"Weak points?"
"Yeah, most monsters have one," Rollo replied, taking a hearty bite from a chicken leg. "Some are harder to find, but all I'm saying: it's not always about chopping off the head."
"But going for the head would still be pretty efficient, don't you think?" Jan asked.
Rollo laughed, wiping grease from his chin. "True, but what if it doesn't have a head? Listen, Jan, you're smart. Use that brain of yours—don't just rush in swinging. Study your opponent's movements, and you'll find its weakness."
Jan smirked to himself. "Got it."
He glanced back to check on the sisters and then refocused on the brute. Something twisted in his gut—he was running out of time.
'I can't afford to wait any longer.'
With all his strength, Jan burst out from behind the barrel, aiming for a sneak attack. But the brute's watchful eyes caught his movement almost instantly.
'It won't fall for that trick twice.'
Jan had lost the element of surprise, but his sudden lunge still made the brute stop for a moment. A small victory—but now he was alone.
"Still not ready?!"
He muttered under his breath, stealing another glance back. Sophia was still being treated, and the brute was already preparing to launch more of its deadly projectiles.
Puff—Puff—Puff—Puff—
This time, Jan didn't try to jump away. He mimicked Sophia's evasive footwork, dodging each projectile as they crashed around him. It worked for a while, until—
'I'm surrounded!'
He looked around at the mud coating the ground, thick with toxic fumes that filled the air. There was nowhere left to go—he was trapped.
The next chunk of mud shot toward him with frightening speed.
'If I move, I'm dead. And I can't cut it either...'
Even though his blade wasn't ignited with flames like Sophia's, he wasn't sure that it wouldn't explode once he cut it.
'I have no other choice...'
With the chunk of mud hurtling toward him like a fastball, Jan tightened his grip on his sword, narrowing his eyes as he focused on its trajectory. He could feel the tension in the air, the split-second decision hanging in the balance.
'Just like baseball...' he thought, recalling the days spent swinging a bat back home.
As the projectile closed in, he shifted his stance, planting his feet firmly into the ground, feeling the weight of his blade in his hands. He swung with all his might, timing the strike perfectly as the mud chunk entered his range.
CRACK—
His sword sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, meeting the projectile head-on. The impact sent a shock up his arms, but he held steady, channeling his strength into the swing. The mud chunk changed direction, spinning backward at the brute with a speed that matched its original throw.
The monster had no time to react. The reflected projectile slammed into its chest with a wet, satisfying thud, splattering toxic sludge over its front.
For a moment, it staggered, caught off guard by its own attack.
Jan's lips curled into a smirk as he steadied his sword, "That's what you get for pitching to the wrong guy."
[Congratulations, you've obtained a new skill: "Reflect Lv.1"]
[-5] [-2] [-6] [-3] [-4] ...
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Suddenly Jan yelped. Hopping around in pain as droplets of toxic sludge burned through his clothes and seared his skin.
"You have the strangest fighting style. I've never seen anything like it."
Jan spun around at the sound of a familiar voice, relief flooding his face. "Sophia!"
She grinned. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's alright! Glad you're back."
"Do you think you can do that move again?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it," Jan replied confidently.
"Good. While you handle that, I'll focus on its main body," Sophia said, determination in her voice.
"Wait, there's something you should know." Jan quickly described the faint glowing light he'd noticed on the back of the brute's head. "If you can, try targeting that spot—it might be its weak point."
Sophia nodded, taking in the information. "Got it. Let's finish this thing off!" she declared, turning to glance at her sister. "Maria, I'm going for its main body!"
"Alright! Don't worry about being poisoned. I'll keep you both covered!" Maria downed a bottle filled with a vibrant blue liquid.
"Let's do this!"
With that, Sophia charged forward while Jan held his position, Maria staying back to support them as before.
The brute’s glowing eyes seemed to register the shift in their strategy. It began hurling projectiles again—but not directly at them. Instead, it aimed for the ground ahead, coating it in sludge and filling the air with toxic fumes.
"Don't worry about the poison!" Maria called out, her voice steady.
"Got it!"
[Purify!]
This time, instead of targeting her sister directly, Maria’s spell cleansed the contaminated air, dispersing the toxins in an instant.
Freed from the threat of the fumes, Sophia pressed on, her movements swift and unwavering. In seconds, she closed the distance and faced the brute head-on.
Feeling the danger, the brute reached for her, its sharp claws cutting through the air.
"It may not have worked before, but this time..."
[Physical Enhancement!]
[Ignite!]
Whoosh—
Anticipating the brute's movements, Sophia deftly sidestepped its grasp. In one fluid motion, she swung her sword in a wide arc, flames trailing behind the blade as it sliced cleanly through the brute's arm.
Thud—
The faint glowing light within the brute flickered wildly as it watched its severed arm crash to the ground. Noticing this, Sophia sprang forward, reaching ahead and driving her blade straight between the two glowing lights.
For a moment, the lights dimmed and vanished.
Jan almost shouted in triumph—until he saw the glow reappear, this time on the right side of the brute's chest.
"Sophia, look out!!!" he yelled.
