“...!”

  A guttural, inprehensible soued from the mouth of the "Pnt Cthulhu." It was clear it was enraged—after all, it had been struck back by a being several times smaller and seemingly weaker than itself.

  Ialiation, it extes tentacles, shing out at Yverantheia, who had nded on the ground. Despite its massive size, the Pnt Cthulhu was surprisingly fast. The ford speed of its tentacles easily shattered the rocks they struck.

  However, Yverantheia was not to be uimated. She deftly evaded the attacks, the onto one of the tentacles and began running along it. The Pnt Cthulhu, refusing to let her get close, swung its tentacles violently, smming them into the grouedly.

  Yverantheia, seeing the futility in staying oentacle, jumped back to the ground and quickly set up numerous magic circles. Fireballs, water bdes, and lightning spears—all manners of elemental magic—assailed the Pnt Cthulhu.

  In this world, there existed a cept known as "elemental affinity." Different creatures had varying affinities with elements like fire, wind, or space. However, this didn’t mean they couldn’t use other elements. Acc to a theory proposed by a certain witch, this was due to the uure of souls, which affected the efficy of verting different types of elemental energy.

  As a former Saint of the Holy Light Church, Yverantheia naturally had an affinity for the light element. However, her i skill had allowed her to absorb parts of various monsters' powers, thus increasing her affinity with other elements as well.

  "It doesn’t seem very effective," Yverantheia noted.

  Though pnts were typically weak to fire, the Pnt Cthulhu, being both a pnt and a sea creature, had a natural resistao fire.

  "…!!"

  The Pnt Cthulhu grew even more furious at Yverantheia’s magical attacks. It trolled all its tentacles emerging from the sea, sending them crashing toward her.

  Despite the onsught of tentacles creating a near-imperable , Yverantheia remained unflustered. She dodged tinuously, sometimes sidestepping, sometimes leaping away.

  During one such evasion, Yverantheia leapt into the air. Seizing the opportunity, the Pnt Cthulhu directed multiple tentacles to grab her.

  Yet, in an instant, she vanished.

  "...!?"

  A moment ter, one of the tentacles near what seemed to be its was severed.

  "First time using this... not bad."

  H in front of the Pnt Cthulhu, Yverantheia stood in mid-air. She had utilized a different application of her mana manipution, creating ptforms beh her feet to stand in mid-air. While not true flight, it was suffit for bating the Pnt Cthulhu.

  "…%&!!"

  Within seds, the Pnt Cthulhu regrew its severed tentacle. Its roar, now imbued with a psychic attack, reverberated through the area.

  While psychic attacks were uheir effectiveness depended oarget’s mental fortitude. Having endured numerous hardships, Yverantheia's mental resilience was exceptional, even among other peak fourth-level beings. Thus, the Pnt Cthulhu's psychic attack had little effe her.

  "My turn," Yverantheia decred.

  Bending her knees and using the mana ptforms for support, she unched herself towards the Pnt Cthulhu's head, striking the same spot as before. This time, her punch carried even more force, driving the Pnt Cthulhu bato the sea, its blood staining the water purple.

  Yverantheia stood on the now-motionless Pnt Cthulhu, catg her breath and assessing its state. Suddenly, numerous tentacles came alive, ensnaring her.

  "%&!"

  The Pnt Cthulhu rose again, revealing its entire body hiddeh the surface.

  ‘So, the ot isn’t the head?’ Yverantheia pondered.

  Despite her powerful blow peing the Pnt Cthulhu’s head, the real weakness y in a crystal encased in hardened vines beh its body.

  The tentacles coiled around Yverantheia began to tighten, the pressure threatening to crush her bones.

  ‘It’s trying to crush me...’

  Yverantheia mustered her remaining mana to reinforce her body, resisting the increasing pressure. However, the Pnt Cthulhu, a sixth-level behemoth, was far strohan her fourth-level self. Her resistance weakened quickly.

  "%&."

  Seeing Yverantheia’s struggle, the Pnt Cthulhu lifted her towards the exposed crystal, the smaller tentacles retrag to reveal it fully. This was its method of ing prey, abs their energy directly for maximum efficy.

  "Finally revealed, huh?"

  As she he crystal, Yverantheia muttered, and a surge of maed from her. The Pnt Cthulhu sehe daoo te; a massive explosion of mana radiated from Yverantheia, f a blinding white fireball. The heat was intense enough to evaporate the surroundier, and the shockwave toppled the sparse trees on the mountain.

  From a distant fortress, Goblins, Smurfs, and Ogres shielded their eyes against the intense light, brag themselves against the bst. Without the fortress, the casualties would have been unthinkable.

  The explosion sted several minutes. When the light faded, Yverantheia stood amidst the scorched remains of the Pnt Cthulhu’s vihe crystal nowhere in sight.

  “Ihe Ogre King’s preition skill is quite useful,” she remarked.

  Yverantheia had foreseen this oute from the moment the Ogre Kiiohe powerful enemy. Using the borrowed preition skill, she had glimpsed fragmented visions of herself exhausting her mana in a futile attack, only to be devoured by the Pnt Cthulhu's hidden ot.

  Armed with this knowledge, she had prepared by st a portion of her mana with the Smurfs’ teology and feigned weako lure the Pnt Cthulhu into exposing its crystal. Then, she detohe stored mana in a decisive blow.

  While Yverantheia sought strength through genuine bat, she hadn’t fotten her ultimate goal. Dying needlessly was not an option.

  Suddenly, she felt her body and mana rapidly rec.

  “This power... I’ve advanced.”

  Stepping on the charred vines, Yverantheia leapt back to the nd. She quickly assessed her current state and began making her way back to the fortress.