Chapter 392: Strategy

Ethan stopped trying to overpower the Abyssal Maelwyrm.

It was clear that his strategy, which had worked against the Common Beasts, wasn’t enough.

The beast was simply too well-suited to this environment.

Its control over water pressure made approaching it dangerous, and it weakened Spark’s flames before they could reach their full potential. He couldn’t even fly close to it without the fire that kept him afloat fizzling out.

So Ethan changed his approach.

He stopped attacking whenever he had an opening and started looking for patterns.

"Storm, keep it moving."

The dragonfly hesitantly obeyed.

Lightning rained down from above, each strike spreading through the water and forcing the Maelwyrm to shift its enormous body. The attacks weren’t doing much damage, but that wasn’t their purpose.

They were controlling its movement.

"Wolfy, left!"

The Fenrir dove beneath the surface and circled around the beast, attacking its exposed fins whenever the Maelwyrm turned its attention toward Storm.

It responded with a violent pressure wave.

Wolfy twisted through the water and barely avoided it.

"Good. Keep going."

Ethan remained above the battlefield, conserving his mana whenever possible. Instead of constantly attacking, he used Flare Drive only when he needed to reposition, moving between the scattered platforms while watching the beast’s movements.

Every time it attacked Storm, Wolfy struck.

Every time it turned toward Wolfy, Storm attacked.

And whenever both were occupied, Ethan struck from another angle.

Blazing Arcs flew toward the Maelwyrm’s eyes and joints.

Most were weakened by the water, and some didn’t even reach their target, but Ethan didn’t care.

He wasn’t trying to kill it yet.

He was studying it.

’It always raises its head before using that pressure blast.’

Another Electric Bolt struck the water.

The Maelwyrm twisted.

Wolfy attacked.

The beast swung its enormous tail and forced him away before turning toward Storm.

’And when it focuses on Storm, its gills open.’

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

’That’s its weakness.’

The Maelwyrm raised its head.

"Now."

Ethan activated Flare Drive.

He shot forward, wrapping his body in Spark’s flames as he dove toward the exposed gills.

The Maelwyrm reacted immediately.

A wall of compressed water formed in front of Ethan.

He slammed straight through it.

Pain spread across his body as the pressure squeezed his ribs and disrupted his flames, but Ethan pushed through and reached the creature’s gills.

’Everything can be killed.’

He unleashed Beast Impact, and once again, instead of firing the power outward, Ethan concentrated everything directly into his fist.

His flaming punch slammed into the exposed flesh.

The Maelwyrm screamed.

The sound shook the surrounding water.

Ethan was thrown backwards, but Wolfy was already moving.

The Fenrir attacked one of the beast’s fins while Storm released another lightning strike, the current spreading through the Maelwyrm’s massive body.

Ethan regained balance midair and burst backwards towards it.

He didn’t give the beast time to recover.

Flare Drive carried him across the battlefield as he launched another Blazing Arc.

Then another.

He wasn’t aiming for its body anymore.

He was just forcing it to move, as the giant creature continued to evade out of instinct.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

Every attack pushed the Maelwyrm closer to the position Ethan wanted.

The beast grew increasingly violent.

Whirlpools erupted around it, dragging chunks of floating land beneath the surface. Pressure waves tore through the surrounding platforms, forcing Wolfy to retreat from the water entirely.

Ethan barely avoided another blast that swept away his flames and sent him crashing down.

He landed hard, rolled across the stone, and immediately got back up.

His ribs screamed, and his mana was running low, but his eyes remained focused.

’This is working.’

The Maelwyrm suddenly raised its head again, and they repeated the same sequence of attacks. Storm struck from above while Wolfy harassed it from the side, and Ethan darted around, striking whenever an opening appeared.

It let out a cry filled with pain and frustration.

They were slowly wearing the massive beast down.

But just as victory seemed within reach, the Maelwyrm suddenly dove.

Its enormous body disappeared beneath the surface.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

"Damn it!"

The beast was retreating into the deeper ocean.

That was a problem.

They could fight it near the surface, but none of them could safely pursue it into the depths. The deeper it went, the greater its advantage became, while most of Ethan’s abilities would become obsolete.

All their progress would be wasted.

Then Ethan froze.

’Bingo!’

There was something he hadn’t used yet.

Talon.

He hadn’t summoned the Skyrend Hawk once on this floor, and there was a simple reason for that.

It was only a C Rank Beast.

Compared to Wolfy, Storm, and Spark, it was simply too weak for a floor like this. The Aquatic Expanse was filled with B Rank beasts, and it simply wasn’t worth the summoning cost.

