Reincarnated As An Extra With The 10x Link System-Chapter 44: Team Work

Chapter 44

They watched as the vile beast slowly came into view.

The demon stood two meters tall. A skull mask... a contemptuous grin with three eyes... emitting a faint, aberrant green glow covered its face; its alabaster, oval-shaped head, like a ghastly lantern, reflected the sun’s light in the desecrated grove.

Its limbs were like twisting, gnarled vines, endlessly wrapped around each other. The bark-like skin looked rough and almost impenetrable, and as it moved, the air around it seemed to writhe and twist, heavy with the stench of decay.

The demon’s presence felt cold and palpable, almost like death itself had taken shape, and as the limbs slowly stirred, the countless vines wrapped around each other, wriggling, and a greenish gas began seeping into the air.

Megumi took a deep breath, his heart growing heavy and his brow slightly furrowing.

’Don’t tell me...’

Something strange was happening to the air around them—rather pragmatic—and it was affecting his ability to breathe. The air felt thick and heavy, and looking up now, there were visible green tendrils slowly intoxicating the air.

He gulped.

’Poison’

If their enemy indeed possessed the ability to wield and manipulate poison in the form that he was witnessing, then it was going to be a rather grave problem. This was the very problem with attributes—contaminating the very air with poison—it would take a decade before anyone would discover a poison-ability sorcerer with an attribute this good.

And unlike the ghastly appendages of the dead trees earlier, this poison definitely wasn’t restricted by the vicinity of what had been their safe haven. They were going to have to do something; otherwise, things were only going to get worse.

He glanced back at the fellow members of his team. Rei was steadily holding his sword, in better shape than the other two girls, who both had subtle frowns on their faces.

Mei looked around and spoke thoughtfully.

"This demon possesses a very peculiar ability. I would suggest that we all refrain from inhaling. It would be best if we covered our noses as well."

They all quickly covered their noses with scarves, all except for Rei.

The boy simply shook his head, refusing to take his eyes off the demon.

"I’ll be fine. It’ll take a lot more than some measly poison to get the best of me."

There was a shift in their demeanor as soon as his words were said—though subtle—and it was all they needed to set the tempo for their impending fight.

And their adversary intended to set the dance floor in action as well.

The demon held its vine-contorted hand forward, and instantly, several ghastly appendages, as large as tree trunks, shot forward toward them. The massive outgrowths moved at a terrifying speed, intending to subjugate to death anything caught in their deathly embrace.

At the same time, Megumi and Rei quickly stepped forward, swinging their swords with fluid motion, bright flashes of crimson flames and luminous crimson moving forward to meet the swiftly approaching attack.

The crimson lights and the brown, darkened, ghastly appendages met somewhere in the middle of the two boys and the three-eyed demon, the two fierce attacks ferociously taking on each other.

Having successfully stalled the demon’s attack, Megumi swiftly and fluidly brought down his sword, allowing the pommel to face upward, and then gripped it in his left hand. With frightening speed, he dashed forward, heading straight for their adversary.

He closed the distance between them in seconds, moving past the ensuing flames in swift motion, his right hand folded into a fist and ready to strike at any moment.

Just as he was about to move his arm, more of the depressing annexes shot forward, the outgrowth of vines endlessly wrapping around each other. He twisted his body, sidestepping as he quickly gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands.

Enveloping the somber sword with wild crimson flames, he struck at the vile appendages with a swift and precise swing, instantly severing them. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The demon was now completely open, with the only thing left between him and victory being its adamantine bark-like skin, but that would only be if he could manage to penetrate it.

With his sword still engulfed in ravaging crimson flames, he stepped forward, putting every ounce of his body into his next attack—his waist, his shoulders, his legs, and most of all, his mind—were all working in tandem to help him deliver the most devastating sword slash he could muster.

All he needed was a moment, and he would have his sword sever the vile creature in half, and that moment was also when he was most open. He had gotten too hasty, unable to notice the root that was steadily protruding from the ground just before him.

Just before his sword could make contact with his intended target, the protruding root struck his abdomen with bone-shattering force, sending him flying straight into the air.

His face twisted as he grimaced in pain, flying through the air. He gripped his sword tightly, refusing to let go of the lusterless blade as his body continued to slam through the cluster of dead trees in the grove.

He managed to catch hold of himself in time, steadying his feet with his sword as he quickly got up from the ground. More of the appendages shot up from the ground, threatening to subdue him to death. But before the contorting vines could get to him, multiple golden chains shot up from the ground, binding and restraining them.

And in that moment, Rei landed right next to him, gripping the hilt of his sword as he looked at their unceremonious team leader. There was a visible frown on Megumi’s face, his gaze filled with frustration and rage, all directed at the demon standing in the distance.

The boy nervously scratched the side of his gelled, black hair and then slowly reached out and hesitantly gripped Megumi’s shoulder. His voice resounded cautiously:

"A proper strategy, you said so yourself, Young Master."

Megumi smiled, stepping back slightly as his burning rage subsided... somewhat. He had been slightly lost in his burning desire to take out the vile demon that he had almost forgotten he had a team with him... Rei’s words were just what he needed to clear his mind, even if it was only for a moment.

He gazed all around them, at the now poison-ridden haven where the girls stood, at the dead trees that surrounded them, and at the mountains that surrounded them, the towering peaks encircling the grove like a mystical amphitheater. Then he tried to look at the situation differently, rummaging through his mind, searching for the best possible way to go about defeating their enemy.

So far, the only problem they had managed to deal with was the poison, but their solution wasn’t definite; they would need to breathe soon. That left the ghastly outgrowths that were extending from the trees around them and from the demon itself, and lastly, perhaps what would turn out to be their biggest concern... the damned creature’s adamantine body.

Among all of them, he believed that only Rei and—hopefully—he possessed the physical capabilities required to shatter the demon’s hard exterior. That was why he had tried to land at least a single strike against the demon earlier, in hopes that he would be at least able to gauge just how tough its body was.

But that endeavor hadn’t been entirely fruitless; he learned a pattern in the demon’s attacks from it.

’Besides the poison, that thing can’t keep up with more than a single attack simultaneously. But that is only with the appendages of its body; the tree roots, on the other hand... well, they’re only a bit of a problem when it’s distracted.’

With the thought, he turned his gaze to the girls standing off in the distance; his voice was filled with urgency.

"Lady Ryu! No matter what happens, I want you to hold down that demon with everything you have! Do not let go until... until it’s dead!"

Then he turned to Rei.

"We’ll hit the demon with everything we have once she binds it; we only have three seconds!"

The boy chuckled slightly, a strangely excited smile plastered on his face, his sword burning with a luminous crimson glow, brighter than it had been earlier.

His voice echoed throughout the grove.

"I’ve been dying to hear you say that!"

Meanwhile, Megumi was gazing at the boy with a perplexed expression on his face.

’Has he been holding back the entire time?’