Chapter 876
Gin Freecss and Ron moved quickly behind Botobai, who stood a little farther away. The four of them coordinated to launch a joint attack on the giant octopus.
From a high vantage point, Ron drew a card—one of his Zodiac series—and below him, one of his Nen beasts had already entered the battle: Cell.
Akame's ability wasn't sufficient against such a massive opponent. Her cursed blade wasn't effective when it couldn't deliver instant death through poison or malediction. That wasn't due to a flaw in her ability, but rather her level. If Akame had reached the same grade as the giant octopus, the Demon Blade Murasame's power would not have struggled like it was now.
Strictly speaking, the giant octopus's power exceeded even S-rank.
So, Ron brought out Cell.
Cell himself was already S-rank. Moreover, his ability was unique—he grew stronger the more he consumed. Fighting the giant octopus meant feeding, and feeding meant growth.
During the voyage of the Black Whale, whenever Ron fished, Cell had feasted on countless sea creatures. Among S-rank Nen beasts, he was by no means weak—in fact, his overall strength was quite decent.
Four attackers focused on a single target.
At that moment, Biyonde—who had previously been blown away—finally returned to the battlefield. Ron glanced his way.
Biyonde's expression remained spirited and determined. He showed no trace of frustration from having been knocked back by the octopus, and that alone made Ron view him in a better light.
The group coordinated their attacks with surprising synergy—drawing the enemy's attention, probing for weaknesses, and creating opportunities for each other. Despite being their first time working together, it felt like they'd trained for this countless times.
It also proved one thing: in a one-on-one match, the giant octopus was stronger than any single person in the group—Ron included, at least when he wasn't using his full strength.
If Ron released Specter, Wither, and all his other Nen beasts at once, he might not be able to kill the octopus outright, but he would at least guarantee his own survival.
The octopus's attack patterns were limited—primarily its massive, snake-like tentacles, which it whipped around like enormous pythons. They were enormous, yes, but also unnervingly agile. Still, Ron and the others were faster and were already prepared for such moves.
Amid the heat of battle, Ron began to feel a strange familiarity—like those earlier days when he fought alongside others before he ever became a Nen user. It reminded him of when he had investigated Taris with Wendy and the others.
It had been a long, long time since Ron had felt this kind of cooperative energy in a fight.
As his own strength grew, those kinds of team dynamics had slowly disappeared.
Originally, Ron had wanted to build a team of partners who could coordinate and fight alongside him—not for anything like forming a harem, which he could swear on his own integrity.
The problem was just that his strength advanced too quickly, while his companions couldn't keep pace.
In any group, someone would always be ahead, and someone would fall behind.
Sally and Ruco were undoubtedly the first to fall behind.
Now, even Shizuku and Nina… were starting to lag.
Gin Freecss spoke. "This thing doesn't have strong offensive capability—but it's extremely hard to kill."
"It has almost no vital points. Either we go for a prolonged battle of attrition, but we can't guarantee we'll outlast it…"
"Or we prepare a single, overwhelming strike."
As he spoke, he glanced toward Botobai.
Gin knew well—Botobai had the ability to unleash tremendous damage in a short burst.
"I need time," Botobai said.
"How long?" Nasubi asked, turning back.
"Ten minutes."
"Alright. Then we'll buy you ten minutes."
Botobai fell back.
Ron pulled out another Zodiac card.
"Pig."
The card vanished. In its place, two machine guns appeared in Ron's hands.
He raised the barrels and aimed at the octopus.
Ratatatat!
A hail of bullets rained down. They didn't do much damage, but they inflicted pain and drew the octopus's attention.
That was enough.
Cell darted to the octopus's side, slipped past a lashing tentacle, and then opened his jaws wide—sinking his teeth deep into its flesh.
Gulp!
He swallowed a massive chunk in one bite.
He ate so much, and so fast, that his stomach swelled grotesquely.
But within moments, it deflated.
Cell had hyper digestion. No matter how much he consumed, he could break it down almost instantly.
Whap!
A tentacle whipped toward him.
The octopus had felt the pain.
That chunk of missing flesh wasn't much, but the pain was unbearable.
Like a human getting bitten by a mosquito—the blood loss is insignificant, but the sting and itch are maddening.
The moment you see the mosquito, you want to kill it.
That was how the octopus now viewed Cell.
But Cell had already sensed the danger and dodged away in advance.
The tentacle missed and struck its own body instead—tearing open an existing wound, widening it further.
Cell weaved between strikes, dodging the octopus's furious counterattacks.
Meanwhile, Gin, Nasubi, and Biyonde attacked from other angles, dividing its attention and easing the pressure on Cell.
Botobai was still preparing.
Finally, the ten minutes passed.
A beam of white light formed in Botobai's hand.
In the next instant, the light condensed, shrank, and reshaped—into the form of a dragon.
It surged toward the octopus.
And the closer it got, the larger it became.
An overwhelming aura exploded from the dragon's body.
Ron watched closely.
"A very solid strike."
For an S-rank Nen user, this level of attack was extremely powerful.
The octopus realized it too.
It ignored everyone else, gathered all its tentacles, and formed a massive barrier in front of itself—like a living shield.
Boom!
The collision rocked the sea.
Torrents of seawater blasted upward.
Spray and mist filled the air, cloaking the entire region in chaos.
A shockwave rippled outward—violent and unrestrained.