With the Right Opportunity

Aeon crept slowly towards the battlefield. He doesn't really need to do much. He just had to pour the fluid on a large open wound to make the hallucinogenic effect stronger. Of course, he needed to do that without having it vaporized by the flames.

At the moment, only Montis and General Samo were the ones who were attacking the beast. They were throwing as many spells as they could to force the beast to defend. The two were coordinating quite effectively so the lion couldn't really attack them both at once. Neither could it focus on a person and ignore the other. One from the right, and one from the left. If someone shifts towards the front, the other would go to the back.

All the lion could do was jump and dodge, then send fireballs of its own. It would sweep down with its paws, but the two already two avoid it instead of fighting it with force.

Nothing beneficial came out of the lion's movements. However, it didn't appear that it was getting tired at all.

On the other hand, the two Serans were already sweating profusely. If they continued what they were doing without any progress, they would not have enough magic energy to cast an S-ranked spell later on.

Klaus and the Principal were still hurrying over. What they really need was a good setup because the lion was extremely sensitive to magic. If it could sense that someone was casting a relatively destructive spell, it would most likely flee.

They couldn't risk casting an S-ranked spell from a distance without controlling the beast's movements as well because it could potentially be rendered useless by the situation.

The colossal lion was finally within Klaus' attack range. He touched the jewel on his chest to amplify his lightning spells. Thunderclouds gathered once more as Klaus started his incantations. The lighting around the area instantly became gloomy.

D-ranked lightning bolts fell down like rain on the lion, but the beast just shrugged everything off. Klaus specialized in wide-scale spells, so the single targets spell he had learned were mostly low-level ones.

Toran Fiore had also started casting his own spells. Most of those he used are part of his favorite spell book series, Obsidian Prison. Although it sounded like a control type spellbook, it actually wasn't. It had some, but not the majority. It's just that it emphasizes continuous barrage of earth attacks making the battlefield look like a prison filled with obsidian.

The Principal harassed the beast from the side as it engaged with the two Serans.

The colossal lion saw the principal and Klaus then sent several attacks to them from a distance. As the two dodged, the lion ignored the Serans that were pestering it and let out a huge beam of fire towards Klaus.

The lightning bolts Klaus continuously sent stopped as he prepared to dodge. Klaus, being without any mobility spells, he physically exerted himself to the limit. He kicked with all the force he could muster in order to dodge, but the beam was just too thick!

He would still get caught!

Klaus was left without a choice and casted a spell to counter the flames with his own attack.

His hands started glowing with blue lightning. Then, he extended both hands forward in a rush.

C-ranked spell, Discharge!

The condensed electricity that came from Klaus' hand met the flames, but it was slowly being devoured! It couldn't handle the power behind the beast's attack.

BANG!

An Obsidian Wall suddenly emerged from the ground in front of Klaus, cutting off his attack on the beam.

The beam of flames crashed heavily on the Obsidian Wall breaking it into pieces. It went right through the wall and shot towards Klaus who had, for a second, casted another D-ranked spell in preparation to defend himself.

BOOOM!

Klaus had been blasted far away from the attack and skidded on the ground for a good two seconds, forming a long groove. Thankfully, due to the Obsidian Wall and the last second spell he had casted, the damage had been mitigated. His long sleeves were burned by the flames along with half the front part of his cloak. The white cloth that remained hung loosely with its edges burnt, revealing his black outfit inside.

If not for that Obsidian Wall that the Principal had hurriedly erected, Klaus would've died right there and then. He was panting heavily, as he calmed himself down. After a moment, he stood up, albeit unsteadily.

Naturally, Montis and General Samo didn't let go of such an opportunity. The beast had been defenseless while it was spewing out a beam of flames towards their companion. General Samo enchanted his greatsword with a B-ranked spell condensed with Explosion, his unique ability, and slashed at the beast's neck. As the tip of the greatsword firmly latched on the creature's flesh, he mercilessly dragged it downward.

Montis had also sent a flurry of wind blades towards the lion's eyes with the intention of blinding it, but it only managed to scratch its eyelids.

General Samo and Montis' attacks finished just before the beast had finished its attack.

The gray lion looked unaffected while it was still attacking Klaus, but after the beam stopped, it wobbled and faced the Serans with its fangs bared.

It pounced on General Samo and pursued him while dodging the Principal's barrage of attack. It had been much faster than earlier and it completely ignored Montis' attacks. It had already noticed that the wind mage had started to weaken.

Montis gritted his teeth and continued to pursue. He ran just beside the lion as the creature chased after the General. Even when Montis was already spending much more magic energy than he should, he still continued with his attacks. His target was the large open wound that General Samo left. He tried to stop it from healing as much as he could.

The General couldn't run faster than the beast and was forced to stop and defend using his greatsword. Spell after spell condensed with Explosion was enchanted on his weapon as he parried. His attacks were just as strong as the beast's but he had clearly been using more magic.

Montis and the Principal provided as much support as they could. But, it just wasn't enough.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The large fireballs that aimed at the General missed one after the other, creating deep craters all over the ground. However, it allowed the beast to close in on him.

The beast pounced on the mage once more with its jaws wide open, ready to devour the General.

The General was left with no moves and was forced to dodge with a backward jump.

When the beast's attack missed, it immediately followed up with a sweep.

The attack came too suddenly! The beast had followed up real quick, exceeding Samo's expectations. The General just dodged the lion's bite as was not in a position where he could dodge again immediately.

He had to block!

