4/9

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In the inner circle of the Akkedisha Forest.

SCREEEECCHHH

A burly armored soldier brandished his sword on a giant Boa, up to a meter in diameter and over a hundred meters long.

The blade almost hit the cranial part of the Boa, but with a very nimble movement, its head was able to move from its initial place, twisting its body to the side.

Losing his target, the soldier immediately shifted the direction of his sword at the part of its body that was closest to him.

*TING*

It was not the sound that should be made between a clash of a sword and a flesh. That metallic sound indicated how tough the Boa's scale was.

It didn't break under the sharp blade of a sword. That yellowish-green pattern that gleamed under the dim moonlight, as beautiful as a batik pattern, gave off a metallic luster just before the strike connected.

“Metal element? Damn, what a tough scale!”

As the soldier cursed, from the side, a big shadow loomed toward him incredibly fast.

Before he could act, an even bigger soldier, out of nowhere came, positioning himself on the path of that big strike.

With a very solid horse stance, he put his arms that were wearing a rather unique armguard in front. His back slightly bent down, protecting his chest and head from the incoming attack.

*BAMMMM*

“URGHH…”

The soldier let out a big grunt. His legs were dragged up to three meters back, leaving a long trail on the ground. That showed how strong the power of the strike was. Fortunately, the armguard he wore was custom-made, making it resemble a small shield; more sturdy, more mobile, it's just smaller.

“Idiot, don't stand in one place for too long. Do you want to be coiled to death?”

That armguard-soldier shouted at his comrade.

"Sorry, my bad!"

Although they still had time to converse, they didn't even look at each other. The two of them kept tabs on their opponent's every move, as detailed as possible.

SCREEECHHH

The Boa hissed in a loud low pitch. It was like hundreds or even thousands of normal-sized snakes hissing in unison. That was quite a creepy experience.

It didn't like its attacks being blocked. It slithered its huge body, circling the two of them, almost managing to surround and beat them in a deathly entanglement.

The two soldiers who were now on the verge of being surrounded knew that their situation was not very promising. The moment they were caught in this entanglement completely, their strength wouldn't be enough to break free.

Even so, they didn't immediately move out, staying in their respective positions, keeping quite a distance between the two of them. The head of the Boa was their main focus, but that did not make them ignore the movement of the rest of its body around them.

When the Boa made a circle, immediately, it constricted its body around these two humans. Its head held high, watching the two which would end up to be its dinner.

It was then…

*Swoosshhhh**Swoosshhhh**Swoosshhhh*

Three arrows simultaneously aimed at the Boa's head. The direction of the three was very sinister; two arrows were aimed at its eyes and the rest at its slightly opened mouth.

'That's our signal!'

The two soldiers immediately made their own preparation from where they were for launching their own attacks when they saw three arrows.

'Spiritual Armament: Sword Enhancement'

‘Body Art: Full-Body Strengthening’

The sword-wielding soldier made a sword stance. He bent the left leg forward and the right leg behind straightened, as he leaned forward. He took the handle of the sword beside his face, pointing the tip straight ahead.

A moment later, spiritual energy fluctuation could be seen covering the blade, as it constantly moved around.

Likewise, the user's body, although the characteristics were not similar, indeed there's a change.

His entire skin turned red. The veins on his forehead popped out. His whole body seemed to be swelling, not like an inflated balloon, but his muscles seemed to have become more solid and packed.

'Earth Armament: Armguard Enhancement'

‘Body Art: Partial Arm Strengthening’

His partner activated several skills at the same time. His two armguards were enveloped in earthen-color spiritual fluctuation, covering up to his elbows. At the same time, the muscles in both hands seemed to be contracting very strongly.

“Earth Elemental Skill: Seismic Step!”

Not waiting for the three arrows to hit the target, the armguard-soldier immediately dashed towards the Boa's head which was still a few meters in the air, leaving behind his comrade who was still gathering his momentum.

The moment his feet left the ground, a booming sound was heard. The earth where he was standing before was cracked, leaving a one-meter diameter hole.

He glided so fast that every step he took would make a booming sound and leave the same trails. It created a force thrust that accelerated his leaping forward.

The beast became wary as it felt the danger in the air aiming for his head. When it sensed the three arrows, it quickly lowered its head slightly, dodging the attacks homing to its eyes.

As for the other arrow, it wasn't worried. The pattern on the head immediately emitted a dim light, a bit metallic luster, strengthening its scales toughness, just before the arrow could land.

A soldier on top of a tree, the archer who launched all three attacks, only let out a bit of chuckle.

“Fire Elemental Skill: Ignite,” he muttered softly.

*BANG BANG BANG*

As if receiving the same command, not only the arrow that reached the target, even the two arrows that had been dodged successfully, exploded with blazing flames covering the area on top of its head simultaneously.

The three explosions synergized with each other, causing the temperature around the Boa's head to spike sharply. The moisture around evaporated quickly, resulting in very dry air.

There was nothing fatal for a beast of its level. It's just that even though it didn't suffer any injuries, the rise of temperature and the dry air made the Boa uncomfortable.

Its eyes felt pain as it was closing them, while its head lowered again, avoiding the spiking rise of the temperature above.

That made its guards a little slack. The Boa didn't notice the movement of one of its prey that almost reached his body.

“Earth Elemental Skill: Echo Punch!”

The armguard-soldier changed his target after seeing that the Boa's head was lower than before, entering his attack range.

