The Transmigrated Author

[Paris, The Museum Louvre - First Floor | Central Entrance]

As the flames rushed toward them, Valencia reacted with lightning reflexes, pushing off the ground with a powerful thrust, her lithe body twisting through the air in a graceful arc, narrowly avoiding the searing heat.

Jan, his eyes wide with adrenaline, dropped into a low crouch, the longsword held out in front of him like a shield.

The flames licked at his boots, scorching the leather but leaving him unharmed.

"What the hell was that?!"

Valencia shouted, her voice barely audible over the roar of the inferno.

Jan, his voice strained with exertion, yelled back, "No idea! But it's definitely not friendly!"

The demonic octopus, its tentacles still glowing with residual energy, let out a triumphant screech.

"That was just a taste of what's to come!" it taunted, its voice dripping with malice.

"You pathetic humans are no match for our power!"

Jan tightened his grip on the longsword, his eyes narrowing in determination.

"We'll see about that," he growled, as the attribute of light enveloped around his blade.

The battle lines were drawn, and the air crackled with tension.

This was no longer a club assignment; this was a fight for survival.

...

...

...

"It's been a while since we fought alongside each other, right?"

Jan asked, a grin spreading across his face, feeling the excitement replacing the fear in his eyes.

Valencia nodded a determined glint in her own gaze. "It has. Let's quickly get this over with."

She watched the monsters movements carefully.

"Go."

CRACKLE!!!

Lightning crackled around Valencia as she rushed forward, her rapier shininng with an electric charge.

Jan mirrored her movement, his longsword buzzing with his awakened power as the blue aura enveloped the blade, turning it a dark black.

"Now!" Jan shouted, his voice ringing out above the chaos.

Valencia, in perfect sync with her partner, thrust her rapier into the ground.

CRACKLE!!!!...CRACKLE!!!!...CRACKLE!!!!

A wave of electricity coursed through the marble floor, rushing towards the demi-human octopus.

"Impressive!"

The demi-human, sensing the incoming attack, reacted with surprising agility.

It launched itself into the air, its tentacles flailing as it narrowly avoided the electrical current.

"You think that's enough to stop me?" it sneered, its voice dripping with venomous amusement.

But as the creature soared, Jan was already in motion. With a burst of speed, he appeared directly above the octopus, his black blade crackling with blue lightning.

"Diagonal Slash!" he roared, his voice echoing through the vast hall.

The longsword descended in a blinding arc, a diagonal slash aimed at cleaving the creature in two.

SLASSSH!!!

But the octopus reacted just in time.

The octopus twisted mid-air, its tentacles gripping the wall, narrowly avoiding the full force of the attack.

"Wow!!! Close!" The demi-human grinned.

Jan landed gracefully on the floor, his sword still humming with power.

A frown creased his brow as he watched the creature clinging to the wall, its eyes burning with defiance.

whoosh!!

Without missing a beat, Valencia propelled herself upwards, her rapier aimed at the octopus's exposed underbelly.

Channelling her mana, she infused the blade with lightning, its glow intensifying to an electric blue.

CRACK...

With a powerful upward thrust, she struck where Jan's attack had just missed, severing a tentacle.

The severed limb, still writhing, tumbled towards the ground. But before it could hit the floor, Camila's desperate warning cut through the chaos.

"Valencia, get out of the way! It's an explosive!"

Valencia's eyes widened in alarm, but it was too late. The tentacle detonated with a deafening roar, a blinding flash engulfing the area where she had stood.

"Valencia!" Jan screamed, panic in his voice.

The octopus laughed, a chilling, guttural sound.

"Kekeke... You never stood a chance, lesser humans!"

The laughter abruptly ceased as the smoke cleared, revealing Valencia, miraculously unharmed, behind a barrier Camila had conjured.

"I'm not dead," Valencia muttered as Camila lowered the mana shield.

Jan let out a sigh of relief, his heart still pounding.

"You guys need to beat him quick..." Camila's strained voice echoed from behind the magical barrier, a tremor of exhaustion in her tone.

"I won't be able to hold this up much longer if you drag this out."

The demonic octopus, its tentacles dripping with dark energy, let out another speech.

"Fools!" it hissed, its voice a venomous rasp.

"You are no match for the power of The Devil's Cult!"

haah...

Jan sighed. "It's like he's saying lines out of the Crownfall game."

Valencia stepped forward beside Jan, stretching briefly. "Right... I have about 344 hours on that game..."

