Tendrils of azure lightning crackled around my body as I rushed forward with an explosive burst of speed.
Quinn was on my left, keeping up with my speed even as I was using the Lightning Aura.
I drew back my spear while Quinn summoned a pair of daggers. No words were exchanged between us, yet we knew exactly what to do.
As soon as we entered the striking range, we split up – Quinn encircled the colossal serpent from the left, while I covered its right.
Numerous shadow creatures, along with Nero, Anastasia, Kent, and Amelia, were already engaging the serpent, providing us clear openings to get close and unleash our attack.
Our plan was clear and simple.
Quinn and I were aiming to pierce both of the cyan serpent’s eyes, blinding it, and then make a swift escape.
Yes, there was a chance it could still track us even after it lost its eyes, but we should have bought enough time for the ships to arrive.
Since there were individual Teleportation Gates on every ship, some instructors from the academy might also be able to come to our aid.
But for either of those to happen, we needed time. Blinding the monster would buy us the time we needed, thus that was our plan.
Bolts of lightning crackled beneath my feet, propelling me upward into the air. At the same time, Quinn also shot up in the air like a rocket.
Down on the ground, the cyan serpent endured the onslaught from the shadow creatures and the unified assault of the Cadets.
Nero noticed our positions and understood what we were trying to do. He stepped in and executed a horizontal slash on its side, his sword engulfed in searing flames.
From the opposite direction, Anastasia threw her glowing fist forward in a blur of golden light. Her punch connected with the serpent’s scales and the golden mana around her fist surged forth in a rippling shockwave.
Thwaam—!!
Kabooom—!!
However, even their combined attacks failed to inflict any fatal wounds on the serpent. But they did successfully manage to restrict its movements even if only for a moment.
Up ahead the ongoing fray, Kent and Amelia charged at the serpent at the same time Quinn and I began to fall down it.
If the serpent decided to focus on Kent and Amelia, it would be exposed to our attacks.
If it fixed its attention on us then Amelia and Kent would be able to land their blows.
Our coordination was flawless! There was no way for the serpent to escape or even dodge our attacks.
Though we couldn’t kill it, we could achieve our objective of blinding it no matter what—
“Huh?!”
Right as I was in the middle of my thoughts, my eyes fell on the cyan serpent.
I saw something ancient… something primal flickering in its eyes for a split second.
Fwooosh—!!
In the next instant, a tumultuous gale burst forth from the serpent’s body. It was like a powerful tornado, sending those in its near proximity flying backward.
I was also flung away, soaring through the air until I collided with a tree.
The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs, leaving me disoriented as I fell to the hard ground below.
“What in the…” I managed to draw in a gasp, my vision shaking with a mix of confusion and uncertainty.
Coughing several times, I raised my gaze to meet the cyan serpent’s stare. It was… looking at me!
In a blur of speed, the serpent lunged at me the moment our eyes met each other’s.
Why the hell is it targeting me specifically? Come to think of it, I was the only one who felt its gaze earlier… So was it only stalking me all this time? But why?
My thoughts were cut short as the cyan serpent drew closer. Gritting my teeth, I intoned the Fire Lance spell.
Suddenly, several javelins forged from swirling, incinerating flames conjured into existence around me and shot forward at the serpent like a salvo of missiles.
Kabooom—!!
The flame lances struck the cyan serpent’s snout, triggering an immolating explosion that sent forth a sonic boom, shaking the ground beneath me.
But I knew this wasn’t nearly enough to vanquish a Divine-ranked mana beast. So I mustered strength in my legs and rose to my feet.
Tightening my grip on the silver spear in my left hand, I chanted another spell under my breath – Hellfire Doom.
I felt the mana surging into my right palm as I clenched it into a tight fist and struck the ground beneath me.
Thwaaam—!!
As my fist hit the ground, multiple fissures appeared on the surface, all creeping their way toward the cyan serpent who was still hidden behind a shroud of thick plumes of smoke that had risen after the earlier explosion.
Behind the veil of thick black smoke, I felt the serpent’s presence. It was still looking at me. It was still unhurt.
However, before it could launch itself at me once again, the creeping fissures reached the ground beneath the plumes of rising smoke, causing the terrain to crumble.
Several fountains of demolishing flames surged forth from the cracks in the earth, encircling the cyan serpent as though imprisoning it behind bars of fire.
“Everyone, get the fuck back!” I yelled at my comrades, and they heeded my warning.
Amelia and Kent retreated to the left, Anastasia and Quinn leaped to safety on the right, while Nero ran in my direction.
In the very next second, a brilliant explosion blossomed before us, the engulfing flames devouring the entire area where the cyan serpent had been, quickly reducing the lush forest greenery to ash and gouging out a deep crater in the ground.
Before the flames of the explosion could even subside, Nero reached me and inquired, “Was that everything?”
What the heck did he mean by everything?! I had hit that monster with two of my most potent artillery spells in rapid succession! That’s what I wanted to retort.
However, instead of taking offense and sparking an argument, I simply nodded. “Yeah. If that didn’t kill it, then there’s nothing in my arsenal that could.”
“Well, it’s not dead,” Nero noted.
I glanced at him and shrugged. “Your turn, I suppose.”
Nero let out a sigh. “I guess.”
Taking in a deep breath, Nero lifted his gleaming crimson sword and aimed it at the heavens.
Suddenly, the light of the day dimmed as pitch-black thunderclouds shrouded the entire sky.
Sparks of electricity crackled around Nero’s sword causing bolts of lightning to streak across the dark gray expanse of the sky.
Gritting his teeth, Nero brought down his sword. In response, the azure lightning bolts in the sky converged into a single point, taking the form of a winged creature – a dragon!
The lightning dragon roared thunderously in the sky before unfurling its wings and descending to the ground at the precise spot where the cyan serpent was hidden behind the shroud of thick black smoke and rising dust.
“What the fuck?!” I widened my eyes and crossed my arms over my head. The scale of that spell would decimate the entire vicinity!
And indeed, it did.
The lightning dragon crashed onto the ground, unleashing fierce winds, a deluge of rain, and a thunderous explosion, utterly obliterating everything in a two-hundred-meter radius.