But Ethan suddenly remembered something.

Its new B Rank Skill.

’Water’s powerful, but it has weaknesses.’

Water could extinguish flames, and it could disperse electricity, but wind was different.

Wind could push it, guide it, and control its movement.

Talon might only be a C Rank Beast, but if it poured everything he had into its B Rank skill, it could temporarily produce power far beyond what its rank suggested.

And Ethan didn’t need Talon to kill the Maelwyrm.

He just needed him to keep it from escaping.

"That’s it."

Ethan immediately summoned him.

A flash of green appeared above in the clear blue sky.

Talon emerged, spreading its wings as it surveyed the enormous ocean below.

Ethan looked at his second beast.

"I know you’re going through a rough patch, but I need you now, buddy."

Talon gave a sharp caw.

The proud beast immediately swooped toward him.

Ethan pointed towards the ocean.

"Give it everything you’ve got with that new ability of yours."

Talon didn’t hesitate.

Its wings spread wide, then it accelerated.

Swoosh!

It began rapidly circling the area where the Maelwyrm had disappeared, streaming mana into the air with every rotation.

Wild Whirlwind.

Talon poured everything it had into the skill that Ethan had created for it. It didn’t need to conserve his mana or worry about what came afterwards. Ethan only needed it to draw out and hold the beast in place.

The wind rapidly intensified.

A powerful vortex formed over the ocean, its rotating currents digging into the water and forcing it into a massive spiral.

One so large that the Maelwyrm was pulled into its centre.

It attempted to dive again.

The whirlwind pushed against the surface.

It twisted violently, trying to escape into deeper water, but Talon continued circling faster and faster. The wind wasn’t overpowering the Maelwyrm, but was controlling the surrounding water.

Every time the beast tried to dive, the swirling currents pushed it sideways and redirected its movement.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

’It actually worked.’

Talon cawed loudly as he continued pouring mana into the whirlwind.

The Maelwyrm roared and thrashed beneath the surface.

But it couldn’t escape.

That was all Ethan needed.

"Wolfy!"

The Fenrir immediately understood.

He dove straight into the vortex and attacked the Maelwyrm from up close, forcing it toward the surface.

"Storm!"

Lightning crashed down.

Its current spread through the water, striking the Maelwyrm’s massive body, creating a crackling water tornado.

The beast let out a roar as its giant body convulsed.

Ethan grinned.

"Keep it there!"

Talon continued circling, his wings becoming increasingly strained as the whirlwind grew larger. Ethan could see the immense effort it was taking, which was understandable.

The C Rank beast was pushing a B Rank skill to its absolute limit.

But it was working.

The Maelwyrm couldn’t retreat.

And now Ethan could continue attacking.

He activated Flare Drive.

Orange flames erupted around his body as he shot toward the exposed beast.

The Maelwyrm, which was being thrashed around and attacked from all directions, attempted to counter with a wall of compressed water.

Ethan blasted through it.

He reached the damaged gills and gathered every remaining ounce of Spark’s power into his right arm.

The flames burned brighter.

Hotter.

Almost white.

’Everything can be killed.’

The mantra that had saved him so many times repeated in his mind as he drove his fist into the exposed gills. A violent burst of flame erupted within the insane water vortex his beasts had formed.

BOOM!

The Maelwyrm wailed, its enormous body thrashing wildly.

But its struggle was to no avail, as Ethan and his beasts continued attacking it with everything they had while it was suspended within the vortex.

Eventually its mana signature collapsed, and its body went limp.

{Beast Eliminated!}

As soon as he heard it, he was overcome with a wave of relief.

Talon finally released Wild Whirlwind, which had been pushing it to its limits, and as soon as it did, the Maelwyrm sank beneath the waves.

There was no way they could retrieve it.

’That would have been enough to feed us all for days.’

And that was saying something, considering how much his beasts could eat. But Ethan was too fatigued to even care about it as his flames flickered weakly around his body.

His body felt heavy, and his mana was almost entirely depleted.

Wolfy was riddled with injuries and also drained, while Storm and Talon were even struggling to remain airborne.

All of them were exhausted.

But Ethan smiled.

’We did it!’

They had defeated the insanely powerful Elite Beast, not through individual strength, but by using all of their abilities together.

He looked toward his three exhausted companions.

’This is what I’m supposed to be doing.’

He clenched his fists.

’I’m the fucking Lord Of Beasts.’

He didn’t have to be stronger than everything he fought; he just had to make sure he could take it down alongside his beasts.

And today, they had proven once again that they could do exactly that...