Saying I was shocked wasn't an exaggeration.
I meant the first thing I saw in the distance after I broke out Scylla's stomach wasn't Isabelle's figure but Tristan's.
Transforming back to Tristan. How the hell did that work? Could she do something like that?
Even the weapon she held in her hand was something she had back in Horizon Online.
Being able to shoot something to injure Scylla would need at least Lv 8 or Lv 9 <Archery>. That meant her skill set had also changed because I didn't see any <Archery> skill when I appraised her that time.
Although she fell unconscious after damaging Scylla, her appearance didn't change. Fortunately, Cecil managed to steer her ship right below Tristan and caught her, giving me a sign that she was okay.
As for Garcia, she stood a bit far away from them, on the slope, to avoid the water. She shook her head, gesturing to me that she had done nothing.
After seeing all of them were safe, I nodded and sighed, relieved.
"I am worried and curious, but there is a more pressing matter."
Scylla was angry. No, it was enraged.
The damage done to her body had already reached more than half, thanks to Tristan's attack and me chipping it away slowly from inside. This would usually cause the Boss-rank monster to reach the second stage and begin to use her MP.
My <Limit Break> duration had also ended. It could only hold on for around 10 minutes, and the cooldown was 1 day.
<Dimension Breaker> skill was also out of the cold. The requirement to use it had changed slightly, and I didn't need to use all my MP, but to activate it, I still needed to accumulate enough damage to others, and I certainly had no way to do that now.
"It's been a long time since I had a good fight."
Brandishing [Caliburn] in my hand, I infused MP into it to activate its effect. The blade hummed in response, casting a bright golden light. This blade's effect was simple. It maximized my LUC to 100, so I got a better drop back in Horizon Online, and it could cut every magic as long as I kept the MP supply steady.
But in this world, LUC was still a mysterious stat for me. But that didn't matter, tho. As [Caliburn] also provided me with bonus statuses, +30 STR and +25 AGI, unlike [Sword of Mars], which provided no bonus statuses because the effect was already overpowered.
Anyway, it seemed like Scylla also couldn't wait to fight me as her remaining tentacles were all shot, aiming at me. They were fast, and their trajectory was hard to read like a whip.
I calmly took a step forward to avoid two of them.
Bam!
The water exploded as the tentacles dug into it, kicking water high into the air. The remaining tentacles, including the newly regenerated ones, went straight toward me from various angles. Dodging them would be easy, but I didn't need to.
"<Sonic Sword>"
Swoosh–!
A flying slash cut those tentacles before they could reach me.
"Wooooo!!"
Scylla, whose tentacles were cut, cried in pain. At the same time, the water moved. Many water pillars rose to the sky in an attempt to confuse me and block my view.
I ignored it and jumped up, passing through the wriggling tentacles and the water pillars. The one that blocked me ended up being cut by a simple swing of [Caliburn]. Nothing could stop me, and I wouldn't allow anything to stop me.
My body seemed to fly as I kicked the ice hard to the point it shattered. And soon, I met Scylla face to face. Her face was beautiful, and her red eyes with black sclera was mesmerizing.
But her expression had contorted due to pain and anger. Water tornadoes surrounded her as if replacing her missing tentacles. As a Boss-rank monster from sea, she obviously had <Water Magic>, and those tornadoes were the result of her magic.
"Shaaaa!!"
With a simple cry, these water tornadoes attacked me from four sides.
Their sizes were massive as they were created from the wave accompanying her. One of them could easily destroy a part of the city and took 25 HP from me, which was a lot considering I had high VIT and defense from my armor.
However, I faced the attack calmly and only swung my sword without any exaggerated movement.
Logically, my simple swing wouldn't do anything to this dangerous magic.
However, my sword [Caliburn] could cut any magic. So when my sword touched the water, it split as if they were just jelly and not dangerous magic that could cut and break anything it touched apart.
Even the monster looked surprised, but she quickly regained her composure and attacked me with her clawed hand.
Pretty smart. Realizing it couldn't do anything with magic, it chose a physical attack.
However…
"I am the master of close-range combat."
Stepping my leg onto the split water tornado, it turned into ice, and I used it to propel myself toward Scylla. My sword hummed once again, and I thrust it toward her chest.
"<Pierce!>"
A simple Lv 1 <Swordsmanship> to increase my thrust damage. My sword, covered in bright mana, managed to pierce Scylla's chest cleanly, drawing blue blood. I stood on her boob, pulled my sword, and continued my attack.
"<Whirlwind.>"
I unleashed a series of slashes, cutting her body and upper limb. The remaining tentacles tried to stop me, but my flying slashes cut them before they managed to reach me.
Then I continued to use various skills against her, cutting her upper limbs, damaging her body beyond repair, and leaving her motionlessly floating on the water.
Splash–!
"Raaarrrr!!"
Knowing that all her attempts were useless, Scylla let out a pained scream and began to thrash around, trying to push me off her body.
"Stay still." I pushed my sword deep inside her chest and twisted it around.
Scylla's HP should be almost depleted now after all that. With <Appraisal>, I checked her HP.
[HP: 380/16500]
"I must say, you're quite helpful," I smirked at the Boss-rank monster, who stopped moving at my order.
The fact Tristan was able to unleash her attack against a monster meant that she had overcome her trauma. I didn't know whether she was fully cured or not, but I was happy that there was progress.
This was, without a doubt, thanks to Scylla.
"I won't be able to cure her without you."
"Grrrr… hu…man…!"
My eyes widened in surprise as I heard an unexpected word. A monster spoke a human word. I pulled my sword from her chest out of surprise and leaned closer to her face.
"Did you just speak?"
"Kill… No!"
"Oh?" My voice rang in an interesting manner. "So you do speak. This is interesting. I never knew a monster could speak."
Although her words were broken, she was, without a doubt, speaking. While I know about monsters with intelligence, I
"Spare… me. Will… obey."
"Obey? You mean as my pet?"
"Yes…"
Again, this was a strange request. A Boss-rank monster asked to be my pet just to spare her life. Everyone would laugh and say that I was crazy if I told them about this.
But then, once again, monsters in this world were unique. Depending on their Level, Boss-rank monsters couldn't be revived for a century or more. That was the setting of this world.
And Scylla, being a Level 90 Boss-rank monster, would definitely only get revived after a hundred or more years.
'But can I even tame a Boss-rank monster?'
I didn't know. But having Scylla as my pet was really tempting.
"Let's try it."
There was first for everything.
Unlike in the situation with Astro, Scylla surrendered to me after knowing the difference of our strengths; she was a high-Level monster.
To tame a high-Level monster, one usually needed a taming scroll.
As an assurance, I took out the highest grade from my inventory.
"After we made a contract, you will serve me and be unable to disobey my command. But if the contract fails, I will kill you. Got it?"
"Spare… me…"
"That's my deal. Just hope that I can make a contract with you."
Saying so, I unruffled the scroll and infused my MP. Whether it succeeded or not, everything was left to the law of this world. Seeing I could even dominate Beatrice, a primordial Succubus, I had a big hope to tame Scylla.
"Begin your prayer. Your fate will be decided with this."
The scroll began to shine brightly as the effect activated. Scylla looked at me with eyes full of hope.
"Will… survive."
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