Free Web NovelChapter 163: Semi-Transcendental
Back to Louis’ group.
After bombarding the white panther with magic, it still stood unfazed.
"How can it be so strong...?" Louis muttered perplexed.
Based on older reports, a party of multiple S-rank mages should be enough to take on the king of the Great Jungle.
However, this time, the king was far stronger.
Louis started to doubt that even Zhen could handle the king, who apparently did not take much damage from magic and physical attacks.
"HAA!"
Ren, who jumped out of the bushes, shouted from the depths of his lungs as he charged at the king with a longsword in his hands.
"Ren, don’t!" Louis yelled.
But he did not listen.
Instead, he infused his fire magic on the blade before he attempted to behead the king.
"Die!"
With crossed arms, the king just stood there and took the attack.
The fire on the blade enlarged and set the surroundings ablaze.
"W-what...?" Ren stuttered flabbergasted.
Even though he hit it, the sword was only able to cut one inch deep into its neck.
In panic, Ren tried to pull his sword out but it was stuck.
"!"
The king grabbed his wrists with one hand.
And broke them.
"AAAH!" Ren cried loudly in agony.
The monster let go of him and kicked him away.
Furthermore, it pulled out the sword from his neck and threw it at Ren, piercing his stomach.
"I will help him!" Sylvia stated, rushing worriedly over to Ren.
Louis, who was focused on Ren, turned his head back to the monster.
But it was not at its spot anymore.
"Dad! Above!" Lily alerted him.
"!"
The king jumped in the air, targeting Sylvia.
It landed between Ren and Sylvia, who stumbled backward.
In a hurry, she created an ice wall in front of her.
The wall was high enough for it to not be able to jump over it and wide enough to make it a hassle to move around it.
"Not yet...!" she muttered strained as she strengthened the wall by thickening it.
However, her efforts were in vain.
"!"
The monster punched the wall, which collapsed immediately.
"Sylvia, get back!" Louis ordered.
At the same time, Lily commanded her remaining fire creatures to stall the monster.
But the monster slipped past those creatures and headed toward Lily and Louis.
"Tch!"
Louis gathered flames and prepared a large fire arrow behind him, whereas Lily shot fireballs at it.
The king got hit by the fireballs but it did not care.
It did not slow down.
And before it almost reached Lily, she jumped to the side in order for her father to shoot the arrow he prepared.
The monster received the arrow in its chest and was pushed back but it tried to fight against it by focusing its weight on its legs.
Its chest steamed from the attack but that was it.
It was about to dash to them again but was held back by Lily’s creatures, who grabbed its arms.
Then, Lily approached it with flames in her hands.
She noticed that most attacks hit its chest, thus she attempted to focus her attacks on its chest as well.
"Hngh!"
"Lily!"
However, the king shook off the creatures away effortlessly and grabbed Lily by her neck.
It threw her at Louis, who caught her while stumbling backward.
"!"
At that moment, Louis slightly lost sight of the king, who used this chance to appear in front of them.
It retracted its fist and dished out a heavy punch into Lily’s gut, sending both of them flying.
"You’re kidding me..." Sylvia muttered with a nervous smile.
Only she was left. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
But she did not waste her time standing around and watching them fight.
In the time, the king was focused on the father-and-daughter duo, Sylvia completed her preparations.
A cold fog appeared around her in a radius of one to two feet.
A cold breath exited her mouth.
She was focused.
Even the king noticed it.
Thus, it took caution against her as it approached her.
"..."
Sylvia did not move.
She tried to keep up her focus but it was difficult with the king almost right in front of her.
It retracted its arm again.
"..."
Sylvia got more nervous.
And then, the king threw a punch.
However, before it connected, clusters of ice formed on its knuckles.
It pulled back its fist.
Her eyes widened.
The technique she was using was the same as the one from the tournament. It allowed her to freeze everything in an instant the moment an object entered her field.
But her joy was temporary.
With a kick to her side, she was sent with multiple broken ribs into the woods.
