The kobold Reed reacted with astonishing speed. With a roar, his body instantly expanded into a five-meter-tall combat form. His thick arms swept out with a dull boom that tore through the air, swiftly intercepting those shadowy tentacles.
There was no deafening clash of solid bodies, only a muffled burst of energy.
The tentacle Reed had smashed apart with brute force turned into a roiling mass of black smoke. Yet the smoke did not dissipate. Instead, it wriggled rapidly as though alive, attempting to gather itself again.
The other tentacles Reed had struck were the same—scattered, yet not destroyed.
"Ray of Light."
Duke extended a finger, and a beam of light instantly shot from its tip. The tentacles began to emit black smoke the moment the beam struck them, quickly melting away like ice and snow.
As expected, they needed light-element energy to counter them. The effect was excellent. After observing Reed fight the tentacles, he had roughly guessed as much.
These tentacles were not living creatures, but pure condensations of dark-element energy that possessed only a few instincts.
After the tentacles were dealt with, Duke noticed that they had dropped several things onto the ground. Upon closer inspection, he found them to be chunks of black crystal, though he had no idea what they were.
He collected them all, intending to study them after leaving. If that did not work, he could always ask someone and probably get an answer.
After putting the items away, Duke looked around and decided to explore this place for a while.
The fragment region he had seen before arriving was enormous, practically a small continent. Its area was incredibly vast; even three months would not be enough to fully explore it.
Duke looked up again and saw quite a few shadows retreating through