The Crastrate snarled at me, its secondary set of inner jaws hurling outward in my direction, but I paid its display of intimidation no heed. Instead, I mentally ordered Taurus to attack.
"Taurus, charge!"
My massive Constellation spirit lunged forward, breathing flames. Unleashing his Aldebaran spell, he bathed the Crastrate in fire, but the Fiend-class monster didn't seem the least affected by it. Other than being singed, it remained totally unscathed.
That was fine. Taurus never sought to destroy the Crastrate by incinerating it. He was going to smash and stomp the damned creature into oblivion. Grunting, he slammed into the Crastrate with full force, attempting to gore it with his huge horns.
However, other than skidding a few meters back, the Crastrate endured the blow. Taking the giant bull by the horns, the Crastrate lifted him off his feet and flung him high into the air. Taurus was sent helplessly flailing into the air before I dismissed him.
"The fuck?! Not even my Constellation spirits stand a chance against this monster?!"
Then again, my Constellation spirits were usually rank C at best, comparable to an Elemental-class monster. Of course they would be completely outmatched by a Fiend-class monster. My only hope was to delay the Crastrate long enough before I can summon my Celestial Guardians. Perhaps my Stellar Guardians were rank B, though I honestly doubted they were rank A. They were definitely not Behemoth class monsters, that was for sure.
No wonder no student could defeat my Constellation spirits, unless they were a powerful genius like Cecilia or Troy.
The Crastrate lunged at me, not waiting for me to summon anything. I had no choice but to give up on delaying long enough to summon White Tiger or Black Tortoise (since flames appeared ineffective against the Crastrate, there was little point in summoning Vermillion Phoenix against a hell spawn like it) and focus on the immediate situation.
Scuttling away, I could only watch helplessly as the Crastrate loomed over me. I managed to avoid its claws and deadly inner jaws (it would have scored a fatal head bite if I didn't dodge), but even as I rolled to some distance away, the Crastrate pulled its incredibly long and flexible tail back to stab me. Even at this range, it could reach me.
"Cancer!" I yelled.
A colossal crab materialized above the Crastrate. Swinging his gigantic pincer down like a hammer, he crushed the monster to the ground. The earth beneath the pincer shattered into thousands of tiny fragments of rock, showering me with debris.
Huffing, I rolled to my feet. I could feel blood gushing out from a hundred different places all over my body, where my physical reinforcement spells were repeatedly punched through, but I knew I couldn't afford to remain lying on the ground.
An enormous gout of flames burst from beneath Cancer, bathing the colossal crab in an inferno. I could only watch in surprise as he turned from bright orange and white to…bright orange and white. Right, he was never gray from the start. Cancer resembled a certain water type pocket monster from a certain game.
Still, I didn't want my Constellation spirit to be roasted in such an intense inferno, so I quickly dispelled him. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to complete the casting to summon another Constellation spirit, so I settled for summoning a Constellation weapon instead. Swaying back, I stumbled for a moment before I conjured Aquarius. Fumbling with the heavy broadsword, I ignored my screaming muscles and wound to hoist the blue blade above my head.
The Crastrate leaped out of the crater that Cancer had hammered it into earlier, its monstrous maw yawning to unleash a second torrent of superheated flames in my direction. Gritting my teeth, I endured the red-hot agony that tore through my beleaguered body, and swung Aquarius down to send a tidal wave to meet the fire. Unfortunately, the mini-tsunami vaporized immediately into steam upon contact with the intense flames. I could only watch in horror as the unstoppable flames swallowed the channel of boiling water, blazing its way toward me.
"Scutum Sobiescianum!" I called out weakly, barely conjuring Sobieski's Shield in time to deflect the flames. I cowered behind the Constellation shield as the torrent of fire washed above and around me, but they didn't reach my physical body. Even so, I could still feel the intense heat scalding my skin. Grimacing in pain, I leaned against my Constellation shield and evaluated my situation.
It wasn't surprising that the Crastrate could breathe flames. As I mentioned earlier, Elemental class monsters were those who had evolved or grown powerful enough to wield elemental spells such as fire, water, lightning, wind, earth and more. A Fiend class monster was even more powerful than an Elemental class monster, so it was natural that it was capable of the same thing – in fact, they were much better at manipulating elemental magic.
That was why they were ranked B over the rank C Elemental class.
"Fucking monster," I wheezed as I wiped the blood from my mouth. Shaking my head, I growled to myself. "Damn it. There has to be a way to kill it. Come on, think! I managed to hurt it badly, but I know there has to be a way to destroy it completely."
At this rate, I wasn't confident that even my Celestial Guardians were capable of obliterating the Fiend-class monster with their attacks. My Sagittarius's Alnasl should be on par with Vermillion Phoenix's most powerful fire spells, and yet the Crastrate survived two direct hits from it. Even if I summoned White Tiger, his lightning spells might not succeed in destroying the Crastrate.
Then what soul beast among my arsenal possessed the capability and sufficient immense firepower to completely annihilate this monster?!
The answer lay in the Constellation spirit that I had summoned right at the very start of the battle, even before I jumped off the cliff. However, he was still in the midst of casting his spell, which meant I had to buy myself even more time.
"Which spell or Constellation spirit should I use now…?"
