Soldiers were starting to come on their own. Tossing molotov or oil at the Chaplain Beast, dousing cannon balls with oil before firing, and shooting flaming arrows at it. While the effects were minimal, it seemed that it was hurting the beast continuously.
All around the city, we can hear people scurrying to safety or adventurers fighting against monsters. From what Rose informed me earlier when she went scouting, more beasts were pouring through the Eastern Gate. This is definitely an all-out assault on the city. Whoever the mastermind is, I'm going to make him pay.
I faced Lily once again, with the wind gathered around Tengu-kaze. But this time, we were trying fire instead. Since neither of us had any ranged fire attacks, this was something that I thought of, hoping that it might work.
Lily deflected the wind pressure towards the Chaplain Beast with her fire spell, but it dissipated before it even reached the beast. Right, fire uses air to burn. What the hell am I thinking, hoping that a 'fire wind pressure' would work? There is only hot or cold air; there is no such thing as fire air, you doofus.
Lily was holding back her laughter after what she saw. I sighed loudly and scratched my head. We need to think of something to fight this Chaplain Beast. The worst scenario is for Lily to fight it up close on her own, but I'm rather worried on that. It's risky to fight close combat with this beast as it's surprisingly nimble despite those elongated limbs. But do we have a choice? Maybe I'll just be her meat shield when she fights with it.
"Zen— your blade," said Lily.
I inspected my blade and— uhh, what? There was this strange spinning fiery effect enveloping Tengu-kaze. I didn't even realise that I had my blade close to Lily's gauntlets when I moved closer to her. But for it to catch fire from Lily's fire spell? That had never happened before. Will this work? It would appear that a steady amount of wind was keeping the fire alive. Maybe Byakko is helping me to maintain the fire spell around the blade.
I held Tengu-kaze in front of me and tried communicating with Byakko. "Just fight on. I'll do what I can to keep the barbecue going," was what Byakko replied. I guess it might work. Not that I had tried this before.
"Ready, Zen? We have to go now or this will never end," asked Lily.
"You go ahead. There's something I wish to try. Stay safe, Lily," I told her.
She nodded and proceeded towards the Chaplain Beast. I headed towards a different direction instead, preferably behind the beast, as there is something I wish to try again without knowing whether it'll work. I started gathering more wind around Tengu-kaze. The spinning fire was getting larger by the seconds, despite not being hot to the touch. Hell, I don't even feel any heat coming from my blade. Does fire spell not emit heat as compared to real fire? Will this work against the beast then if there's no heat? No point pondering about it; now is the time for action.
I raised Tengu-kaze above my head two-handed. A giant vortex of spinning flame started swirling around it. Perhaps I can spread the fire around its body with a swing from Tengu-kaze. I got really close to the beast, and I'm fairly certain that the fire will burn the beast before it dissipates. I hope it doesn't fail as horribly as my previous idea. Let's try then; I've got nothing to lose!
I swung Tengu-kaze vertically sideways. I needed to swirl the fire in hopes of catching its fur or skin, but I was dead wrong. The giant swirling fire of death flew towards the beast instead of spreading apart. It looked like a giant flaming beehive flying towards the beast. I smacked my head once again as what I imagined, once again, turned out to be something entirely different instead. It's just going to hit the beast and dissipate. Not strong enough for it to be bothered with.
The giant swirling fire touches the Chaplain Beast dead on. But it started spreading around more. It was as though the fire was alive and still in a spinning mood that it literally started engulfing the Chaplain Beast in its entirety. The beast roared in pain as its whole body was being charred alive. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, which was intoxicating to breathe. But I knew this was not enough to kill it. I need to gather more fire to kill this thing, but the fire was entirely gone from Tengu-kaze now. I need Lily to give me more fire from her spell.
The fire dissipated from the beast's body, and it turned its head to glare at me with piercing eyes. I knew what it wanted to do, and I readied myself to leap at a moment's notice. It tried to fire its laser at me, but someone punched its face so hard that it swung in the opposite direction. Lily had delivered a massive, heavy punch towards the Chaplain Beast's face and then proceeded to punch it on the chest. Despite using a fire spell, it seems to have minimal effect on the beast's obsidian bones. Probably her actual punch did more damage than her fire spell.
Lily went berserk as she swapped to using her ice lightning spells instead. As she ran after the beast, her footprints left signs of ice forming behind. Is she overexerting herself? I can only support her from the sides now that I have lost the fire spell. Hopefully, I'm quick enough to protect her from any unexpected attack.
She was on a rampage. Continuously striking at the obsidian bones that were covering the beast. With each strike from Lily, blue lightning erupted from where she punched and turned to ice. It seems like her attacks are working. The beast is slowing down, and I can see the formed ice cracking under Lily's continuous assault.
The beast tried to strike back by trying to grab her or swiping her aside, but its movement was slowing down significantly as more ice formed around its body, giving Lily plenty of opportunity to avoid these slow attacks skilfully. With a roar of defiance, she delivered an earth-shattering punch that smashed apart the black bones protecting the chest of the beast, revealing all the vital organs inside.
Lily did not hesitate and ran closer to the beast as far as she could. She leaped as high as she could and summoned a bolt of blue lightning from the sky, which she grabbed with her right gauntlet.
"GO!!" she shouted as loudly as she could and tossed the massive blue lightning directly into the exposed chest of the Chaplain Beast.
Where the lightning struck, ice began to spread. I guess that's what you call frozen lightning, I suppose. I don't think the beast is able to escape now that the majority of its body is frozen. It is only a matter of time until the light of the beast fades out.
