear only to be flung to the right or left at and incredible speed.

Watching this young man literally jump into the jaws of death over and over again only to be spat out every single time with a flight above their heads was an unbelievable sight they surely would never forget.

Sanja now had her hands full in healing Makoto as every single hit catapulted him nearly 50 feet away and his health fell below half more times than she could even count.

At about 15% health her mana finally ran dry, soon enough Lilliana was also only able to shoot her Ice lances every 10 seconds.

The only two people who still actively fought this monster were Makoto and the Archer.

Relying only on his 'Blood Rejuvenation' now, he had to use all of his concentration and it was still not enough.

The times he attacked back got less and less, and because of this precaution of attacking less to preserve his own life after a few minutes he was unable to hold aggro anymore, he noticed it a tick too late.

"Look out!"

Was all Makoto was able to shout before a tentacle shot past him and hit the Archer straight in his stomach.

Right away he focused on attacking again but once he lost the Kraken's attention it was incredibly difficult to actually get it back.

Grinding his teeth, anger surged through him as the monster before him simply ignore his continued attacks and instead focused on attacking the rest of his party.

Noticing the movement of one of the 8 arms, Makoto started to sprint back.

While running past the stunned Lilliana he was able to stop at her right side and just in time too.

Wielding his sword with both hands and bending his knees to stand his ground, Makoto looked towards the giant tentacle that had been heading straight for the female Mage.

Roaring with every ounce of his being, Makoto pushed forward, the tentacle arm finally reaching him and immediately his feet dug deep into the sand.

Pushed back by an insane amount of force he stubbornly stood his ground, blocking the fleshy appendage while a continued roar escaped his throat.

It was completely insane to even attempt something like this and Makoto knew it but right when he was about to give up he felt Lilliana's body press against him from behind as he was still getting pushed back and from out of nowhere new strength surged through him.

It was something he had never before felt in his life, not the desire to kill but the desire to protect instead.

The scream coming out of his throat deepened and the light in his eyes only increased.

He was now buried up to his thighs in sand but still he stood his ground, unyielding, every muscle in his body screaming and he could feel tendons starting to snap, flesh being ripped from his bones as he strained this virtual body way beyond its limits.

Somewhere in all of this, during his scream, while he pushed against this force of nature, he could feel her.

Lilliana's body was pressed against his back, her breath hitting his ear, he did not get excited from it, it was in no way erotic.

Her arms were wrapped around him and she also used all her strength to push together with him, during all of this she was with him and trying her hardest to help him.

This was what gave him new strength.

Knowing why he did what he did, to protect this small but hot headed girl.

Did he really use every bit of strength he could muster?

Did he really give it his all to protect this girl that depended on him?

Was this all there was to him?

Would he just let her die?

Looking down at his hands that gripped his sword, Makoto closed his eyes and listened.

He was listening to the voice deep down inside of him.

Was this really all he had?

…

No, far from it.

Like a bolt of electricity, new strength shot through his arms, upper body and legs.

A blinding red light was visible when he finally opened his eyes and using this newfound strength, Makoto lowered his sword, the tentacle finally stopped moving and instead even retreated back and out of his reach.

Makoto won, he had successfully blocked an attack from the Kraken.

A new window appeared before him while he was still unable to comprehend what just happened.

Through your incredible actions and sheer power of will you have unlocked a new stat!

Willpower:With the strength of your will you are able to go beyond your very limits, every point in Willpower will increase the amount and time you can go beyond your limits.Current Willpower:5 points = 2.5% stat increase for 0.5 seconds.

(Willpower can only be used once every 24 hours.)

Closing the window after looking over it once, Makoto could indeed feel something akin to excitement after getting such a unique Stat but his eyes lay on the Kraken.

It was still alive, barely but it could still attack with the same strength as before.

Slowly he stood up from the sand while looking into the monsters eyes.

He could feel how Lilliana let go of his back.

Knowing that she was save after all of this did give him a strange sense of relieve.

A quick look towards her revealed that her black hair was a complete mess and a visible line of tears ran down her cheeks as she looked back into his eyes.

