The Greed of Kronos

Corrupted Octopi versus Exi Class (3)

Twenty-eight: Corrupted Octopi versus Exi Class (3)

How could they fight such monsters who regenerate and could have a mini copy of themselves? Should there be any weaknesses? Could Sir Samael at least give them a hint?

Of course not. A teacher could not meddle in his student's affairs. All he could say was, "Best of luck."

With that being said, everyone then) focused on the corrupted monster in front of them. Even if they squeezed Sir Samael, they could still not obtain any clue. Hence, it was only them who could help themselves. 

While the octopti regenerates all of its tentacles, the dodging and defending once again rule the student's limited action. 

It was hard to maintain their focus, especially when Asisi and Ajax were on the side, away from the octopi's sight. The tentacles attacking them were much more aggressive and fast. 

While they could not deal with the ginormous corrupted monster, there were still some annoying tiny replicas that were swarming towards the student every time they got to have a chance.

By that, Mikhail then came up with a plan to deal with the small ones first. "Aeria! Can you use your potential to get them in one place? Luca! Can you make a hole and trap the small octopis?"

"Sure thing!" Aeria and Luca said in unison.

Shortly after that, Aeria used a small tornado that gathered all of the mini replicas while Luca prepared for a hole as Mikhail instructed.  

When the mini replicas were already trapped in the hole that Luca made, Mikhail then prepared himself as he pointed his fingers towards the mini replicas. "I'll try to delay their regeneration in case. But I'm not confident since it was immune to Inoa's flame."

"You can do it, Mikhail! We'll keep the octopi busy." Astian replied as he leaped away from the octopi's charged attack.

The mini replicas were screaming, and it was loud enough to hurt your eardrums. However, Mikhail could not be shaken as the whole class depended on and trusted him. When the small purple light on the tip of his finger became bigger and bigger, it was then the time when Mikhail should release his potential. 

The wailing of the mini replicas came from being just a disturbance to a scream of pain and agony. 

And that was when Mikhail realized that it was his lucky day. "Guys! Lightning works on this octopi!"

With that being said, the frowning students that were dodging and holding off the tentacles became a happy and clear expression together with a delighted smiles on their faces. Of course, except for Kronos who's eyes scrunched up ever so slightly that one could not tell if he was also celebrating with a smile or not.

Regardless of the good news, their celebration came to an end. Shortly after having a beaming expression on their faces, the octopi started to scream once again and violently sway its tentacles everywhere. 

Seeing this, Mikhail then pulled another idea as he looked in the direction of Sarlienne and requested. "Sarlienne! Can you try your potential? Please tell the octopi to stop."

When Sarlienne nodded, Mikhail then shifted his gaze to the other direction and said. "Artem as well!"

Asisi and Ajax, we're already exhausted with the fight. If they could at least stop the corrupted monster, they could think of another method to kill it. As Sarlienne and Artem could command anything, he felt that it might be worth a shot.

Meanwhile, the couple dashed towards the corrupted octopi while dodging its attacks from its tentacles. When they get a good view and relatively near the ears, Sarlienne and Artem used their potential in unison. "Stop."

At first, the corrupted monster stared at them, and that was when they thought that it worked. However, shortly after that, the monster then slowly opened its mouth to let out a scream. "Graaaawwrr!"

As soon as the scream resonated towards Kronos' ears, he started to feel a pang on his chest and then slowly had a difficulty in breathing. "Keuk-!"

Moreover, it was as if Kronos was being pierced by thousands of needles in his entire body making his legs weak.

Fortunately, Astian saw him immediately as he was about to fall. When he caught Kronos in his arms, Astian then looked at him with a worried look. "Kronos? Are you alright?"

Sarlienne and Artem, on the other hand, backed out and replied in a panic. "It's no use! It cannot hear us!"

They were in a dangerous situation. If Kronos were to tell Astian that there was something that was happening in his body, he would just be a burden. That was why he decided to gently push Astian and stood straight on his own before looking at Astian with his usual expression. "Fine."

