How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 97

97. Greed and Schemes Move in the Night (9)

If there’s no other way, and I can’t squeeze out any more power than this, I’m done for.

Let’s not even entertain the thought of someone helping me.

I… I and my spirits have no choice but to turn this situation around somehow.

“Undine, give it your all! Push beyond your limits!”

-Okay!

Undine, as if understanding, pushes her spirit power to the absolute limit.

She unleashes a high-pressure stream of water to keep him at bay.

I also downed the last of my potion, hoping to tap into that extra burst of power.

Thump!

The rapid shift between mana depletion and recovery sent my heart hammering against my ribs.

Ignoring the pain, I force more power out.

That’s how I can tell.

‘The conduit is too narrow…’

Compared to the sheer volume of power surging out, Undine’s channel feels constricted.

Normally, I’d carefully regulate the mana flow, but this time, I’m throwing caution to the wind and shoving it all in.

-Ugh!

Undine winced, startled by the sudden surge, but I pressed on.

Gentle won’t cut it this time.

If her maximum output doesn’t increase, we’re doomed!

Evolve!

My current actions are akin to recklessly pushing a child too hard, but I have no other choice.

Undine, seemingly understanding the urgency, accepts the torrent of spirit power I send her.

“……Struggling.”

Meanwhile, Croll’s eyebrows furrowed.

He sensed that I was up to something.

I wish he’d just stand there and watch, but he’s not the type.

Instead, he unhesitatingly brought his sword down, unleashing the chillingly blue sword energy towards me.

Even if I tried to defend now, I wouldn’t be able to block it.

I ignored the impending attack and focused on my task.

-Ughhhhhhhhh!

Undine also groaned as if in pain.

The stream of water pushing him back intensified.

However, it’s only because the output has increased, not because it has surpassed its previous limitations.

‘Please… Please…’

Is it impossible after all?

Is it impossible to achieve this just by trying now, with such complacency?

I don’t believe my efforts are lacking.

I believe I’ve done everything within my power.

But it’s still not working?

Just as that thought crossed my mind.

-Huh? Uh, uh, uh, uh?

Undine’s voice, as if she was enduring something immense, changed.

There’s no way I, as her contractor, could miss that sign.

‘It’s opening…’

The blocked pathway has been breached.

If until now it felt like forcibly pumping air into an overfull balloon,

Now it feels like finally filling something into an empty space.

At that moment, the stream of water that Undine was spewing out suddenly exploded outwards.

It transformed into a massive wave, threatening to engulf the entire area, not just a focused jet of water.

“Wa, wait a minute?!”

“This?!”

The moment he, poised to strike with his sword, faltered, and I, startled by the unexpected surge of power, screamed, happened almost simultaneously.

The surging wave swept both me and Croll away, sending us tumbling.

He frantically tried to cut through the water with his sword energy, but the sheer force of the water pushed him back relentlessly, and I was swept along for the ride.

“Ughhhhh?! Puhahahaha! Wait! This is too much!”

At this rate, I’m going to drown in my own spirit’s water instead of being sliced by a sword.

If that happens, I won’t even be able to laugh it off as a joke.

“Control it!”

Soon, the chaotic whirlpool of water that was tossing me around regained some semblance of order, and a gap opened, dropping me unceremoniously onto the ground.

“Phew! Barely alive! …Before that, did she evolve?”

When I turned my head, I saw a vast amount of water swirling violently in all directions.

Did Undine summon all of this?

This is an output that a low-level spirit couldn’t possibly achieve.

Clearly, the evolution was a success.

Then what about Undine?

“Undine! Come over here!”

When I called out to her, Undine’s true form materialized once again before me.

-I’m here! Ailer! Here, here!

The proof of a spirit’s evolution.

A noticeable and definite growth.

It is only natural that not only the amount of water that can be summoned and manipulated has increased, but also the appearance that makes up Undine as a spirit has changed.

Previously, she looked like a five-year-old child, but now she has grown to resemble a ten-year-old.

-Me! I got bigger! I definitely got bigger!

She spread her arms wide as if boasting and manipulated the summoned water.

A large amount of water overflowing in all directions can be seen swirling violently according to her manipulation.

When I hurriedly checked the achievement level of my spiritism, it had also changed.

It must be thanks to Undine’s evolution.

‘Was it a lack of a sense of crisis and desperation…’

It seems that a desperate obsession to overcome the limit was needed.

Thanks to that, the efficiency of my ability to strengthen spiritism has become even stronger.

The result is the large amount of water swirling around me.

All of this water is summoned and controlled by Undine, whom I raised.

‘…Even though it’s intermediate, the output is on par with the upper level of intermediate spirits.’

It is an achievement made by building up and nurturing power on a regular basis.

This is the advantage of directly raising a spirit.

However, there is still no time to admire it.

-Ah!

At the same time as Undine’s exclamation, the waves parted, and Croll shot out from within.

‘Tch, he’s still alive after all.’

It would have been nice if he had just drowned, but he wouldn’t be that easy to defeat.

“How pathetic!”

Croll scattered the swirling mass of water with a single swing of his sword and escaped.

‘An Aura Master is a monster after all…’

But the despair I felt before has lessened.

Now I see a glimmer of hope.

It’s not that there’s no chance of winning at all.

That realization alone makes my body naturally fill with strength.

“Undine, this is a celebration of evolving to the intermediate level. Let’s put your new power to good use right from the start!”

-Okay! To your heart’s content!

“Yes. Let’s use it to our heart’s content from the beginning! Because there’s a perfect target right in front of us!”

Following my instructions, Undine gathered all the water she had created so far and hurled it at him once again.

To put it in perspective, it’s almost a small-scale tsunami.

