Lord Of Beasts-Chapter 46: Boss Beast Part 3

Ethan was barely holding on.

Every breath scraped through his chest like broken glass. His ribs screamed with every movement, his muscles trembling from exhaustion. The battle was draining him to the bone.

This was even after noticing the Lithoserpent Burrower’s attack patterns.

It allowed him to predict its next move and was the only reason that he was still in one piece without using Beast Assimilation.

But that didn’t make killing the Boss Beast any easier, as it towered over him.

A twenty-metre nightmare of stone and muscle rising from the cracked plains like a living landslide.

Dust rolled off its armoured plates as its body lifted higher.

It felt... unstoppable.

Ethan wiped blood from his mouth and stared up at it. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’How the fuck am I supposed to kill this thing?!’

The monster answered with a roar.

Ethan’s legs felt heavy, and he didn’t manage to dodge as the shockwave slammed into him like a wall. His sandals scraped across the rock as the force rattled through his skull, his vision swimming.

But suddenly Wolfy charged into him headfirst, knocking him out of the way of the Boss Beast’s attack.

The small Ulfen took the brunt of the roar and was hurled across the battlefield. It tumbled violently through dust and stone before crashing against a jagged rock.

"Wolfy!"

A sharp pain twisted in Ethan’s chest.

Seeing his beast slam into the ground felt wrong, deeply so, especially since it pushed him out of the way.

He would have much rather taken on the blow himself, as he turned to rush over to the Ulfen.

But before Ethan could move...

Wham!

The Burrower’s colossal tail whipped across the plains and smashed down onto Wolfy, who was struggling to get to its feet.

There was a haze of smoke, but Ethan didn’t need to see through it to know his beast was fine.

Well, not fine, but didn’t endure that attack.

’That was close.’

Ethan had managed to withdraw his summon just in time, and he could feel that the Ulfen had returned within him.

"Sorry, buddy, but I still need you."

He resummoned the Ulfen, who appeared beside him.

It was crumpled on the ground momentarily before forcing itself up.

One paw dragged slightly before the young Ulfen managed to steady himself. A low growl rumbled in his throat as his yellow eyes locked back onto the monster.

Meanwhile, Talon screeched and dived like a falling spear.

Its claws tore across the Burrower’s head to pull its attention away from Ethan and Wolfy, but the giant beast plunged back into the ground.

When it next emerged, its body arched upwards, and another sonic blast erupted.

Talon was hit mid-dive.

Feathers scattered through the air as the hawk was thrown sideways, crashing hard against the stone.

Ethan felt his stomach drop.

Seeing both his beasts being thrown around like that felt like someone had punched straight through his chest.

But even then, Wolfy clenched its teeth and rushed forward, and Talon beat his wings furiously, climbing back into the air despite the obvious pain.

They were still fighting and showed no signs of giving up.

Ethan exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself.

’Everything can be killed.’

The reminder echoed clearly in his head.

’Everything.’

His eyes narrowed at the towering beast.

’If I can’t beat this thing...’

His breathing slowed.

’How the hell am I supposed to face S Rank monsters one day?’

The thought, as crazy as it was, steadied him.

This creature wasn’t the end, no, it was far from it.

It was just another obstacle, another step, a pebble on a very long road.

Even if that pebble happened to be a giant rock worm the size of a bus.

The Burrower lunged again.

Ethan jumped aside as its tail smashed into the ground like a battering ram.

Crack!

Stone exploded outward.

Then it burrowed again, its enormous body vanishing beneath the earth.

And finally, the shockwave followed.

Ethan’s eyes sharpened, and even after this duration, the pattern hadn’t changed.

Each cycle, he moved a little earlier and dodged a little cleaner, but he wasn’t escaping unscathed.

A chunk of shattered stone smashed into his shoulder.

Then another tail strike clipped his side, and white-hot pain exploded through his body.

"My ribs...!"

His breath caught.

At least two were definitely broken, but his beasts weren’t faring any better either.

Both were in dire condition and were pushing through the same way he was, but it was only a matter of time before...

Ethan clenched his fists.

’So far we haven’t hurt it at all and have only been fighting for survival.’

And surviving wouldn’t last much longer.

His MP was running low, and once he couldn’t maintain his summons, this thing would kill him in seconds.

There was no outrunning it or hiding.

And if he died here, it was all over.

Completely over.

He doubted there would be another series of errors where the system would let him live as he had after the trial through sheer luck.

’At this rate, I’ve got a couple minutes left in me in terms of MP.’

It was literally do or die.

That’s when Ethan’s gaze swept across the battlefield before stopping at a jagged rock formation that jutted up from the plains like broken teeth.

It was tall, narrow, and sharp.

A natural stone spike that was thrust up from the ground.

That’s when an idea sparked.

It was another one of his desperate and dangerous plans, but it was something.

Ethan inhaled slowly as his mind raced.

’When it next burrows...’

The monster always burst out of the ground to attack, and in that brief instant, its enormous body was unstable.

It wasn’t fully braced or anchored to the ground; that was the only moment they could possibly move something that large.

His eyes flicked to the jagged rock spike rising from the plains.

’If we hit it at the right moment, maybe, just maybe, we can knock it over.’

It was so large and heavy that if they could push it onto the spike, they could deal it some serious damage.

But there was a problem.

Right now, the Burrower wasn’t focused on him alone.

It kept splitting its attacks between Wolfy, Talon, and himself, and was more focused on his summoned beasts, which were the biggest threats.

He needed to force it to target only him.

As such, Ethan made the decision immediately.

"Sorry, guys."

Two flashes of blue light flickered, and Wolfy and Talon vanished.

He had undone the summons.

The battlefield suddenly felt far emptier and far more dangerous.

But undoing a summon wasn’t free, and bringing them back had the activation cost of the skill.

1 MP per beast, 2 in total, and a third of everything he had left.

Ethan grimaced, feeling the drain of the mystical energy he had grown to rely on.

That was exactly why he hadn’t been repeatedly unsummoning and resummoning his beasts to keep them safe, as much as it hurt to see them trashed around.

Once his MP ran dry, he was done for, but right now, he didn’t have a choice.

If he didn’t do this, he was dead anyway.

"Now I’m the only target you’ve got left, motherfucker!"

The Burrower roared in fury as if understanding his words, its attention snapping entirely toward him.

’Perfect.’

Ethan turned and sprinted toward the jagged rock formation.

The massive worm surged forward in response, its enormous body carving through the stone plains like a living avalanche.

Then, it plunged underground, and the earth swallowed the giant creature instantly.

The ground behind Ethan bulged violently as the monster pursued him beneath the surface.

His heart pounded.

’Good, it’s locked onto me.’

Ethan reached the rock spike and positioned himself just beside it.

Exactly where he needed to be.

His breathing slowed as he prepared to dodge at the last possible moment.

Boom!

The ground beneath him swelled, and the Burrower exploded upward with its massive jaws open. But be it because he was fatigued or simply because the Boss Beast was enraged, he didn’t manage to evade unscathed.

Crunch!

Agony detonated through his body as the beast clamped down on his left arm and began grinding away at it.

He could feel his bones shattering under the crushing force.

"AAAGHH-!!"

White pain flooded his vision as his arm felt like it had been shoved into a hydraulic press.

But compared to being swallowed whole?

Compared to dying here?

He could endure it, and he wasn’t planning on giving up just yet...