The octopus elephant was the same height as a mammoth, standing at 9 feet tall. Its thick skin was almost as hard as the sabertooth moose's skull, while it's very own skull was twice as thick making it impregnable to normal weapons.
Its distinct feature was its 8 trunks that were individually bigger than the arms of a full-grown man out together. Above the trunks were its 2 tusks which when stretched out, were 2.4 meters in length.
Every step it took caused a low vibration but it made Blake wonder what would happen when it began charging.
'Why are we the ones that get to the most amount of beasts or the strongest during our exercises.' Brian complained through the mind link.
[Because you guys are the best team so far, it is natural to receive a higher difficulty than that of others. Besides, I don't see why you all are whining, it isn't as if the octopus elephant is in the Knight rank.] The system said, causing the trio to rain down cursed in the head.
The octopus elephant was among the few special Knight rank beasts that not only unlocked an ability unique to their species but also awakened the earth element. With both the power to deal massive damage to the city barrier and the ability to create ramps for the beasts to reach the top of the wall, they were categorized as a kill on sight type beast.
"He had been saving the octopus elephant for us." Blake helplessly shook his head as he began wondering if the stress and trials that he faces for being the best were worth it.
"Take your positions!" On hearing the command from Major Reeves, the teams moved to the edge of the wall.
"Begin!" Once the command was given, all teams simultaneously jumped off the top of the wall and began free falling.
"Now!" Blake shouted to his team as they got halfway down the wall. Using the floating orb, their descent was halted and Mana cables emerged from the wall and plugged into the back of the straps.
'Just like I guessed.' Blake thought when the Mana cable kept on feeding the floating orb with Mana till it began spreading to his feet. After a few seconds, the Mana cables automatically disconnected and once Blake gave the signal the team released the excess Mana through their feet, causing them to launch forward at an incredible speed.
Once they were at a good distance away from the octopus elephant, Brian and Tessie stopped in their tracks.
Earth eruption!
An earth platform rose from below to a height of 11 feet, but as it rose some of the beasts below began making their way to the top.
Unlike the special ops, Blake's team didn't have any arrays to protect themselves from the beasts. Meaning Brian and Tessie had to focus more on defending than supporting them in fighting the octopus elephant.
Knowing that it would be more difficult to deal with the beasts if they reached the top, Tessie acted.
Vine constrict!
Placing her hands on the platform, green plant vines began sprouting from the top to the bottom.
At first, the beasts running upwards the pillar of earth sensed danger when they saw the sprouting vines, but they weren't harmed or constricted by them so they kept on climbing upwards.
When a sizeable amount had gotten on the pillar, Tessie released a pulse of mana that spread through the plants, the inactive plants began constricting every living thing that it came in contact with.
Blood Drain!
The beasts which had let down their guards were taken by surprise. The sudden constriction of their limbs caused many to crash, leaving them in very bad positions where they were incapable of moving.
With a lot of beasts bound on their bellies and backs, red thick thorns began appearing on the vines, piercing into the beasts and draining their blood. The drained blood was strengthening the vines, causing them to increase in size and strength.
'Seems I was wrong in thinking she was the weak link in the team.' Major Reeves thought when he saw the nasty chain reaction that Tessie had created.
Because of the beasts stuck to the pillar, those below that tried to climb up were slowed down making it easier for the plant vines to restrain them.
'It's nice that I don't have to worry about them.' Seeing that Brian and Tessie could handle themselves Blake changed his focus to the octopus elephant ahead of them.
[I have always been wondering why the octopus elephant just stood still, but it seems my hunch was correct. Reeves had used his presence to stop the beasts from moving. That is until now.]
At the moment of the system's explanation, the octopus elephant trumpeted with its 8 trunks, forcing the trio to cover their ears, but that was when a ferocious gust of wind sent them flying backward.
"This would be troublesome..." Blake said to his Castiel and Luciano when he regained his composure using flamebursts. They were quite some distance away from the octopus elephant, but the power of the trunks had still affected them.
BAM! BAM!
Just as they were pushed back, the octopus elephant began charging towards at a speed not proportional to its weight. In a matter of seconds the octopus elephant had covered most of the distance.
Normally it wasn't something they couldn't handle, but because they were airborne and new to it at that, their options were limited. Being in the center, Blake's only option of dogging the charge of the tank was going up.
Using both flamebursts and more mana from the floating orb, Blake was able to dodge the charge, but immediately the octopus elephant turned around and trumpeted.
"Shit!" Still recovering from dodging the strap, Blake felt a ferocious gust of wind come his way, but there was nothing he could do about it.
BAM!
Blake was sent flying at an uncontrollable speed towards the ground!