No sooner had he shouted these words than all the hunters present began chanting incantations to add reinforcement and speed effects to their weapons.
The alchemist raised slabs of earth and stone from the ground directly in front of them; at each of the three positions occupied by her and the ranged combat expert, by Géandre and Valshesia, and by the swordsman. The heavily armed fighter was still lying on the ground, motionless.
Grabbing another square-shaped, light blue plate, Geandre raised it into the air while speaking aloud the name of the next new creature he wished to release from the object in order to summon it.
"Erzebrun!" He shouted.
There was another flash of light; a small light rising into the air from the square plate he wore as a necklace around his neck, and growing as it moved away to take on an increasingly animal form.
The figure grew to resemble more and more a six-legged creature, possessing a flattened head on top and a broad muscular back. Its long, gray body, with two back legs and four front legs, was covered on top with plates of bone that acted like armor, and its head, which was enlarged on the sides, had two small horns pointing forward on each side. Its muscular legs ended in large fingers with large black claws at the end.
When the light faded, the creature landed first on its hind legs, and snarled as it curled its lips over large, flat teeth.
A pained roar sounded, and the monster trainer saw a small glow fly from the grove where the Behemoth and Basquias had dug in, before returning to him to enter the plate he had used first.
The huge feline had certainly been beaten by the Behemoth, and at the end of his strength, had preferred to return to the plate that contained him in a state of stase.
Then, there was a multitude of whistling noises in the air, and both Géandre and Valshesia saw several projectiles pass over them in the air: arrows that all had a string attached to their shafts, and that were planted in the ground of the clearing at regular intervals to form a large circle. On either side of this circle, the alchemist sprang two new slabs of earth and stone to create a bottleneck, and as Valshesia climbed a tree behind him, the young man was joined by the swordsman. The latter had made a big detour in all discretion to avoid attracting the rampaging monster, and Géandre then took this chance to dash forward and position himself in front of Erzebrun.
As he had planned, the Behemoth returned to the clearing, and ran toward the armored man still on the ground. The creature was unhinged, and surely wanted to attack anything that posed a threat in its field of vision.
Geander didn't know if the man was still alive, but if there was any doubt, he hoped that his next actions could save him.
"Hey! HEY!" He shouted, waving his arms in the air.
Taken aback by the shouting, the Behemoth stopped right in front of the armored man, and turning his little head towards the human who was raising his voice, he let out a deep, low growl; a sign that he had just taken this as an aggression.
Without even paying attention to the human lying on the ground, he trampled on him with his big paws, changing his trajectory and galloping towards his new target.
"He's coming!" Shouted again the young man.
The Behemoth's heavy, violent footsteps shook the ground and kicked up clumps of grass and dirt; the creature grunted more and more and panted as loudly as a herd of horses speeding down a country road.
However, between a herd of horses, and the creature charging at them, the comparison ended there. The beast heading towards them was not only more deadly than twenty horses, but also more imposing; not to mention the unusual state it was in.
The blood on its body still hadn't had time to dry completely, the dark liquid glistening dully in the day's sun.
Nervous, Géandre glanced behind him.
He could no longer see Valsh, a sign that the young woman had moved out of range.
The swordsman, on the other hand, had stepped back to place a long metal chain with spikes on the trunks of the trees behind them; the purpose was to create a barrier to stop the creature if it ever got past their group.
The alchemist looked terrified, but continued to reinforce layer after layer of the earth and stone walls she had built.
The ranged combat expert - Thervis, if he remembered his name correctly - was patiently waiting for the right moment, with several thin ropes in his hand.
This quick observation made in a few seconds, Géandre returned his attention on the Behemoth which came in his direction, and as the monster entered the last meters separating him from his target, the young man swallowed.
He hated having to rely on others, especially when it came to trusting them with his life, and he really hoped that the plan for a sudden attack would work.
What followed seemed to happen in slow motion to him. The Behemoth placed its right forepaw within the circle created by the arrows Thervis had fired, then placed its left forepaw on it. His left hind leg also landed there, and as his right hind leg approached, both front legs left the ground again.
Thervis shouted something behind him, and the ropes that had been attached to the end of each arrow on the ground rose into the air and were torn off. Just as they came off, they took with them a small piece of thick paper covered with a gritty substance. These little pieces of paper rubbed against the shafts of the arrows, and with a spark, the wooden bodies of the arrows ignited in a blast before producing a flash of light accompanied by a deafening shriek.
Nevertheless, the resulting racket and bright light, which would have petrified any beast with fear, failed to terrorize the Behemoth, which continued on its way to the hunting party.
Geander blamed this failure on the creature itself, which seemed to be under its influence and therefore unperturbed by any external aggression. However, it was not yet time to give up, as their plan had several elements to deal with any eventuality while taking advantage of each of the team members' talents.
The Behemoth continued to approach, and just as it was about to attempt to skewer the young hunter again, the latter ran backwards to dive and roll between Erzebrun's legs, all the while shouting a command to his creature.
"Erzebrun! Get up!"
Immediately, the creature reared up on its two hind legs, and with its four front paws, it grabbed both of the Behemoth's two huge horns - between which it was thin enough to fit - and the small head of its opponent; stopping the huge monster dead in its tracks.
The alchemist took the opportunity to erect a final wall of earth just behind the monster to cut off its escape route.
The Behemoth screamed to death, trapped in the indestructible grip of the six-legged creature, and even though he managed to push it back, Erzebrun did not give in.
Géandre smiled. The situation was finally turning to their advantage, and he heard a whistling sound much louder than that of arrows.
A magic circle appeared above the Behemoth, and as the young man stepped back to take cover, Valshesia's blue steel spear shot out of the circle and into the back of the Behemoth. The latter collapsed from the impact, but kept pushing Erzebrun backward toward his master.
Then the spear suddenly disappeared as if it had never been there, and a second, third and fourth magic circle appeared in the air in several places to surround the Behemoth.
Géandre smiled again. The creature could not escape, and thanks to Valsh, it would be attacked without interruption, and without any of them having to take any risks.
One after the other, the magic circles brought out the same blue-gray spear, which went into the creature's body before reappearing again from another circle.
A multitude of hissing sounds followed, the speed at which the weapon split the air incomparable to any other type of attack.