Fighting the Forest Baboon

Krrraaa—!

An ear-piercing scream came from the Forest Baboon which was currently being surrounded by warriors and mages.

Brown fur covered the Forest Baboon's body, interwoven with dark, leafy vines that entangled among its limbs.

Its face bore four glowing eyes, a blend of black and green hues, while its fangs were dripping with saliva, betraying the demonic desire to devour the humans before it.

"Are you sure that this is going to work?" Charlie, a Second Class Mage, asked Leo.

Oswin interjected and said with a smile, "Just trust my friend here, come on."

Charlie adjusted his glasses and sighed, "Well, if you say so, Sir Oswin."

Then, he went towards the three other mages that were with them.

"I'll put my trust into your plan as well, Leo." Lord Axton also said as he stared at the Forest Baboon that was agilely swinging between trees.

"It's my pleasure, Lord Axton." Leo replied.

"Alright, let's begin!"

At Lord Axton's command, Leo, Oswin and several other warriors charged at the Forest Baboon with their weapons.

Oswin raised his longsword as it radiated with aura, before swinging it down at the foor of the demon beast.

As if knowing that the attack wouldn't hurt it, the Forest Baboon didn't budge and took it head on.

Thud—

"Damn it!" Oswin cursed as his hands trembled from the rebounding force of his slash.

The other warriors followed up, swords, spears, war hammers, war axes and other weapons continuously attacked the Forest Baboon.

At this moment, a wave of mana surged in the surroundings.

The Forest Baboon also looked alert as it stared at the group of mages wearing robes and holding staffs that were pointing towards it.

Although it didn't really pay attention and only played with the warriors, it was wary of the mages' tricks.

"Hold it down! Keep it on the ground!" Charlie's loud voice resounded in the area.

The Forest Baboon struggled, but the warriors all held onto its legs, making it impossible for it to jump and climb the trees.

After a short while, the mages finished their incantation and a variety of chants were heard.

[Quagmire Ensnare]

The ground beneath the Forest Baboon's feet turned into a quagmire.

[Root Bind]

Roots appeared from the ground surrounding the demon beast and ensnared its ankle.

[Electric Zap]

An electric current flowed into the Forest Baboon's body, further impeding its movement.

…

After the three mages casted their spells, Charlie raised his staff and chanted,

[Earthen Chains]

Rumble—

Big chains made of earth quickly emerged from the ground.

Unlike the Root Bind spell which only binded the demon beast's ankle, the Earthen Chains constricted all of the demon beast's limbs.

It was also a lot more powerful than the three other magic spells.

"Now! Leo!" Oswin shouted as he held the Forest Baboon with all his might alongside the other warriors.

Not wasting even a second, Leo leaped upwards to the knees of the Forest Baboon.

His plan was simple. Oswin said earlier that they needed to impede the demon beast's movement so the castellan could deliver a decisive blow.

That was why Leo told them that they just needed to hold them down temporarily and he would be able to cut its knee, severely impeding its movement.

Everyone was skeptical since he was only a Second Class Warrior, so how could he possibly damage the Forest Baboon, much less cut its limb?

Nevertheless, they acquiesced with his plan since they didn't have an alternative and a battle of attrition against a demon beast would only be detrimental to them.

'I'm only a Second Class Warrior. This demon beast which is almost at the Grand Demon level won't be affected by half-hearted attacks. So…' Leo breathed in and circulated his aura.

Vrrrrrr—

Flames erupted from his greatsword as he used his Burning Sword Style.

'Not enough!' Leo thought before chanting,

[Burning Sword Style, First Form: Smoldering Blade]

Everyone could see that besides the flames covering Leo's greatsword, the blade of his sword also started to glow in an orange hue.

It almost burned the other warriors' eyes as they stared at it.

"His aura art is really special…" Lord Axton muttered as he was astounded by the sight.

However, Leo could feel it…

'Still not enough…'

Then, he chanted once more…

[Burning Sword Style…

…Third Form…

"Urghhh!" Leo could feel his energy circuits becoming twisted as his energy core went into overdrive.

Not only did he utilize his aura, he also began to use the two forms of his aura art simultaneously.

'Jin said that the first form is to deliver a single, powerful slash. The second is to dodge or escape. And the third enables me to utilize my aura and deliver consecutive slashes until my aura runs out…'

However, Leo knew that one form was not enough to cut a Pseudo Grand Demon Beast's limb.

'I won't let their efforts go to waste…!'

…Burning Sword Dance]

Everyone was astounded again as Leo erupted in flames once more.

This time, his greatsword wasn't the only one burning and leaving flame trails along its wake, but also his body.

Every gesture of his was burning with flames.

Krrrraaaaa!

The Forest Baboon screamed as it could feel the intense heat moving towards it.

Leo performed a powerful downward slash on its knee, then using the momentum from the slash, he rotated his body and delivered a spinning horizontal slash.

Sizzle—

Shing! Wung!!

Crackle—

He repeated this cycle of slashing and using its momentum to connect it with another slash until it became a dazzling and beautiful sword dance.

Then, not long after…

Crackk– Whoosh!

KRRAAAA——

The Forest Baboon screamed its lungs out as it could feel severe pain in its knee.

It looked down and saw its lower leg falling down on the ground.

'One more…!' Leo thought as he wanted to cut the demon beast's other knee, but it was obvious that he had long reached his limit.

Shiik—

Therefore, he was only able to stab his greatsword in its other knee.

"No!" Charlie exclaimed as he and the other mages fell down.

Everyone could see that the Forest Baboon was able to break out of the binding spells that were casted on it earlier.

'Huh?' All Leo saw was the large hand that was closing rapidly in his sight.

Boom—

A sound reminiscent of an explosion sounded as Leo took the Forest Baboon's full powered slap head on, flying directly onto the ground.