The ground shook under her feet, but Elizabeth kept her bow straight, her eyes focused on the monster with absolute concentration. The light from her Luminous Sky continued to fade, darkening the cavern with every second. The interference strength had grown to the point that most spells below a certain level became useless. High Gaseous Fog spells or above still had some effect, except it was only a matter of time before they became useless too. Currently, Elizabeth had one-quarter of her Magic Energy left. Since she needed to use stronger spells to combat the interference strength, this was probably her last attack. She needed to make it count!
Whoosh! Under her infusion of Magic Energy, angelic wings bloomed on the side of her bow. She was like a beacon in the darkness, captivating people's attention in an instant. An energy arrow appeared between her fingertips as she pulled back her bowstring. This was her long-range attack method, Sky Piercer. It was her most commonly used attack, and the one which killed Emperor Lianghu all those years ago. It was reliable and strong to her back then, but now, as a Half-Condensed Drop Arcanist capable of double-casting, it fell to the times. But since the Siege on Yongtein, she learned a new trick. Wind swirled around her energy arrow, and in turn, her arrow rotated faster and faster. The powerful winds blew everything away from her, as Elizabeth squinted. The arrow of light's rotational speed soared to absurd levels! Even Elizabeth was a little fearful for how dangerous her spell became.
There! Right when the monster revealed an opening, Elizabeth saw it! Bang! Spiralling Sky Piercer! A massive shockwave blasted her, as her arrow shot forward with overwhelming momentum! The rotation dragged a long, large wind tunnel behind it, which aggressively expanded its destructive reach. It looked like a tornado chased the arrow! Her spell was fast, almost unbelievable fast. The second she loosed her arrow, it reached the monster. There was basically no time to react! It was guaranteed to hit the monster directly in the head. It would be a killing blow! Except there was an accident.
Around the same time, Benedict gasped for air. Somehow, he managed to dodge the volley of silk projectiles without sustaining much injury. It was a miracle. However, his body was aching, tired, and bloody. His Martial Energy was close to exhaustion, and his Rain Weaver Arc thread dimmed. He had no idea what happened to Shirley, and he had no time to worry. Using some more Martial Energy, he strengthened his Bloodline Ability. The rainbow thread regained its bright brilliance. Like Elizabeth, he sensed the monster's weakness. Benedict did not hesitate to strike. Shouting, he cleaved into the leg in front of him!
Faced with the ridiculously well-armored leg, this attack would have shattered Benedict's sword. There was no question about it. No matter how much Martial Energy he poured in, or how strong his martial techniques were, it was pointless if his sword could not match it. An egg would break hitting a stone wall, no matter how you threw it. The concept was the same here. Hence, there was a need to use stronger, better equipment like a Noble Grade sword. A Rank 2 Lord's battle prowess could only shine when using Noble Grade equipment! Benedict's Rain Weaver Arc could compensate for this weakness to some degree. It did not directly strengthen his sword, but his cutting ability. The sword acted as a vessel for his Bloodline Ability!
There were no flashy lights nor loud explosions, nothing to indicate an attack. There was not even a martial technique! Benedict simply poured his Martial Energy into his Bloodline Ability, amplifying its strength as much as he could. He slashed the leg joint, and sparks flew. It was a lot harder than he imagined, and that was after he aimed for the weak joints. It would have been impossible to cut through anywhere else! Gritting his teeth, he roared and push through. His sword slowly slid forward until finally! He cleaved through the leg joint! Boom! Although it was not quite enough to remove the entire leg, blood spurted violently from the wound. Having lost strength in one of her legs, the Silk Snapping Turtle Insect tumbled. Because she abruptly moved her head, Elizabeth's attack, which should have hit, missed its mark. It crashed into the ceiling and brought large boulders down. The whole cavern shook again.
Elizabeth and Benedict were speechless. Their unspoken coordination never failed them until now, and it had to happen right as Elizabeth delivered the finishing blow! It was a huge blunder! The angelic wings on Elizabeth's bow and the rainbow thread on Benedict's sword faded. They were both out of energy! And the monster… Although she lost a leg, the Rank 2 Beast Lord was still alive and healthy! She shrieked. This time, it was not filled with rage, but fear. She was calling for help! Hundreds… Thousands… A vast number of insects charged from the darkness! It looked like a writhing mass of black, a sea of death, that descended! Their legs created the most horrifying symphony! Everyone almost jumped out of their skin upon seeing this. They already struggled to kill thirty or forty. These many bugs… would probably drown them to death! They needed to escape before they were completely surrounded!
Elizabeth dropped to one knee and coughed. Her final attack took too much energy out of her. Benedict was in a similar state, feeling the iron in his lungs. Every breath hurt his chest. Neither were in a position to move. This was when a powerful aura blasted into the sky, startling everyone who felt it. To foes, it was a terrifying sensation, but to allies, it could not be more comforting! Rainbow currents of World Energy swirled in the air and gathered around a figure. Who else could it be, besides Freon? Currently, he was fully unleashing his Low Condensed Drop Core Level and Bloodline Ability! He pointed his wand and manifested a Magic Circle as large as him. Blue flames burst into existence and coalesced into the shape of a sword. Freon 'grabbed' the sword hilt and swung it. Boom! A gigantic dragon made of blue fire exploded out with unstoppable momentum. This was the Bloodline Ability enhanced spell, Infernal Dragon!
A fierce heatwave battered everyone and rose the temperature in the cavern. Even though the interference strength had grown this strong, Freon's spell could retain this much power. Infernal Dragon was supposed to be a Peak Gaseous Fog spell, but under Freon's Bloodline Ability, Thousand Core Resonance, it pushed into the level of a Half-Condensed Drop spell, if not Low Condensed Drop! It was frightening to behold! The monster wanted to evade, except the dragon was too fast. Boom! A humongous explosion, far larger than anything before it, rocked the cavern violently. Plumes of blue fire rained down and incinerated everything they touched. They turned into a sea of flame! It was both beautiful and horrific. Hundreds of insects caught on fire and burned to death, creating a pungent aroma. The wall of flames blocked their assault.
Benedict was standing next to the Beast Lord when Freon attacked. He could not move out of the way in time due to a lack of Martial Energy, so he did the next best thing. He dove under the monster! The Beast Lord was surprisingly tall, and when she stood on her eight legs, she was roughly the height of a one-storey building. There was ample room for Benedict to take shelter! Boom! When Freon's Infernal Dragon arrived, he was knocked off his feet, hit with a blinding heatwave, and briefly deafened. Everything turned white, loud, and hot, very hot. But because the monster took the brunt of the damage, all that affected him was the residual shockwave. Not even the flames touched him. He survived!
Elizabeth was further away, so she was relatively fine. Shirley's condition was… unknown. She might have been caught up in Freon's attack. Freon exhaled. A bead of sweat rolled off his chin. Infernal Dragon with his Bloodline Ability… This was his strongest possible attack. Although he had plenty of Magic Energy left, the interference strength had almost created a dead zone. It became almost impossible to cast spells here! This was the biggest problem when it came to higher level fights. People needed to constantly move to exhibit their full strength. If they stayed and fought in one place, the interference strength would eventually render their abilities inert. So, this was also Freon's final attack. The monster howled and thrashed about in a ball of flames. She was clearly in a lot of pain. Freon held his breath. Would he kill the monster first? Or would the interference strength kill his spell before that happened? It was a race against time!