Felling The Beast

The upwind force of the Dog-head Bat's take-off almost knocked Vincel off but he managed to grab onto a wing-covered front limb to retain his hold on the beast.

As they flew higher up, the force of the wind became greater and Vincel guessed that it was a deliberate act by the beast.

'If you're trying to knock me off with your wind magic. You're going to have to try harder than that!'

Vincel gave a small chuckle in his mind but he got serious again almost immediately. Becoming distracted would not do him any good.

The fact that the winged limb he was holding was flapping was a bit disorienting but it did very little to affect Vincel's grip.

Vincel's grip was still strong even though he was only keeping hold with one hand since his other hand was holding Jilan's club.

The Dog-Head Bat had long realized Vincel had hitched an unauthorized ride-along so it began to swerve aggressively in the air to knock Vincel off.

"Ngh"

With a groan, Vincel swung the club at the beast's neck.

*Wham!*

"Arrrgghhhh! You...! *Grrrrrrr*"

Angry as the beast was, the club to the neck hurt it badly and it swerved even more aggressively until it moved close to a tree branch up in the air and slammed Vincel against it.

[HP: 7/50]

"Ahh"

Vincel yelled in pain but he kept his hold on the beast's limb thanks to the strong grip force he had on account of his strength increase with Arcane Augmentation.

Vincel had no particular technique. He had no plan besides a focused target of bringing the Dog-Head Bat down and although he had never been a hunter, he felt the best way to do so was to injure the beast's winged limb.

'Unfortunately, I can only hit the wing I'm holding. I can't reach the other one.'

After the painful impact with a tree branch, Vincel's HP had dropped again but he ignored all that.

Thanks to his stamina boost due to Arcane Augmentation, he was nowhere near his limit.

The Dog-head Bat raised itself and flew upward most likely to get very high up and attempt another risky dive to shake Vincel off. It was while it was flying upward that Vincel made his move.

*Wham!*

"Howwwwwlllllll!!!"

*Wham!*

Vincel struck the winged limb again for good measure and grinned when it flopped. The upward flight of the beast stalled and it began a premature dive.

The Dog-head Bat went head first and for a second, Vincel was optimistic that it would hit the ground hard and that would be the end but at the very last second, the beast pulled out of its dive, and it did it in such a way that finally knocked Vincel off its wing.

As it felt Vincel's grip leave its winged limb, the beast let loose a sound of contentment only to make a surprised *Harumph* sound when Vincel's arms wound tight around its long neck.

"Gotcha!"

Vincel sounded ecstatic.

He ignored the wind blowing against him and chuckled close to the Beast's dog ears.

He had indeed been knocked off by the wind but he had managed to use the momentum to propel himself to a much better target to be held.

"You won't get rid of me that easy"

"*Grr* You're persistent. It will be the death of you"

As it spoke, the Dog-Head Bat began snapping its fangs as though hoping to bite Vincel even though that would be impossible considering Vincel's position on its neck.

Vincel released one arm from the beast's long neck, the hand holding Jilan's club, and he swung the club at the area where the Beast's head joined its neck.

*Wham!*

"Arrgghh"

*Wham!*

"You son of a thousand whores!!!" the Dog-Head Bat swore and finally crash landed back-first into the ground.

*BAM!*

With Vincel on its neck, the beast decided this was its best course of action.

"Ack- Kah- Kah- I suffered a terrible impact but at least that bastard should be crushed to a paste by now," the Dog-head Bat said as it turned over and struggled to get back up.

"Who are you calling a bastard?"

"What?!"

The Beast's eyes were wide open as it stared forward and saw Vincel on one knee with a smile on his face.

Blood was trickling out of the side of Vincel's lips and he had a bad bruise on the left side of his forehead but other than that he looked fine.

Definitely not crushed to a paste at least.

Vincel smiled and gestured at the forest.

"Exactly how do you know about Whores or bastards by the way. There can't be many of them around here"

The Dog-head Bat struggled to take a few steps towards a grinning Vincel.

"Y-You should be crushed by now"

"I leaped off your neck before your awful crashland. Ngh (grabs his left side) I hit myself against a tree as a result but it was definitely worth it for that look on your face.

That dumb look you have is the real Prize. Being alive is just a welcome bonus"

Every step the Dog-head Bat made was with painful winces. The winged limb the beast had landed on the hardest, which was also the one Vincel had struck with the club, was limp and clearly incapable of aiding any more flight.

"You're grounded," Vincel said with an excited smile.

"Don't count me out just yet!"

As the Dog-head Bat spoke, it raised its head and opened its maw to begin sucking in air like a vacuum. A few seconds later, the beast lowered its head and fired a forceful, focused stream of wind.

Vincel jumped out of the way and watched as the attack strike a massive tree that used to be behind him. The tree was wrenched completely out of the ground.

*Bang!*

The sound of the tree's fall caused all the hair on Vincel's arms to stand upright.

His jumping off the beast and smacking against a tree had reduced his HP even further. He was now at 3/50.

'I won't survive that' he realized.

The beast was still puffing wind and it was now moving its head so that the attack followed Vincel for a second try.

Vincel was ready to leap out of the way again when he heard a sweet voice not far from where he was.

"Oh no you don't"

Vincel recognized Lea's voice but before he could take the time to look at her, a water sphere charged forward and slammed against the head of the Dog-head Bat.

The sphere completely covered the Beast's head and the contact between it and the focused wind attack canceled both out.

"Ack"

The Dog-head Bat's head was knocked back by the impact of the implosion of water and wind. Its fatigue was worsened and it became short of breath which Lea took as a perfect opportunity to use a move Vincel had only seen her use against the Grim wolf she fought before.

'A suffocating water sphere'

The sphere of water covered the head of the beast and shut off its supply of air both for attacking and breathing.

The attack was sure not to last long but it did not have to because Vincel dashed forward, jumped, and made an upward swing with Jilan's club.

*BAM!*

His attack struck the delicate region where the head of the beast joined its neck and the water sphere around the beast's head dispersed into a fine mist upon contact.

*Crack!*

The crack sound of dislocation Vincel heard as the club made contact was satisfying but even more satisfying was the soft thud the beast made as it keeled over to the side and fell on the grass-padded forest floor.

The neck of the beast flopped faster and its head hit the ground first.

[0:30]

[0:29]

As the timer of Arcane Augmentation flashed in front of his eyes, Vincel smiled with the satisfaction that he had been able to get the beast down before the end came.

'Not much time left now. I should end this.'

The Dog-head Bat let out a weak, raspy breath.

"That ancient aura of yours. It empowered you... Didn't it?"

The voice was weak but Vincel heard the words clearly. He took a few seconds to think it over and eventually shrugged in acceptance that he did not understand and was in no mood to chat it up with the murderous beast.

He walked closer to its flopped head, raised the club, and brought it down for a definitive hit.

*WHAM!*

[0:01]

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