Sophia clung to her sword, now embedded deep into the brute's head, struggling to free it. She braced her feet against the creature's tough hide, trying to yank the blade loose, but froze when she caught sight of the brute's maw opening wide.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
It let out a deafening roar—so overwhelming that Sophia had to release her grip on the sword, clapping her hands over her ears to muffle the noise.
The shockwave of its cry hit Jan and Maria as well, forcing them to cover their ears, the noise reverberating painfully through the air.
The roar dragged on until, with a sudden snap, the brute yanked the sword from its head and flung it aside. It swung its massive hand, knocking Sophia backward—but this time, she managed to shield herself with her arms, absorbing most of the impact before hitting the ground several meters away.
"Are you okay?" Maria shouted, recovering faster than Jan.
"I'm alright! But be careful, something isn't right!" Sophia shouted back, blinking in disbelief as she watched the brute's severed arm regenerate before her very eyes.
But the regeneration wasn't the end of it—two more arms began to sprout from its sides!
"This can't be real!" Jan watched in disbelief.
Now four-armed, the brute reached down and drove its side hands into the ground.
Tremble—
"Jan, protect Maria! Something's coming!" Sophia shouted, taking advantage of the moment to retrieve her sword.
"G-Got it!"
Tremble—
The ground quaked violently as if the entire town were being hit by an earthquake. Then—
Roots erupted from the earth, spreading across the battlefield. Some writhed like serpents, while others bloomed into large flowers, releasing clouds of toxic gas into the air.
Jan and Maria stood frozen for a moment. But Sophia was already on the move, cutting the poisonous blooms near her with her blade.
"Maria! Use your spell!"
"R-Right!"
Maria raised her staff and began chanting, but before she could finish, the roots lashed out, coiling around her body and squeezing tight.
Squick—
Jan immediately rushed forward, slashing through the roots as he fought to reach her. This was the reason for his positioning—it allowed him to protect either of his companions.
Whoosh—
With a powerful swing, Jan severed the roots holding Maria, and she dropped to the ground with a thud, gasping for breath.
"L-Gasp Look out!" she choked out.
Jan spun around, searching for the threat. He spotted Sophia holding her ground, burning through the roots with her flames.
"J-Jan! Up, look up!"
His heart leapt into his throat as he spotted the same ball of mud from earlier plummeting from the sky, mere meters away from hitting both him and Maria.
With no time to send this one back, he scooped Maria into his arms and leaped away, shielding her from the impact's acid spray.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" he yelped as the burning droplets hit his skin.
"Jan, y-you idiot! Why would you do that?!"
"You're healing us; it's only fair to protect you." he said with a pained smile, quickly rising to his feet and assuming a ready stance.
The brute, now with four arms, continued its onslaught—two arms generating the root-filled battlefield while the other two launched projectiles directly at Maria, determined to disrupt her support.
As the second ball of sludge hurtled toward them, Jan planted his feet firmly, adopting his batter's stance. With a powerful swing, he struck the projectile with all his might, reflecting it straight back at the brute.
A smirk crossed his face as the mud splattered against the creature's head. "Strike one," he muttered under his breath.
Feeling a brief moment of safety, Maria quickly cast her spell.
[Purify!]
This time, her magic swept across the entire battlefield, cleansing the air of toxic fumes and withering the blooms that had been plaguing Sophia.
"Finally!" Sophia gasped, nearly out of breath as the last of the flowers shriveled away.
With the toxic blooms temporarily cleared, she launched herself forward in a relentless dash, slicing through any roots that dared to block her path.
The brute noticed her advance and yanked its hands from the ground. It began hurling projectiles with all four arms—two aimed at Jan and Maria in the rear, the other two at Sophia.
For Jan, deflecting the attacks had become almost second nature. But for Sophia, who couldn’t do that, each dodge demanded more effort, forcing her to weave through the onslaught, waiting for an opening.
"Aaagh! This is driving me crazy!" Sophia shouted in frustration as she narrowly dodged another mud ball, while Maria kept spamming her Purify spell from behind.
[Congratulations, your skill has improved: "Reflect Lv.2"]
Jan, who was the only one at ease, noticed the strain etched on the sisters' faces—especially Maria, who seemed to be struggling to maintain her spell.
'This isn't good. It's trying to wear us down,' he realized, his mind racing.
He couldn't move forward to help Sophia breach its defenses—it would put Maria in danger.
[-30]
Reflecting the mud projectiles back at the brute wasn't doing much damage, either.
'Wait... Is it me, or is it much smaller than before?'
The brute, once towering at over four meters, now stood nearly a third shorter.
'Is it consuming its own body to throw those balls?'
Jan's eyes widened with realization. He deflected another mud ball, then turned abruptly, scooping Maria up by the waist and charging forward.
"W-What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, startled.
"We're taking the fight to it!"
Within moments, Jan and Maria had closed the distance, catching up to Sophia. She turned to them in surprise, her focus momentarily broken as she dodged yet another projectile.
"What are you two doing here?!"
"No time to explain! Stay behind me!" Jan ordered.
"B-But that means—"
"Trust me, I got this!" Jan declared, his eyes steely with determination.
Sophia hesitated, then leapt back behind him, as all four of the brute's arms turned their aim toward Jan.