NOVEL NEXT Chapter 167: Against Two-Horned Magic Beast
Everyone immediately went silent as they watched Van's movement. His footwork had suddenly changed as he led the Two-Horned Magic Beast to ease the pressure on his companions.
After his team got into position, Van made his move to attack.
His first wave of attack only destroyed an afterimage—but he didn't mind it at all... It seemed that he actually did it in order to bait the Magic Beast!
Indeed!
Despite the failure, Van seemed to have an eye on his back as the Prairie Dog's attack from behind was anticipated!
Thud!
Van's sword met the Magic Beast's paw and black blood sprayed!
Van actually had such a sharp sword, or perhaps aura, to pierce through the beast's mana and thick hide!
The apprentices gasped collectively.
"How is he—?" Lena couldn't help but feel surprised. It was not easy even for them to pierce through the two-horned beast's defenses.
The five of them could only use Zero-Circle Spells and knew that it would take ten or more Zero-Circle Spells before being able to pierce through a Two-Horned Magic Beast's defense.
"He's really something else…" Julia whispered, recalling Van's lessons about visual tells. Furthermore, she knew that Van had a special skill that helped him find the weakness of his opponent.
That was the reason why Xiel could never win against him.
Just like that, the prairie dog howled in pain, and the illusions it made started flickering.
The other servants had no time to feel impressed as they immediately followed up to ensure that the prairie dog would not recover.
Fin seized the moment to crush its hind leg with his club. Theresa, on the other hand, went for the throat—
—only to be batted away like a doll.
Bam!
She almost crashed into the wagon wheel and her Aura started collapsing from the impact. Thankfully, Van had already weakened the beast and it didn't have enough momentum with the strike.
Theresa stood up and coughed. She staggered for a moment but gritted her teeth as she stood upright. Her aura almost collapsed, but it didn't vanish.
"Back up!" Van said, stepping forward again to face the two-horned Magic Beast.
Seeing Van in front, the Prairie Dog growled and showed its fangs filled with venom… Soon, nine illusions were circling them again. This time, its movements were faster, more unpredictable… It was a lot harder to find its weakness.
However, Van's mind was calm. It only took a second to find the real body Prairie Dog. But that wasn't the main concern, Van still had to find its weakness in order to kill it. After all, the two-horned Magic Beasts had decent regeneration abilities.
[ Analysis Active ]
[ Weak Point Found: Left Shoulder Joint – Tendon Density Incomplete ]
[ Estimated Disruption Efficiency: 64% with targeted piercing ]
'Good… now we have to chip away.'
"Elias! Dust bomb, two o'clock!" Van shouted.
To be honest, Elias didn't mention this dust bomb to anyone. However, Van had previously scanned his bag and knew the items he was keeping there.
Elias had several questions in his mind, but he still made his move. He hurled another small glass vial.
It burst in a flash of glowing gray smoke—not meant to harm but to disrupt vision briefly.
Van moved at once.
He dashed forward—not at the real beast, but at a cluster of illusions. As expected, they flickered uselessly—but his momentum drove the beast's attention toward his feint.
That's when Jax, hidden behind the blind spot, leaped forward and delivered a deep slash to the thigh of the real body. Once again, blood had sprayed.
This was because Van had already thrown a couple of needles, targeting the beasts' weakness.
"Nice hit!" Elias called, but it wasn't over just yet.
The beast roared and summoned a pulse of raw mana.
Soon, the illusions swirled like windblown leaves, this time forming a spiral of energy…
Van's Ocularis Lens updated instantly. Thankfully, there were some records about them.
[ Spell Signature: Mirage Spiral ]
[ Estimated Duration: 18 to 25 seconds ]
[ Real Body Location: 4 o'clock position—Delay of 1.2s between movement and image ]
Van remained calm as he looked at his companions. It seemed that Instructor Chavez had no plans to intervene despite seeing that they were facing a Two-Horned Magic Beast.
It was too unfair but he could only blame himself for this…
He then shouted, "Jax, dive left—Theresa, bait with high swing—Fin, down strike from above!"
There was no argument. They simply obeyed as they also wanted this to end. Furthermore, they also felt that they could win this as long as they worked together and listened to Van's orders.