Everyone was in a panic, and even Asisi and Ajax on the side wanted to join the fight, but Mikhail forbade them not to. Because firstly, they were both drained. Lastly, the class was not fighting the monster. They were more likely evading its attacks and saving themselves. 

The situation they were currently in made Naouii to clench her fists and purse her lips before talking loud enough that everyone could hear. "Guys. I have some sort of knowledge about corrupted monsters. In order to kill a corrupted monster, one should break the core that was planted inside it, as it was the sole reason for the monster to be corrupted. But I just did not tell it earlier as the core is well-hidden. We still could not steal it."

At first, everyone was silent, so Naouii thought that they were angry at her for spilling out with them at the time that they were almost exhausted. However, instead of a judging look, they more like to show nothing but hopeful faces. Given the fact that it was already an exhausting activity, they could not think of anything other than to rest. 

Mikhail, the acting leader, showed off a smile when he had an idea and replied to Naouii. "Naouii. Thanks a lot, it's fine since we have Astian!"

With his name being mentioned, Astian then replied as they were still busy dodging the attacks. "If it's inside, then I can try to locate it by manipulating the octopi's blood."

"If you would be so kind, Astian." Mikhail requested. 

Hearing this, Astian smiled warmly as he warmed himself up. "Of course! We're a team."

With Astian getting ready, Mikhail then looked at Kallen and asked for a favor. "Kallen! Do you mind starting in front of a wall and sharing your sense of sight with the octopi? If we were to steal its sense of sight, it might be suspicious and do something!"

Of course, Kallen complied. "Will do!"

Shortly after that, Astian's eyes turned black as Kallen found a spot to stay. When she connected her sense of sight to the octopi's mind. The octopi then halted and blinked as if confused with its vision. It was as if a cue for Astian to start exploring using its blood. And so he did. 

Meanwhile, Kronos' condition was getting worse. He even forgot to summon Skia for assistance. But Skia felt something was off. That was then he got out of Kronos' shadow even though he was not summoned. 

When Skia saw Kronos with a struggling expression, it then called him frantically. "Master!"

With that, Skia then abruptly took out Kronos' supplement and fed one to him as it continued to talk. "Master, hang in there!"

But to no avail. The supplement did not work.

The only thing that happened was that Skia was slowly disappearing. "Mas-te..rrr"

Skia was sealed once again. 

Meanwhile, Astian, who was using his potential, did not notice Kronos staggering and out of breath. He was focused on finding the core using its blood, and when he found out, he abruptly got back to normal and looked at Mikhail with a serious expression. "Found it! The core's right at the buccal mass!"

"Where the hell…." Aeria mumbled. 

As if they know an octopi's anatomy, they're not Astian!

"In the middle of the brain and the beak!" 

Nor Kallen!

Hearing the two geniuses, Mikhail then started to move and shifted his gaze towards the others. "Oh, okay! Okay! Let's try to steal the core!"

Mikhail remembered dealing with the mini replicas, and so he thought that hitting the monster with lighting would at least damage it and could take some time to steal the core.

However, when he was about to aim his fingers towards the corrupted octopi, Kronos abruptly snatched his hands away and looked at Mikhail with a struggling expression. "No…"

"Kronos?" Mikhail asked in confusion. 

What was he doing? They already knew its weakness, and everyone was pretty exhausted, so Mikhail wanted to end things as quickly as possible. But why was Kronos telling him to stop?

Mikhail's questions were then answered by Kronos himself when he let go of Mikhail's hand and marched forward. "Let… me.."

Skia was already sealed. And his supplement did not work at that time. One thing for sure was that the corrupted octopi were the ones who triggered what was inside him. And it would also be the one who could calm him down. That was why he would do what he needed to do before the Exi could get in his way. 

Shortly before having such thoughts, a hand stopped him from taking further steps as the owner of the hand asked in a worried tone of voice. "Kronos, are you alright?!"