I could try another Alnasl, given how it dealt significant damage to the Crastrate. Or perhaps Lyra and its ultimate arrow, Vega. However, I only succeeded in hitting the monster earlier because I took it by surprise (and the first time was when it was lying down after I kicked it). Given its incredible speed, I knew I wouldn't be able to land a third hit. It would just evade my shot effortlessly.
I was going to have to either trap it long enough for me to fire repeated shots until I killed it, or ambush it with surprise attacks. Unfortunately, I wasn't given enough time to strategize sufficiently.
My Constellation shield shattered as something struck it forcefully. A thin, black arm blasted through the fragments of my defensive barrier and ensnared my throat with razor-sharp claws. Despite hastily casting a physical reinforcement spell, I choked as the air supply to my lungs was abruptly cut off under the crushing blow. Desperately, I swung Aquarius around to break its grip. Unlike my Gemini twin swords, the heavy broadsword actually succeeded in sinking deeply into the creature's neck. Screeching in pain, the Crastrate released its grip on my throat, falling back. Encouraged, I stepped forward and flexed my broadsword in an attempt to decapitate the wounded monster.
Unfortunately, I noticed the smoke rising from my broadsword as its massive blade struggled to sink deeply into the Fiend's neck.
Shit! I panicked. I almost forgot about its acidic blood!
I watched in horror as the acidic blood corroded and ate away at the once heavy and enormous blade. My hilt snapped away from the ruined blade and I staggered from the momentum, doing my best not to slip into the puddle of acidic blood. As I regained my balance, I turned my glance from the ruined remains of Aquarius back to the Crastrate.
"Uh oh," I managed to squeak.
The Crastrate responded by opening its mouth and unleashing a gout of superheated flames at pointblank range. I couldn't even escape. Perhaps, if it used its inner jaws to deliver a finishing blow, I might have, but the flames were faster. All I could do was shut my eyes and stagger as the ferocious flames washed over me, bathing me in searing pain that melted away my flesh and burned my nerves down to their raw ends.
I stumbled out of the fire, my entire body burning and fuming. No longer able to maintain my balance, I began to topple over.
The Crastrate didn't even allow me to fall. Before my body could hit the ground, it swatted at me with its claws, flinging me backward. Staggering, I couldn't even defend myself as the Crastrate delivered a vicious uppercut that threw me high into the air.
My skin was blackened beyond belief, my nerves were burned and frayed, and my body suffered from severe third degree burns. I couldn't even feel anything except my body jerking up and down in the air. I seemed to fly forever before finally tilting over at an arc and crashing headfirst toward the ground.
I could feel whatever little blood I had left rushing toward my head. Dizzily, I opened my eyes, expecting to see the ground rushing up to meet me.
Instead, I saw the leering face of the Crastrate.
Its inner jaws smashed into my face again, sending me spinning wildly in midflight. Dozens of strikes and slashes hit me before I even knew what was happening, fracturing my skeleton in a hundred different places. I was thrown around like a punching bag, a broken rag doll, receiving hit after hit after hit. Claws ripped my blackened flesh off my muscles, tearing right into the bone. My blood splattered the Crastrate, but it wasn't enough to sate its bloodlust. Instead, it went into a ferocious frenzy and began hitting me again and again and again.
I guessed it was a mercy that entire segments of my nerves had been burned away. I couldn't even feel any pain, just the dull, repeated hammering blows that vibrated through my body. I didn't even care anymore. I just let the Crastrate vent it out on me. Acidic drops of blood spilled onto my body, corroding parts of my flesh and bone away, yet I couldn't feel any pain. I wouldn't even know about them if I didn't see the blood and smoke.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Crastrate finished me off with a powerful kick that sent me barreling back to earth. I slammed against the ground, but even the solid dirt wasn't enough to stop my momentum. I ended up carving a tunnel several meters deep into the earth.
Coughing out more blood, and also because of the dirt and soil, I struggled to get up, but none of my limbs responded. I wasn't surprised. Given the vicious beating I had received earlier, it wouldn't be surprising that I suffered from a broken neck. In fact, it was a miracle that I was still conscious.
The physical reinforcement spells and strengthening enchantments that Teacher Fielding taught me during combat magic class were the only things keeping me alive. If I hadn't learned those physical reinforcement spells this year, I would have died. Now I understood the importance of combat magic. It wasn't enough to be as summoner. I had to survive long enough to complete the casting of my summoning spells.
And I was so close to finishing them…
"…just a bit more…" I muttered numbly.
As if sensing the life within me, the Crastrate's bloodlust flared up. It landed in the crater that I had created and hauled me up, tossing me out of the crater. I bounced off the ground several times before coming to a stop.
"…ugh…" I croaked. "Bloody fucking monster…"
Closing my eyes briefly, I felt the darkness of unconsciousness swim over the edges of my mind. Or was it death? Even the reinforcement spells that Teacher Fielding taught me had their limits. They certainly couldn't help me survive repeated fatal blows.
I probably was…doomed.
While I didn't expect any mercy from the Crastrate, I was hoping to at least complete my ultimate summoning spell and obliterate it before it killed me. Looked like I wasn't going to have the chance. I still needed a few more minutes at least.
"Is this the end for me?"
I could only watched in despair as the Crastrate emerged from the crater, hissing ferociously to intimidate me. With a snarl, it lunged at me, ready to finish the job once and for all.