Severely wounded, Elliot suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. His vision blurred, his insides churned, and his ribs were shattered.
Before he had time to react further, Orobashi's tail came crashing down again.
Elliot broke free from the wall and dropped down.
Boom!!
Half the mountain was blasted away by a single swing of Orobashi's tail.
But the pain wasn't for nothing—Elliot had learned one of the creature's abilities.
Acceleration.
It could instantly increase its speed dozens of times over.
Elliot had been sure he could dodge that attack. In that situation, there was no way Orobashi should have been able to hit him with its tail.
"You're stubborn."
"But…"
"How many times can you dodge?"
Under Orobashi's terrifying assault, the gravely injured Elliot was gradually overwhelmed.
He occasionally landed a few glancing strikes, but they were barely effective. Even if his blade bit into its flesh, the creature was simply too massive for it to matter much.
Meanwhile, the warriors from Watatsumi Island finally landed on Yashiori Island, sounding the horn for their charge.
Both Elliot and Orobashi noticed.
"With just you? A mere Archon's chosen dares stand against me!?"
"Call your master out."
Orobashi could clearly sense that Elliot was reaching his limit.
Gritting his teeth, Elliot kept dodging the relentless attacks.
But the ground had already been shattered by Orobashi's massive body, now jagged and unstable.
During one dodge, Elliot misstepped and lost his balance.
Orobashi's eyes narrowed. Sensing the opportunity, it suddenly unleashed a skill, its entire tail crashing down from above at an insane speed.
"So, you finally took the bait…"
In that instant, Elliot's lips curled into a slight smirk.
A true hunter…
Always appears as the prey.
It looked like Orobashi had the upper hand, but in truth, Elliot was playing a part.
While Orobashi was watching his footing, waiting for a mistake, Elliot had been watching its eyes. That opening—was bait. He wanted to see if the creature would strike.
Boom!!
A bolt of violet lightning tore down from the sky.
Just before Orobashi's tail could land, the lightning struck its body.
The immense thunderbolt paralyzed the massive serpent on the spot.
Bathed in heavenly thunder, Elliot's eyes flashed with electricity. A terrifying aura burst from him.
He sheathed his blade and bent slightly, gripping the hilt with his right hand.
"Thunder Flash…"
Only then did Orobashi realize it had been tricked. But it was too late. Its body was numb, completely paralyzed.
"Move…"
"Come on, move!"
"Move!!!"
Orobashi struggled desperately, trying to regain control.
Shff! Elliot, who had just been in front of it, suddenly vanished.
At that moment, Orobashi's body began to respond again.
"Great Thunderclap!"
Ding…
As the blade slid back into its sheath, a torrent of blood gushed from Orobashi like a waterfall.
"Damn it…"
Elliot frowned.
Orobashi had regained mobility in the final half-second.
Though it hadn't completely avoided the fatal blow, the hit wasn't perfect either.
In short, only part of the heart had been damaged—it hadn't been pierced through.
In an instant…
Orobashi thrashed like a salted earthworm. The searing pain sent its enormous body into a chaotic frenzy.
Many Watatsumi soldiers were caught in the chaos and crushed into paste.
Right at the center of that chaos, Elliot endured wave after wave of impact. His body was driven into the ground, slammed repeatedly.
At this point, he couldn't dodge. The berserk Orobashi was moving without any pattern. Trying to dodge might only bring worse collisions.
If he got launched into the air, that would be the real danger.
So, Elliot simply protected his head, gritted his teeth, and bore the final onslaught.
Bones shattered, organs were crushed and torn, blood vessels burst.
After thrashing for a while, Orobashi finally stopped moving.
Only then did Elliot cough up a large mouthful of blood.
Enduring the excruciating pain, he dragged himself out of the ground.
With his broken body, he limped over to Orobashi's head.
"Who would've thought…"
"I actually… lost to you… What a disgrace…"
Orobashi's voice still carried resentment. A mighty Archon, dying at the hands of a rival's general—there was no greater shame.
"Any last words?" Elliot asked, then coughed up more blood.
"Take care… of the people of Watatsumi Island…"
"And…"
"Kill… those who landed on Yashiori Island…"
With that, Orobashi fell.
"I'll carry on… your will…"
"The people of Watatsumi… I'll protect them…"
Elliot forced the words out, each one burning in his chest, his lungs racked with pain.
Dragging his barely-standing body, he slowly made his way toward the shore.