CHAPTER 7: MONSTER

'Mutant Devil Wolf? What the fuck is that?!'

Hermes stared at the beast; his brain went blank. Even with his hyper cognitive abilities, he could not find any way to deal with the obstacle in front of him. After all, he has only ever dealt with Kel'thus before this and that was only possible because of him accidentally acquiring Elgacia.

Now that his only advantage was out of the picture and faced with a cold-blooded hunter, Hermes' lack of experience finally caught up to him.

Viktor glanced at Hermes, who was wallowing in despair, and clicked his tongue. He then shot a glance at his partner.

"Leo, the prey we were after, came to us first. What battle tactic should we use?"

Leonardo glanced back at him and smiled.

"Isn't it always the same whenever it's only us two?"

Viktor looked back at the monstrosity of flesh and steel and chuckled. He immediately aimed his rifle at its head. After pulling a crank at the side of the rifle's ejection port, two plates of metal at the top were pulled back, revealing the interior.

A large metallic pinion was spinning rapidly, sending sparks and electricity flying out of its chamber. The sounds of liquid flowing through the tubes on the sides of the exposed chamber grew louder.

-Bang!

Vikter pulled the trigger, sending his arms at an upward angle. The recoil was strong enough to send the mammoth-sized man reeling backward. Out of the chamber, a large bullet was ejected, leaving halos in the air as it rapidly spun on its axis. Its target was the Mutant Devil Wolf!

-Ting!

In less than a second, the horrendous abomination pulled its wings in front of its head like a riot shield. The bullet, with all its might, could not pierce through its heavy plating. Sensing the danger, it immediately reeled its wings back, ready to ascend into the skies.

Before it could begin flapping its heavy wings, Leonardo, holding a card in his hand, showed himself to the side of the monster. Positioned behind him was Hermes himself, who was still in a state of shock; the bullet was meant to be a distraction! He aimed the card in front of him and chanted in Solari,

"Crackling bolts, come forth and dance. Thunder!"

Lightning bolts snaked out of the card that held mysterious symbols and headed straight for the Mutant Devil Wolf! The behemoth wolf had no time to react as the crackling barrage of thunder struck its body. It began convulsing on the spot as bolts snaked across its limbs. Its eyes rolled back into its head.

Without giving it any chance to recover, Viktor, who had already jumped into the air and was already positioned over it, aimed his left open palm, revealing a large hole outlined with metal at the center. Suddenly, light began to gather in the middle of his palm into a ball. After 5 seconds of gathering its energy, the orb of light transformed into a large beam!

-Vzzzzz!

The plasma attack pierced through the mutated wolf's back, leaving a large hole in what can be assumed to be its spine. The Mutant Devil Wolf immediately collapsed, unable to handle the combination attack. Viktor landed safely behind it, smoke was still rising from his palm. He glanced at the fallen beast behind him to see if it had died.

'That's it? It was defeated, just like that?'

Hermes watched on with one knee on the sand in shock. It only took the pair 15 seconds to completely overwhelm the monster. His assumptions turned out to be wrong, however.

-Lash!

The mutated creature immediately swung its tail, striking Viktor on his back and sending him tumbling into the sand away from Leonardo and Hermes' position.

"Viktor!" Leonardo immediately shouted in panic. The monster struggled but managed to get up on its feet; bolts of charged electricity continued to snake on its semi-charred body. It had managed to survive through the barrage of attacks!

It quickly turned its enormous head and stared with its bloodshot eyes at Leonardo.

-Roar!

Due to the attacks, the Mutant Devil Wolf went into a frenzy. It had completely lost all rationality and began to dash towards Leonardo in the hopes of mauling him with its enormous teeth.

Viktor, who had just recovered from its attack, saw the scene unfolding. He immediately pulled out his exotic rifle. Without charging the bullet for a second, he immediately pulled the trigger and struck the Devil Wolf in his left hind leg, sending the beast tumbling; it had lost its momentum!

-Bang, bang, bang!

Without a care in the world, Viktor emptied the entire magazine and riddled the monster with bullet holes. The wolf, which was running solely on instinct and rage, shifted its attention away from Leonardo, who was preparing his next spell and onto Viktor. Anger clouded its mind completely.

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Seeing how it wasn't able to use its legs, it immediately switched to flight. A single flap of its wings sent dust flying in all directions as it leaped into the sky.

After gaining enough potential energy, it nose-dived with its body straightened out to allow for the least amount of air resistance; this was the most optimal position to take when it came to gaining speed!

Seeing this, Viktor didn't hesitate. He immediately aimed his open left palm and directed it towards the ground. To control the recoil, he held his left arm with his right one and leaped into the air.

At the same time, the palm which was gathering energy into a ball blasted out rapidly, propelling his body upwards with more force!

-Boom!

The monstrous wolf had landed at the spot where Viktor was initially. Seeing the opponent it had tried to sweep down on was still in the air, it used to the opportunity and opened its mouth that was covered in rows of large teeth. At the center, a large muzzle appeared above its tongue; It was going to blast him out of the sky!

-Bang, Bang, Bang!

Shells that can destroy a tank left its mouth in rapid succession, hurdling toward Viktor's body. Seeing that he had no way to dodge, Viktor put up a defensive stance with his arms crossed in front of him.

In the last second, Leonardo looked at the predicament his partner was in and pulled out another card and aimed it at Viktor, then chanted in Solari:

"Bend the fabric, let space take form. Spatial Shield!"

