Badge in Azure

Chapter 135: The Powers of the Behemoth (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Holzer could not believe his eyes. Baimeng was his good friend and they had lived together since becoming swordsmen. They were the first batch of swordsmen to follow Viscountess Lex when she had been sent to Bitter Water Prefecture. After that, the two of them had been sent for further training and had gone through life and death together to hone their swordsmanship.

His friend of over a decade had just been crushed beneath the claws of the behemoth. Holzer could not control his emotions and he took out the short bow from his back and strung a golden arrow. This arrow had been given to him by the emperor and he had never had the heart to use it.

His sword aura began to surge violently as Holzer reluctantly pulled back the bowstring with his fingers. With a swooshing sound, the golden arrow was lost from sight and when it reappeared, it was right in front of the behemoth. The finger that Holzer had used to pull back the bowstring was severed by it, and fresh blood began to spew.

The power of the short bow was so immense that even his sword aura had not been able to save his finger.

With the golden arrow’s sudden emergence, the behemoth did not have the time to react and could only shut its eyes. A golden light was emitted from its eyes and the arrow was stopped by it. The arrow started to revolve vigorously as numerous magic symbols began floating around it in the air. The golden arrow pierced into the eye with a swoosh, emitting light all around.

Boom!

The end of the arrow formed a cross as it pierced directly into the eye of the behemoth, crushing its eyeball. Fresh blood and bits of the crushed eyeball spewed out as the behemoth violently shook its head. The head of the beast which was over three meters wide knocked into the tree that Holzer was hiding in and sent it crashing down.

Despite having injured the behemoth in its eye, Holzer was shocked. This golden arrow was of the highest grade of magic arrows, and yet it had not managed to pierce through the head of the beast after being shot into its eye.

His finger had been cut off and he used his left hand to draw his long sword. With a backflip, he avoided the razor-sharp tongue of the behemoth. From above, Lex released another spell.

A stone with a diameter of more than five meters appeared from the sky. This was a Grade 4 spell: Falling Rock.

Seeing how Grade 6 magic had not been able to harm the behemoth at all, Lex had needed to think of another solution. Even though the Falling Rock spell was only Grade 4 magic, it was a purely physical ability. No one could control a rock weighing hundreds of tons as it fell from the sky. Even a swordsman could avoid the rock, as the attack speed of the Falling Rock spell was much slower than other magic.

The behemoth did not give the rock a single thought. He had been hurt by the golden arrow, and in a fit of rage, gave a deadly glare towards Holzer.

Seeing Holzer in danger, Saleen commanded the witcher spider to pounce forward. The witcher spider was smaller than one of the beast’s eyes, and with a flash of a dark shadow, it was already climbing up the beast’s leg. The witcher spider stabbed the beast’s leg harshly with its front legs, but after a flash of fire, only a faint mark could be seen on the scales of the behemoth.

Seeing that the attack was ineffective, he commanded the witcher spider to move to the belly of the beast where there were often lower defenses. The scales on the behemoth’s legs were at least half a foot thick, and if the witcher spider tried to hurt the beast from there, it would take forever.

Lex’s falling rock magic could not be controlled and as the behemoth pounced towards Holzer, the rock landed directly on its back. This impact halted its movement and after a flash of fire, the giant rock rolled off to one side.

The strength and defenses of the giant beast were impossibly scary and the falling rock barely stopped it for three seconds before it went for Holzer, opening its giant maw. The Windspeed spell had been cast on Holzer, and yet he could not outrun the massive beast.

Lex was anxious, and yet she could not do anything. This behemoth seemed to be nearly immune to everything. Even a rock weighing hundreds of tons had not been able to hurt it. The spear from the puppet had only been able to pierce its scales, but even then, no blood could be seen. Would she really need to abandon the others and escape by herself?

Just as she was fretting about what to do, a shadow appeared behind the behemoth. It was Nailisi. Lex had no idea how she was able to jump onto the beast without it noticing.

Nailisi had already kicked away her shoes, and all the toes on both of her feet gripped tightly onto the scales on the behemoth’s back as she stood sturdily on top. Her back was arched and with her fingers coming together into one point, she pierced down with all her might.

Lex was anxious. The back of any magic beast was its toughest area, and no matter how strong Nailisi was, attacking with her bare hands would not do anything to the behemoth.

As expected, her entire arm pierced through the back of the beast. However, as she withdrew her hands, there was not a single drop of blood on them. The scales on the beast’s back were unimaginably thick and despite Nailisi being able to pierce through the scales, she had not been able to reach the insides of the beast.

Using magic fog to conceal her body, golden light shot out from Nailisi’s green eyes and a long tail emerged from behind her, piercing through the hole in the scales that she had made.

The tail was over two meters long and unimpededly pierced through into the beast’s body. The beast bit Holzer’s sword into two halves and swiped forward with its claws, hitting Holzer in the shoulder. Holzer’s shoulder was ripped apart by the massive claws, and even the magic armor could not protect his body.

Just as it was about to open its mouth to swallow the now unconscious Holzer, the beast felt a sharp pain on its back. Nailisi’s tail was only getting longer and longer, and as she found the beast’s spine, Nailsii pierced down with even more force.

