Chapter 17- End of your road

Marching into the cave, August was enveloped in darkness.

He felt his heart in his throat, beating cruelly loud in his ears

'Why did I decide to do this again?'

He knew why, August hated the behemoth with every fiber of his being. His hatred of the beast had only grown more each day he spent in the dark forest, so much so he struggled to not intervene personally in the clash of predators.

The final push he needed to make his decision came from seeing his friend beaten and defeated. The red haired girl must have been stuck with the beast for quite some time, battling it constantly.

The thought infuriated him even more, he had abandoned her to fight the beast alone for days on end, suffering countless injuries.

The confrontation had been so severe that even the unbreaking body she possessed couldn't handle the damage.

So he was going to finish what the white lion and his friend had started.

Even so, August was still a coward, and each step he took became harder. His body begged him to turn away, to run. But in the end, he kept going.

As he walked further into the cave, August attempted to formulate some kind of plan.

Under usual circumstances, when the rhinoceros possessed armor, he wouldn't have been capable of dealing significant damage to the behemoth. Now however, the beast had had them mauled and burnt away by the white lion.

It also sustained heavy injuries as a result of both battles. Meaning that the beast probably sought to recover at the moment.

Though the echoing sounds of steps coming towards him told him otherwise. Maybe the beast was looking for the next meal to help speed up his recovery.

Suddenly, the area around his feet lit up, causing him to take a step back in shock.

Looking down, he noticed several types of moss, exuding multicolored light and illuminating the area. The light spread from his feet and wrapped around the entire expanse of the cave for a brief moment, illuminating everything around.

For a second he was totally enamored as the cave lit up in almost every color he could imagine. He looked around, his eyes darting between the rainbow of lights.

'These plants are bio-luminescent, that makes my life much easier.'

It truly did, August had not really had a plan for how he had intended to see the beast he was attempting to fight. But now, he at least would not have to rely solely on sound or the flash of yellow light from his summons.

In the worst case scenario, he was even willing to use the [White Lion's Legacy] as a glorified lightbulb.

The only issue with involuntary light, was that August lost the element of surprise. Judging from the quaking cave and quickly encroaching steps, he was not going to be regaining it anytime soon.

Suddenly, as the chain flash of light August had caused died down, faint glows erupted in the distance, and August truly realized the magnitude of the cave he was in.

He had already gone deep enough for what little light coming through the cave entrance— produced by the Wooton of flame in the dark forest, to be totally out of sight.

Yet judging from the sight ahead, he had almost thirty seconds before the raging beast would make contact. It was do or die, and so far, August had done questionably well at not dying.

He summoned every wrapon in his arsenal at once, aiming for the charging beast ahead.

His hands were sweating, trembling greatly under the fear and strain. He was burnt, bruised, infected and drenched in cold water, and struggling to stay conscious.

But he was filled with courage born from hatred and fear.

August shot every weapon he had at the behemoth, attempting to pierce it and hopefully even take it's life.

Some of the sword's bounced off, whilst others made shallow cuts. The blades did not have enough range to be reliable weapons at this distance.

But two of the lances embedded themselves deep in the exposed muscle tissue, illiciting an enraged roar from the beast.

August couldn't help but grin at the sight of the injured behemoth, the beast whom he viewed as an immovable, unbreaking force, had been pierced.

The beast had been a godlike existence to him up until now, far above the level of being he could hope to bring harm to, but now.

August had made god bleed.

He called for his weapons once more, and in the flash of light produced, he saw the rhinoceros in full detail.

His lances had pierced the left shoulder and leg of the beast, causing fresh blood to spew, and the beast stumbled before charging again.

Now August had twenty five seconds left.

He called upon the weapons once more, firing them again, aiming for the behemoth's left side.

This time, all the lances found a target, gliding deep into the rhinoceros flesh. One even landed directly into the previous shoulder wound, going so deep August believed it may have found the way through the beast's shoulder and into the abdomen.

The beast stumbled once more, swaying precariously. He resummoned his weapons once more, readying them to fire once more.

However, this time, glowing red lines swirled through the beast's muscle, Red mist exuding from them. The beast erupted with a newfound power, sailing over the earth with speed August could barely keep up with.

His smile fell from his face. August was unable to get his aim set on the beast.

He had miscalculated.

Almost immediately, the beast was at his side. Maybe due to fatigue, or the loss of its eye, the monster missed him, though not wholly.

August heard a deafening snap as his arm spun backwards in a full rotation, and he was flung across the cave and into the black stone wall.

A jagged black rock pierced his upper back, causing him to bite his lip to avoid a scream.

He forced himself to focus on the task at hand.

The behemoth was still turning, and even though it had immense speed and power, mobility was the one thing it couldn't get past with sheer size and strength.

If he had all his limbs in perfect shape, he might have been able to fully out maneuver the heavy bastard, but he was suffering from his own fair share of burns, which limited his reaction time, vision, and overall speed.

August resummoned his weapons, blasting them at the turning beast. It was close enough now for him to get a clear aim in the creature's body, and while it was turning, it left an entire side exposed.

This time every last one buried deep into the the behemoth, pushing it back. The creature howled in pain, shaking the entire cave and causing more rubble to fall, pelting it over the head as August did his best to dodge what little he could.

'Damned thing! Doesn't it realize it'll kill us both?'

August quickly summoned his weapons once again. The beast had set its sights on him already, preparing a full charge.

August blasted almost all the weapons directly at it, all but a single lance bounced off. The lance had found it's way into the beast's previously stabbed out eye, going in so far that August coud barely see the shaft in the dimly illuminated cave.

This did not slow the beast down very much however, and it completed a turn, charging to barrel him down.

'Damned thing doesn't even have a brain? This is outrageously unfair!'

This was when August grabbed a floating sword's hilt, barely getting it in time as it fired off away from the rhinoceros' charge, dragging him along with it.

August felt another pulling sensation in his arm, then another shooting pain flooded his body and clouded his vision.

A grunt escaped his lips as he watched the behemoth slam into the wall, its horn burying deep and its head slamming into the wall of the cave, sending shooting cracks through the walls and up to the cave's ceiling.

The cracks were simply outlined by the glowing moss and shrubbery, showing just how far they extended in the cave.

It was then August let go of the sword, sliding along the ground with his feet and Summoning all the weapons once more.

This time however, instead of at the behemoth, he aimed every last one upwards at the damaged cave ceiling.

Then he fired, and watched the rubble come Plumetting down.