The 'heart' had become bigger within the short time we were pushed out of the chamber. The veins protruding out from it and spreading throughout the walls were also swollen to a large degree. And the heat emanated from them was able to scorch our skin.
After nearing the red glob of flesh, I started using the 'Thousand Refinement Demon Tempering' to coagulate my power. While Alice made a shield by externalising her stellar energy and protected us from the continuous aura outburst.
"Please continue to protect me for a few minutes."
I had somewhat used the previously coagulated energy while defending the previous aura outbursts. So, I had to temper my energy a few rounds to be strong enough to injure the 'heart' of the beast.
It was difficult for my sister to defend both of us against the aura outbursts on her own, so she focused most of the defence on me. Thus leaving herself open to the attacks.
If not for our rigorous training, she would have already been squashed dead by such an overwhelming attack.
"Just… a little… more!"
She gritted her teeth and continued to protect me. All the while, blood was dripping down from the corner of her strained lips.
By the time, I had coagulated about 10x times my original power. I dashed towards the 'heart' and stabbed horizontally at it while focusing all the stellar energy on the tip of the sword.
The scorching heat emanated by the organ tried to push the sword out of it. But with all my strength pinpointed at the tip, it was futile. My sword went hilt deep into the 'heart'.
As soon as my sword punctured that disgusting organ, the aura outburst stopped momentarily but then skyrocketed to the extreme.
I left my sword buried deep in the organ and returned to my sister. She was completely drained of her energy and thus would not be able to defend against the new aura attack.
I pulled her close to me and made a barrier around us using stellar energy. This new attack was not in the same league as before and pushed us way back to the entrance of the cavern.
Another wave of attack was honing onto us. Alice being injured, it would be a bad decision to defend against it head-on. So, with Alice in my arms, I jumped up the ice shards staircase.
The ice had turned slippery due to heat generated from the previous aura attacks. So, in my haste, before we could exit through the mouth of the sinkhole, my foot slipped, and I fell back into the sinkhole.
I flung Alice out of the sinkhole to protect her, but was forced down towards the incoming aura gust.
I created a defensive barrier around me and gritted my teeth in preparation for the incoming onslaught. But unexpectedly, a couple of daggers whizzed past my ears and struck inside the wall in front of me.
I didn't notice the daggers before they reached my vicinity as they were quick and did not harbour any killing intent towards me.
I used the embedded daggers to break my fall and propel myself upwards. Even with the aura attack still on my tail, I somehow was able to escape the sinkhole unscathed.
After exiting from the mouth of the sinkhole, I found a wounded and exhausted Alice leaning on a masked woman. I gripped my sword, readying myself for any attack by the woman on me or Alice.
But after observing her carefully, I released my grip and walked towards Alice. There was no need to be wary around her as she was one of the maids in our residence. She was one of the tutors during our training.
When I approached her, she bowed her head slightly and greeted me.
"Young master, it seems you were able to come out unscathed."
I nodded in greeting and, while looking at the injured Alice, asked about her condition.
"Sister Yvette, how is Alice?"
The maids in our residence were much older than us but still looked like young maidens. Thus, Alice and I used to give them the honorifics of sisters due to their seniority as well as familiarity.
Sister Yvette was still injecting her stellar energy into Alice to heal her wounds and answered.
"She has suffered with broken ribs and ruptured organs. I could only heal her on the surface. A thorough treatment is required when we return."
I stretched my hand towards my sister to wipe the blood stains near her lips. But she clasped them between her cheek and palm of hand. She had a determined gaze as she looked at me and said.
"Little brother, I am still able to fight. So let's first deal with the beast completely. Only then will I take any rest."
I didn't try to deflect her offer, as I could not defeat the beast on my own even if I wanted to. Also, as this was a test from our mother, we couldn't take any help from sister Yvette and had to deal with the beast on our own.
I gripped her hand and lifted her up from the ground. My sister steadied herself and smiled at me with her battle intent igniting.
The maid looked at us and bowed.
"Before the young master and young miss continue their fight, I would like to apologise for the wrong information on the beast. The Spirit Beast was evolving into the 6th stage of Star Formation and was in stasis due to that."
She looked towards the mouth of the sinkhole and commented.
"But after the current attack, it has taken the gamble during the life-or-death situation to break through into that stage. So, it would be more difficult to handle the beast. I wish you both all the best for your upcoming fight."
Finishing her words, she leapt back into the forest in a blur.
After her exit, the ground started to shake, and the cracks started to widen. Alice and I moved away from the sinkhole to the edge of the then-barren meadow. By the time we reached there, the ground had split open. It threw up large pieces of earth and debris. And when the dust settled, a large crater was formed with a colossal creator standing at the centre.
This beast had a long neck and four short legs. The upper part of the beast was covered in frost and ice, whereas the bottom part was wrapped in flames. This beast was the true nature of the sinkhole that we siblings previously explored.
(A/N: Visualise a Brachiosaurus.)
The beast glared at us with its reptilian purple eyes, and shot swirling attacks of both fire and ice towards us. The ice and fire attacks spit out from its mouth, took the form of dragons and spiralled in our direction. The attack range of the attack was quite extensive, making it difficult for us to dodge it.
So, we had to toughen ourselves up and combine our powers to defend against the attack. This attack by the newly evolved beast was by no means at the same level as the previous aura attacks, and it took most of our strength to withstand it.
With the increased strength of the Spirit Beast, it was impossible to defeat it without any external intervention. I passed Alice some Jade Discs and pointed in the direction of the beast.
"I will use a poison to paralyse the beast. Meanwhile, you take the time to put these discs around it."
Without any further instructions to Alice, I split up from her and sped forth in the direction of the beast. I pulled out a vial from my robes and clutched it in my hands. Seeing me approaching in its direction, the beast used its tail to swat me away.
The speed of the tail swing was high but was manageable with my newly modified shoes, 'Mast of Sailing Clouds'.
I had achieved a great understanding in the field of arrays, and this pair of shoes was my masterpiece. I used many combinations of Beta and Gamma runes to get agility-based equipment. And somehow, with the off-chance of getting a lucky combination of 'fluidity of Air' and 'imperviousness of Metal', I got the ability to be able to dodge and manoeuvre around any tangible attack for a period of time.
With this particular set of array engraved on my shoes, I was able to jump over the tail and started walking along it to reach the head of the beast, all the while nimbly avoiding the various fire or ice attacks originating from the skin of the beast.
The array was a one-time use item as it puts quite a load of strain on both the user and the equipment. And if one used it again within the cooldown duration of 2 days, then the equipment on which the array is engraved would definitely get wrecked with the additional chance of the user suffering from a heavy backlash.
So I used this single chance to the utmost and climbed up the beast, all the while emptying out the glittery liquid present in the vial in my hands. The liquid touched the body of the beast and evaporated without any trace. The beast tried every trick in its book to get me off from its body, but with the ability of my shoes, I was able to maintain my balance and reach the top of its head.