Free Web NovelChapter 15: Mimic Vs The Great Sorceress (2)
BOOM!
Shatter! Shatter! Shatter!
BOOOM!!
The beam hits all the falling icebergs and shatters them all in an instant before being stopped by the ceiling, which creates a powerful explosion. At the same moment, the beam creates a shockwave that flutters Claire’s clothing.
As the Great Sorceress is avoiding the large and small chunks of ice falling to the floor, the dragon has healed his damaged muscle nerves and successfully frees himself from the paralysis. When Claire has set her eyes on the dragon, it suddenly disappears from her sight, vanishing like a wind and only leaving mist that is clearly not from the evaporating ice.
(?! It disappears!)
She immediately heightens her senses by silently casting layers of perception enhancement buffs on herself. The dragon’s presence is hidden by the falling ice. She waits for seconds expecting an attack until she finally senses an incredibly fast movement behind, which she immediately turns her back around.
(So fast! Wait!)
Her maximized perception speed can barely catch a glimpse of the monster. However, when she sees what is approaching her, it is not a dragon anymore, rather, an entirely different monster that is flying at supersonic speed.
(A gryph—!) fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The dragon has transformed himself into a gryphon and is currently zooming to Claire. As the gryphon is about to hit her, the Advanced Automatic Defense she precast earlier activates and manages to block the dragon’s razor sharp claws.
Advanced Automatic Defense creates an invisible spherical barrier around the caster. When something hits it, the contact area turns translucent showing its honeycomb patterns, and the surface ripples to distribute the energy.
Clink!
Shatter!
However, due to the sonic speed flight of the gryphon, the momentum of the impact overwhelmed her defense’s limits and shatters like glass. The Advanced Automatic Defense does not actually negate the knockback effect. Even if the barrier manages to absorb the impact, she would still be sent flying by the gryphon’s powerful strike.
"Ahh—!!"
She stays midair for a few seconds, spinning around and losing her sense of orientation. She finally lands violently on the floor, rolling around several times and feels the heat of the surface.
(Where did that gryphon come from?! And where is the dragon?!) She questions the monster before her as she is recovering herself. (Could it be that they are one? The dragon transformed into another monster? Impossible! I never heard of that kind of creature.)
Once she gets on her feet, she looks at the monster standing before dozens of meters from her. It is intently locking its gaze with hers. She sees the same determined eyes from them. Analyzing its magic frequency, she confirms that its mana matches the dragon.
(It is indeed the dragon. If it could really transform into a different monster, it is undoubtedly a dangerous and powerful monster. I didn’t even know if the dragon is its true form. It is aware that I am only using magic and it learns to adapt to fight in closed range. Not only is it immensely powerful but also terrifyingly intelligent— ?!)
The moment she blinks in her accelerated mind, the gryphon suddenly flaps its wings and soars high with such speed and disappears into the darkness where her light cannot reach. Even though she cannot clearly see the gryphon, she can sense it flying at a similar random pattern above her.
Following its tracks, Claire feels like it stops flying around and finally zooms straight at her. However, instead of attacking her, he maneuvers upwards and soars up again. Claire is baffled why the gryphon did not attack her until she senses something is coming at her right after the gryphon passes. She recognizes what it is.
(A spider’s silk?)
As she is wondering where it comes from, she immediately casts a fireball to burn it. After that, a few more spider silks are fired at her, which she easily burns with her magic.
Another spider silk is shot at her coming from above. In response, she fires a fireball to intercept it. However, the silk does not seem to set on fire and is still coming at her at a faster rate.
"What?!"
As the silk is about to reach her, it suddenly turns into different material like something fleshy with a blade in its tip. Claire quickly realizes it and reflexively raises her left arm in an attempt to block it. The blade just scrapes and passes her arm before the long flesh starts wrapping up her body, letting go of her staff. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
(So those silks were to let my guard down before launching its deceit! This monster is now doing strategies!)
After extended flesh coils her body three times, the monster pulls Claire up. When her light finally reaches the monster, she discovers that the thing wrapping her is actually the hovering gryphon’s tongue.
(Damn it! This thing breaks the ice that covers my wound.)
She struggles to get free but the gryphon tightens his grip further, which breaks her focus for casting spells.
"Ahh!!"
(I can’t use magic in this situation! What’s worse is that my pursuers are about to reach this floor! Damn it! What should I do? I’m so fucked up!)
She stares at the gryphon and finds it staring at the entrance to the stairs. It seems like it can sense her pursuers coming too. In the middle of her desperation, she ultimately comes up with a bizarre idea.
(Now that I think about it, this monster’s capabilities are insane like the transformation. This monster could be an awakener. Perhaps it is worth giving it a shot.)
Hovering in the air, the gryphon is constricting the human in his tongue. Suddenly, his radar senses movements along the stairs to the next floor. They seem to be humans and are running their way down.
"Ahh—!"
The woman groans as he tightens his grip. He does not know if those humans are with this woman or not. Nevertheless, he has to deal with this woman before they reach this floor.
Since his objective is this human’s body and her magic crystal, if there was, he has been holding back not to damage them as a single greater dragon blast or energy ball would completely disintegrate her. For that reason, he has to think of ways to immobilize her and set a trap for her.
But her magic really makes things difficult for him. That’s why he matches her out with speed and unpredictability. She would not expect a monster to make strategies, which let her guard down.
With everything going according to the plan, all he has to do is to eat her whole. But before he can do that, he realizes that he could never see somebody this beautiful again and gazes at her to behold her beauty one last time. Their eyes meet.
(You are probably the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. It’s too bad that you chose to point your weapon at me. But rules are rules. I have to kill you to survive. It’s the rule of nature.)
Looking at her eyes, he can see her anger and desperation, which he thinks is totally valid, but, strangely, she does not attempt to struggle anymore. She must have accepted her fate, he thinks.
Once he is satisfied with her beauty, he opens his mouth and begins pulling in his tongue. Suddenly, her gaze increasingly becomes sharper and sharper until he can physically feel pain from it.
(What the—?!)
The pain becomes so severe that it is unbearable and he feels like his mind is breaking. Losing his focus, his wings stop flapping and they begin to fall to the surface.
Crash!
Shriek!!
Falling from hundreds of meters of height, he can feel a few of his ribs break. His body is weakening to the extent that he even struggles to stand. It is as if his strength is leaving his body.
"No way! You even survived that?! What the hell are you?!"
He faintly hears the voice of the woman, but he understands no word as she is speaking in an unknown language. He has no idea what has happened to him. But he is certain that it is all the woman’s doings.
Unknown to him, the woman cast a rather deadly spell on him. The spell is called Abyssal Gaze. It is a supreme-tier spell of a rare branch of magic called sinister magic, the opposite of holy magic.
Abyssal Gaze is a single-target spell that inflicts instant death on the victim. In the case of this monster, he is just too powerful to kill instantly. Instead, it greatly weakens him to the point he can barely move a muscle.
Enraged, he uses his last bits of his strength to tighten his bind on her. Without a second thought, he quickly pulls his tongue and shoves the woman into his mouth.
"N-no—!"
Chomp!
The gryphon devours the woman whole. No bite, just a quick and painless swallow. Shortly after, he ultimately succumbs to Great Sorceress magic and eventually loses his consciousness. Even if his life ends right here, at least he drags her with him.
