Dragged Into Another World Because of My Otaku Friend-Chapter 88: Vulnerable

The nightmare creature thrust its claw down toward me.

Before it could rip through my body, I rolled to the side, barely dodging it.

The claw struck the shallow pool, splashing water as it missed its target. But it was not done yet.

It swung its arm sideways.

This time, I was not fast enough to react.

Swoosh!

Its claw slashed across my right arm, tearing through flesh and leaving a deep, bleeding laceration. The force of the blow sent me skidding across the shallow water, dragged by the impact.

"Arghhh!" I screamed in pain, blood pouring freely from the wound.

Thankfully, I had cast a protective spell beforehand, without it, my arm might’ve been crushed entirely.

Still, it was not enough to stop the bleeding.

I struggled to get up, clutching my injured arm. Indra had already vanished into scattered particles.

The creature lunged at me again.

---

On the other side of the chamber, Beltimore was shouting at Alice.

"Are you done yet?! At this rate, those two are going to die!"

He could not wait much longer.

He and Alice were surprised after witnessing Daria’s transformation. The creature Alan and Bob were facing now was far beyond anything they expected, as powerful as an S-Rank beast, if not more.

Beltimore’s eyes flicked to Alan, now injured and barely standing.

If he and Alice could get their magic back, they might stand a chance.

But if things stayed as they were...

...this cave would be their grave.

Alice remained focused, deep in thought as she examined the Kaoslith, her fingers tracing the strange patterns across its surface. She searched her memory from her ten years of knowledge, experience, theory....and then,

"This Kaoslith is similar to the usual model, but there’s a minor difference, its internal configuration and material components are slightly altered," she said.

"In simpler terms?" Beltimore asked sharply.

"I’ve figured it out. I just need a few minutes. I can reverse it, probably."

"’Probably’ is better than nothing," Beltimore replied. "How long you need?"

"Ten... No, five minutes. I can do it in five."

She reached into the pouch on her waist and pulled out a long strip of paper. She began wrapping it carefully around the Kaoslith’s surface.

"I’m not sure if the anti-magic field affects magical tools... I hope it doesn’t."

Once the paper was wrapped tightly around the structure, she pulled out a strange, red-etched pen.

"Please work..." she whispered.

The pen glowed softly as red light radiating from its tip.

"Yes!" she said with a relieved breath. "The array isn’t blocking magical tools!"

Without wasting a second, she began drawing intricate symbols on the paper covering the Kaoslith.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Stop that!" the robed man shouted, eyes wide with panic.

Alice ignored him, focused entirely on her task.

Beltimore then looked at Alan and Bob.

Please, hold that fiend for 5 minutes.

---

The creature jumped at me.

I was in pain, and I did not think I had the speed to evade it.

Bang! Bang!

Bob fired Indra to stall the creature’s movement, but his aim was terrible. Only one out of five shots hit.

Looks like I’ll have to save myself.

I raised my left hand.

"Firebolt!"

A ball of flame shot from my palm and flew toward the enemy.

The creature flinched at the incoming fireball. It halted its lunge, then leapt back just before the impact.

The firebolt exploded in the pool behind it, splashing water everywhere and sending up steam from the heat.

"Alan, are you okay?!" Bob rushed over, concerned.

"My hand... it hurts," I groaned, clutching my bleeding right hand.

"Heal!" Bob cast the spell, and warmth flowed into the wound.

The creature twitched as it watched Bob healing me.

"What’s wrong with her?" Bob asked, casting glances between me and the creature.

I gritted my teeth through the pain and stared at it. It was reacting strangely, as if someone had dropped ice down its back.

After a few moments, my hand had fully healed. I moved my fingers. No more pain.

"Phew... I think I need to start investing in Intelligence in the future," Bob said, wiping his forehead.

"Thank you, Bob."

"Thanks me later when we killed that thing."

We then returned to our stance.

The creature was finally stable, its eyes focused on us, on me, specifically.

It then lunged forward, claws raised.

I summoned Indra and changed it into Blade form.

The creature reached me and swung its claws. I dodged by crouching, then thrust my sword into its chest.

The creature stopped, but not for long. It then tried to bite my head off. I left Indra stabbed into its body and rolled away just in time.

It only bit the air.

Bob arrived from behind and slashed its back.

The hit from the [Embersteel Sword] caused the creature to ignite, flames engulfing its back.

The creature shrieked and scrambled to the wall, furiously scraping its body against the damp stone to extinguish the fire.

"Is it weak to flame?" Bob asked, eyes narrowing.

The creature’s overreaction to the fire gave us a clue on how to beat it.

Bob and I had a brief discussion and we quickly came up with a plan.

But first, I needed to confirm something.

Was it truly weak to fire?

I cast Firebolt, aiming directly at it. The creature quickly evaded to the side, and at that exact moment, Bob appeared using [Dash Slash], striking it from behind.

This time, however, the [Embersteel Sword] did not ignite the creature.

It slashed at Bob.

Bob managed to evade at the last moment, thanks to his [Nimbleness] passive skill.

Bob slashed again, but once more, no flames ignited.

I quickly cast another Firebolt, giving Bob a chance to retreat.

"This thing really has a low burn chance!" Bob growled in frustration.

"Let’s try again," I said, determination creeping into my voice.

But before we could move, a sudden light flared from our side.

I turned, and saw it.

The glow was coming from Kaoslith.

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