Aeon marveled at the beast's majesty, but he also knew that it meant doom for many people who were fighting it.
From what Aeon had witnessed, he realized that the beast was not fully mature yet. If it was, then it would've used its real power earlier. It only meant that it was forced to and was avoiding it earlier to refrain from suffering any backlash.
He prepared himself to back up a bit because the battle would become chaotic soon.
Just as Aeon had expected, the beast charged over at one spot. It headed away from both Montis and General Samo. He bolted with such speed that even Montis was forced to use his Tenro.
Montis' figure blurred and disappeared from his previous position. Only a flash of white light could be seen as he charged in front of the lion. He immediately started casting a C-ranked spell, Wind Blast, in order to slow down the lion's movements until General Samo arrived.
A sphere of compressed air formed on the tip of his daggers then it shot forward like a meteorite.
Boom!
The lion failed to dodge and the Wind Blast exploded on the lion's face, but it appeared to be undeterred.
Not enough!
Montis enchanted his daggers with a C-ranked spell he could cast in the shortest amount of time. From his blades, a continuous stream of wind blades emerged, heading straight towards the colossal lion's snout. After consuming the enchantment of his weapon, he repeated the same process. After that, again! He was expending a great amount of magic energy, and he was fully aware of it.
His intention was to slow the beast as much as he could.
However, it remained futile.
Seeing that his efforts bore no fruit and that the enemy was already upon him, he prepared his defensive spell then followed with a B-ranked weapon enchantment. A thick, raging whirlwind enveloped Montis' hands along with his daggers.
He lifted both his weapons above his head, ready to slash down.
The beast responded immediately and counterattacked with its sharp, burning claws.
The daggers dropped and the claws swept.
The attacks connected making a sharp sound of metal colliding against metal. Sparks flew from the spot where the daggers and the lion's claws connected. The force behind the two's attacks was so strong that it created mini shockwaves. Dust and dirt blew all over the place, forcing the other mages to cover their eyes.
Montis' momentum was so fast that his attack became extremely dangerous even to the gray lion. The sanctuary's thousands of wind blades that rotated around his body protected him from the yellow-green flames of the beast.
However, Montis was never really known for his power. He only coped up with it using his speed.
All of the force behind the dagger disappeared while the paw continued to bear down on the mage. Ultimately, the daggers were defeated in the exchange.
Whoosh!
Montis was flung towards the side like a fly and he crashed on the ground heavily. Even his defensive spell that could forcefully slow down his descent lost to the force of the sweep. The lion continued to advance.
General Samo was still relatively far away, but his mobility spell, Flaming Surge, was already activated. Both his hands and feet pointed backward as he hovered just above the ground. His body was being propelled forward by the continuous surge of fire through his hands and feet.
Toran Fiore also had his mobility spell up and appeared to be surfing on land.
They closely pursued the demonic beast.
The mages who were about to get run over by the massive lion stood firm. They casted their spells and didn't relent. Simultaneously, they launched their attacks which was met by the gray lion's flaming breath.
At first, their attacks seemed to put up a fight. But it didn't last long.
All of the spells they launched disappeared, devoured by the yellow-green flames.
The colossal lion advanced forward, trampling on some of the mages. Their bodies were immediately disintegrated by the beast's burning paws. As if that wasn't enough, it also swept its burning tail towards the other mages attacking it.
Just like that more than a dozen high-level mages lost their lives.
They all suffered the same fate. Burnt into ashes and blown by the wind. None of them even got the chance to scream in pain.
The lion had finally left the encirclement.
It spewed out several fireballs behind it as it ran forcing all of the mages to run around and dodge. Needless to say, many failed.
….
Aeon gritted his teeth as he saw those people burn and disintegrate in a short span of a second. He shivered in horror as he thought about how strong those mages were, but seemed like nothing to the beast. However, Aeon couldn't think too much about that in a moment. He wasn't in a good situation himself.
The direction that the beast chose turned out to be towards him. He immediately moved away and prayed that the lion would continue heading down that path.
As he moved, he looked at the strongest mages around. He wanted to know how they would respond now that the lion had finally revealed its true strength. He was dying to see those S-ranked spells they were keeping within their pockets.
Although again, he was acting on impulse, he couldn't miss on such an opportunity. He was still in the process of learning about large scale combats against magical beasts, and curiosity got the best of him. If things go south, he could just activate his Tenro and bolt away.
Aeon kept a safe distance as he ran alongside the lion. He was a lot smaller, but because the beast was huge, he could still capture its every move and follow it wherever it went. Aeon was certain that the other mages would not let it go away, or they'll risk the destruction of the other towns and cities so he knew that he wouldn't lose it.
He could see that the Principal now had a grave expression on his face. Surprisingly, he was a bit faster than the lion. His mobility spell was no joke.
Montis had recovered and immediately charged forward again. He was even faster than the Principal and immediately caught up with him after a few seconds. He obviously did not appreciate what the beast had done to him earlier. Blood was dripping from his temple, but he did not spare the effort to wipe it off.
After reaching a certain distance, the Principal stopped, leaving only Montis Leroux to advance. A pillar rose from the ground, carrying him along with it. The pillar stood tall, giving the Principal a larger view over the surroundings.
He started casting a spell and a green aura enveloped his entire body. The aura looked like the yellow-green flames that the lion was giving out, but the color was much deeper.
