Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

The yellow mineral structure grew larger with each second, reaching the size of the beetle's own head, then surpassing it, eventually achieving proportions that made the beast beneath seem about to be crushed by the weight of its own creation.

But it wouldn't be crushed...

Because beetles were also strong, not just in defense but in brute force when necessary. And while Taro's beast had less multiplied strength than the hydra with its bonuses from two other beasts, it still had one extra beast and in total more than double what it would have as a wild creature. It was sufficient power to execute this final move even as its body began disintegrating completely from lack of mana.

Ren recognized what was happening half a second before it was too late. "Up," he ordered the hydra, but knew even as he gave the instruction there wouldn't be enough time to release and dodge.

The enormous ball of yellow mineral that had grown over the beetle hardened in a fraction of a second, the structure passing from semi-fluid to diamond-solid. And then it began precipitating downward with all the accumulated weight plus the force the beetle could apply in its last act before disappearing completely.

The beetle was disintegrating even as it pushed, its body converting into light particles that dispersed in the air as the bond with Taro severed violently.

Taro felt the pain lance through him, that sharp and terrible emptiness where connection with his most powerful beast had been, but he clenched his jaw and held firm.

Didn't scream.

Didn't show visible weakness.

Endured it "like a man" according to the expression his father sometimes used when talking about enduring difficult things without breaking.

The mass of mineral impacted just as the hydra was beginning to release the grip that no longer served an advantageous purpose.

A new explosion of dust and debris clouded the battle completely, visibility reducing to zero for a moment that extended beyond what the audience expected.

Dramatic silence settled while everyone waited for the dust to disperse, none completely certain what they'd find when vision was restored. Some murmured speculations in low voices about whether the hydra would have been seriously damaged by the suicide attack executed with such perfect timing. Others simply observed in silence, recognizing this was the last moment where the outcome was in doubt.

When the dust finally began settling, the first thing that became visible was that the beetle was just completely disappearing.

It had disintegrated into particles that no longer existed on the physical plane, having returned to Taro's core in purely energetic form that would take time to reconstitute properly.

The battle against Taro's first and most powerful beast had definitively ended.

But the hydra was also visible now, and to the surprise of many observers, it didn't look as damaged as the dramatic attack would have suggested.

It had released one of its heads at the last moment before impact, the jaw releasing its grip to allow that head to move freely. And it had used that freedom to fire a light beam directed upward, not horizontally toward an opponent but vertically toward the mass of mineral descending upon it.

The hastily-prepared beam had impacted the ball just before it struck, penetrating the structure from below and fracturing it internally. It hadn't destroyed it entirely… that would have required more power than the rushed single shot could generate in the available time.

But it had broken it into multiple fragments instead of allowing it to impact as a unified solid mass.

So instead of receiving a devastating blow from the enormous object moving with amplified force, the hydra had received impacts from multiple pieces of debris. Some still large yes, chunks still enormous falling with considerable velocity. But distributed across an area instead of concentrated on a single point, absorbable by the diamond scales that had been cultivated specifically to resist this type of punishment.

The total damage was much less than expected considering the dramatic nature of the beetle's final attack.

Nothing that compromised the hydra's capacity to continue fighting. Nothing suggesting the battle had fundamentally changed in Taro's favor despite the sacrifice of his strongest beast.

Taro observed from his position with an expression mixing residual pain from the broken bond with something that might have been satisfaction.

And then he smiled, an expression communicating that this wasn't finished yet, not even close...

Without waiting for even the announcement of the first win, without taking a moment to recover from the pain or regroup mentally, he manifested his second beast.

The Deep Terror appeared on the field with that presence that was fundamentally different from the golden beetle's. Unsettling and articulated in ways that defied expectations about how creatures should move.

Its multiple legs deployed immediately, extending in a considerable area around its central body.

And Ren realized in that moment, seeing the smile on Taro's face and observing how the Terror's legs moved with specific purpose toward particular objectives on the ground, that the beetle's last suicide attack hadn't been only to maximize damage to the hydra before being defeated.

It had also been to help Taro's second beast.

Because scattered across the field now, result of the mineral ball that had been fragmented by the hydra's light beam, were dozens of pieces of living yellow mineral. And the Deep Terror's legs were taking possession of all the fragments within reach, accumulating them around its body like valuable resources that would be utilized at the appropriate moment.

The living mineral created by the beetle wasn't simple ordinary rock. It was the materialization of its essence that could be manipulated, molded, utilized in ways that normal minerals wouldn't allow.

And the Deep Terror, with its unique capacity to control external cores and objects stuck to its chitinous armor, could leverage those fragments as improvised weapons or defenses that would considerably amplify its combat capabilities.

Taro had converted the inevitable defeat of his first beast into a tactical advantage for his second. Had used the sacrifice not just to cause damage but to establish a battlefield that favored the Deep Terror's specific strengths.

It was multi-layered planning that demonstrated exactly why Taro was considered one of the most dangerous strategists of his generation despite his preference for direct confrontation.

Like Liora's beast that could absorb a good quantity of energy from its previous takedowns, Taro's could also use the material left scattered across the field, material inherited from his first titan.