None of them wanted to die here after all.
If they were injured or killed here, their masters could just find another slave or servant. They had to work harder if they didn't want to be replaced!
Theresa charged with her brass knuckles, leaped and swung her fist—intentionally missing—but drawing the beast's attention upward.
Jax then rolled beneath the beast, avoiding the spiral of energy as instructed in an attempt to hurt the Magic Beast… Then, Fin came crashing down with a powerful, overhead blow.
Crack!
The impact hit the real body!
Of course, it was all thanks to Van, who was able to break the mana defense of the Magic Beast! If not for that, his companions would only be hitting the protective mana around their bodies.
The Prairie Dog then shrieked in fury and snapped its jaws at Fin—only to reel backward again as another of Van's needles hit its target.
It was embedded in the middle of the eyebrow, directly above the pupil, when looking forward.
[ Acupuncture Point ( Yuyao ): Meridian Disruption Successful ]
[ Temporarily Disabling Left Eye – Duration: 6.4 seconds ]
Van whispered, "Now."
He then sprinted, dodging past swipes that barely grazed his clothes. Soon, his sword was filled with his aura. Then, he reversed his grip mid-charge and slid low.
The tip of his blade dug clean into the shoulder joint, just as Ocularis Lens had predicted.
Squelch!
A gout of black blood burst, and the beast staggered violently. Its spiral energy, illusion, or any form of resistance had completely disappeared!
It tried to retreat. Van didn't let it.
"Elias, binding potion!"
Another vial sailed through the air and shattered on the prairie dog's forelimbs, coating it in viscous blue liquid…
"NOW!" Van shouted…
Just like that, Theresa charged again and all of her Aura surged through her fists—this time in perfect harmony with Van's timing.
She struck its ribs with a precise one-two combo, rattling its insides. Fin followed with a leg sweep, while Jax charged for the beast's exposed underbelly and stabbed deep.
Even as it thrashed violently, Van remained calm…
He stepped into its blind side and, without hesitation, drove a final needle between the cervical vertebrae.
This was a nerve-related strike at the brainstem via the cervical spine, which is a critical and highly vulnerable area. Of course, there was no way to find this from the Prairie Dog with only his skills.
It was all thanks to his Ocularis Lens that he was able to find this part after a few minutes of scanning.
[ Acupuncture Point ( Fengfu ): Paralysis Chain Activated ]
[ Confirmed: Brainstem Disruption 92% Effective ]
Finally, the magic beast trembled and it let out a final screech—but it collapsed before the cry finished.
Thud!
For a moment, there was only silence as the servants couldn't believe it at first. Even the Apprentice Mages didn't expect that they could win at all. They all thought it was unwinnable as soon as they saw the Two-Horned Magic Beast…
'Are two-horned Magic Beasts weaker than what we learned in the Academy?'
They couldn't help but think of this. It was as if the Instructors were only exaggerating these Magic Beasts to scare them.
Thanks to the performance of their slaves, they couldn't help but feel more confident about their mission. After all, if these weak Aura Users could win against a Two-Horned Magic Beasts, they believed that the One-Horned Beasts of the Whistler Forest would not be a problem at all.
***
At this time, Van stood still, and his breathing was hard. His clothes were tattered, and blood spattered his sleeves. It was so difficult to fight when he was suppressing his Level 1 Aura. Nonetheless, he was quite happy as he knew that he didn't leak a level of aura that should not be possible for a Trainee Level.
Anyway, the fur of the beast had grazed him a lot during the battle. Those furs weren't soft and were as tough as swords… Thankfully, they were only scratches and could be easily healed with his Aura.
In just a couple of days, his body shouldn't have traces of minor injuries anymore.
"It's dead for sure…" Elias confirmed as he got closer and nudged the body with his boot.
Fin slumped, breathing heavily. "That… was not supposed to be possible."
Jax also laughed breathlessly, "Tell that to needle-boy."
"Without Van, we'd be dead..." Theresa added.
Van didn't say anything. He simply cleaned his blade and tucked it away.
Behind them, the carriage door finally creaked open.
Instructor Chavez stepped down, followed by the five apprentices.
She stared at the corpse, then at Van.