General Samo slashed with his sword. Unfortunately, he had failed to fully contest with the beast's strong sweep. He took the brunt of the attack and was sent flying. While he was midair, the lion took the time to spit out a gigantic, yellow-green fireball.

BOOOM!

The fireball hit the General and sent him flying even further.

The situation didn't look too good.

Throughout the two's skirmish, the attacks from Montis and the Principal had never stopped. The two could not even recall how many wind blades and earth spikes they had landed on the monster. It just tanked everything and let its extreme recovery handle the problem.

The other mages were still handling the large beasts that followed them relentlessly and couldn't provide any support. They were badly needed if they wanted to cause as much damage as they could and distribute the damage all over the beast's body. By doing that, the regeneration ability of the beast would be slowed done significantly.

The lion was unstoppable!

The lion advanced. This time, his target was once again Klaus.

Klaus had just recovered and was already casting a spell. Just as he saw the beast charge towards him, his eyes widened.

Suddenly, the ground in front of the lion shook.

Obsidian spikes emerged from the ground and attempted to impale the beast, but it dodged every single one of them, without even halting its furious charge.

The beast had been successful in its recent attacks, boosting its ferocity. However, it had completely neglected that there was one terrifying figure amongst the high-level mages.

Fatally wounding the beast wasn't really Toran Fiore's intention. It was simply a distraction.

The main goal was still to limit the beast's movements.

As the earth spikes emerged one by one, the principal had actually been charging a spell! It was the best opportunity to land a strong spell on the creature. After all, the huge wound that General Samo caused was still in the process of regeneration and was still a burden to the lion.

High-level A-ranked spell, Charged Gravitational Field!

Montis jumped back simultaneously to avoid getting caught up.

The beast had only thought that it was unstoppable.

BOOOOOOOM!

The beast fell down! Its entire body was pinned on the ground. Due to the extreme gravitational force, the air around the area appeared to be distorting. The dust and dirt that was blown towards the area immediately crashed towards the ground.

General Samo emerged from the rubble the moment he sensed the huge amount of magic power that the Principal had released. He appeared battered, but he didn't seem to be greatly wounded. He spat a mouthful of blood then he chugged on a vial of recovery potion. He tossed the empty vial aside after downing everything.

Then, he started casting a spell.

So did Montis.

Klaus forcefully canceled the spell he was working on and also prepared another spell.

Opportunity!

The lion had already felt the pressure that the three were giving off. It started struggling in an attempt to break free from the invisible force that was pulling it downward. However, instead of getting away, the section affected by the intense gravity sank down two feet deeper into the ground.

Toran Fiore had his eyebrows furrowed as he increased his magic output.

After three seconds, they had all finished their spells.

A-ranked spell, Emerging Dragon!

A-ranked spell, Tempest of Destruction!

A-ranked spell, Lightning of Judgment!

A dragon soared towards the sky then arched downward.

Hundreds of thick spears made entirely of whirlwind rained down.

The thunderclouds above the gravitational field pulsated with blue lightning, then a thick bolt of blue lightning fell down like a beam.

The beast had failed to break out of the gravity field.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The light from the blue lightning devoured the body of the beast entirely and it bathed in the light!

The blood-red dragon entered the blue light and also fell on the beast! Its explosive sound was drowned out by the raging electricity around the creature.

The whirlwind spears rained down on the light!

All they could hear was the ear-piercing sound of electricity, screeching, like a million birds tweeting together.

All of the spells that landed on the colossal lion were High-level A-ranked ones. They were aware that the Principal couldn't hold the creature any longer than five seconds, so they only used such spells.

Thankfully, every single one of them hit.

However, they knew that it wouldn't be over just like that.

As the blue ray of light and the gravity field held the beast down, the mages backed away, even the Principal. They had been greatly weakened after casting such strong spells. The Principal erected several Obsidian Walls to make sure that the beast could not advance unimpeded.

Suddenly, a figure darted towards the blue light.

Being too far away after they retreated, the figure didn't look clear to them at all. They couldn't even recognize who it was because aside from the other mages who were still fighting by the side, there was nobody else that came to assist them!

Then, Montis suddenly remembered another person whom he had sent away to hide earlier.

"AEON!" Montis yelled, invoking shocked reactions from both Klaus and the Principal. On the other hand, General Samo was confused.

Montis activated his Tenro and bolted towards him.

Completely out of their expectations, the person, Aeon, suddenly shot forward at the beast like a meteor, straight towards the beast.

Just as the blue light dissipated, and the gravitational field finally disappeared, Aeon was already next to the creature.

He threw something they couldn't see clearly. They could only track down the object as it reflected the light in the surroundings.

The figure of the colossal lion was slowly revealed, its body still paralyzed by the lightning and the burning flames around its body died down significantly.

The object headed straight towards a large wound probably opened by the joint damage dealt by Montis and the General.

Then, out of the blue, Aeon slashed one sword vertically without a target.

Initially, the four high-level mages were perplexed about what he was attempting to do by slashing at thin air, but after a second, they noticed something almost invisible. If not for their sharp senses, they wouldn't have noticed it at all.

There was a thin strip of sword light that emerged from his sword and it was streaking through the air!

The four gaped in awe as they thought it was incomprehensible! For sure it wasn't magic! It didn't even look like the wind blades sent out by any E-ranked mage.

An unawakened mage should not be capable of such a feat. But it just happened in front of their eyes.

The sword light flashed through the air, hitting the bottle that was inches away from the colossal lion's open wound.

Clink!

Everyone seemed to have heard a glass break. They all saw something spill all over the beast's wound.

They didn't know what it was.

It just looked like some sort of liquid that glistened due to the light.

….