His eyes gave off a yellowish glimmer of light as he slammed his right fist on the underside of its head, exactly in the middle of the tip of its widest jaw, the link between the cranium and the body.

*BOOM*

SCREEECCCHHHHHH

The beast let out a loud hiss of intense pain, so loud that it shook the trees hundreds of meters around it. Its head moved so wildly. All of its body also looked like floundering, moving irregularly.

Even though it didn't look like there were any serious injuries from the outside, that was the essence of the skill. An attack that reached behind the surface, the internal organs with vibration medium. And the position he was aiming for was quite brilliant, targeting the head, especially the brain of the Boa.

Although it was quite a ferocious move, there were many limitations to this skill. Its user body became the biggest limitation because the user would experience a burden proportional to the attack launched due to the reaction of the collision at the moment of contact.

The soldier was still unable to master and develop his skill to a higher level yet, so the limitations of his body were a hindrance. What's more, all the spiritual beasts were far more advanced in terms of their body's resistance.

He also had to consider carefully where and when was the right timing to launch this skill. If he made a wrong move, it would bite him back.

What he did just now, his aim was the brain, the most delicate part of the endoskeleton creature.

Even though this Boa was now receiving quite serious damage, it showed how terrifying the spiritual beast's body was. Even an attack to the brain that should have been fatal, wasn't enough to instantly kill the beast.

But this was enough to open more chances.

With a very wild thrashing, the Boa's head was out of reach of the armguard-soldier. However, the rest of its body was still floundering around him, although he had to occasionally dodge the unintentional attacks from the beast's messy moves.

“YOU BEAST SHOULD JUST STAY STILL!!”

The armguard-soldier attacked the Boa's body, still the softer bottom section. But now he attacked the end of its front section. He switched to using his left fist in this attack. He needed time for his right fist to return to normal after the first attack.

*BAAM*

SCREECCHHH

The inertia of that thrust forced the beast to slam its head hard to the ground. And that was the moment awaited by his fellow soldier who had been keeping his momentum, waiting for his release when he launched his ultimate move.

Immediately, the sword-wielder dashed towards the beast with his muscular legs. Even though his dash wasn't as fast as his partner's, but with temporary muscle strengthening, he wasn't that far behind.

When the distance between the two was less than three steps away, the man changed his running rhythm. With his right foot slightly forward, he continuously concentrated the force, applying pressure to the ground, until it made many small cracks.

His posture was slightly bent, with his sword drawn forward, still the same posture from the start. His eyes shone sharply, focusing on the target in front of him.

'Firmament Sword: First Form'

'Explosion Thrust!'

“Burst!” he muttered slowly.

Instantly, a burst of spiritual energy came from the bottom of his feet, propelling him forward like a bullet, incredibly fast. He utilized the massive force to hit his target in almost an instant, as the tip of the blade pointed into the space between the Boa's eyes.

Perhaps because he was too confident with his attack, or he missed a bit because Boa's head was constantly moving, writhing in pain. What's certain was the attack evaded the weakest part of the Boa's head.

*STAB*

The sword plunged into its cranial, not very deep. Less than a palm-length of the sword that was embedded. The blood began to splash out, dripping onto the ground.

“Still not giving up yet?!”

The sword wielder was quite impressed by how tenacious the Boa's body was, even though he had attacked in its disarray state. His attack was not as powerful as he thought it would be.

Although he was able to continue with a follow-up attack, the attack made the beast's movement became much wilder, making it difficult for the soldier who was standing on top of the beast's head to get a stable footing.

“You should just give up, don't make it any harder for me!”

The man on top of the beast chose to push his sword, hoping the wound would become even more fatal. It was then…

"Huh?!"

The man looked up as he was hearing the sounds of the wind splitting.

“Idiots! Get out of there right away! Do you want to die?!”

He heard the voice of his comrade, the armguard-soldier who already moved away from the injured beast.

"Damn it! That crazy coward! Does he want to kill me?!”

Even though he said that, he didn't stop his feet in the slightest. He pulled out the sword that was covered in the Boa's blood and kicked hard under his feet.

Due to the instability of his footing, his leap was not as far as he intended. The moment he hit the ground, he gritted his teeth hard as he made a rolling motion forward as far as possible, hoping he would still have time to avoid the area that would soon be crushed by his partner's bombardment.

Almost at the same time…

*BANG**BANG**BANG**BANG*…..

Deafening explosions rang out as the salvo of the arrows reached the target. Even the sound of Boa's writhing in pain was drowned by those sounds.

The blazing fire lit up the area around the battle as the sickening smells of the scorched flesh of the snake wafted around.

“Damn, that guy is a complete moron. With his flashy move like this can lure many other spiritual beasts in the surrounding.”

"Hope the flesh isn't all burnt, I need to recharge the energy I spent for the next battle."

The man who almost became one of the roasted meats, together with the snake, muttered softly as he sat on the ground.

Suddenly, his whole body became cold as if he was isolated in the middle of an ice field. At the same time, he heard a seductive voice from behind.

“Do young men nowadays think so much about their stomach? A big boy, now a young soldier. You know, us, ladies find such a man unappealing.”

His body broke out in cold sweat, unable to move an inch. Then, he felt a soft body leaning against his back. A hot breath tickled his ear, whispering softly.

"But it's okay, this sister will fulfill your last wish, at least I can't let you go with an empty stomach, can I?"