18 Strength and Wisdom
Lucifer summoned the Heat hammer from his arsenal.
Even though it was impossible to get a blunt sword through the hippo's thick skin, the raw explosive strength this sword possessed was incredible.
From what Lucifer had heard, these creatures lived in the swamps on the nation's southern part. So, how one managed to reach this deep into this forest was in itself a mystery.
Regardless, Zagan tightened the grip of his sword and charged at the monster from behind. Needless to say, he was holding the sword with both hands since its explosive power could repel the user himself.
As the hippo noticed Lucifer approaching, it tried turning around instinctively. But because of its massive body, which made his movements slow, Lucifer was able to reach there faster.
Its tail was tiny compared to its body size, so it possessed no threat. Lucifer quickly went past its defenses and landed a hit on the monster's back.
As expected, the blunt sword couldn't get through its skin, so Lucifer activated the explosion.
However, because of its heavy weight, the creature didn't move an inch. Instead, Lucifer was sent back flying.
Lucifer's HP decreased almost one-third because of the explosion, while the hippo's barely even reduced.
He landed on his back, but he quickly raised himself and attacked again. This time he used the Flaming spear instead of the sword, but even that barely made a dent.
"Ho-ho! Look who ran out of gas this time."
"If you have time for jokes like that, why don't you deal with it yourself."
While Lucifer was saying that, the hippo turned around and attacked him with its enormous tusks.
Its jaws were so massive that if Lucifer hadn't dodged the attack by jumping right, he would have been swallowed whole.
"Now, now, I am just a humble guide, and an elderly at that."
The hippo was aggressively charging at him, so Lucifer couldn't hear Michael properly. He was focused entirely on dodging the attacks.
Michael sighed when he realized that.
"Well, I guess we could give him a little hand"—He turned towards Luna— "Missy, keep it distracted for a moment."
The key to victory here was simple. Like in every other battle, one just needed to know the strength and weakness of the enemy they were facing.
For example, for a being living in the woods—like the Wood spiders from before—fire attacks would prove to be immensely effective in reducing their HP. In contrast, the poison attacks would have little to no effect on them.
Likewise, against a creature living in water, fire attacks would have little to no impact. However, these creatures were incredibly vulnerable to poison attacks.
Luna attacked the hippo using a Flame wave. The attack wasn't powerful enough to do some real damage, but it was bright enough to catch the Hippo's attention.
The hippo snorted as it turned towards Luna. It then tried intimidating her by showing its jaws and tusks.
However, considering how hideous those spiders were for her, this sight was rather easy to digest. It barely even moved her.
"Quick! give her the queen's venom!"
Lucifer realized what the old man was aiming for, so without wasting even a second in second thought, he took the venom out of his arsenal and threw it towards Luna.
Luna lacked physical strength, so she was using flame bursts as a diversion to dodge. It was hard for her to catch the bottle while still avoiding the attacks.
Knowing that, Lucifer had thrown it towards the ground covered in dry leaves. That way, the bottle wouldn't break even if Luna couldn't reach it on time.
Once the bottle reached the other side, it was his time to create the diversion.
He took out the Staff of the imperial king, which was a long golden staff with a brown orb at its top. It's ability mentioned that it could be used to manipulate the earth.
He just had the quick read of the description about this staff on his way, so there was much he wasn't aware of.
"Well, this is the only thing left that could potentially harm this monster anyway. So, here goes!"
He spun the staff above his head and touched the ground with its tip. This gesture was used to activate the binding spell of the staff called Earth bind.
It took almost half of his mana for just activating this spell, but upon activation, it rose the soil around the Hippo and hardened it. As a result, its movement stopped.
Lucifer quickly took out the health and mana potion from his arsenal and drank it. As he was doing that, Michael transferred some of the poison into a smaller vial that he had in his pocket.
Enraged by this, the hippo was trying to break. But breaking all four legs free was hard even for a creature of his strength.
By the time it was finally able to break through, Michael and Luna were already prepared.
Lucifer cast another Earth bind, and Luna used flame waves to cover its entire body simultaneously. This hardened the soil below the Hippo even more and made it hard for the monster to breathe.
The hippo opened its mouth and let out a cry in agony. This created a gust of wind around him, which put out the fire.
This was one of the magical abilities hippos possessed. They could use wind as a defense against any physical and elemental attacks.
However, as it was doing that, Michael went closer and threw the vial towards the hippo's mouth. Its mouth was wide enough for Michael to aim properly so that it gets inside.
There was no cork covering the vial, so the poison started spreading as soon as it touched the hippo's jaws.
The venom was strong, so his skin around the mouth started melting as it touched. And when he closed his mouth, a purple smoke started coming out of it.
Soon, the hippo's entire skin started turning purple from brown, and it collapsed under its own weight.
At the end of this battle, Michael leveled up to level 9, while the others only gained experience points.
The hippo was no longer edible since it was poisoned, so they had to look for the fish in the pond. And since the master of this region seemed to be the Hippo—who was already dead—the three could rest peacefully there.
