Saria frowned as she heard Xion and spoke in an irritated tone.
"Crystal beast or whatever, why does it matter? That’s still just a Phase Four creature. We can defeat it if we work together. Or what? Is bootlicking all that you can do? Do your legs grow numb when it comes to real action?"
Xion’s lips twitched. He replied in a voice that seemed to be restraining itself.
"You wouldn’t be talking so much if you knew about the capabilities of a crystal beast. I’m not saying that we can’t defeat it. It’s just going to be really hard, and our chances will be slimmer than we initially thought."
Adrian sighed.
"Xion, would you mind telling us what you know about crystal beasts?"
Xion scratched the back of his head.
"Sure, why not? So from what I know, crystal beasts are an ancient monster species. Their progenitor was a translucent, jelly-like creature that lived in the sea. Crystal beasts come in all shapes and sizes. Some live in the sea, some live on land, and some are even capable of flight. But the common trait they all share is that their skin is extremely hard and resilient. All crystal beasts possess an affinity for the derived element, Crystal, of the major element Earth. They are extremely proficient in using the crystal element and attack with crystals."
He looked at Saria.
"Do you get it now? The three of us will be rather useless in this fight. Only firepower on the level of Miss Evangeline’s attacks would be capable of doing any damage to it."
’Hmm... is that so?’
To summarize, the enemy was not only extremely strong physically due to being a Phase Four, but it also had a solid natural defense. On top of that, it was even capable of magical attacks in the form of crystals.
Adrian glanced at the sleeping crystal beast.
’Considering that it has lived for a long time, there is a high chance it has even awakened its Origin ability.’
Xion wasn’t exaggerating when he said that things weren’t looking good for them. If they were unlucky, then they might get wiped out.
But that was not accurate either. That was because Adrian’s space element was extremely lethal against any being who didn’t cover their body with a layer of mana. The crystal beast’s physical toughness would matter little if Adrian could cut through space itself with the third level of his infusion art or space implosion.
’But that’s also a gamble.’
As long as something was covered in mana or was made of mana, it could resist the space-cutting property of space element attacks. And considering that the being was a monster species, its crystal-like body may be the result of mana.
But just as he was contemplating, Evangeline suddenly raised her hand and spoke confidently.
"I have an amazing idea to defeat that crystal beast or whatever it is!"
Xion and Saria both looked at her curiously, as though eager to know what amazing idea she had. And although Adrian seriously doubted whether the idea she had come up with was really that amazing, he decided to hear her out.
She took a deep breath and pointed at the crystal beast.
"That monster is clearly sleeping. So I was thinking... I should take my time and prepare my strongest attack. All of you do the same. And when we are done, we’ll all jump that thing all at once. This way, the creature will probably die before it wakes up! What do you all think?!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Her confident smile slowly began to falter.
"What? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my plan."
Xion replied to her while smiling awkwardly.
"Miss Evangeline, if it were that simple, then that beast would’ve died long ago due to an ambush while it was asleep. The moment you channel a significant amount of mana, it will easily sense it and wake up. There is no way what you are proposing is possible."
Evangeline made an awkward face.
"Oh... is that so...?"
Adrian turned away.
’As expected, her plan was stupid.’
Then he gathered the attention of his teammates with a light clap.
"Whatever, it’s not like we can avoid fighting it. Leaving it alive and hoping for the best would be naive. What if it were to suddenly wake up while we are exploring? At least right now, we have the advantage of initiative."
The other three nodded.
And so, they prepared for the fight.
They discussed the plan and decided to change the team formation. Adrian and Saria were going to engage the beast in close combat, while Xion would protect Evangeline while she prepared her attack.
Saria held a platinum axe in her grip, her muscles tense as she walked towards the field where the beast was sleeping. Adrian walked beside her with his eyes completely focused on the crystal beast.
The moment they reached the fence, both Saria and Adrian began channeling mana. The duke’s daughter covered the platinum axe as well as her entire body in a silver energy, while Adrian covered his blade in a starlit black energy.
Without wasting a single moment, they both leapt into the air and swung down their weapons as they descended towards the sleeping crystal beast.
But seconds before their attacks could connect, the beast suddenly leapt back. Causing their weapons to crash against the ground, creating a deep crater as well as a deep cut that looked as though the ground had been split in two.
Moments later, the two of them also jumped back as crystal spikes shot out from the ground in the spot where they had been.
The beast pierced them with its glowing red eyes, and then it glanced behind them, likely at Xion and Evangeline.
It let out a deafening roar.
"RAAAAGGHHHH!!!"
And the next moment, it lunged at Saria and Adrian.
Saria dodged by jumping to the side while Adrian leapt into the air once again and brought down his sword, covered in starlit black energy, towards the beast.
The beast tried to dodge but was a moment too late and was grazed by the sword’s tip on its side.
That mere graze resulted in a small cut, and colorless, translucent blood began dripping from it.
’It’s working!’
Considering how easily the cut appeared on the crystal beast’s supposedly resilient skin, it was safe to assume that the beast didn’t have natural resistance against space-cutting attacks.
Saria rushed from the side with her axe in hand, but her axe—which was covered in silver energy along with her body—bounced back as it struck the crystal, leaving only a small dent on it.
Her eyes widened in shock.
"What the hell?! That was all the damage I did? Just how tough is this bastard?!"
Moments later, she was struck by the beast’s crystal paw. She managed to block the brunt of it with her axe, but the sheer force of the blow sent her flying several meters away.
Just then, Adrian heard Evangeline’s shout.
"Adi, get out of the way!"
He jumped away the moment he heard that. The next moment, a devastating attack struck the crystal beast’s side, causing an explosion.
"RAAAGHHH!!!"
When the dust cleared, the damage from the spell was revealed. There was a large wound where the crystal beast was hit, and colorless, translucent blood poured out from it.
But the wound didn’t even look remotely fatal.
Meanwhile, the beast was now looking at them with a gaze that burned with mad rage.
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