Chapter 232 - 231: A Very Clear Target
It held a firm grip on the battle’s rhythm.
The Bone Centaur stood four meters tall, its hulking frame like a small mountain.
Its mere presence was enough to inspire fear.
In comparison, Marcus and Maki seemed tiny.
The Bone Centaur alternated between sweeping and thrusting its Long Halberd, pushing the two into a desperate defense.
"Watch out!"
Marcus had just parried a Thrust and hadn’t even regained his footing.
The Bone Centaur’s attack came again.
A furious downward slash, brought down with enough force to split a mountain!
The Long Halberd flashed past like a streak of sharp light, moving so fast that the sound of it cleaving the air couldn’t keep up.
This time, Marcus and Maki didn’t dare try to pin it down; their only option was to dodge.
"BOOM!!!"
The Long Halberd struck the ground!
The floor of the circular, arched hall, as if struck by heavenly lightning, instantly cracked, with the point of the Halberd Blade’s impact at its center.
Vicious cracks spiderwebbed outward for over ten meters, sending stone fragments flying!
Just then, Zelir’s Aurora Energy Beam blasted out, striking the Bone Centaur right in the chest where its core was encased.
The concentrated form of the Aurora Energy Beam was the most destructive Magic Zelir currently commanded.
The blue beam blasted through a portion of its skeleton, tearing a hole straight through the Bone Centaur’s chest.
The attack looked quite effective.
Against an ordinary Demon, a few more hits on that wound would have been enough to get to the core.
Just like how they had dealt with the Giant Rock Golem.
But before the Bone Centaur...
This method of slowly grinding it down to destroy the core was useless.
The Bone Centaur’s chest squirmed, and the hole that had just been blasted open immediately regenerated, once again shielding the purple core within.
A wasted effort.
And now, with both Marcus and Maki forced back by the last slash, no one was left to restrict the Bone Centaur’s movements.
So, it had room to maneuver again.
’This is bad... Something’s wrong!’
Zelir felt a sense of foreboding and subconsciously took a step back.
As expected!
The Bone Centaur scraped its hooves, its head whipping around to lock onto Zelir before it began to Charge at him!
’Damn it, is this thing ever going to let up?!’
Zelir cursed inwardly.
’Marcus and Maki are so much closer to you, go after them first!’
It leveled its Long Halberd, the tip aimed straight at Zelir.
The thunder of its hooves was like an avalanche, giving it the appearance of an elite cavalryman launching a charge.
’No matter how you look at it, this thing is like a combination of Lü Bu and Red Hare!’
"HISS!!!"
It even let out a high-pitched shriek, declaring its savage killing intent.
The entire arched hall echoed with the Bone Centaur’s cry.
Zelir didn’t dare to be complacent for a second. He activated the Ring of Resistance at full power, the concentrated Magic Power causing the very space before him to ripple.
Impact!
"THUD!!!"
The Bone Centaur slammed violently into the Ring of Resistance’s Force Field.
The brutal momentum of its Charge collided with the pure Arcane Repulsive Force!
A violent shockwave erupted, sweeping out in all directions!
At the very forefront of the collision, Zelir was under immense pressure.
His face was grim, and his body was in agony.
It was only thanks to the Constitution bonus from his Magic Contract that he could withstand it. A normal Mage, even if they had blocked the attack, would have likely suffered internal injuries from the shock.
The scarlet Flames in the Bone Centaur’s eye sockets suddenly flickered, as if in a look of triumph.
The next instant, its right arm moved.
A piercing Thrust with the Long Halberd!
"SWOOSH!"
The force of this blow was immense, and the black aura coating the weapon condensed at its tip as it stabbed directly into the Ring of Resistance’s Force Field.
It was trying to break the defense by concentrating all its force on a single point!
He was so close... just a little more and Zelir would have been unable to maintain the Defense Magic.
But a portion of the sharp, piercing force still penetrated the Force Field and struck Zelir directly.
"Puah..."
He coughed up a spray of blood, a red mist rising before him.
The force of the blow sent Zelir staggering back two steps. He clutched his left chest as blood slowly seeped through his fingers.
The Bone Centaur’s attack had actually wounded Zelir without direct contact.
And it had been aiming for his heart.
The enraged shouts of Marcus and Maki came from both sides as they re-engaged the Bone Centaur.
The two of them felt utterly helpless.
They had left only the slightest opening, and the Bone Centaur had immediately seized the opportunity to launch a fierce assault on Zelir.
It seemed to know full well who its primary target was.
The Bone Centaur calmly continued to suppress the two warriors with its Long Halberd.
"Cough, cough..."
Zelir wiped the blood from his mouth as the green light of a Healing Skill shone in his palm, which he then pressed against his wound.
Nourished by the Life Energy, the piercing pain gradually subsided, and the wound soon healed.
’Good thing the injury wasn’t severe. If that Long Halberd had pierced my heart, I probably wouldn’t have even had the chance to cast the Healing Skill.’
Maki felt like he was caught in a whirlwind of death.
The Bone Centaur had adopted a style of wide, sweeping Vortex Slashes that was both simple and brutally effective.
Its attack range was wide, its Power was absurdly high, and it didn’t lack agility either.
Every swing of its Long Halberd carried a fearsome might, forcing them to duck and dodge.
Initially, Maki had thought about crippling its mobility by attacking its legs.
But after witnessing the Bone Centaur’s freakish regenerative ability, Maki had abandoned that plan.
’It’s useless to cut them; they’d just grow back in the blink of an eye.’
’Worse, I’d probably get caught during the recovery animation and take a nasty hit.’
Seeing Marcus pinned down beside him like a cornered rat, too scared to show his head, Maki spun his Heavy Sword and boldly met the Bone Centaur’s weapon head-on.
"CLANG!"
The tremendous sound of bone striking steel shook the entire tomb!
With just that one exchange, Maki instantly regretted his decision.
The moment the front of his Heavy Sword struck the Long Halberd, an irresistible, immense force traveled up the blade.
He couldn’t even manage a deadlock; his weapon was immediately knocked aside.
The deflecting force sent Maki himself staggering back two steps, nearly losing his balance and falling to the ground.
Marcus’s eyes went wide, his expression seeming to ask, "What in the world are you doing?"
Just as the Bone Centaur was about to press its attack with another swing of its Long Halberd, a deep blue hammer materialized before it.
It was the Hammer of Destruction, cast by Zelir!
Zelir’s eyes narrowed, and the Hammer of Destruction, a creation of Mage Hedley, smashed forward!
"BOOM!!!"
The heavy hammer struck the Bone Centaur square in the chest cavity!
’Since your core is protected by an outer barrier, I’ll just have to try a different method—penetrating your defense with a blunt-force impact!’
"VRRRR...!"
A high-frequency shockwave erupted from the point of the hammer’s impact!
The resonating, vibratory force did indeed conduct through the outer layer of bone.
He could faintly see the purple core within dim for a moment.
But...
It wasn’t enough.
Perhaps the Magic itself wasn’t powerful enough, or perhaps Zelir’s Magic Power Strength was insufficient.
The Hammer of Destruction still couldn’t deliver a decisive blow.