Chapter 423: Method To The Madness

The monster charged again.

Ethan barely managed to get his feet beneath him before the enormous creature came rushing across the ruined landscape. Wolfy was already moving, sprinting toward it with its predatory eyes locked onto the monster. Above them, Storm circled through the air, its wings buzzing weakly as electricity crackled around its body.

Ethan felt the connection between all three of them tighten.

They were all hurt.

And the monster was still coming.

’We can’t keep trading attacks like this.’

The creature was simply too durable.

Every time they landed a hit, its natural armour absorbed much of the damage, while every attack it unleashed carried enough power to overwhelm them if they made even one serious mistake.

Moreover, its mana reserves were monstrous.

Ethan could feel the immense amount of corrupted energy flowing through its body, practically overflowing from every part of its natural armour. And if death in this place truly was absolute, just like in the Tower, he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.

’We need to attack together.’

Wolfy reached the monster’s leg first.

Its claws flashed as it struck, but this time it didn’t attack the strongest part of its armour. Instead, it targeted the same damaged section Ethan had created earlier using its first skill.

SLASH!

The natural plating cracked.

The monster roared and immediately swung its enormous leg toward the Fenrir. Wolfy ducked beneath the attack, barely avoiding the limb as Ethan appeared above the creature.

Flames exploded from Ethan’s body.

He drove his fist directly into the damaged armour, interchanging between physical and ranged attacks.

BOOM!

The crack widened.

At the same time, Storm descended from above, releasing a concentrated bolt of lightning directly into the exposed section.

KRAKOOOM!

The monster staggered.

Ethan smiled.

"That’s it!"

They had found something.

Not a weakness, exactly, but a method.

The monster’s armour was powerful, but it wasn’t indestructible. If they continued attacking the same damaged areas instead of spreading their attacks across its body, they could gradually break through its defences.

He burst around it while Wolfy attacked from below and Storm struck from above. The three worked together, each taking advantage of the openings created by the others.

Ethan burned, Wolfy slashed, and Storm shocked.

The monster retaliated with everything it had.

Its horns suddenly began glowing with dark-green mana.

Ethan immediately backed away.

Two corrupted beams tore across the battlefield again, cutting through the landscape with enough force to erase everything in their path. Wolfy barely avoided one while Storm rolled through the air as another beam passed beneath it.

Ethan landed on the monster’s back.

He could feel the heat of his flames mixing with the corrupted mana flowing through its armour.

’Come on.’

He struck again.

BOOM!

The armour cracked.

Ethan attacked the same place again.

BOOM!

Another plate finally shattered.

The monster suddenly twisted, its enormous body beginning to roll.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

"Fuck!"

He jumped away just as the monster’s back slammed into the ground.

CRASH!

The entire landscape shook.

Ethan landed hard and barely had time to recover before the monster’s tail swept toward him.

He raised both arms.

BOOM!

The impact launched him through the air.

Ethan crashed into the ground, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop. His vision blurred for a moment, and he could hear Wolfy growling somewhere nearby while Storm’s wings buzzed overhead.

The monster turned toward them.

Its enormous mouth opened.

Green mana began gathering inside its throat.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

’No.’

He forced himself upright.

’Not again.’

The beam fired.

Ethan couldn’t evade the Giant-Crimson-Flash-like attack.

’I wish I could unsummon myself too.’

With no other choice, he planned on facing it head-on, orange fire erupting from his body.

The beam struck him.

For a moment, everything disappeared behind dark-green energy.

Ethan screamed as the corrupted mana crashed into him. His flames fought against it, but the sheer force of the attack pushed his body backwards. His feet carved trenches through the ground as he struggled against the beam, and his mana began dropping rapidly.

’Keep going.’

Ethan gritted his teeth.

The flames around his body intensified as Spark’s power surged through him.

He pushed forward and had an insane idea of how he could turn this into an attack of his own.

’There’s a method to the madness.’

Slowly, painfully, he broke through the beam.

He emerged from the other side with his body completely covered in flames. His clothes were scorched, his skin was burned, and his entire body screamed with pain.

But he was still alive.

The monster’s eyes widened.

Ethan grinned.

"Got you."

He burst forward and slammed both fists into its face like a flaming missile.

BOOOOOOM!

The monster’s head snapped backwards.

Wolfy appeared beneath it almost immediately.

The Fenrir unleashed a series of repeated attacks, sending arcs of condensed force tearing upward.

SLASH!

Storm followed.

Lightning crashed down from above and flooded the damaged section with electricity.

KRAKOOOM!

The monster screamed.

Its enormous body staggered.

Ethan landed and immediately joined them.

All three attacked again.

For several seconds, the battlefield became chaos.

The monster’s claws tore through the ground as Ethan dodged between them, moving through the creature’s attacks while flames erupted around his body. Wolfy attacked its legs, repeatedly striking the damaged armour, while Storm continued striking from above.

Ethan focused entirely on the openings they created.

But the monster adapted too, and wasn’t going to just give up.

It turned toward Wolfy.

Its enormous mouth opened.

Ethan realised what was about to happen.

"Wolfy!"

The Fenrir looked up.

The dark-green beam fired, and the beast wasn’t fast enough to evade.

Ethan’s instincts screamed at him.

There was no time to reach Wolfy physically.

But there was another option.

Ethan reached through the connection between them.

Wolfy vanished.

The beam tore through the space where it had been standing.

Ethan immediately felt the familiar drop in mana.

Unsummoning and resummoning a beast wasn’t free.

It cost him MP each time.

And in a fight like this, where every drop of mana mattered, that loss could eventually become the difference between surviving and dying.

But Ethan didn’t care.

He couldn’t watch Wolfy get hit.

A moment later, he resummoned it beside him.

The Fenrir shook itself, its eyes immediately locking back onto the monster.

Ethan exhaled.

"You both good?"

Wolfy gave a low growl, while Storm acknowledged him with something close to a nod.

Ethan smiled with relief, but he knew he couldn’t keep doing that.

He didn’t always have enough time to react, nor was it always worth the cost. Sometimes his beasts were simply caught in the middle of an attack before he could do anything.

And when that happened, he had no choice but to trust them to endure.

Still...

If he had the chance to save them, he would.

’Every single fucking time.’