Chapter 105: Doing The Impossible
Leonard’s hands firmly gripped the rough scales of the snake as he climbed the creature.
His goal was to reach its other eye and blind it. Given the level difference between them, the only way he could imagine winning was to rob their enemy of its vision, giving them a fighting chance.
However, to his dismay, things didn’t proceed as smoothly as he had hoped.
The Crimson Snake realized that the mist it had caught in its jaws hadn’t been Leonard but merely Joker.
Still agitated, the snake’s eye searched across its surroundings. Its iris narrowed when it spotted Leonard still climbing its scales.
"Uh-oh..." Leonard cursed, taking the axe he had been holding in his mouth.
In a flash, the snake lunged and unleashed a stream of potent acid that landed on his arm, his skin sizzling under the lethal liquid.
"Ugh!"
Like a ragdoll, he was flung away from the snake’s body and crashed toward the ground, the sheer force driving the air out of his lungs.
Valor and Elizabeth, who had been too late to come to Leonard’s aid, flanked the Boss.
Going all out, Elizabeth leaped gracefully into the air and landed upon the creature’s back. Using the scythe that she spun across her palm, she dashed forward. The chilly blade of her weapon carved a deep gash across the snake’s body, spilling blood.
Sssss!
The Crimson Snake flicked its tongue in pain, yet before it was able to retaliate, Valor reached its head and targeted the other eye, forcing the creature to focus on him.
Not taking kindly to the presence of the knight, the monster lowered its head with staggering speed and bit off his upper body in a single bite. Valor’s lower torso remained standing for several seconds before it came crashing down with a lifeless thud.
[Valor has been killed. A 24-hour cooldown has been set before you can summon him again.]
Leonard got the notification of his summon’s defeat, but sadly, he wasn’t capable of focusing on it.
[You have been poisoned by Grade 3 toxin.]
His skin, which had been exposed to the snake’s acid, burned, sending waves of excruciating pain coursing throughout his body.
Under normal circumstances, Leonard should have died on the spot when exposed to the acid venom of a Level 40 Boss.
"That’s it. He needs medical help immediately." Scarlett declared. She was the first of the supervisors to step forward, ready to put an end to this pointless battle.
However, Christopher stood before her, his tall frame blocking her path.
"What is the meaning of this? Leonard is going to die! This examination has gone too far!" She protested, slightly irritated by the man’s actions.
Christopher simply shook his head and pointed toward Leonard.
"Open your eyes and look closer."
Arching an eyebrow, Scarlett and the rest of the supervisors obeyed.
Their eyes widened in shock.
"What—"
They had fully expected Leonard’s arm to melt on the spot before the poison reached the rest of his body, yet beside the sizzling skin that had grown red, he wasn’t on the verge of death.
[Hardened Physique lessens the impact of the harmful toxin by 80%.]
"This trait is a real lifesaver." He chuckled sarcastically, slowly rising to his feet.
The 80% reduction was what spared him from an almost certain death. Still, the pain he felt across his skin and his numb arm weren’t something that could be avoided.
He took out a health potion he had bought with his 500 merit points before going into the forest.
[Moderate Health Potion]
[Rank: Rare]
[A healing potion that restores 20 Vitality upon consumption. Overuse causes side effects.]
It was a superior version of the Minor Health Potions he had used before.
He poured the contents over himself. Slowly, his skin healed, though the numbness and the occasional pain remained.
Gazing forward, he saw Elizabeth, who had been thrown off the creature’s back after Valor’s defeat.
By now, the Crimson Snake was bleeding profusely, to the point that it was sure to succumb to its injuries eventually.
Yet the creature remained stubborn, vengeance burning in its eyes as it dashed forward, about to devour Elizabeth with nothing standing in its way.
Elizabeth watched the approaching doom, aware that she had reached her limit and had no way to retaliate.
"Okay, that’s enough."
Suddenly, Christopher appeared next to Elizabeth, a large eye hovering above them.
Under the eye’s gaze, the snake instantly halted as if frozen in time. Even its brain was incapable of comprehending that its life was hanging by a thread.
"You did good enough." Christopher threw a reassuring look at Elizabeth, who remained silent.
He heaved a sigh, then gave Leonard a curious glance.
Silently Christopher and Elizabeth disappeared a second later as if they had never been there.
The Crimson Snake was puzzled for a few seconds, wondering where its prey had gone, though soon after, its gaze locked onto Leonard again as it went for the kill.
"So Christopher is one of the supervisors..." Leonard said, his eyes narrowing on the monster.
Honestly, now that he was certain they were being watched, he wasn’t scared anymore, knowing they would intervene if he were about to die against the boss.
Still, the numbness in his arm reminded him of the grudge he had toward the creature.
Whatever the cost, he wanted to make sure he slew it with his own hands.
Pushing his body to the limit, he sprinted toward the wooden walls he had built, the snake following behind.
"Let’s see how thick that head of yours is!"
Leonard made Joker take the form of fog, covering a wide area.
Ssss!
With its vision robbed, the snake was incapable of following Leonard’s movements, nor did it have the time to slow down.
BOOM!
Its massive body collided with the sturdy walls a second later. Although the snake broke past them, it still felt the severity of the impact.
ROAR!
The snake’s rage turned to desperation. Its body moved to the side, hitting another portion of the wall.
Suddenly, the fog around it began to dissipate, revealing Leonard standing next to a sharpened log that had tilted diagonally, its tip pointing upward.
"Over here! Just try to get me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
Due to the pain it was subjected to, the monster didn’t possess the insight to realize this was bait.
The Crimson Snake shot downward, its massive frame blocking out the sun overhead.
"Don’t you dare miss." Leonard whispered to himself, conjuring a javelin and aiming for the snake’s remaining eye.
Because he didn’t possess the ability to hit the creature while it was mid-dash, he took the biggest gamble of his life.
He invested his entire mana reserve into Draconic Eyes, seeing the furthest possible point into the future. Then he threw the projectile, having calculated where the snake was most likely to appear.
Time seemed to slow as the javelin’s tip appeared right in the middle of the snake’s iris.
The projectile hit its mark, yet Leonard didn’t have the luxury of looking. He had already jumped to the side to avoid the collision.
Had the snake’s eyes worked, it would have followed after him. But with both of its eyes blinded, it wasn’t able to react in time and impaled its head on the log that had once been a part of the wall.
The boss monster went limp, its long frame falling to the ground with a deafening crash, finally succumbing to its accumulated wounds.
[You have defeated a Level 40 Crimson Snake.]
[You have put a stop to the Grade 3 Monster Wave!]
[In recognition of your exceptional achievement, you have been granted 20,000 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 10,000 Experience!]
"It’s dead... It’s dead..." Leonard collapsed onto the ground and began to laugh, unable to believe that he had managed to pull off the maneuver.
Of course, he was aware that this was his victory just as much as Elizabeth’s. Without her severely weakening the creature, he wouldn’t have stood a chance, no matter the strategy.
He summoned Callum, hoping that the carcass of the monster would allow his familiar to reach another evolution.
Yet rather than the thankful screech of his familiar that Leonard had expected, Callum uttered words that shook him to his core.
"Master! Master!" Callum screeched happily, ruffling his wings. "This monster has a mana core!"
Leonard’s breath hitched, his eyes narrowing with endless possibilities.
"It has a mana core?!" He bellowed in astonishment. "That means I can turn the Crimson Snake into a summon!"