Ch. 21 - Octopus Feast (1)

Lames Jane was in a very bad mood. His best-laid plans for terror had come to naught. His ambitions had been crushed at the first step, and all his schemes had been thrown out the window.

"Shit..."

He didn't usually swear, but now he couldn't help himself.

"Where did it all go wrong? The revolution's plans have been blown up spectacularly."

Either the device had been discovered, or there was a traitor inside.

Whatever the cause, it didn't matter. There was no going back from a failed plan that he had put everything into.

"Maybe I should take matters into my own hands."

Lames Jane crossed his arms and pondered. Just then, he saw someone flying toward the roof of the building he was in.

"Hmm? Is that... a magical girl?"

The woman flying towards him, with her bright silver hair, was dressed like a magical girl. The magical staff in her hand confirmed her identity.

"Lames Jane...!"

The magical girl, Jung Ha-Yeon, quickly approached Lames Jane with a hateful expression.

"Hmm. Do you know me?"

Even in the face of the magical girl who was clearly out to get him, Lames Jane remained calm. It was an attitude steeped in arrogance—he was so confident that he looked down on Ha-Yeon, convinced she had no chance of catching him on her own.

Seeing him like that, Jung Ha-Yeon clenched her fist.

"Of course I do. You don't know me?"

"Hmm... I've seen a magical girl before, but I don't remember you."

"Two years ago, you killed the hero Lee Yoon-Seo in an abandoned factory in Sokcho. I was her best friend."

They weren't friends anymore. Rather, they couldn't be friends because the abomination in front of her had killed her, taking her from the world.

"Lee Yoon-Seo? Hmph... Ah. You must have been that bratty magical girl by her side."

"That brat has come to kill you now."

Jung Ha-Yeon didn't hesitate and immediately fired her magic. Dozens of icy spears shot toward him in unison. But he didn't dodge them.

-Boom!

Jung Ha-Yeon's ice spears were blocked by the fleshy tentacles that suddenly appeared.

"What, what is that...?"

The tentacle was connected to Lames Jane's arm. More precisely, Lames Jane's arm had become a tentacle.

Tentacled arms, like those of an octopus. His arms became slithering tentacles, his face turned purple, and veins popped out everywhere.

"Do you see? This is the ultimate evolution of man."

Lames Jane looked at his tentacled arm with satisfaction.

"Powers that no mere mortal could ever wield. Overwhelming power—that is what we monsters are capable of."

Lames Jane swung his tentacle. It flew at tremendous speed, and Jung Ha-Yeon barely managed to dodge it.

-Crash!!

The floor crunched under her feet. The power of the tentacles was unbelievable, and the sight stunned her.

"Hahahaha, you came just in time. I was planning to take matters into my own hands and bring divine punishment to humans. You'll be my first target."

"...Who would die so easily."

Jung Ha-Yeon fired her magic again. Shin Hye-Rim's teachings had helped her grow a lot. Her magic was already far more sophisticated and powerful than before. She wondered if she was on the verge of becoming an S-Rank Hero.

Ice spears, fireballs, beams of light, lightning bolts. All sorts of spells were hurled at Lames Jane. Each one was powerful enough to kill a monster with a single blow.

Yet, in the face of this rain of magic, he didn't blink an eye.

"Hmm."

He simply wrapped his tentacles around his body to block the magic. The tentacles that blocked all the magic were not even scratched, let alone scarred.

"...That's ridiculous."

She threw everything she had at him, but it didn't work. It was a pointless attack. She couldn't do any damage to Lames Jane.

"How dare someone with the strength of a human dare to fight me."

"Ugh?!"

Another tentacle sprouted from the existing tentacle and swiftly headed toward her. She quickly tried to dodge it again, but it ended up hitting her shoulder.

The attack, powerful enough to crack concrete, inflicted substantial damage even with just a glancing blow to her shoulder.

The force sent her tumbling to the ground, where she rolled several times. Covered in dust, she glared at Lames Jane with a killing glare.

"You bastard...!"

"How foolish of you, the arrogance to challenge one who transcended humanity by yourself."

Lames Jane slowly walked toward her, then raised his tentacles as if to kill her.

"I suppose it's my job to keep a fool like you in awe."