"Move." That was all Kronos could say to Astian. He can't, and he won't tell him even if it would mean to die young.

Mikhail also rushed towards them and tried to pull Kronos back to a safe place. However, Kronos was not budging despite the internal sore that he was experiencing. "What? Kronos, stay back!"

With that being said, Kronos halted for a moment before once again taking a step forward. And that made Astian to panic and tried to pull him away. "No, you can't! It is way too dangerous!"

Nevertheless, it made Kronos to be furious that he started to slowly get insane as he glared at Mikhail and Astian. "Move."

Seeing how Kronos reacted, Mikhail and Astian flinched as they let him go and backed out on themselves. While Mikhail was wearing a worried expression on his face, Astian was on the verge of crying. 

On the other hand, Kronos felt that his mind was about to go blank each step that led him closer to the monster.

"Urgh." However, he could not possibly falter. It was his life on the line. If he could not successfully deal with the monster, he would turn into a monster himself.

The monster seemed to recognize Kronos' aura that it screamed in fear and backed out hysterically. "GRAAAAWWWRR."

When it could no longer take a step backward, Kronos then stood straight and raised his hand, revealing his palm with an odd pattern that glowed when Kronos used his potential.

"f**k you." He said as if it were the magic words to say. Because the moment he uttered those words, a dark light came out of the odd pattern and was directed towards the monster.

It lasted for a moment, and every minute that would pass, Kronos could feel that his body was much more lighter, and the pain would slowly disappear. 

When Kronos' palm no longer glowed and the dark light disappeared, the once ferocious monster was then spotted to shrink twice the size of it. "What… What happened..." Mikhail muttered as he and Astian dashed towards the direction of Kronos

When he confirmed the monster before his eyes, Mikhail then looked back to the others and smiled in victory. "The monster's not corrupted anymore!"

Shortly after that, Mikhail looked at Kronos with a hint of admiration. "Kronos! How did you do that? That was awesome!"

But instead of an answer, Kronos looked at him and simply replied. "Finish."

At that time, Mikhail understood what Kronos was trying to say right away as he furrowed his brows and nodded and soon after instructed everyone in a serious tone of voice. "Right! We should finish it already! It's already an ordinary octopi, so it would be fine!"

The others started to get serious, too, as they concentrated on letting out their potentials and finally gave the ordinary octopi the last blow. Asisi and Ajax joined in as well, and the results were very satisfactory. Their first epitropi has come to an end.

"We.." Mikhail stuttered as he was still dumbfounded by the dead octopi in front of them.

And so, the other did the honor to finish what he was about to say. "We did it!!!"

With their victory, some were cheering, and some were hugging in a team or two. Of course, Astian would embrace Kronos, who was still in a bit of left out by what happened. He was still having palpitations, and his muscles were moving as if they were welcoming a dark foreign energy. 

It used to sting and hurt. However, it was something that Kronos would be experiencing in his everyday life. That was why he became immune to the pain and felt nothing at all as time went by. 

After the mini celebration, Sir Samael then leaped and walked towards them with a proud smile on his face. "Papa!"

"We did it!" Asisi beamed. 

Well, he was expecting for it anyway. It was not a miracle nor a once in a lifetime luck. They were just born with great potential. "Good job Exi."

Shortly after he praised his students, Sir Samael then shifted his gaze towards Kronos and asked. "Kronos, was that your potential… the darkness?"

"Yes." Kronos simply replied.

So he was listening and observing them the whole time. Kronos thought that Sir Samael was merely slacking off as a compensation for him being assigned to the lowest class.

On the other hand, his classmates were intrigued by the potential he held and started to make him the topic of the class at that time. "So it seems like a black holy power! It's working like a holy power!"

"Yeah! You saw how it purified a corrupted monster?" Luca agreed with an exciting tone of voice.

While they were praising his potential as a very pure and helpful one, Kronos could not help but to feel guilty.

His potential was not designed for helping. As it was initially been for killing.