Book 2 - Chapter 87

Soldiers were starting to come on their own. Tossing molotov or oils at the Chaplain Beast, dousing cannon balls with oil before firing and shooting flaming arrows at it. While the effects were minimal, it would seemed that it is hurting the beast continuously.

All around the city we can hear people scurrying to safety or adventurers fighting against monsters. From what Rose informed me earlier when she went scouting, more beasts were pouring through the Eastern Gate. This is definitely an all out assault on the city. Whoever the mastermind is, I am going to make him pay.

I faced towards Lily once again, with wind gathered around Tengu-kaze. But this time, we are trying with fire instead. Since both of us does not have any ranged fire attacks, this was something that I thought of hoping that it might work. Doesn't hurt to try, I guess.

Lily deflected the wind pressure towards the Chaplain Beast with her fire spell but it dissipated before it even reaches the beast. Right, fire uses air to burn. What the hell am I thinking, hoping that a fire wind pressure would work? There is only hot or cold air, there is no such thing as fire air, you doofus.

Lily was holding back her laughter after what she saw. I sighed loudly and scratched my head. We need something to fight this Chaplain Beast. The worse scenario is for Lily to fight it up close on her own but I am worried. It's risky to fight close combat with this beast as it is surprisingly nimble despite those elongated limbs. But do we have a choice? Maybe I'll just be her meat shield when she fights with it.

"Zen.. your blade," said Lily.

I inspected my blade and… what? There was a sort of spinning fiery effect enveloping Tengu-kaze. I did not even realised that I had my blade close to Lily's gauntlets when I moved closer to her. But for it to catch fire from Lily's fire spell? That had never happened before. Will this really work? It would appear that a steady amount of wind was keeping the fire alive. Maybe Byakko is helping me to maintain the fire spell around the blade.

I held Tengu-kaze in front of me and tried communicating with Byakko. "Just fight on. I'll do what I can to keep the barbecue going" was what Byakko replied. I guess it might work. Not that I had tried this before.

"Ready, Zen? We have to go now or this will never end," asked Lily.

"You go ahead. There's something I want to try. Stay safe Lily," I told her.

She nodded and proceeded towards the Chaplain Beast. I headed towards a different direction instead, preferably behind the beast as there is something I wish to try again without knowing whether it'll work. I started gathering more wind around Tengu-kaze. The spinning fire was getting larger by the seconds despite it not being hot to my touch. Hell, I don't even feel any heat coming from my blade. Is this because it is due to it being a fire spell rather than real fire? Will this work against the beast then if there is no heat? No point pondering about it, now is the time for action.

I raised Tengu-kaze above my head two-handed. A giant vortex of spinning flame started swirling around it. Perhaps I can spread the fire around it's body with a swing from Tengu-kaze. I got really close to the beast and I am certain that the fire will burn the beast before it dissipates. I hope it doesn't fail as horribly as my previous idea. Let's try then, I've got nothing to lose!

I swung Tengu-kaze vertically sideways. I needed to swirl the fire in hopes of catching its furs or skins. But I was dead wrong. The giant swirling fire of death flew towards the beast instead of spreading apart. It looked like a giant flaming beehive heading towards the beast. I smacked my head once again as what I imagined became something different instead. It's just going to hit the beast and dissipates. Not strong enough for it to bother with.

The giant swirling fire hit the Chaplain Beast dead on. But it started spreading around more. It was as though the fire was alive and still in a spinning mood that it literally started engulfing the Chaplain Beast in it's entirety. The beast roared in pain as it's whole body was being charred alive. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air which was intoxicating to breathe. But I knew this was not enough to kill it. I need to gather more fire to kill this thing but the fire was gone from Tengu-kaze now. I need Lily to give me more of her fire spell.

The fire dissipated from the beast's body and was now glaring at me with piercing eyes. I knew what it was going to do and I readied myself to leap at a moment's notice. It tried to fire it's laser at me but someone punched it's face so hard that it swung in the opposite direction. Lily had delivered a massive heavy punch towards the Chaplain Beast's face and then proceeded to punched it on the chest. Despite using fire spell, it had minimal effect on the beast's obsidian bones. Probably her actual punch did more damage than her fire damage.