Despite her displaying a high-level technique, it was not perfected yet.
And now, the king was alone.
Louis’ group managed to take down the other monsters but failed to subjugate the king.
Then, some nearby bushes began to rustle.
[1 minute and 20 seconds left.]
Mika, whose black hair started to change its color again, emerged from the bushes.
His gaze was as fierce as Zhen’s, who was right beside Mika.
The two jumped at the king without hesitation.
Zhen launched a kick at its head while Mika attempted to cut its neck.
"!"
But both of them were surprised when the king stopped their attacks with ease as it grabbed Zhen’s leg and Mika’s wrist.
"Argh!"
"Ugh...!"
Simultaneously, it slammed both of them to the ground.
Mika, who was on the ground, immediately equipped himself with the spear.
"Enlarge!"
But the extending spear only scratched the king’s cheek slightly.
Zhen got up and moved away.
"Mika, watch out." Zhen stated.
The flames in his right hand turned blue.
"?"
While jumping away, Mika was curious about the flame.
And then, Zhen threw fire from his palm in a straight line, engulfing everything including the king in blue flames.
The king roared in agony.
Like Sylvia, Zhen used a high-level technique, which only the best of the best among the fire mages could use.
Blue flames. Flames that were hotter than regular flames.
However, just like with her, the result was the same as the king emerged from the flames and attacked Zhen, taking him by surprise.
It threw a punch at Zhen, who, in turn, dodged it barely by bending his head to the side.
Zhen grabbed its head and thrust his knee into its face.
"!"
But that did not do much as the king hammered Zhen down with its fists.
It continued by lifting him from the ground with one hand. Then, it tossed Zhen into the air.
Mika, who knew what it planned to do, tried to stop it but he was too late.
With a hefty swing, it punched the falling Zhen, who crashed into the trees.
Nervously, Mika summoned Excalibur to his hand.
"How are my winning chances...?" Mika wondered with a trembling smile.
[I think you know the answer yourself.]
The king dashed to Mika, who held Excalibur in front of him to block its incoming punch.
"Hu-"
Before he was sent flying, Mika widened its eyes the moment it touched Excalibur.
[I see...]
Landing in some bushes, Mika slowly got up.
"Ugh... What did I just see...?" he groaned in pain.
When he got up, the king was already in front of him.
"Who are you?" it asked.
"?!"
Mika flinched after hearing it talk.
"I-it c-can talk...?!"
"Hrngh!"
[Mika. You cannot win.]
"Who are you?" it repeated as it tightened its grip around Mika’s neck.
Its voice was deep and rough, sounding like a middle-aged man.
"M-Mika!"
"...?"
From afar, Mika recognized Louis, who was carrying an unconscious Lily on his back.
He was limping towards Mika and the king with blood flowing from his head.
"Tch." the king clicked its tongue.
"..."
[It is a semi-transcendental being.]
Mika slowly lost consciousness as he transformed back to his original appearance.
"W-wait! Where are you going?!" Louis shouted weakly.
But the king ignored him and carried Mika on his shoulder.
It disappeared into the depths of the jungle.
"Argh...!"
Louis fell on his knees.
He put down Lily carefully before all his strength left his body.
"Are you alright, Louis...?"
Zhen, who also received much damage, approached Louis and sat down beside him.
There were still some traces of blood near Zhen’s mouth.
"Do I look alright to you...?"
"..."
Zhen looked at his son, Ren, who also lied on the ground a little bit further away from them.
"If you can still move, could check on Sylvia, please...? She must be somewhere there..." Louis asked as he stared in the direction where Sylvia was sent to.
Zhen got up and slowly checked out the woods in search of Sylvia.
"..."
His eyes were even fiercer than back then.
After all, he failed everything he was set on doing.
Neither could he end his match against Mika nor could he subjugate the king. Instead, their match ended without a conclusion, the entire group, including his son, was rendered incapacitated and to top it off, Mika was kidnapped by the king.
As a member of the Grand Order, he was deeply ashamed.