With a boom, Nailisi’s sharp tip of her tail stirred within the beast’s back. It lost control of its body and laid on the ground, paralyzed. Nailisi withdrew her tail and silently returned to her human form.

Sika was afraid that the magic beast could still move and took a risk, pulling the conscious Holzer aside and escaping towards the back.

Saleen was momentarily relieved. The magic beast was paralyzed and no matter how much energy it had, it could not move. He directed the witcher spider to the head of the beast, aiming straight for its eyes. Opening the wound on its eye, the witcher spider made its way inside.

The remaining eleven war puppets blocked the magic beasts coming from the rear. Lex did not dare let her guard down. She released a Grade 5 spell: Ice Attack.

Thin shards of ice fell from the sky and covered the entirety of the beast’s head as its scales began to freeze. Aside from being an assaultive spell, it was also a restraining one. The behemoth’s defenses were too great and this form of restraint was merely for psychological comfort.

Fresh blood continue to spew from the beast’s eye as the witcher spider caused widespread destruction within. Only when the spider’s magic nucleus was nearly expended did it emerge from the wound.

Seeing the beast twitch involuntarily, Nailisi pounced forward to its neck. The black claws appeared on her fingers again as she started tearing through the scales on the beast’s neck.

By this time, the behemoth no longer had the ability to retaliate. Nailisi patiently pried away layers and layers of scales and pierced her arms into the beast’s neck, crushing any bones inside.

Lex carefully observed the magic beasts to the rear. All of them were lying on the ground, waiting patiently. They were still staying at a distance five hundred meters away from the puppets.

The more than twelve Grade 4 magic beasts were not threatening. Lex could handle them alone. She was only afraid that if her team was worn out, these magic beasts would be dangerous.

The behemoth finally died under the torment of Nailisi. She was tired as well and jumped down from its back, coming to Saleen’s side. Saleen brought out a water bottle and had Nailisi drink some restorative water.

Sika carried Holzer and brought him before Lex. Lex looked at Holzer’s injuries, her heart turning bitter as she did so. Holzer was not going to make it. The swipe from the beast’s claw had not only taken away his entire arm, but his scapula was gone as well. His tendons were crushed and within the membrane was his heart. With an injury like this, only in the capital with Joey’s help could his life have been saved.

Lex released a Chunlin spell and the green mist seeped into Holzer’s body. He opened his eyes, his gaze off to the side.

“Viscountess. I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

Lex nearly shook her head before nodding. At this time, lying would be of no use. Holzer was a swordmaster and he could assess the damage to his body very well. The sword aura had protected his heart; however, the rest of his body had essentially been destroyed.

Holzer slowly closed his eyes and with a weak voice said, “Mage Saleen, can you promise me something?”

“Speak.” Saleen’s heart was heavy as well. He thought of Loki, who had also asked him for a favor before dying. The current situation was so similar to that time.

“Viscountess… is a good person. You must protect her… I know she can…”

Holzer’s words were in pieces and Saleen was unable to hear what he was saying to the end. Tears began to flow from Lex’s eyes. In god’s hell, she did not need to hide her emotions.

Everyone remained gathered around Holzer’s corpse for a long time before Lex said, “Saleen, do not take Holzer’s words to heart. You are a mage, not a swordsman. It isn’t your duty to protect the wealthy.”

“I can understand Holzer’s feelings. Moreover…you are the one protecting us now.” Saleen’s expression was unusually bitter. If the one to die had been Sika, what else could he have said?

Baimeng’s body was crushed and Lex used magic to create a hole in the ground, placing Holzer’s body inside. As for Baimeng’s body, they did their best to gather what they could find and buried it together too. Afterwards, Lex cast a Fossilization spell to harden the rocks and prevent any carnivorous animals from destroying the corpses.

Baimen’s silver dagger and Holzer’s short bow were kept by Lex, and she handed Saleen another six magic nuclei to swap out on the witcher spider. The witcher spider had fairly good assaultive strength and the only downside was that it expended its magic nuclei fairly quickly.

“Take the magic nuclei.” Lex did not take any action; the beast had been killed by Nailisi and Saleen, and she did not want any spoils of war. If she’d had a choice, she would have rather wanted Baimeng and Holzer to still be alive.

Nailisi restored her energy and did not stand by ceremony. She approached the front of the beast’s corpse and took out its teeth. Its teeth were a hundred times tougher than steel and had bitten Holzer’s eight-sided sword into two halves with a single bite.

After removing its reeth, Nailisi jumped onto its head and took out the eyeballs one by one before finding the golden arrow. Nailisi threw the arrow to Lex and looked patiently for the hole in the beast’s neck. Not long after, she found the entrance. Using her nails to slowly cut away the skin and scales of the beast’s head, she gripped onto the edges of the bone and revealed the entire skull of the beast.

Colorful beams shot out from the beast’s skull as six large magic nuclei floated up, formed a circle, and spun around naturally.

Lex and Saleen watched in a daze. It was not surprising that this magic beast had a few magic nuclei. What was surprising was that these six magic nuclei had formed a magic array. The two of them had never heard of something like this before.

Magic arrays were human creations and were not formed naturally. Could this magic beast have been a human creation?