Chapter 98 [A–] Rank Monster
When I took the mana core of the snake mana beast, an angry roar that was filled with killing intent came from the cave.
I looked at the light blue sphere in my hand, which was as big as my head.
This was the mana core of the snake but after hearing the mad roar, it appeared to me that this was no ordinary mana core.
'Was this mana core connected to this roaring mana fiend and the connection got severed after I extracted it from the snake?' I thought and nodded, then stored the mana core in my storage artifact.
My intuition was causing headaches again as I felt that the danger of this mana fiend was stronger than this snake mana beast.
'It is stronger than this snake, so I can say that it must be around [A–] rank mana beast or mana monster.' I thought and turned to Amelia.
"Do you have any use other than being a danger detector?" I asked coldly but all I got was an ashamed face with hopeless eyes.
'Welp, the work fell on me again.' I thought and cast ice armor on me with more mana than before, making it tougher than usual.
Then I held my dagger tightly and took a defensive stance.
"Try your best to survive and maybe I will fulfill one of your desires." I said to Aria and waited for the mana fiend after receiving a confident nod from Aria.
The mana fiend didn't make us wait for long as I felt a very malicious aura coming from the cave.
There I saw an imposing figure of 2.5 meters tall creature, which was standing on 2 thick, powerful legs that were covered with grayish fur with claws on its paws.
Its thick fur couldn't hide its muscular body that was filled with nasty battle scars that this monster took over the course of years.
Its arms were thicker than my whole body and to make matters worse, the same black substance that the snake was using was on its front claws.
It was apparent that this mana monster was the one who scratched the walls of the cave and tried to forcefully evolve the snake.
How did I know it was a mana monster?
Well, it looked at me with yellow eyes that glowed with twisted intelligence, while licking its razor-sharp teeth. It was a sadist which made me conclude that it was a mana monster.
It wasn't big like the snake but it was apparent that this mana monster or with the most common name, werewolf, packed more explosive strength and speed than the huge snake.
'I think I am going to die.'
'Even if I don't die, Aria and Amelia will definitely die. After that I can commit suicide as the request of Aria will be void after she dies.' I thought and waited for the werewolf to attack first.
But the werewolf did something unpredictable and that was to run toward Amelia instead of me.
It ran on four legs and passed through the 200 meters distance in a second or 2.
'Hmm… It is too fast. It would be better to defend its strike and attack it after it.' I thought after seeing the werewolf's lightning fast claw attack that pierced Amelia's chest.
Amelia's lively blue eyes lost their shine as the werewolf threw the heart it extracted into its mouth and her lifeless body fell to the ground.
But the werewolf didn't stop as it turned its head to Aria and licked its bloodied teeth, then it charged at Aria instead of me again.
'Perhaps it wants to eliminate the cannon fodders before getting into a proper fight with me, or it wants me to despair after seeing my comrades die. Probably a mix of both.' I thought and got in front of Aria, as I needed her to defeat this monster. It would be bad if she died too quickly.
The werewolf didn't stop its mad charge and jumped at me with its powerful legs. Its claws came on me over my head, but I managed to block it with my blood dagger.
Without any hesitation, Aria came out from my behind and swung her dagger to the waist of the werewolf.
Unfortunately, her attack didn't even scratch the tough hide of the werewolf, as it was impossible for her to injure this monster as her strength and mana quality was lower than mine.
An amused growl escaped from the werewolf. Apparently, the werewolf found this funny as Aria had even tried to injure itself. Then the werewolf swung its leg to Aria, crashing her to the ground.
I was alone for the time being because I needed to wait for Aria to recover, hence I lowered my dagger that was blocking the claw of the werewolf and jumped back.
My blood dagger had cracks all over, was about to break and my arm was trembling slightly after blocking the powerful attack of the werewolf.
My condition was bad. With just one of its attacks was enough to make my weapon almost useless.
It would be better for me if my headache was gone for the time being so that I would be able to use chantless magic.
Chants were long and easy to interrupt, which made it hard to use it against powerful enemies like this mana monster.
If it was just slow or big like the snake, I would have the time to chant appropriate magic to kill it but against this fast and strong werewolf who could kill me with a small mistake, it was easier said than done.
Chantless magic needed a clear mind to use it, which was impossible for me as my head was aching because of the constant warnings I was receiving from my intuition.
But something unexpected happened while I was thinking like this.
And that was that, my headache disappeared as if it wasn't there to begin with. My head cleared like a mirage and I was ready for the real fight.