Looking at the hulking monstrosity in front of her, Mira was at somewhat of a loss. She knew just by looking at it that she stood no chance against it in a head-on fight. She might be able to damage it, but she had a feeling that even if she were to draw out every bit of energy from her body and every ounce of physical strength, she still wouldn't be able to severely damage it, much less kill it.
Mira also didn't necessarily think that having so many people here was a good thing because the people in Robin's group are nothing but a bunch of cowardly people who prefer fighting the weak. As for their strength, even if they are all in the Core Formation Realm, they are probably the weakest types of people in their respective realms.
As someone who trains hard every single day, Mira can tell the difference between someone who has a perfect understanding of their strength versus someone who only knows how to cultivate and uses their superior cultivation to kill or fight others.
Looking at the group of mercenaries around her, Mira can see that at least 90% of them rely purely on brute strength.
That's not to say brute strength isn't important, but Mira believes that reading your opponent, countering their attacks, playing mind games, knowing when to retreat and when to advance, and being able to gauge an opponent's strengths and weaknesses, all the while trying to stay clear minded and flexible in battle are all just as important if not more.
Sure, using various battle techniques, martial arts, weapon arts, and elemental techniques are important too, but so far Mira has found it better to create your own techniques that suit yourself more rather than relying on techniques that someone else made.
You never know what kind of an opponent you'll face in the future and a common sword technique might not be able to do the trick.
Anyways, right now Mira was running various simulations in her head on how they can beat this thing, but she can't figure out a way to beat it.
'It seems I'll have to rely on Robin for this one. Hopefully, she doesn't know this is an Earth Elemental and only thinks of it as a golem. After all, I would like to keep the Earth Elemental Essence inside its core. I should be able to get a bunch of Contribution Points from it if I sell it. Hehe~' Mira thought to herself before shouting at Robin.
"That's an Earth Golem! A strong one at that! From what I know about golems is that they always have a Core somewhere on their bodies. As long as we destroy it, then this golem will die! While I don't know where exactly the Core is located, I think we can safely assume it's behind the crystal shell on the golem's chest!" Mira shouted.
Hearing what Mira said, the remaining mercenaries immediately began firing at the crystal shell on the golem's chest.
All sorts of spells and techniques started recklessly flying through the air as the mercenaries started to blow everything they had onto the Earth Elemental.
Robin frowned seeing this, but she also had the same thoughts as Mira. It's just that she didn't expect to meet something this dangerous so early. They aren't even close to reaching the bottom of the chasm, yet they already have to face something so deadly?
She stared at the 'golem' for a few seconds, feeling somewhat complicated. It could be said that she is in an extremely disadvantageous position against this golem. Her elemental affinity is wind and she doesn't focus on using it offensively. She can if she needs to, but most of her techniques are more geared towards recon, intelligence gathering, assassination, etc.
However, these aren't exactly useful in the current situation. At least until Mira began speaking again.
"Robin! What's your elemental affinity and what do you primarily use it for?" Mira asked while dodging a boulder that the 'golem' flung at her.
"Wind! I mainly use it for recon and assassination!"
There was a brief period of silence in between, but it only lasted a second or two until Mira replied, "Alright! Then I want you to form little air drills and aim them for a spot right under the crystal shell on its chest. Try to aim it at an upwards angle if you can. I'll try to restrict its movements!"
Robin instantly understood what Mira wanted to do. She wanted her to drill a hole through the stone of its upper body in order to reach the core. What she didn't understand was why.
However, it was clear to her that Mira noticed something that she didn't, so instead of arguing with her, Robin decided to go with this plan for now. It's not like she has a better one.
"Alright! I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but I'll try! Just try and keep its movements locked!"
"Already on it!"
Robin's assumptions were right because Mira did notice something when the mercenaries were attacking it. The Earth Elemental made no moves to protect its chest, almost like it had confidence in its ability to protect the core. Another thing she noticed was that the attacks that landed on its chest almost look like they were deflected. They just slid off as soon as they made contact with the crystal shell.
Seeing that, Mira started coming up with a makeshift plan until someone comes up with something better. From what she saw, she doubted that anyone would be making their way past the crystal shell, which made things much more complicated because that means they either need to have the strength to simply shatter it or find another way to reach the core and for that, Robin will need to be a key player.
Her Qi density and strength are much higher than Mira's or anyone else here so if there's anyone who could reach the core then it's her.
Now knowing what to do, Mira and Robin went into action. Rhydian also joined in as well and helped Mira with restraining the Earth Elemental.
Mira and Rhydian immediately split up, running to two different sides of the Earth Elemental. At nearly the same time, they began forming ice chains that would wrap around its legs, arms, and rock tentacles.
Mira decided against taking out her scythe right now because it would be useless in this situation. She might as well leave her hands free in case of emergencies.
Robin also began creating mini air drills around her that she would occasionally throw at the spot right under the Earth Elemental's crystal shell.
Some of the other mercenaries began catching onto what Mira and Robin were doing and realized that they had basically just wasted their time and energy on randomly tossing out abilities in a panic.
From then on, they started using their abilities to try and restrict its movements or aim for the spot right under the crystal shell where Robin was shooting.
Unfortunately, most of them were rather useless. Hell, even Mira wasn't exactly useful in this battle.
Most of her and Rhydian's ice chains broke right after touching the Earth Elemental. The most they could do in order to 'restrain' it is to just keep pumping out ice chains and vines in order to annoy it. The thing was just too strong.
Robin wasn't having an easy time either. Trying to aim at the exact same spot on a moving target that is constantly chunking boulders, manipulating the earth around you, and launching Earth Spikes from the walls and ground isn't easy.
Doing so requires pinpoint precision while also being able to keep creating attacks that are strong enough to be able to penetrate the stone the Earth Elemental is made out of.
Needless to say, Robin's using every bit of concentration she has in order to complete the task ahead of her.
Mira, on the other hand, was still analyzing her opponent, trying to figure out any of its weaknesses. Well, even if she did find one, she wasn't sure if it even mattered. She tried using her Yin Fire and Yin Magma on it, but those had even less of an effect on it than her ice did!
She tried recollecting what she knew about giant opponents and from what she knew, taking out their legs is key to winning the battle. Normally, that would be the case, but this opponent is a little different.
It's a fucking Earth Elemental! Even if they brought it to the ground, it wouldn't matter! This thing could be lying on its stomach and still kill them with relative ease!
See, Elementals in general are much different compared to humans or any of the other races. Elementals don't have a set body and merely take the form they feel most comfortable in. Meaning, their vision and senses aren't limited only to what's in front of them. Meaning that they have a 360 degree view of their surroundings.
Elementals also have near full control over their respective Elements and don't need to use their own energy to unleash attacks. They can simply control the environment around them to attack!
Knowing all of this, Mira understood that toppling it over was useless, but even if she disregarded all of that, it still wouldn't make much of a difference. Those Earth Tentacles on its back and earth cannon for a head are more than enough to kill them!
Well, that is if they don't die to their surroundings first…
