Chapter 187 - 182: Saturation Strike, Part 2
On the battlefield, a stalemate often favors the stronger side.
Every one of the Gray Swamp Lord’s thrashing movements sent tremors through the ground, making the soldiers on the cliffside tremble in fear.
The three main steel cables attached to the "Storm’s Eye" crossbow bolts were stretched taut, groaning as if they might snap at any moment.
Winch three on the right is overheating! Cracks in the rock base! Prepare to switch to the backup anchor point!
Cool down the winch! Hurry! Use the coolant!
The Magic Array’s Energy Crystal Stone consumption is ten percent above projections! Switching to energy sequence two!
The reports from various units, relayed through the mental matrix, made the tension on the battlefield palpable.
Even as they scrambled to their tasks, everyone’s eyes were instinctively glued to the chains binding the Gray Swamp Lord.
They knew all too well that these steel cables were their true lifeline.
Everyone was waiting for the crossbows to be reloaded, hoping to reinforce the restraints before the great serpent broke free.
The longsword at Roland’s waist was already half-drawn from its sheath.
Everything before him confirmed his assessment.
Mortal ingenuity and contraptions were fragile, utterly insignificant before the pure life force of a Level 5 Magical Beast.
From the very beginning, this plan had been walking a tightrope over the abyss of failure.
The beast’s regenerative power was simply absurd.
The wounds from the crossbow bolts were healing before their very eyes. Each flex of its muscles made the winches groan under the unbearable strain.
Velin’s meticulously deployed war machine was being ground down, dismantled piece by piece.
Roland had already decided. The moment the first steel cable snapped, he would make his move. He had to get Velin out of there before the great serpent’s breath incinerated everything.
Just then, Velin, who had been standing beside him, finally moved.
"Sir Knight, engage when you see fit. You’ll have to excuse me."
Roland gave him a puzzled look.
’At a time like this, where could Velin possibly be going?’
Velin walked to the edge of the cliff. A shriek pierced the din of the battlefield, and a massive black shadow descended from the sky.
Nefarian spread its wings, hovering steadily in the air before Velin.
Velin vaulted onto its back. Rider and mount launched into the air, bucking the battlefield’s chaotic air currents as they flew directly over the Gray Swamp Lord.
Roland watched as Velin pulled handful after handful of bean-like objects from a leather pouch at his saddle, scattering most of them over the Gray Swamp Lord’s body.
He held out his hand, and a speck of emerald light materialized in his palm.
’Spring Messenger!’
A vast wave of life energy, like a heaven-sent rain, descended precisely upon the serpentine body below.
HUMMM—!
The scattered "beans" were activated.
Dark red vines burst from the seed husks, sprouting and taking root on the great serpent’s body. Their sharp tendrils drilled into the gaps between its molten Scale Armor, burrowing deep into its flesh.
The Gray Swamp Lord sensed the strange things clinging to it. It suddenly reared its head, aiming back at its own body.
Its massive maw opened, and a thick pillar of dark red fire, laced with golden sparks of sulfur, erupted forth.
The air ignited with a terrifying roar. Rock melted into red-hot slag the instant the flames touched it, hissing and sputtering.
Roland silently drew the longsword at his waist as golden Spiritual Qi began to flow across his skin.
He was about to intervene.
’At this temperature, those seemingly ferocious vines and the steel chains would all melt. The Magical Beast wasn’t stupid; it had found the key to breaking the stalemate.’
But just as Roland mounted his own steed, ready to charge, he saw clearly the scene that emerged as the flames died down.
The specially forged steel cables and nets had rapidly turned red-hot in the blaze, softening and melting into pools of liquid metal.
But the Crimson Red vines, seared by the inferno, only grew thicker and tougher. They greedily absorbed the fire’s energy, growing and spreading, even curling back against the flames toward their source—the great serpent’s head!
Roland forgot all about charging, his mind gone blank.
’He had traveled the Duchy, set foot in many so-called "forbidden lands," and witnessed countless Extraordinary plants, but he had never seen one that could drink fire like water.’
The battle waited for no one. With its chains melted away, the Gray Swamp Lord’s restraints were suddenly loosened. It seized the chance, its massive body beginning to roll and thrash, trying to shake off the plants rooted in its flesh.
Dream on!
Ola’s roar echoed from the cliffside, Second volley! Pin the bastard down!
THWANG—! THWANG—! THWANG—!
The three massive crossbows roared to life once more.
Three more massive, barbed crossbow bolts, trailing steel cables, slammed into the serpent’s thrashing body, pinning it in place once more.
Velin steered Nefarian into a low orbit, flying almost close enough to touch the great serpent’s body as he continuously channeled Spring Messenger.
An even denser life energy poured into the vines.
Everyone watched as the dark red vines, far from withering on the serpent’s still-smoldering skin, began to grow even more furiously.
They intertwined and fused, quickly weaving a vast, living net across the great serpent’s body.
"ROAR—!"
The Gray Swamp Lord was utterly enraged.
It realized the three contraptions around the basin—the ones firing the giant spikes—were the greatest threat.
If it didn’t destroy them, it would never be free of the vines clinging to its body.
So it turned, opened its maw, and shot a searing torrent of sulfurous flame directly at the main firing platform where Ola was stationed!
Flame Protection Potions, launch! Valerius’s voice rang out in the mental matrix.
Almost at the instant the breath attack erupted, crystal vials were launched by catapults from the emplacements below, bursting in midair before the firing platform.
A colorless, viscous liquid burst forth, rapidly forming a translucent protective barrier.
The sulfurous flame slammed into the barrier with a HISS of vaporizing liquid. Billowing clouds of white steam rose, obscuring everyone’s view.
When the flames dissipated, the firing platform and the Dwarven crossbows atop it were unharmed, though the rock face was scorched black.
The continuous setbacks and the drain on its life force caused the Gray Swamp Lord’s movements to grow increasingly sluggish.
The Molten Blood-sucking Vines covering its body grew ever denser, like a colossal parasitic tumor, continuously sapping its strength.
It gave up the attack. Its massive head turned toward the cavern it had emerged from, wanting to retreat back underground.
Third volley! Don’t let it escape!
Another volley completely crushed its hopes of escape.
Pain and desperation drove the Gray Swamp Lord to let out one final, agonized roar.
It lunged forward and opened its bloody maw, as if to unleash one last, indiscriminate breath attack.
But in the instant it opened its mouth, Velin surged his Spiritual Power into the Spring Messenger ability.
The Molten Blood-sucking Vines covering the serpent’s body received their command. The tips of countless vines sharpened into deadly spikes. Like a living, crimson torrent, they surged down its wide-open gullet and into its body.