Free Web NovelChapter 488: Thank You for the Meal
"!?"
Bubbles of air filled the water, floating upwards, as Brian let out yet another gasp, startled. He flailed his legs and arms, trying to speed up as he swam back the way they had come for...
But soon, he was stopped by the bars. It seems that the door to the cage had been opened, which had led to them accidentally swimming inside, but it was no longer the case. Brian’s partner must have noticed this ’error’, and shut them.
"Mph! Mmph!"
Brian grabbed the bars, shaking them with all of his strength, but it was no use. The door was LOCKED, and it couldn’t be pried apart by force. The cage was created to hold S-rank monsters, after all.
Felling himself slowly lose consciousness, Brian turned his head in Lane’s direction, silently asking him for help...
But Lane wasn’t even paying any attention to him. Because why would he? The moment he had heard the loud ’wham’, he knew that they were trapped. Any attempts to open the door would be pointless. Instead, his eyes scanned the murky water in front of him, searching for the monsters. They had yet to make an appearance, but Lane knew that there were five of them. Four adults and one juvenile.
"Mm!"
"Mmph!"
"Mm..."
With no air to breathe, Brian’s consciousness eventually faded. His fingers, previously clutching the bars tightly, now loosened up, untangling from the door, and his body slowly started sinking lower and lower, to the bottom of the cage. Lane instinctively grabbed him by the arm, holding him in place, but...
After a moment, he let go, letting the Guide sink. It was unfortunate, but he was in no position to help him. With the cage being made out of a special Mana-resistant material that could dampen abilities, even he couldn’t get out easily. The only thing that could save Brian was an oxygen tank...
Lane couldn’t give it to him, though. He had scuba diving equipment in his spatial bag, but he hadn’t checked on it in ages. Whatever air supply he had in the bottles was bound to be limited, and he needed it for himself. If it were a normal situation, perhaps he would be willing to give it to the man as they waited for Brian’s partner to realize that he had locked them in and save them, but...
It was the Allens’ scheme, Lane was certain of it. And that Esper had to be in on it. Otherwise, once he returned to the cafe where he and Brian were stationed, he would have noticed the jeep that Brian had driven. And, once minutes passed and Brian and Lane still hadn’t resurfaced, he would realize that something was wrong and start looking for them. As an ’A-rank’ Esper, Lane should have been able to last underwater for a while, so at the very least, he would have been saved in time...
Taking it all into consideration, Lane was almost certain that help wouldn’t arrive anytime soon. He would probably have to wait at least two hours, before Arlo and Cora realized that he wasn’t back and raised the alarm.
And even Lane wouldn’t be able to last that long with no air to breathe at all. He didn’t have any abilities that could help him with that.
Besides...
There was something else he had to worry about, as the water stirred. The monsters had woken up from their slumber, and smelled the prey.
Lane’s grey eyes flashed with an azure glow, as he activated his Mana Scan. His vision instantly became clearer, as the monsters and the bars of the cage lit up with a fluorescent glow only he could see.
’Now... Let’s get into it.’
Considering the circumstances, it was best for him to kill all the monsters as soon as possible, before he ran out of air. Once he put on his scuba diving equipment, it would get in the way, restricting his movements a bit. Not to mention, it could get damaged by the monsters, and then Lane would have been in trouble.
As for how he would explain himself later... He could just say that he had been able to kill the monsters before they fully woke up from their slumber. There were no underwater cameras installed (the Allens were probably worried about leaving any evidence of foul play on their side. Besides, with how dark the lake was, most cameras wouldn’t be able to register anything anyway), so he didn’t have to worry about his lie being exposed. All he had to do was make sure that the monsters didn’t have any injuries that were inconsistent with his abilities, and he should be fine.
Well, for the most part.
And, since he was going to kill the monsters anyway...
Lane involuntarily licked his lips, as he stared at the monsters slowly approaching, their tentacles stretching in his direction.
’Thank you for the meal.’
He quickly put on a pair of fins to increase his speed, and brandishing his twin daggers, he kicked his legs, swimming towards one of the monsters. He let its tentacles brush against his body, the stingers tearing his skin and turning the water red. Paying it no mind, he swam even closer, near the monster’s mouth, so that it could swallow some of his blood diluted in the water...
’Now!’
As he grabbed a hold of one of the tentacles, a familiar feeling spread through his body. Immediately, he activated his Plunder ability... fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
And a moment later, the monster’s tentacles lost their vigor, limply floating in the water. It wasn’t dead yet, but Lane’s ability temporarily made it more sluggish, as its brain struggled to comprehend what had just happened.
Lane let go of it, leaving it be for now, and turning his attention to another monster. Plundering came first, he could kill them all once he was done. He didn’t want to risk having to kill any of the monsters before plundering them.
After all, even for Lane facing five S-rank monsters (or rather, four S-rank monsters and one B or A, as the juvenile hadn’t reached its full potential just yet) was not an easy task. At least the plundered monsters were slower and stopped attacking for a while, which made it easier for him to manage them. Otherwise, he would have had to eliminate some of them first...
And Lane couldn’t possibly waste this opportunity to gain powerful hypnosis!
