Chapter 144 - Retreat
Laust and Phyrill gradually made their way to the tail while Alea faced the mammoth from the front. Theo and Sihan went to the side, trying to make an opening for them.
Ellen was the first to make a move as three ice lotuses appeared above the mammoth's head.
"Bloom, Ice Lotus."
The mammoth looked at the incoming lotuses and raised its head before sweeping the lotuses with its trunk.
"This mammoth." Ellen clicked her tongue and used her second skill. "Freezing Shot."
The mammoth used the shield again to block these Freezing Shots, but Theo and Sihan used this precious chance to their advantage.
Sihan appeared next to the mammoth's eyes and struck its eye, only to find the mammoth closed its eyes.
The sword bounced off due to the hard surface.
At the same time, Theo sent his Magic Bullets to the other eye, but the trunk suddenly rolled up, turning into a shield for its eyes.
"Inch Slash." Alea obviously didn't stay quiet and attacked him from the front.
The mammoth tilted his head and struck the energy with his ivory, cutting it into two.
When Laust and Phyrill were about to move, the mammoth raised its leg and stomped the ground.
The ground cracked before some of them flipped.
"Tch." Everyone lost their footing in an instant and the dust kicked to the air, turning into a smokescreen.
Theo used his Awareness and found a trunk coming his way.
"Why me?" Theo clenched his teeth and disappeared by using his Blink. Little did he know, the mammoth was intelligent enough to understand Theo was the one he needed to defeat first because he seemed to be their leader, commanding all the strong ones, especially Alea.
"…" Theo appeared outside the smokescreen as Alea released her fire sword.
"Flamming Ge-Sword."
Boom.
The explosion created a powerful shock wave that blew all dust around, showing everyone's condition.
Laust and Phyrill appeared to be together, away from the battlefield. Sihan still maintained his position. Ellen was far from it, so she was fine.
Alea was in the air as if she just jumped.
'The trunk seems to be trying to hit both her and me…' Theo frowned.
"Don't worry. This guy's body is big, so I can feel his movement clearly." Alea assured Theo.
And with the situation calmed down, Phyrill and Laust went for the tail.
"Lightning Flash." Phyrill had activated his Wolf Transformation to increase his strength and matched Laust's movement, trying to strike at the same spot as him to add more pressure on that part of the tail.
Laust, on the other hand, waved his sword down with his strongest technique. "Moon Slash."
Both of them struck at the same spot and felt the restriction.
"It's so hard." Phyrill clenched his fist and continued to slice it. "As expected, only a Champion Rank Fighter like Alea can fight against this monster."
"It's not enough," Laust informed him as his power slowly died.
Suddenly, Sihan magically appeared as he slammed his sword on top of their swords. "Then add one more guy. Dawn Strike."
"!!!" Both of them were surprised, but they quickly focused and used all their energy to slash the tail.
"Ha!"
The trio used all their strength and somehow sliced the tail.
"!!!" Phyrill couldn't contain his smile as he said, "It's still possible after all. But this is the softest part… How about the others?"
No one could answer that question, but their accomplishment made the mammoth scream in pain.
"If it's not sharp enough, I will just use this. Thank you for creating the opportunity." Alea smiled before a golden aura came out of his sword. Enchant Blade."
She charged at the mammoth with her new skill. When the mammoth was about to strike her with his trunk, Alea ducked down and slipped past the mammoth.
She raised her head, looking at the giant stomach and sliced the stomach.
The mammoth screamed in pain, but Alea's strike didn't even cut it.
Alea could only find graze that wasn't enough for the blood to flow out. "How hard is this mammoth? Maybe we should change our target to another monster that doesn't have a high defense? But it also means it's more dangerous since they have speed unlike this mammoth. This one is hard for us to kill, but the same applies to him."
While she was thinking about her next move, the mammoth tried to crush her by lowering its body.
"Oh, no." Alea tried to leave, but another variable appeared.
"Alea, prepare your Inch Slash," shouted Theo as he ran to her.
Alea didn't understand what he wanted, but she still halted her movement, raised her sword and released her energy.
Theo grabbed her waist and used Blink to appear on top of its giant body.
Alea was surprised at first but soon showed an excited smile and waved her sword. "Inch Slash."
The energy flew away, but the mammoth somehow reacted to it by reinforcing his head with the same technique he used to smash Ellen's Ice Meteor.
The Inch Slash quickly showed its might as she opened the skin a little bit, revealing a very shallow wound without only a trace of blood, but it didn't flow outside.
"It's not strong enough?" Alea widened her eyes and sucked a cold breath. Frustration filled her heart because it meant they were not strong enough to challenge this mammoth. "Is this the end?"
"We can try to attack the same spot a few times to see if it's enough or not," Theo answered before they jumped off because the mammoth began to shake its body.
Alea nodded in mid-air while saying, "Alright. Let's try it."
Unfortunately for them, they didn't get a chance to do it because a series of roars resounded in the area.
"Huh?!"
"Monsters?" Phyrill turned around and saw monsters coming out of the forest behind the mammoth. "Huh? There shouldn't be any monsters in this area!"
Listening to Phyrill's distress shout, Theo clicked his tongue, assessed the situation, and made a decision. "It's impossible to handle both the mammoth and the monsters. We shall retreat."