Toran Fiore pressed his hands together in front of him as he finished casting a spell. The aura exploded towards the pillar he was standing on and it lit up with a green glow for a split second before disappearing into the ground.
The ground shook violently! So much that even Aeon could feel it from a distance. He could also feel the massive pressure that the Principal was giving off.
High-level A-ranked spell, Earth Emperor's Palace.
Hundreds of rectangular buildings emerged from the ground in front of the gray lion. They were extremely tall that even the colossal beast that boasted a height of 20 meters when standing on all fours found itself dwarfed.
It couldn't jump over it!
The buildings continued to rise, forming a horizontal barrier and blocking its path. The Principal obviously put in a lot more magic energy compared to how much it usually costs in order to create such a long wall.
Aeon cursed.
The beast couldn't press forward. Obviously, it wouldn't just sit around and wait for the mages to attack it. It would choose a direction; either left or right. Aeon was on the right side.
Please choose left. Please choose left.
Unfortunately, things didn't turn out as Aeon had wished. The colossal lion moved towards the right.
Fuck!
Aeon activated his Tenro to move backward. He ran at a high speed in order to escape. However, as if the beast was pursuing him, it moved in an arc. Towards the direction where Aeon was heading!
Hecate! What kind of sick joke is this!
Aeon couldn't tell if the lion could see him or not. Either way, it shouldn't have a grudge on him, no? Would it even care?
He wanted to cry, but no tears came out. Aeon could only continue running straight in order to pull as much distance as he could. He jumped around the broken rubbles of the houses as he moved forward.
Thankfully, the Principal casted another spell.
A-ranked spell, Obsidian Cage!
….
Black earth emerged from the ground underneath the lion. It rose up and swallowed the colossal beast wholly! The black earth compressed and turned into a gigantic crystal with the lion at its center.
But…
Crack!
Shatter!
It couldn't even contain it for more than three seconds!
The lion turned around and faced its pursuers. The other mages were already too far and are already useless.
Except for the presence of General Samo, they were literally back to square one. They could even be in the negatives having lost the protection of the other 16 staff members including Dan. Thankfully, this time, there weren't large beasts to bother them as most had already been dealt with.
The first mage to meet the beast was once again Montis. However, this time, he wasn't as careless as to fight it head-on anymore. Montis charged towards the beast's neck!
His daggers pierced through its tough skin and he continued dragging it backward.
The lion opened its jaws to devour the mage, but the latter was simply too fast!
Montis' figure blurred as he repeatedly attacked the colossal lion! Sometimes he would stab the creature with its dagger; sometimes he would launch a wind blade. Montis' movements were swift and his attacks were extremely sharp!
Wounds after wounds started appearing on the beast's body and it could do nothing to stop it. It tried its best to catch the human, but Montis was just too fast!
However, a demonic beast such as the gray lion had one more feature.
Regeneration!
Its wounds were closing rapidly at a visible pace!
Montis couldn't keep things up for too long. In fact, his Tenro was draining his energy faster as his body exerted more strength. Moreover, to conserve as much magic as he could to keep his defensive spell, Divine Wind Sanctuary, up, he only enchanted his dual daggers with D-ranked magic for his attacks.
Suddenly, the yellow-green flames on the lion's body blazed stronger, stopping Montis from advancing. He backed up as he felt the searing heat from the flames.
It was also during that time that a figure connected with the beast's flank. It was General Samo with his greatsword.
BOOOM!
The lion skidded sideward as it took on the explosion. The flames its body spewed out earlier greatly slowed down the General and his attack, so it didn't deal as much damage as the latter thought it would.
The colossal lion pounced on the fire mage and scratched with its burning right claw.
General Samo responded by performing a rising slash of his own. The events happened too fast that he could only enchant his weapon with a D-ranked spell.
DING!
The two neutralized each other's attacks! However, the lion did not only rely on its paws to attack.
The lion opened its mouth and a huge yellow-green fireball emerged from it.
General Samo's eyes widened in surprise and he immediately jumped back and casted a C-ranked defensive spell, Flame Guard.
The beast's flames devoured the Flame Guard as if it were nothing, but it had already served its purpose in slowing the flames down. The General successfully retreated, but fireballs kept coming at him nonstop!
….
Aeon crouched down and peeked at the fight from the rubble of a large house. He was at the remains of the building's second floor, so he could observe the battle fairly well.
Aeon stared at the lion in disbelief. It was really hard to contain even with the principal's control spells. If they were to keep at it, the lion would ultimately prevail because it was much tougher and had way more stamina.
The ground suddenly shook. Aeon, being too absorbed in the events, slightly lost his balance. He wobbled and his shoulders hit the broken wall beside him. The wall also connected with the side of his fanny pack, making a soft clinking sound.
The sound did not escape Aeon's ears and he immediately touched the pocket that was bulging. It appeared that the item inside did not break from hitting the wall. He opened it and pulled out the item that sat comfortably inside. He held it by its lid and base using two fingers and lifted it in front of him.
He stared at the vial he had been keeping on him for about a month now. The sparkly liquid with glitters swimming around stared back at him from the inside.
It was the fluid of the Galaxy Flower.
Aeon smiled as he thought about something.
He held on to the vial tightly as he jumped down.
….