Aeon laughed heartily, his plan had succeeded. He really didn't expect that he could find the right opportunity really soon.
Well, Toran Fiore was truly the Academy Principal. Amongst the four, only he could hold down the beast. The others couldn't even manage to do it for one second, and he had done it for six! Sure, the attribute gave him the advantage of having more control spells, but it was also a fact that he had been doing most of the work.
He attacked, defended, and controlled.
Having so many things on his plate, he was still able to find an opening of his own.
What a terrifying old man, Aeon thought as he scrambled to run away from the beast. Suddenly, like a replay from earlier, a white shadow flashed within his vision. The next thing he knew, he was being carried by Montis like a grocery bag again.
"Kid! What were you trying to do?!" Montis yelled, having lost his composure. He looked behind him only to see that the beast was slowly getting back up.
Aeon found himself having a hard time to even open his mouth. Montis Leroux, in his Tenro, was truly too fast and Aeon was all over the place like a used rag. He couldn't respond, nor could he even articulate the words 'please slow down, I'm dying.'
Within a few seconds, the two had already reached the spot where the other high-level mages gathered.
Aeon's mouth foamed as if he had just eaten something poisonous. He felt bile rise up his throat and gagged. Just a little more, and he would've vomited everything he ate earlier. He felt a sharp slap across his cheek that immediately woke him up. He looked at the weird expression painted on Toran Fiore, Klaus Lorenheim, and General Samo's faces.
"Kid, what did you just do?!" Montis Leroux asked one more time.
Then, suddenly someone yelled. "DODGE!"
The four jumped away at the same time, with Montis carrying Aeon.
The five looked towards the colossal lion. It remained unmoving, but it was spewing out fireballs everywhere. It even spat in front of its two feet, blasting himself along with the ground. It was lashing its tail without any particular target.
Everyone stared dumbly at it, perplexed.
"I splashed a vial full of the fluid excreted by the Galaxy Flower on its wound. It should be having hallucinations by now," Aeon said groggily.
Toran Fiore turned towards Klaus and asked, "Why did we not do this?"
Klaus panicked and immediately bowed, "Principal! W-We have no proof that such effects could also be induced on demonic beasts."
Toran Fiore nodded calmly. He didn't appear to be mad nor did he express displeasure. "We must hurry and act. We don't know how long the hallucinations would last."
Everyone nodded in response. Each took out a small bottle of purple liquid from their packs and chugged all of the contents down.
Aeon did not know what the bottle contained, but it appeared to be something helpful to the fight. He looked at the mages with curiosity.
"Focus enhancement potion," Montis said, shedding some light on Aeon.
"Let's go," Toran Fiore commanded.
"Morgan! Hide somewhere or you'll get hit by these randomly fired fireballs," Klaus said indifferently as he charged forward.
Everyone except General Samo advanced.
Hearing the name mentioned by Klaus, General Samo cocked an eyebrow and appeared to want to say something. But because the others had already left, so he had no choice except to keep what he wanted to say to himself. He also rushed forward.
Yellow-green fireballs fell like rain, but the four did not show any fear at all.
Aeon stared at them in awe as they gracefully dodged the random fireballs that came their way. After reaching a certain distance from the unmoving beast, the four split up and took their own spots. General Samo was the only one who charged towards the beast.
The colossal lion just kept on spewing fireballs and sometimes it would release a massive flame beam. However, it didn't move at all. It appeared to be trying, but its legs just trembled slightly and it would fail to take a step.
In Aeon's eyes, it was already a goner. This time, for real. He shivered at how fast the Galaxy Flower hallucinogen took effect. Putting it directly into an opened wound probably did the most help. The lion must've been forcing its legs to move despite not knowing what's currently happening to it, but its brain wouldn't send the right signals.
Aeon stood up and ran towards the side. He made sure that he was relatively safe from the random fireballs and that he could also witness how the top mages of the city would end the life of the lesser demonic beast.
He could already feel a pressure stronger than the A-ranked spells they casted earlier. And, it appeared that the colossal gray lion could feel it too. The rate at which it was using its magic had doubled. Its instincts must've been telling it that it was in grave danger. Somehow, the beast had managed to move one of its legs forward.
Aeon was shocked by how tough the willpower of the demonic beast was. Aeon looked at the other four to check if one of them was not casting an S-ranked spell.
His prediction was correct.
The four had not neglected the possibility of the beast snapping or being able to move.
Klaus had just finished his own spell.
A-ranked binding spell, Four-PIllared Lightning Chain!
Four pillars of blue lightning fell down from the thunderclouds above. It struck the ground just beside the colossal lion! The pillars were positioned in a way that the beast was lying at the center. Then, a bolt of lightning emerged from each pillar, connecting with it.
The lion's struggling was immediately halted and it was pressed hard on to the ground. Lightning enveloped its body and zapped it in clear intervals in order to control its movements.
The set up of the spell was actually quite long. In actual combat, it might've been really hard to pull off. Fortunately, the beast had a hard time moving.