Jung Ha-Yeon clenched her teeth. She was furious—furious at herself for not being able to avenge her friend, for the hopeless realization that, as a hero, she couldn't stop the villain, and for the terror she now felt towards Lames Jane.

It was all so infuriating and so hateful.

"Well, goodbye then."

Lames Jane slammed his tentacle down on Jung Ha-Yeon. She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking she was about to die.

-Slash!

She heard the sound of something being cut.

-Thud!

Then she heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

Jung Ha-Yeon opened her eyes, wondering what was going on.

"What... what the?!"

She saw a neatly severed section of tentacle and the panicked face of Lames Jane.

What had just happened?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"...!"

A cynical voice called out. Jung Ha-Yeon's heart skipped a beat just hearing that voice.

"Hah. This is absurd."

With a hollow laugh, the magical girl, Shin Hye-Rim, descended right in front of Jung Ha-Yeon. She tapped her sword on her shoulder and turned to face Lames Jane.

"Our Monster Association's leader deserves a nice reward for being such a good boy. A reward of death."

"...Ms. Hye-Rim?"

Jung Ha-Yeon called out to Shin Hye-Rim in a trembling voice. Hearing that voice, Shin Hye-Rim looked back at Jung Ha-Yeon, who was lying on the floor.

"Ms. Ha-Yeon, are you okay? Can you stand up?"

"A-ah... yes. It hurts a bit, but I think I can stand."

"That's good to hear."

Hearing that she was okay, Shin Hye-Rim smiled gently. It was the kind expression she always wore in front of Jung Ha-Yeon. However, her mood was different than usual.

Her mouth was smiling, but Jung Ha-Yeon could tell—right now, Shin Hye-Rim was very, very pissed off.

I was expecting to see Shin Chul-Min and Jung Ha-Yeon struggling but holding their own against Lames Jane, but when I arrived, Shin Chul-Min was nowhere to be seen, and Jung Ha-Yeon was fighting Lames Jane alone.

Huh? That's not good. It's going to be hard for her to win alone.

Just as I was thinking that, Jung Ha-Yeon was attacked by Lames Jane and collapsed.

The moment I saw that, something inside me snapped.

My favorite waifu. Our main heroine. She's been struck down by that filthy, slimy tentacle, and now he's trying to kill her?

I immediately drew my sword, severed the tentacle, and stood right in front of her.

Putting aside the question of why Shin Chul-Min isn't here, I need to save our main heroine first.

"...Ms. Hye-Rim?"

A trembling voice came from behind me while I was trying to figure out how to cook the tentacle guy in front of me.

I turned around to see Jung Ha-Yeon lying on the floor, looking up at me with shaky eyes. Her pretty face was covered in grimy dust, and her shoulder, where the tentacle had hit her, was covered in dark bruises.

The sight of it was enough to make me lose my cool.

A mere boss in Episode 1 has turned my favorite character into this. A guy who would have died an ugly death because he was arrogant enough to think he was the strongest and looked down on the main duo has hurt Jung Ha-Yeon without knowing his place.

Hah. This bastard. This is unbelievable.

I helped Jung Ha-Yeon to her feet. She grimaced at the pain in her shoulder.

Seeing my waifu in pain made my heart ache.

"Even if it hurts, just hold on a bit. Let's kill that bastard first."

"...Yes!"

Jung Ha-Yeon replied vigorously, but it was obvious that she was trying to put on a brave face.

"T-this is ridiculous! How dare a mere human injure my body!?"

Then I heard a voice that grated on my nerves even more. Lames Jane was looking at his severed tentacle in horror.

"I-I don't know who you are, but this will never happen again!"

Now it wasn't just his arms that were tentacles—his entire body had become a tentacle monster. His body had grown huge, and his clothes were torn and scattered on the floor.

Finally, he looked like what I saw in the original manga. I didn't want to see a monster that had given up on being human in a somewhat human shape.

"Ms. Ha-Yeon, you once asked me to tutor you, didn't you?"

"What? Ah... Yes, I did."

Jung Ha-Yeon looked at me as if to ask why I suddenly brought that up.

"I'll give you that lesson now."

I energized the sword to its maximum power. The blade glowed pure white, emitting a light so strong that its original form was unrecognizable.

"I'll show you how to make sashimi out of an octopus."

Comments