-Boom!

A large ball of flame and smoke emanated from the sky, Viktor's body rapidly falling from it. His arms were completely mangled, but there were no signs of blood. Instead, cables, pistons, gears, and sheets of metal were seen. His arms were completely robotic in nature.

Viktor was still conscious, but the previous attack rendered him completely useless. He had lost the ability to use his weapons. Even with Leonardo bending space around him, he was not able to completely escape unscathed.

The Mutant Devil Wolf stood there and started to howl. Seeing that his partner had fallen, Leonardo knew he had to finish the fight quickly. He glanced at Hermes and spoke rapidly.

"I need you to distract the beast. Can you do it?!"

'Distract it? Weak ol' me? How about you just kill me yourself?'

Hermes wanted to refute him, but he knew how dire the situation was. If Leonardo were to fall, he would be left with no choice but to join them in death. He decided to take a risk.

"Ok! But what should I do? How can I attract its attention?"

"That monster has already lost its rationality and went berserk; any stimulation will immediately attract its attention! It loves human blood. Cut yourself!"

He immediately threw a dagger at him. Although Hermes was afraid to do so, his circumstances didn't allow for him to hesitate. He began formulating his plans using his enhanced thinking abilities. Reaffirming his resolve, Hermes turned in Leonardo's direction.

"I will do as you say. However, your follow-up actions must be how I decide them to be."

"What do you mean?"

"You can use spells that have the properties of space, correct? Then do this..."

Hermes briefed him on the plan he had conjured just moments ago. After confirming with him that it was possible, he immediately closed his eyes and slashed his left palm open, leaving blood to drip.

His fate was now in Leonardo's hands. Looking at the bloodied gash on his palm, Hermes' lips lifted at each corner.

"How many gambles have I made in the past half a day? I don't even know anymore..."

Sniff... Sniff, Sniff...

The monstrously large wolf turned its head around and stared at Hermes with its bloodshot eyes. It had found its sustenance... Immediately, it began to flap its metallic wings and ascend into the air. Because of Viktor's previous onslaught, some of the bullets managed to damage its wings as well.

Due to this reason, its ability to fly was significantly slowed down. This didn't bother it though; its mind was entirely focused on its next meal.

Seeing this, Hermes turned towards Viktor's body and ran. He didn't run in the opposite direction away from the battlefield because he knew that it would only cause him to be left to fend for himself. If he wanted to survive, he needed a weapon, and the only one he could think of was Viktor's super rifle!

Leonardo did not want to waste the chance he had been given and began readying his next spell. In the sky, the Devil Wolf was ascending higher and higher, preparing for his hunt.

After grasping the apex of his ascension, the mechanical horror let his body descend into free fall as he rotated his axis into the optimal position to nose-dive in the air; he was repeating the attack he did on Viktor!

By that point, Hermes' dash bore fruit; he had reached his destination. He quickly picked up the rifle and aimed it into the air. Immediately, his hyper cognitive ability kicked in as he analyzed the predator rapidly lunging toward him through the scope; It was akin to a ballistic missile. Plans continued to formulate in his mind as he looked at the incoming monstrosity with relentless courage.

Previously, Viktor had specifically chosen to shoot out every bullet in the magazine except for one that was left in the chamber. Leonardo had been counting his shots and informed Hermes before they began their operation. He glanced at Leonardo, who had finished enchanting his card, and nodded.

The moment he had picked up the rifle, He had immediately cranked the lever at the side of the rifle's ejection port, revealing the revolving pinion inside the open chamber at the top. The rifle had completely charged its next shot!

Leonardo quickly aimed the card in his hand in Hermes' direction. He then glanced at the Devil Wolf that was close to finishing its pounce. In a swift tongue, he chanted in Solari,

"Infinite expanse, let reality blend. Blink!"

Hermes' body immediately disappeared. Leonardo used 'blink' to teleport him directly on top of the Mutated Devil Wolf! Taking this chance, Hermes aimed the rifle that was fully charged and pulled the trigger at point-blank range, ripping straight through its skull! A small bloody crater opened up, spraying Hermes with brain matter.

-Boom!

The Devil Wolf was killed on impact, giving it no chance to react. Its body was still in a nose-dive position as it slammed straight into the sand. Hermes was no different. He had used a completely charged bullet that not even Viktor was able to completely handle.

His shoulder dislocated itself from the shrill backfire, and the pain caused him to go unconscious. His body rapidly plummeted down and landed next to the Wolf's enormous corpse.

Seeing how he was able to enchant cards that had to do with the properties of space, Hermes had formulated a plan. He asked Leonardo specifically to create an enchanted card with the Blink spell before he began his decoy operation! The plan had worked completely!

Leonardo immediately rushed to his side to see if he was still alive. Seeing that Hermes was merely asleep, he sighed in relief as his lips curled up into a smile.

"For someone who doesn't even know what a Celestial is, you sure fight like one." Shaking his head, Leonardo turned around and walked towards Viktor, who had already lifted himself up and was sitting down in the sand silently.

"Leo, this Mutant Devil Wolf was weird... Our initial attack should have completely killed it. Their strength level is only comparable to a Quasi-Stage 3..."

Leonardo stared at him with his emerald eyes. His thoughts were impossible to read. He then glanced at the Devil Wolf and outed the words of someone consumed in puzzlement.

"I can sense Death-type Cosmic Force emanating from it..."

End of Chapter