A wave totaling several tons swirls and crashes down on him again.

“You bastard!!”

He shouts and swings his sword down, and the wave splits.

But the sword energy failed to completely cleave through the oncoming water.

His body is pushed back.

‘It’s not evenly matched, but it’s enough to be annoying!’

But it’s still not enough.

Then how about this?

I recall the feeling when I evolved Undine and summon the lightning spirit, Sprite.

‘Since you’re coming out anyway, become a new version of yourself!’

I think I can somehow manage one more right now.

As soon as it was summoned, Sprite began to reconfigure its appearance into that of an intermediate spirit!

-Kuaaaaaaaa!

Roaring like a ferocious beast, the Sprite, which had become even larger, emitted countless streaks of electricity from its thorns.

Forming a wave of lightning that was by no means inferior to Undine’s water stream.

Undine’s water stream timed it perfectly and split to the side, dodging, and lightning fell in between.

The power and control have become even more precise.

“What?!”

While he was surprised by the unique manipulation of spiritism, the concentrated lightning stayed like a sphere, enveloping him, and Undine’s water covered that place again densely!

Kugugugugugung!

The discharge caused by the mixture of high-pressure current and a large amount of water caused an explosion, shaking the area.

The range was adjusted to limit the range of the discharge.

Literally precise destruction.

“Kuhhhhhhhhh!”

He groaned as if in pain and fell from within the steam.

The clothes he was wearing were in tatters, and his skin was scorched, but he was still alive.

As expected, an Aura Master-level opponent is a monster.

I avoid his sword energy and at the same time control the lightning and water stream to keep him in check.

However, a trick shown once will not work twice.

He quickly escaped, wary of being trapped in a sphere of lightning and water again.

‘Then I just have to prevent him from escaping.’

He’s only wary of spiritism, so it’ll be useful enough to trip him up.

I chant a spell and immediately activate the magic.

“Icicle Arrow!”

2nd circle magic, Icicle Lance.

The power may be insignificant compared to the attacks of my spirits, but it is more than enough to annoy him.

Papapapapat!

Arrows of ice poured down on his legs, freezing the ground where they landed.

There’s already plenty of moisture around right now.

I can freeze it as much as I want.

His tattered boots freeze in place.

His feet stop for a moment.

“Khuk! Magic now?!”

It was a trick that had never been shown before, so I succeeded in catching him off guard.

When Croll tried to move his feet by putting strength into his legs, I didn’t miss the gap and poured water and lightning at him again.

Kugugugugugung!

Once again, the ground shook, and the shockwave of the explosion swept him away.

The attack power of the spirits that have evolved to the intermediate level is considerable.

I haven’t fully grasped their power yet, so this may not be the best strategy, but it is clear that this is the limit of what I can do now.

‘Please die… you damn bastard.’

But I can’t rest assured yet.

A message indicating a killing blow hasn’t appeared.

The confirmation of his life or death is still unknown.

Swoosh…….

The sound of a pile of stones collapsing was heard, and Croll slowly raised his body.

His appearance is a mess.

He was battered by all sorts of spirit attacks, and the remaining blade of the broken sword became shorter.

Even that is missing teeth, making it closer to a short iron club than a sword.

But the person in question did not die.

He can still move.

That dangerous aura is still present.

‘……Is that the weakest Sword Master in the Empire? The weakest… it’s not even funny.’

Even looking at his appearance, I get goosebumps.

Above all, it is difficult to say that my condition is better than his.

If I didn’t have armor, I would have been cut into pieces long ago.

My mana is also running low.

Even though it was accidental, I barely ignore the rapid fatigue that comes from causing and maintaining the evolution of two intermediate spirits with only my willpower.

Standing is almost a miracle.

‘……There’s no reason to hesitate because I’m nervous.’

I have no choice but to keep pushing.

I shouted at Undine, who was still summoned, to attack.

“Undine! Attack immediately! Don’t give him any gaps and push him!”

The moment Undine was about to summon a large amount of water.

“Ugh…….”

The fatigue I had been ignoring suddenly overwhelmed me, making my legs buckle.

A strange sound escaped my throat as dizziness washed over me.

-Huh? Ailer?

At that moment, Undine is flustered.

Because the water she had summoned vanished as if evaporating.

My spirit power supply was cut off.

‘Ah, I made a mistake.’

As expected, the problem was that I tried to endure it for too long.

It’s my first time handling an intermediate spirit, so I miscalculated the consumption.

‘I need to get my act together quickly…….’

But the opponent won’t wait.

“……Limit……is it?”

He simply looks at me with a dry gaze as I stagger and barely hold on, and starts walking towards me.

There are no potions left… Damn it, there weren’t any.

Even if I wanted to use Teleport to escape, I don’t have the composure to scrape together the remaining mana.

It would take at least a few seconds to regain my composure, no matter how fast I am.

In the meantime, he would have cut my neck five times over.

Should I run away, whether it works or not, to buy time?

I tried to move somehow to buy time.

But he approaches faster.

‘Ah, I’m going to die.’

I’ve faced crises several times, but this time I felt something closer to resignation than fear.

Is it because I’m tired?

Normally, I might reflexively close my eyes, but because of fatigue, I inadvertently stare at his sword until the end.

“It’s over. I admit it, Ailer. You were definitely not just a simple merchant. You would have certainly been a hindrance to my lord someday.”

He calls my name for the first time.

More than that, he knew. It’s not welcome at all, but.

I gave up, thinking that there was no way out this time.

When Croll was about to strike his sword at me.

Flash!

“Ugh!”

He groaned and stumbled back several steps.

When I saw what was going on, he was covering his face with one hand.

‘What… what happened?’