Not knowing why he did it he put his palm on her right cheek and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I will be right back."

He said to her in a soft voice, foreign even to his own ears.

The time they had shared together in that one moment truly had been unique because instead of a snide comment or something along those lines she only nodded once while looking deeply into his eyes.

Taking his hand off her cheek, Makoto turned around towards the lake monster.

Sanja, the Warrior and Archer all looked at him with stunned expressions as he slowly walked towards the Kraken, without any visible hurry.

Gripping his sword tight he stopped a short distance away from it and looked into its giant black eyes.

His face was a mask, no mad grin, no excitement going through him, only determination to finish what he started.

"Here I come big boy."

Makoto whispered as he started sprinting towards it.

Jumping to the right he evaded a swipe, ducking low he escaped yet another dangerous situation and with a dash forward he covered the last bit of distance towards the Kraken's body.

Enchanting his sword with 'Curse Blade' instead of a slash he decided to go for a straight jab into one of its eyes.

Critical hit!

632 Damage dealt!

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Bleed: -32 hp every 2 seconds for 16 seconds.

Poisoned: -35 hp every second for 20 seconds.

Blind: -20% accuracy until the battle is finished.

Putting these 3 status effects together with a Critical hit on the thing was a true blessing.

Wrenching his sword free, Makoto saw an attack from the corner of his eye but he knew he would not be able to react fast enough.

A quick look on his health bar confirmed that he only had 35% left, it would probably not be enough to survive the swipe.

Still he tried his utmost but it was all in vain as he was squarely hit on his hip.

Bracing himself for the surge of pain and the system window that would appear before him telling him that he died, Makoto was surprised as instead the scenery around him shifted and he stood on the other side of the tentacle.

Confused at what was going on, a system window appeared before him.

Thanks to your Evasiveness you where able to neglect all the Damage you would have normally taken.

Not able to hide the smile that creeped on his face, Makoto didn't waste even a single second and started to attack the Kraken like a madman.

The last few percent soon enough disappeared and an incredible amount of experience showered him.

Breathing quite heavily, Makoto fell to the floor next to the body of the monster he just killed.

The sky above him seemed endless, a blue infinity that stretched all around him.

Soon enough he could hear the hastened steps of his party in the sand and 4 concerned faces appeared at the edges of his vision.

Lilliana's face was the closest as she was kneeling next to him and held his hand, a worried expression visible on her face.

It surprised Makoto to find his own hand suddenly grasped by this beautiful girl that before only seemed to spare angry glares for him but in a way it was nice, the warmth of her hand was something that made everything he went through worth it in the end.

At the same time it was also a bit uncomfortable because he had feelings for someone else so he decided to break up this awkward situation.

Staring deeply into her eyes, a smile slowly appeared on his blood drenched face.

"Will you look at that, she still can't take her hands off me."

Chuckling a bit after seeing her stunned expression, Makoto wanted to continue but something else interrupted him.

To his left he could feel Sanja grab for his other hand and now he really was surprised as he looked in her direction.

"Do you know that you are the biggest Idiot and Jerk that I have ever seen?"

The Priestess said while giving him a bright smile.

"Oh I know that I am, trying to block a tentacle that big was really not my smartest move."

Makoto answered feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"But what else could you expect, I told her before the fight that I would be the one to take her first tim-"

Lilliana quickly punched him in the stomach to stop him from talking any more and ran off to the side.

Grinning like a shark, Makoto looked after the fleeing girl and Sanja let out a long sigh.

"Ah, there she runs off again. You really know how to ruin a good mood don't you? Idiot."

Slapping his forehead once, Sanja also stood up and went to look what the Elite Kraken had actually dropped.

Holding his hurting stomach with one hand and rubbing his forehead with the other, Makoto sat up.

He looked after both girls.

If he wanted to he could use moments like this to get them both, he knew that because somehow they had taken an interest in him but that was not what he wanted.

For him there was only Veronica.

Still, it was a nice feeling holding hands with two girls like that.

Today was a good day...

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Hope you enjoyed this epic battle!

If you have any questions or see any mistakes in the Chapter feel free to comment them.

See you all tomorrow! :D