Although Benedict and Shirley tackled Elizabeth and Freon as gently as they could, the latter were still surprised and hit the ground hard. A sharp rock jabbed into Elizabeth's leg and butt, making her wince. It felt like two knives stabbed her. Warm liquid flowed down. It was likely blood. Likewise, Freon felt the wind knocked out of him, when he landed on a boulder with his back. Shirley's plate armor also pressed onto him from the front, sandwiching him in the middle. He felt his ribs crack and saw stars. A metallic taste filled his mouth. They somehow managed to dodge the silk projectiles, but in doing so, Elizabeth and Freon lost their concentration over the spells. Whoosh! The entire cavern was plunged into darkness again, as Elizabeth's Luminous Sky and Freon's Infernal Gate vanished. With the wall of flames receding, the monster stabbed its eight legs into the ground and charged! Her powerful mandibles were itching to kill!
Fortunately, Elizabeth's party were filled with experts with ample combat experience. Granted, it was their first time fighting a Rank 2 Beast Lord… Nobody could prepare for that. Regardless, they had already planned for how to respond after diving to safety. Benedict and Shirley quickly grabbed Elizabeth and Freon in their stupor, and rolled to their feet. The motion was incredibly smooth and swift, almost rehearsed. Lady Kalasena and her two maids were a hair slower, but still fast. The Grand Knights helped Yuna and the Arcane Knights up. The pungent smell of blood entered their nostrils. Five people died from the silk projectiles, four Arcane Knights and one Grand Knight. The rest survived mostly unscathed. Landing on their feet, their pupils shrunk once they saw the monster charging over. Their battle instincts immediately took over.
Benedict hugged Elizabeth and executed his movement technique, Moon Flash. They abruptly vanished from the spot in a flicker of moonlight. Shirley did the same with Freon, pushing her Energy Acceleration to its maximum strength. Boom! The earth exploded under her feet, as they leapt away. Nobody else could use Martial Energy, so their speed was a lot slower. Lady Kalasena hurriedly dashed to the side with her two maids in tow. Yuna was saved by an older Grand Knight, who picked her up, and ran to safety. The Grand Knights responded similarly with the Arcane Knights, since the latter group were too slow to cast their own spells. Everything happened in an instant. The monster charged as the light faded. Figures darted away into the darkness where they remembered was safe. A second later, boom! The beast tore through, digging deep trenches and blasting strong winds, just as everyone narrowly escaped. That small victory signalled a turning point in the battle. That was what they hoped. Only…
The creature knew that her charge had failed, so she followed up with another attack. Her long tail whipped around at near-instantaneous speed! The giant bulk cut through the wind like death's scythe! The people in its way braced for impact, but its mass and momentum were too great. It was almost unreasonable! Bam! The first person was an unlucky Arcane Knight. His armor, his limbs, his bones… everything splattered into a red mist. He died without a corpse! Bam! Bam! Bam! Despite killing three more people, its momentum was unaffected as it barrelled towards Benedict and Elizabeth! Neither saw it, since it was dark, but they could feel the stinging wind and the brush of death against their skin! Benedict decided to use his fastest movement technique, Summer Mist! A vast amount of Martial Energy pooled around his feet, granting him an extreme, instantaneous, supreme burst of speed! Whoosh! He and Elizabeth vanished from the spot and left behind a realistic afterimage in their wake. Boom! The creature's tail smashed the ground with a powerful explosion.
Benedict and Elizabeth reappeared some distance away. As soon as they touched the ground, Benedict released Elizabeth and fell to one knee out of weakness. His breath was ragged, his chest was tight, and his legs were burning! If he could see, he would realize his legs were almost bright red with veins grossly pulsing like snakes. Blood droplets seeped out from his pores, as big black bruises showed up. His legs were tender to the touch, covered in sweat and blood. When he tried to move, a searing pain forced him to stop. His condition was terrible! This was the consequence of using an incomplete technique. It was too unrefined, too inefficient, and too harmful. His Martial Energy was in shambles. Despite the faster recovery rate of Martial Energy, he used so much at once. He almost collapsed.
"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked. Her eyes started to adapt to the darkness, so she could vaguely see Benedict knelt down in distress.
"I… I need a short break. What about the others?"
She whispered, "I don't know."
While they spoke, the Beast Lord screeched! Apparently killing nine people was not enough for her. She wanted to kill everyone who intruded in her lair! Just then, the entire area around the monster burst into violent white flames! In the light, it looked like snowflakes fell from the ceiling. The monster was covered in a vast, scorching inferno! The high heat and bright light revealed how extreme the attack was. Even the ground seemed to be slightly melting! Elizabeth recognized it as Freon's most powerful offensive method, Cleansing Snow! Freon made his move! But despite the impressive show, the Silk Snapping Turtle Insect had earned its name. Back then, Freon had already tested his fire spells on smaller bugs, and the effect was limited. Against a much larger, more developed creature, the effect was even less. She did not seem that bothered by it.
Very well! Elizabeth raised her bow and pulled her bowstring back. The injuries when Benedict tackled her to the ground made it difficult and painful, but her will was firm. It was originally dark, but now she had an easy target! Whoosh! Her arrow soared like a shooting star and landed somewhere near the creature. A beat later, a small tornado appeared, gluttonously pulling in the air around it! Boom! The wind howled violently as rocks and boulders flew up. The suction force was so strong that even far away Elizabeth and the others needed to anchor themselves to the ground. This was Elizabeth's large-scale offensive method, Gale Inversion! At the center of the storm, the monster withstood the winds like a mountain. She was too heavy to be moved. The 'tornado' was barely larger than her. However, the function of Elizabeth's spell was not to harm or immobilize the monster. It was to draw in air and strengthen Freon's spell! The white flames grew even hotter and brighter, releasing heatwaves and searing light! It was absurdly intense! The monster was at the center of it all!
On the other side, Freon spat out blood, still feeling sore from his chest and back. His face was cold and determined, as his spell burned everything. Shirley was next to him panting heavily. Energy Acceleration was a unique martial technique that did not have a fixed energy cost. It depended on the usage. Strictly speaking, it was not a real martial technique. It was something Shirley made up to label her Martial Energy manipulation. Back then, when Shirley realized the monster was charging over, she grabbed Freon and pushed her Energy Acceleration to its maximum strength. The result was that they safely avoided the monster, but it consumed most of her Martial Energy in the process. Martial Energy was equivalent to stamina, which was why she was winded, struggling to catch her breath. It felt like she sprinted for hours! Her body shook from the exhaustion. She began to use her recovery methods as she glanced up at Elizabeth's spell. A faint smile showed itself. This meant Elizabeth and Benedict were safe!
Freon was also pleasantly surprised to see Elizabeth cooperating with him. His spell, Cleansing Snow, was a Peak Gaseous Fog spell that used approximately five percent of his Magic Energy. The previous spell he casted, that giant wall of flames, Infernal Gate, used two percent. When he double-casted Verdant Apathy and Three-Pointed Barrier, that was another five. So, he used twelve percent of his Low Condensed Drop Core! His situation was far better than Elizabeth, who needed to be more conservative with her energy. That was the benefit of a Low Condensed Drop Core. It offered a quantitative and qualitative improvement over Elizabeth's Half-Condensed Drop Core, much less those at Gaseous Fog Core Level! It was a shame that his combat system was immature. His most powerful spells were still Peak Gaseous Fog. It could not show the grandeur of a prospective Ten Dawn!