Lily went berserk as she swapped to using her ice lightning spells instead. As she ran after the beast, her footprints started to show signs of ice being left behind. Is she overexerting herself? I can only support her from the sides, hopefully to protect her from any unexpected attack.

She was on a rampage. Continuously striking on the obsidian bones that was covering the beast. With each strike from Lily, blue lightning erupted from where she punched and turned to ice. It seems like her attacks are working. The beast is slowing down and I can see the formed ice cracking from Lily's continuous assault.

The beast tried to strike back by trying to grab her or swipe her aside but it's movement was slowing down significantly as more ice formed around it's body giving Lily plenty of opportunity to avoid these slow attacks skilfully. With a roar of defiance, she delivered an earth shattering punch that smashed apart the black bones protecting the chest of the beast, revealing all the vital organs inside.

Lily did not hesitate and ran closer to the beast as far as she could. She leaped as high as she could and summoned a bolt of blue lightning from the sky which she grabbed upon.

"GO!!" she shouted as loudly as she could and tossed the massive blue lightning directly into the exposed chest of the Chaplain Beast.

Where the lightning spreads, ice formed all around it. I guess that is what you call frozen lightning I suppose. I don't think the beast is able to escape now that majority of its body is frozen. It is only a matter of time until the light of the beast fades out.

As a last act of defiance, the beast shot a massive laser towards Lily. At such close range, Lily knew she could not avoid it in time and closed her eyes, accepting her fate once again. But I had already predicted that the Chaplain Beast would not go down without attempting to kill her.

I shoved Lily aside and blocked the laser with Tengu-kaze, but the force of the laser sent me flying backwards. How long until this beast dies?! I am going to hit the walls of the city soon if this beast doesn't stop its laser! I couldn't think of any method of escaping until I realised that the laser was being redirected towards another direction by Tengu-kaze.

Despite my fingers and forearm getting numbed from the force of the laser, I began twisting Tengu-kaze, making sure that I was redirecting it at the correct angle that I want it to go. I roared as hard as I can as I used all of my strength to twist Tengu-kaze, redirecting the laser to slice off the Chaplain Beast's head. The laser stopped instantly and I curled myself to brace for the impact against the city walls.

SMASH!

Yeouch! That hurts but I'm okay. My red dragonhide hide cloak dampen the impact. But what about the Chaplain Beast? Is it finally dead? I strained my eyes to see what happened to the beast despite the surroundings was still pretty dark. It would appear that the laser had sliced the beast from the left neck to the right armpit. However, it stopped falling midway as it's entire body is completely frozen solid from Lily's ice lightning spell.

We did it, right? The Chaplain Beast is finally dead? I was hoping for some giant sign or background music to stop playing but the city went relatively quiet now when there is no 30 feet monster shrieking or wreaking destruction every few seconds.

I dropped to the ground and did a self-body checkup on myself. Other than my aching forearm, fingers and back, I think I'm good. No major injuries which I am thankful for. I should head back to check on Lily. I hope she his fine after I shoved her aside because of the laser.

I saw her lying flat on her back, on the ground. Shit! Is she alright?

"Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked her as I crouched down to inspect her body of injuries.

"H.. Hey… I just can't feel my legs. Probably I've overexerted my strength. I'll be back on my feet after I've rested a while. So glad we were well-rested before this started," she chuckled.

"No can do, princess. It's not exactly safe out here. If you don't mind.." I trailed off as I carried her princess style.

"Wha….. you don't have to do this! Zen! Put me down!" she suddenly started wriggling like a fish.

"Hey, hey, stop wriggling or I might drop you. You deserved this for defeating the Chaplain Beast. Think of it as a reward," I smiled at her.

She began hitting me gently on my right collarbone area. But it quickly turned to her playing with it using her index finger. Um, not a great time to be stimulating me in the middle of a combat zone, Lily.

"How many times does that make it now? Four, was it? I had already resigned myself to the fact that you will always be there to save me when it matters," she whispered.

Is she talking to me or is she just talking out loud? Either way, I have to get us to safety in case of an ambush. Can't fight when I'm carrying Lily like this. Where is Rose or the city soldiers? I just followed after the voices of people calling out to head for safety. There should be soldiers around somewhere.

"You resurrected me from the dead, Lily. I'll safe you as much time as I need to," I smiled at her.