Klaus Lorenheim continued to channel the spell with utmost focus, the necklace on his chest glowing intensely.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
After 10 seconds, Montis finished casting his spell, though he appeared to be struggling really hard. He jumped up like a rising torrent and slashed down with his dual daggers.
S-ranked spell, Divine Wind's Punishment.
WHOOOSH!
A massive tornado rapidly formed from Montis' slash, aiming straight towards its head.
The tornado advanced with immense force and drilled hard on the lion's massive head, blowing piercing wind all around. It was so strong that it almost put out the flames burning on the lion's body!
After Montis landed on the ground, he lifted one of his daggers and gestured a cutting motion. The tornado that had landed on the beast's head sunk even deeper following his action!
Blood spattered as the devastating wind pushed deeper on the beast's thick skin.
However, they can't rest just yet!
As the tornado was dealing damage to the beast, the creature was also recovering at the same time. It somehow mitigated the damage Montis was inflicting.
It wasn't enough!
After 12 seconds, General Samo finished his.
S-ranked spell, Dragon's Might!
The General charged forward through the gust of wind blowing against him with his glowing greatsword. It was blood-red and it looked like lava was flowing on its surface. It gave off heat that even Aeon could feel from a distance.
Then, Aeon noticed that the glow of the weapon changed. The weapon now looked like a miniature sun! The General had imbued Explosion on his S-ranked spell!
As the Divine Wind continued to pierce the beast's head, General Samo slashed down with his sword. He knew that Montis had excellent control over his attack and that he would not get caught up with it in the slightest, except for the strong wind it consequently produced.
The greatsword fell on the gray lion's body.
….
BOOOOOOOOM!
A massive shockwave erupted with the lion at its center.
From the blade of the greatsword, flames endlessly surged burning the beast's body. It roared in pain, but it was drowned out by the howling of the tornado.
The flames roared relentlessly as the electricity danced around the General!
The beast that was already pinned down on the floor sunk even deeper. The explosion burnt and destroyed the entire right side of its body. It was so strong that its insides were exposed, singed, and the broken remains of its bones that have now turned black became visible.
The power of the beast was greatly weakened, and, having its ability to regenerate split all over its entire body, the defense on its head finally fell. It was trying hard to struggle out of the enemies' grasp but the Lightning Chain did not allow it. The tornado drilled even further down, invoking a melodious howl filled with agony from the beast!
The light of its flames died down to a critical level, signifying that its life force was slowly slipping away. Because of this, Klaus' hold became more firm and it couldn't move anymore. It could only twitch involuntarily.
Although Toran Fiore had already finished his spell earlier, he had not released it until General Samo had finished his.
After his attack, the General backed away, Toran Fiore lifted his glowing hands, his long green robe fluttered by the wind.
S-ranked spell, Obsidian Maiden.
The ground shook violently. Then, a rectangular platform emerged slowly from underneath the gray lion. Although the tornado was pushing down on it, it didn't seem hindered by it at all. It continued to elevate at an even pace.
After the platform stopped moving, it now looked like the colossal lion was being offered to the Gods. However, that was not all.
The Divine Tornado had finally dissipated. So did Klaus' Lightning Chain.
A part of the platform suddenly folded inward.
At first, it looked hollow, but with a closer look, one could see the hundreds...no...thousands of spikes embedded inside.
It was the lid of the coffin.
It closed, making the beast suffer a slow and painful death as the spikes pierced its body. It writhed in pain, though its struggle was futile.
Just like how it emerged, the coffin closed at an even pace.
Instead of being glorious, it looked extremely eerie.
BANG!
The coffin shut close revealing the image of a maiden with her arms crossed in front of her at the top of the lid. The roars and groans of the lion were finally silenced.
Everything fell quiet.
Blood oozed from the gaps between the base and the lid.
Then…
CLICK!
There was a loud squelching sound, followed by blood spraying all around the coffin.
….
The four high-level mages panted in exertion.
From the side, Aeon stared at the gigantic coffin with both awe and horror. He could only imagine the sad fate that the gray lion had suffered. He could not find the words to say as his feelings were conflicting. All he could feel was the deep longing for magic.
The battle had finally ended.
….
Out of the 1600 soldiers that fought and stalled the large magical beasts as the top mages slew the gray lion, only 700 remained. Most of the non-mages with the group fell during the battle. Some were even caught up in the gray lion's random attacks.
The final wave of beasts they had encountered had probably numbered about 800, but not every beast in the city had been slain yet. There were still more that roamed around. So, approximately, there should be more than a thousand in total.
The remaining soldiers celebrated, albeit quite conservatively. For the most part, they had failed to defend the city, but no one was to blame for this. The attacks were extremely unexpected. Moreover, they had encountered the most number of magical beasts.
More than 3000...
After resting for a few hours, General Samo ordered the sweeping.
It was already noon, and the thunderclouds had already dispersed.
The light of the sun shone down on the broken city.
Despite this, it looked extremely gloomy.
….