Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Formation?

What formation?

Did the monster ever allow them to move and act according to a proper plan or formation?

It didn't.

The monster didn't care even the slightest about the other humans around it. 

The only one it saw was the light-brown-haired man standing behind the others. 

The only one it targeted was that person.

The only one the monster attacked was that dude. No one else. 

The team couldn't attack properly because of that fact. The only thing they could do was prevent the monster from getting closer to Kairen. 

What they could do was mostly defense. Block the monster, stop the monster from moving, and distance themselves from it. 

They were now far away from the ruin where the monster emerged from. They had moved back in the process of fighting. A trail was left on the ground where they had passed. A destroyed path. The beautiful plain was damaged. The trees were broken, the grass was trampled, the ground was smashed and cracked. 

The monster's pressure was another problem. It was too much. Even for the members of unit 5, this pressure was too much. They couldn't get close to the monster too much. If they did, they stood around it too long, they would be affected by the huge amount of pressure.

In addition to that, the team's attacks didn't seem effective at all. The centipede's body was tough. No matter how they attacked it, neither aura slashes nor team leader Dains' bullets, none of them could pierce through its skin. 

Its face was the only place that seemed to be weaker, as the monster would screech and move back if it was hit in the face. 

That was why they had been trying to attack its face while holding it back at the same time.

KIEEE

The monster screeched after getting kicked by Darren once again and shook its body violently. It moved its huge body at a high speed and distances itself from Darren, rushing towards Kairen instead.

"This thing is still going after him."

Rai raised his arms. A strong gush of wind blew towards the monster and pushed it back a little bit. 

"Rai."

A small current of wind wrapped around Deputy team leader Bray's body and lifted her up. She moved towards the monster's head, raised her massive greatsword, and slashed. 

She slashed when she wasn't even in front of the monster, before reaching it. The distance was too much for the sword strike to reach the monster, but it did. 

It wasn't explainable with logic, the time when the sword moved and when its impact hit the monster didn't match. She had modified it with her ability, time. 

KIEEKK KKKK

Despite their struggles, the damage taken by the monster wasn't much. A scar appeared on its face and blue blood dripped down to the ground, but the monster didn't move back. 

Two disgusting antenna's on its head, as big and thick as a 10-year-old kid's body, attacked the woman floating in the air.

DANG

"Ack!"

Deputy team leader Bray held the sword in front of her, using the sword as a shield, and blocked the attack. But the impact made her body fly back. Still, she twisted her body and landed safely on the ground with Rai's help.

BANG BAND

Bullets were shot at that moment, hitting tight where the monster was wounded. The bullets dipped down into the monster's face. The centipede twisted its face and more blue blood fell to the ground.

KIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE

The centipede screeched loudly and turned its head. It circled around itself and then moved its long tail horizontally on the ground.

"Move back."

Everybody jumped back. The centipede's tail passed through where they were standing, destroying everything in its path. The grass, the flowers, the stones, even the small trees on the sides, everything was destroyed.

After circling around itself once more, the monster raised its head again and rushed towards its prey.

Reyan, standing in front of Kairen to protect him, grabbed Kairen's arm and dragged him back. Darren also jumped up and kicked the monster's face.

"We can't fight like this."

"This goddamned thing is smart, isn't it? Look how it counterattacks."

The monster, which stopped for a second due to Darren's kick, started moving again.

Reyan leaden forward and wrapped his aura around the blade of his sword. He grabbed his sword with both hands and stepped forward. 

KIEE

Jus when the monster's head was about to hit them, he moved his hands.

SLASH

The golden aura left his sword and hit the scar on the monster's face again. 

Blue blood splashed on Reyan's clothes and the ground. The monster shook from pain and closed its red eyes.

SHHH

A strong wind blew and pushed the monster backward again. 

"Why does it keep attacking Kairen?"

"How are we going to kill this thing?"

Team leader Dains loaded his guns again and talked while shooting at the monster's face.

"There is no other way, for now, keep repeating what we've been doing till now. It can't continue like this forever, the monster soon will get tired."

Deputy team leader Bray also held her sword and prepared herself for another attack. 

"We will get tired sooner than that centipede if we keep going like this."

Darren landed on the ground and moved back. He frowned and started talking, his voice irritated and angry.

"Oy, Mage boy, do something already! You'll be the first one to die if we can't hold back that shit yet you just keep watching. How long are you just going to watch? That creature's pressure sure is a lot, but you've been out of it for too long, Ah."

Darren yelled at Kairen angrily while dodging the monster's tail that was moving towards him.

Everyone looked at Kairen for a moment. It wasn't only Darren who was thinking that way. Kairen had been doing nothing and was only watching the monster while others were trying hard to protect him.

"T-that... I-I can't..."

Kairen was embarrassed. He was extremely ashamed of himself. He knew that he needed to help them. He was trying his best to do so. But the thing was that... he couldn't do anything. 

"What do you mean by you can't?"

"I c-can't move my mana..."

"Huh?"

No matter how hard he tried, Kairen couldn't move his mana at his will. It was as if something was blocking it, or something was opposing the power, the mana, in his soul. 

Kairen had been trying nonstop to cast a spell, but his mana didn't listen to him. 

It felt like something was pushing his mana back to his soul, like when you place two similar poles of two magnates in front of each other. Or when you want to walk forward in the snow. 

There was a wall that blocked his mana. He pushed the wall, but it was useless.

Actually, there was a moment when he was momentarily able to move his mana.

'When it was injured...'

When deputy team leader Bray managed to injure the monster for a moment, Kairen was able to move his mana for a moment. But the time was too short for him to form any proper spells.

"Why? What is the problem? Are you not feeling well or something?"

"Umm..."

It was hard to answer the deputy team leader's question because he himself didn't know what the problem was. Kairen thought for a moment before saying something.

"Can you... Can you try injuring that monster once more?"

"Injure it? Why?"

"I'll attack it right after you do that..."

Kairen wasn't even sure that he could attack the monster if it was injured. He didn't know where this confidence was coming from to say such a thing to her, but he was sure that he could hurt the monster if he could attack. 

It wasn't his first time fighting a monster, and he had become pretty sure about one fact while fighting monsters.

'My mana deals more damage to the monsters than other kinds of attacks.'

He was sure. If he could move his mana, he could definitely help the others a lot.

"You say you can't move your mana, then say that you will attack it when it's injured?"

Kairen bit his lips. 

'How to explain it...'

He didn't know.

"I don't know... but I'll deal a great amount of damage if you just injure it once more."

Deputy team leader Bray took off her eyes from the monster that was about to move again and looked at Kairen for a moment. 

"You seem confident."

She then raised her sword.

"We were going to do that anyway, there was no need for your request."

"Y-yes."

"Rai."

"Okay."

With the deputy team leader's signal, Rai used the wind to lift her body again. 

Deputy team leader Bray floated in the air and got closer to the monster. She stopped at a little bit of distance from the centipede's head and raised her sword again.

"Disgusting creature."

She said that and moved her sword.