"Drake, you retreat outside as well. Wait for me out there."
If this thing really was a ghost, then Drake staying here would only be a hindrance. Drake's Paper Drawing was still at a beginner level, he struggled even to detect air currents. Bellamy decided to face this monster alone.
"Captain!" Hearing this decision, Drake immediately felt underestimated.
"No more talk. Go to the cave entrance and wait." Bellamy said. "If I can't handle it, you're my last resort."
Without saying it this way, he'd surely hurt Drake's pride. Bellamy knew how to handle this kid.
"I'm leaving my back to you, Drake!"
As expected, after Bellamy said this, Drake turned and left without further argument.
Although his intention was to placate him, having Drake guarding nearby significantly boosted Bellamy's confidence. Having a trustworthy companion was truly a wonderful experience.
"Come on, then. Let me see just what you are."
The entire underground space was finally left to Bellamy alone. By now, the chilling aura flowing from the cave had swallowed almost half the village.
Bellamy held the three remaining birds in one hand, lightly tiptoeing, his senses on high alert.
He'd initially thought the monster would hide first, then use its invisibility to gradually break down his mental defenses. Unexpectedly, not long after the first attack, another gust of sinister wind struck from behind.
With Bellamy on full alert, his body moved like a sheet of paper, naturally flowing with the air currents. The sinister wind brushed past his shoulder, not even touching the hem of his clothes.
The moment he was attacked, Bellamy was first startled, then delighted.
"Its intelligence is low!" Its attacks were haphazard and without any strategy; their pattern could even be calculated. If it weren't for its invisibility, this "monster" would have been smashed to pieces long ago.
Furthermore, during that attack, Bellamy had discovered another crucial piece of information. Although this "monster" couldn't be seen with the naked eye, when it attacked, the surrounding air would ripple.
Bellamy guessed that it might reveal its form when attacking. It still couldn't be seen, but it might be possible to hit it. Based on the air currents, he had already roughly simulated the shape of that invisible claw in his mind.
Constantly calculating the interval between the two attacks, Bellamy slowly narrowed his eyes.
"Just one more time." He needed more information.
Fifteen seconds later, the anticipated attack arrived as predicted. This battle was slowly coming under his control.
Casually tossing the birds to the ground, Bellamy placed his right hand behind his back and waited patiently again.
Ten seconds.
Five seconds.
Three seconds.
No movement, everything was as expected.
The second-to-last second.
Bellamy's right hand, held behind his back, suddenly clenched into a tiger claw. His middle finger sharply dug into his palm, a drop of blood quietly seeping out.
The final second.
The surging killing intent in his heart could no longer be suppressed. Bellamy couldn't help but reveal a sinister grin as the spring-like force he'd been accumulating surged wildly, converging in his palm.
A bullet-sized drop of blood suddenly leaped up from his palm, suspended in the center of his tiger claw, spinning rapidly.
As if sensing his unrestrained killing intent, the calculated attack arrived faster than before. But according to the principles of a spring, Bellamy, having mastered and integrated the hyperbolic paraboloid structure, possessed an explosive speed in his fists and feet that far surpassed the limits of ordinary people.
With fifteen seconds of preparation, his right arm had already secretly undergone a transformation. If his arm were dissected now, its internal structure would be almost identical to the large claw of a mantis shrimp.
Just as the sinister wind struck from behind him again, Bellamy's right claw clenched violently.
In the next instant, a fraction of a second, an unimaginable force transferred from his right arm to his palm. The bullet-sized drop of blood instantly expanded into a fist-sized sphere of blood, which he gripped tightly.
This bizarre battle, without any warning, had entered its most intense moment.
Like a startled bird, Bellamy sprang up, his right hand carrying his body in a fierce spin, slamming towards the empty space.
The instantaneous acceleration, far exceeding his own limits, made Bellamy feel as though his body was screaming in protest. The Life Flower Elixir, its effects not yet completely gone, quietly soothed his nerves.
At such a terrifying speed, his reflexes couldn't capture any visual information. Bellamy only saw the surrounding air distort for a moment, and then the rapidly spinning blood sphere slammed into something invisible.
At the moment of impact, a wretched shriek echoed from the void.
Then, the blood sphere was launched, carrying the invisible creature with it in a graceful arc through the air.
"BOOM!"
This underground village was far too small. Before Bellamy could even regain his footing, a deafening crash resounded, and the entire underground space began to shake violently.
Large chunks of rock fell from above, but fortunately, the soil above was completely entangled with plant roots, preventing the underground space from collapsing. The blood sphere rapidly fell to the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Hearing the loud noise, Drake rushed over, but the battle was already over.
Bellamy reassured him with a few words and stood in place, waiting. A large amount of smoke and dust filled the air ahead, obscuring the situation.
In the instant the blood sphere had expanded, the friction from its high-speed rotation had significantly injured his palm. He hadn't chosen to use his feet because the hands were the most flexible limbs of the human body. Although the explosive power of the feet far exceeded that of the hands, they were much harder to control.
Using the principles behind Tempest Kick, he could kick out a small vacuum sphere in the air. Concentrating all the power into a small sphere greatly increased its explosive power compared to dispersed force. His arm's instant explosive force couldn't compare with his legs which stopped him from being able to make a vacuum sphere.
Bellamy therefore took a different approach, using various physical mediums, such as blood or water, to gather power within a physical object.
The power of this move was no weaker than a vacuum sphere, although its flight speed was much slower, its accuracy was superior.
The only drawback was that it was easy to injure his hand when using it.
At times like this, Bellamy couldn't help but think of Armament Haki. If he knew even a little bit, he wouldn't be injured in every major battle.
He and Drake waited patiently for a while, and the dust gradually settled. The corpse of a strangely shaped monster appeared before them.
"Is this a ghost?"
"It doesn't look like it."
If it were truly a ghost, there shouldn't be a corpse. Since a corpse had appeared, the true identity of this creature was probably different from what he had guessed.
Bellamy thought for a moment and decided not to speculate wildly. It was best to ask first.
"Go and call Mia and the villagers back."
Mia had learned some witchcraft and might recognize this monster. It was best to leave this kind of specialized matter to the professionals.
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