"Zen… I…. Never mind," she stopped.

"Speak your mind, Lily. I'm listening," I said.

"But… okay. I don't know what you meant entirely when you said that you had a change of heart. But you.. got me feeling hopeful. Zen.. I don't need to be your wife. I don't mind being a side-lined caretaker for your family or just someone you wish to vent your lust at. Can I… be selfish in thinking that you will love me back?" she covered her face.

It was still dark but I knew that she was blushing. For her to even say such things just to stand a chance to be with me, I do not deserved this woman at all. But… it's not the right time to be with her just yet. I have a feeling that things are going to get worse from here.

"Let's talk more about this when this is over. I promise that I'll give you a straight answer. Lily.. you don't need to degrade yourself to deserve my love. As though I would allow the most beautiful elf I know to force herself to be a side caretaker just to be with me. As to the answer to your question.." I trailed off.

She was still covering her face but her lips were exposed. I leaned in to give her a kiss. A warning in my brain was sounding an alarm that what I am doing is a horrible thing to my wife but she was the one who insisted that I get along with her. If anything, she is to be blamed for kept pushing me. I just have to accept the fact that she have a reason for wanting me to make Lily my second wife.

She moved her hands aside when she realised I was kissing her. It was only for a brief moment before we parted our lips. I don't wish to get too intimate with her out here in the open. Where the hell are those soldiers? They should be close now as I can hear people shouting louder than before.

"You.. horrible naughty man. You just cheated on your wife," Lily buried her face on my chest.

Her elven ears were bright red. I guess it's been awhile since she got intimate with anyone. Such a beauty and only I had touched, kissed and slept with. Geez, what am I thinking about? Feeling superior over other guys just because you stood at chance at these two beauties? Don't think too highly of yourself, Zen Hawthorn. You just got lucky.

"I guess I can't hide the fact that my heart is beating fast since your ear is right next to it," I chuckled.

"It's… soothing to hear. I might get addicted to it," she chuckled back.

The sound of footsteps landed on the ground. I turned to see who it was and it was Rose panting. She must had been flying around the city looking for us or supporting the soldiers. We don't have her flight mobility so we are very dependent on our legs instead of her wings.

"Geez.. I know I've given permission but to flirt during combat is just…" she sighed.

"No no! I'm sorry, Rose! I just overexerted my legs fighting earlier. We weren't flirting," Lily started flustering and wriggling to get back on her feet.

I placed her down and her leg was shaking from side to side. I guess she wasn't lying after all. I thought she just wanted me to spoil her.

"What's the situation, Rose? Where are the soldiers? Please don't tell me they are wiped out," I asked.

"Things are stabilising now. Most of the soldiers are at the eastern gate trying to stop them from coming in. But I would say that since you've taken down the Chaplain Beast, a lot of them had started fleeing. I guess we won't be able to track them after all this time. Might have to wait for the next round of their attack," she explained.

"Wait.. things might not be over yet. Can you carry me to where we were fighting the monsters near the gate? Perhaps all is not lost," asked Lily.

Rose nodded and I followed after the both of them on foot. It was a small race that I challenged myself to see who was faster. As it turns out, we actually reached the same time. But Rose was carrying Lily so her speed was hindered in some way. But I am running on foot and there were plenty of obstacles for me to avoid. Is my speed faster than Rose? What a pointless thing I do during my free time.

"Now, let's see. Please be alive," she mumbled.

She placed her hands on her ears and pushed it forward. Those soft ears of hers are nice to nibble at last I recall. W… what the hell is wrong with me? My brain kept thinking of stupid things right now! Control yourself you horny moron!

We kept quiet but Rose was looking at me smacking my own forehead. She shushed me to keep quiet so we don't disturb Lily as she listened to what she was looking for.

"Can it be?" she started moving towards the direction of some rubbles.

We followed after her, helping her to remove some rubbles aside. Please be good news. Who knows what is going to happen next time the monster attacks. There might be more beasts or something worse than that Chaplain Beast.

Pushing aside the remaining last rubble, we found what we were looking for. A beast, legs fully tied together from Lily's bola, and best of all, still breathing. Yes! We finally stand a chance at finding who is behind these attacks. And I am not going to give any mercy to the mastermind behind these attacks. Mark my words. I am coming for you.