Undersea Reincarnation - [Octopus Monster Evolution LitRPG]

Using the red Octomind's assault as a distraction, Henry disappeared below the waves. It was hard fighting someone as small and fast as the red-haired captain. It was even harder to stomach that Velistraine wasn't even using her active Skills. And she must have had plenty.

He chuckled inwardly as he dove low then swam back up, aiming to come right under her. If this had been a real, to-the-death kind of fight, both Henry and Maurice might have already been running for their lives. Hell, even that hit she'd landed on him would have been a lot worse if she'd used her own concepts. It would have cleaved him in half, and while he didn't think that would outright kill him right away, it would be cutting it pretty damn close. Especially considering he'd have to flush out the foreign influence before he could start healing.

Yeah, if that hit had been for real, I would have been out of the fight.

It was a sobering thought. He couldn't tell what her exact level was, but she was still pretty damn far above them. Honestly, it wasn't even close. At least, not yet. But even if this might end in their loss, they were gonna make her work for it.

"[I'm putting everything in one big strike. After that, I'll try to lock her,]" Henry sent to Maurice as he activated every single effect of his Evershifting Strike, even going so far as to dump a massive amount of mana into the imploding effect and on top of that, he spiced it all up with a respectable dollop of Predation.

"[Got it! I'm already charging,]" Maurice called back. Henry didn't respond. Instead, he focused on the storm of mana he was trying to keep contained. It was the most powerful strike he could channel, and as his giant of an arm whipped up, tearing through the water without any of it being capable of slowing it thanks to the [Unimpeded] effect, Henry kept an eye on her through the many eyes he had on her. She might have already noticed his oncoming arm, but the savaged little red Octomind was keeping her busy enough, uncaring of how many of its arms she chopped off.

"Good job, little dude. Now move away," he told the Octomind, and the summoned being immediately flitted to the side right as Henry's arm broke the water.

His arm hit something small and hard, and it was as if a bomb had gone off in the water. The implosion was violent, and his whole body shook painfully from the shockwave. Water geysered up and away and in its midst, a red form, tumbling head over heels as the impact continued to carry her up in the air, far above the churned waves.

She felt that one, Henry smiled as he saw her bring herself to a stop. Velistraine had a pained grin on her face, but this was nowhere enough to put her down. Already, she was zipping down toward him, and Henry, just like he'd planned, readied himself to catch her.

"All hands on deck," he told the Octominds as he pulled deep from Thaumaturgy, and even consumed some of his hidden cache of conceptual shards from his Maw. He'd been stockpiling the excess, just like Arisia had advised, and while it was supposed to be saved up for life and death scenarios, he had to see how far he could push the captain.

A bright purple hue shone across his body as the excess mana and concepts wafted off the primed Telekinesis. In his arm, Maurice was primed, his own empowered implosion ready to be launched and when Velistraine was three quarters of the way to them, Henry triggered his Skill.

A nearly solid cloud of purple immediately materialized about the falling captain, and the sword tip that tore through it almost felt like a needle going through Henry's head and through his brains, but he didn't let up. With all of his Octominds and himself pitting their own will against the captain, her fall was brought to a complete halt, and right before Maurice's implosion—which the crab had summoned right atop of her head through his Domain—Henry believed he saw her eyes widen.

The contained, violent implosion broke Henry's telekinetic grip, and a flare of white light burned in his eyes as the air combusted around the captain's form. A moment later, she fell down, still on her feet.

But she wasn't looking that good.

Velistraine's smile was almost disbelieving as she reached up for the blood that trailed down her face. She had multiple contusions on her face and on her skin—wherever her clothes had torn from the violent implosion—but while they did manage some decent damage, she still had her sword in hand.

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But Henry wasn't done.

"Part 2," he said, and out of the ether, a black and purple shadow materialized right behind her, and for a fraction of a second, it loomed, a monster nearly thrice her size, right before it threw all of its arms around the human, its beak gnashing at her skin, trying to break through. Henry channeled some predation to the Octomind, hoping it'll manage to break skin and deliver his new venom, right before he teleported himself atop of her to do the same.

"Alright, get off," Velistraine said, right before his Octomind exploded in a mist of shadow and ink, letting out an angry shriek. It hadn't managed to deliver the dose, but Henry didn't focus on that. He was more worried about the human he was dropping on.

This will hurt, Henry thought as all of his arms surged around Velistraine's small form. Empowering Bite of the Trickster with the conceptual essence of Predation, Henry bit down on the first bit of flesh he could sense against his beak. He didn't use his arms to bite, as his beak was stronger anyway, and against an A-rank, he needed quality more than he needed quantity.

Henry twisted, and gnashed his beak, trying to tear into the impossibly tough skin, and finally, after another pulse of Predation into the skill, he tasted blood. Her blood.

"Hug of death!" Henry heard Maurice shout, but he didn't respond. Instead, he was injecting the new venom he'd gotten. His own signature cocktail made of his own mana, which should disturb her innate abilities and resistances. But that wasn't the only effect his new venom could accomplish.

As the substance slithered in her veins, a flush of strength and energy coursed through his body, washing away some of the accumulating fatigue and pain he'd been feeling. It wasn't that much, most likely because of the captain's high Constitution, but it was significant enough to let him resist her retaliation.

With his own venom in her veins, he dumped every other toxic substance he managed to acquire through his travels. Everything. The numbing venom of the Pufferfish. Spasmodic of the Sea Serpent. Tranquilizing of the Mesmer Eel. Anticoagulant of the Sea Drake. Agonizing of the Lionfish. He made sure she got a good dose of each, and as he did, Henry felt the sting of the sword carving into his flesh.

But that was expected.

"[Float, Maurice,]" he said, throwing the crab up in the air. Then Henry's flesh crackled.

With every bit of Thaumaturgy and Predation essences he had left, Henry activated Lightning Discharge, and purple arcs of electricity danced across his flesh and into the captain. Her tearing into his flesh stopped as she spasmed, his venoms coursing through her veins, and Henry heard himself laugh in his own head as the purple lightning threatened to blind his own eyes. It was a nice color. He liked it.

It was funny how the red lightning of Predation mixed with the blue of Thaumaturgy to create this purple shade. It was effective. He could sense the spasming and the swelling mana between his arms. At any point, she was going to break through the disabling effect of his electricity, and damn was that going to hurt.

But I got her, Henry thought as he felt his electricity slow. But before the retaliation could come, they were interrupted.

"[Alright you three, that's enough. No need to drag everything to our location,]" said the voice in their head, right as Zerathstra's heavy presence fell heavily on them.

Henry stilled, cutting off Lightning Discharge before he relaxed his grip and backed away. He was panting, he realized, and so was Velistraine as her head popped out of the water, skin still smoking. Then she cackled for a few seconds before she dragged herself up to her feet. She took a deep breath, wincing from the pain coursing through her body, then she activated something. A corona of red pulsed around her, and all of the contusions faded away. Healed, as if they'd never happened.

A-ranks are bullshit, Henry thought as he floated himself up from the water, already working on his shapeshifted form as he let Maurice land on top of one of his Octominds.

"You're tough!" shouted the crab.

Velistraine laughed. "Of course I am. But so are you! Man, that was good! Way better than I expected," she said, her red eyes going from Maurice to Henry. "So let's call that a draw. But you better be ready for the next bout when you get to A-rank. Because I'm using my Skills, then."

A shiver went down his newly formed back, but still, Henry grinned. He was looking forward to seeing how he'd hold up against her Skills, and he fully intended on winning the next round. And he wasn't the only one who was planning on it.

Maurice rubbed his pincers together, and both spoke at the same time. "Deal!"