"What?" Jan turned to her, not catching her final words.

"Nothing," she replied.

Jan shook his head and locked eyes with his opponent.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice steady despite the chaos.

"Let's do this," Valencia replied, her grip tightening on her rapier.

With a synchronized battle cry, they charged forward.

Jan, wielding his blackened longsword, swung at the creature's massive head, aiming for the glowing eyes that pulsed with malevolent energy.

SLASSH!!

The octopus, however, was faster than expected, easily dodging the attack and retaliating with a whip-like tentacle.

"Heads up!"

Jan shouted, deflecting the incoming blow with his sword.

The impact sent vibrations through his arms, but he held his ground, his gaze unwavering.

Valencia took advantage of the opening, her rapier flashing as she aimed for the base of the tentacle that had just attacked.

"...!"

Her blade pierced the thick flesh, drawing a shriek of pain from the creature.

"Yes!" Jan cried, capitalizing on Valencia's strike. "Keep attacking!"

He lunged forward, his sword flashing in a series of precise strikes.

SLASH...SLASH...SLASH...

The octopus, momentarily disoriented by the combined assault, stumbled back, its tentacles flailing wildly.

"On your left!" Valencia shouted as another tentacle snaked towards Jan from behind.

Reacting instantly, Jan twisted his body, dodging the attack with inches to spare.

He spun around, his sword meeting the tentacle in a shower of sparks.

As he landed back towards the ground beside Valencia, the two instinctively needed to pull off something beyond the ordinary.

"Together!" Valencia shouted, her eyes blazing with a fierce determination.

Both students raised their swords high, their blades glowing with contrasting energies.

Valencia's rapier crackled with a furious electrical storm, while Jan's longsword shimmered with a radiant golden light.

"Thunder Clap Slash!"

Valencia roared, her voice echoing through the chaos.

With a powerful downward swing, she unleashed a devastating arc of lightning that crackled and roared, tearing through the air towards the demonic octopus.

Simultaneously, Jan followed.

"Descension Cut!"

With a mighty downward strike, he released a concentrated beam of pure light that spiralled like a vortex, following the path of his blade.

The two attacks converged, merging into a blinding sphere of golden-blue energy that pulsed with overwhelming power.

"What... Is that?!"

The octopus, caught in the crossfire, had no time to react.

BAAAAAAM!

The combined assault slammed into its monstrous form, engulfing it in a cataclysmic explosion.

The shockwave reverberated through the hall, shattering nearby displays and sending dust and debris swirling through the air.

When the dust settled, the demonic octopus lay sprawled on the floor, its tentacles twitching weakly, its once menacing eyes dull and lifeless.

Jan and Valencia stood side by side, their chests heaving as they surveyed the scene.

Their combined attack had dealt a devastating blow.

The octopus, its body smoking and charred, writhed on the ground, its remaining tentacles twitching in agony.

For a moment, Jan and Valencia dared to hope that the battle was over.

But their relief was short-lived.

"WAHAHA!!!!" the creature rasped, its voice a venomous hiss. "You think I'd be finished from a mere attack?!"

The severed tentacle, lying on the floor, began to quiver. A sickening purple glow emanated from it, spreading through the creature's body like a network of pulsating veins.

With a sickening squelch, the severed limb reattached itself, followed by the other missing tentacles.

The octopus, its wounds rapidly healing, rose to its full height, its eyes burning with renewed malice.

"This... isn't possible,"

Valencia whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and disbelief.

"It's regenerating!" Jan exclaimed, his grip tightening on his longsword.

"We need to find a way to stop it before it heals completely!"

But before they could attack again, the octopus began to convulse, its body writhing and contorting in an unnatural manner.

Its skin darkened, shifting from a pale blue to a deep, inky purple. Its eyes, once bulbous and protruding, now narrowed into slits, glowing with a sinister red light.

A wave of oppressive darkness washed over the hall as the creature underwent a second transformation, its form growing larger, more grotesque, and far more menacing.

The air crackled with an ominous energy, a warning that the true battle had just begun.

_

To Be Continued!

_

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Authors Notes:

- Jan and Valencia's combined attack is called Thunderous Decent which basically means thunder that descends from the heaven themselves.

- As long as Camila is within range she can shield anyone within her vicinity.

- For clarification, Jan's aura is at the advanced stage which explains the level of his coating of the black blade, the difference between his and Rel's is that Rel's proper coating is complete black.