As a last act of defiance, the beast shot a massive laser towards Lily. At such close range, Lily knew she could not avoid it in time and closed her eyes, accepting her fate once again. But I had already predicted that the Chaplain Beast would not go down so easily without attempting to kill her.
I shoved Lily aside and blocked the laser with Tengu-kaze, but the force of the laser sent me flying backwards once again. How long until this beast dies?! I'm going to hit the city's wall if this beast doesn't stop its laser! I couldn't think of any method of escaping until I realised that the laser was being reflected in another direction by Tengu-kaze.
Despite my fingers and forearm getting numbed from the force of the laser, I began twisting Tengu-kaze, making sure that I was redirecting it at the correct angle that I wanted it to go. I roared as hard as I could as I used all of my strength to twist Tengu-kaze, redirecting the laser to slice off the Chaplain Beast's head. The laser stopped instantly, and I curled myself to brace for the impact against the city walls.
CRUNCH!
Yeouch! That hurts, but I'm okay. My red dragonhide hide cloak had damped the impact. But what about the Chaplain Beast? Is it finally dead? I strained my eyes to see what happened to the beast, despite the area still being relatively dark. It would appear that the laser had sliced the beast from the left neck to the right armpit. However, it had stopped falling midway as its entire body was completely frozen solid from Lily's ice lightning spell.
We did it, right? The Chaplain Beast is dead? I was hoping for some giant sign or background music to stop playing, but the city went relatively quiet now when there's no 30-foot monster shrieking or wreaking destruction every few seconds.
I dropped to the ground and did a self-body check-up on myself. Other than my aching forearm, fingers, and back, I think I'm good. No major injuries, which I'm thankful for. I should head back to check on Lily. Hopefully she's fine after I shoved her aside from the laser.
I saw her lying flat on her back, motionless on the ground. Shit! Is she alright?
"Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked as I crouched to inspect her for injuries.
"H… Hey… I just can't feel my legs. Probably I've overexerted my strength. I'll be back on my feet after I've rested a while. So glad we were well-rested before this started," she chuckled.
"No can do, princess. It's not exactly safe out here. If you don't mind…" I trailed off as I carried her princess-style.
"Wha….. you don't have to do this! Zen! Put me down!" she suddenly started wriggling like a fish.
"Hey, hey, stop wriggling or I might drop you. You deserved this for defeating the Chaplain Beast. Think of it as a reward," I smiled at her.
She began hitting me gently on my right collarbone area. But it quickly turned to her playing with it using her index finger. Um, not a great time to be stimulating me in the middle of a combat zone, Lily.
"How many times does that make it now? Four? Five? I've lost count of how many times you've saved me. I've somehow resigned myself to the fact that you'll always be there to save me when it matters," she whispered.
Is she talking to me or is she just talking out loud? Either way, I have to get us to safety in case of an ambush. Can't fight properly when I'm carrying Lily like this. Where are Rose or the city soldiers? I just followed after the voices of people calling out to head for safety. There should be soldiers around somewhere.
"You resurrected me from the dead, Lily. I'll save you as much time as I need to," I smiled at her.
"Zen… I… Never mind," she stopped.
"Speak your mind. I'm listening," I told her.
"But—okay. I don't know what you meant entirely when you said that you had a change of heart. But you… got me feeling hopeful. Zen— I don't need to be your wife. I don't mind being a side-lined caretaker for your family or just someone you wish to vent your lust at. Can I… be selfish in thinking that you'll love me back?" she covered her face.
It was still dark, but I knew that she was blushing. For her to even say such things just to stand a chance to be by my side, I don't deserve this woman, at all. But… it's not the right time to be with her just yet. I have a feeling that things are going to get worse from here.
"Let's talk more about this when this is over. I promise that I'll give you a straight answer. Lily, you don't need to degrade yourself to deserve my love. As though I would allow the most beautiful elf I've known to force herself to be a side caretaker just to be with me. And to answer your question…" I trailed off.
She was still covering her face, but her lips were entirely exposed. I leaned in to give her a kiss. A warning in my brain was sounding an alarm that what I'm doing is a horrible thing to my wife, but she was the one who insisted that I get along with her. If anything, she is to be blamed for constantly pushing me. I just have to accept the fact that she has a reason for wanting me to make Lily my second wife.
She moved her hands aside when she realised I was kissing her. It was only for a brief moment before we parted our lips. I don't wish to get too intimate with her out here in the open. Where the hell are those soldiers? They should be close now as I can hear people shouting louder than before.
"Zen, you—horrible man. You just cheated on your wife," Lily buried her face on my chest.
Her elven ears were bright red. I guess it's been a while since she got intimate with anyone. Such a beauty and only I had touched, kissed, and slept with. Geez, what am I thinking about? Feeling superior over other guys just because you stood a chance with these two beauties? Don't think too highly of yourself, Zen Hawthorn. You just got lucky.
"I guess I can't hide the fact that my heart is beating fast AND loud since your ear is right next to it," I chuckled.
"It's— soothing to hear. I might get addicted to it," she chuckled back.
The sound of footsteps landed on the ground. I turned to see who it was, and it was Rose panting. She must have been flying around the city looking for us or supporting the soldiers. We don't have her flight mobility, so we are very dependent on our legs instead of her wings.
"Geez… I know I've given permission, but to flirt during combat is just—" she sighed.
"No, no! I'm sorry, Rose! I just overexerted my legs fighting earlier. We weren't flirting!" Lily started getting flustered and wriggled to get back on her feet.
I placed her down, and her leg was shaking side to side. I guess she wasn't lying after all when she said she had overexerted herself. I thought she just wanted me to spoil her.
"What's the situation, Rose? Where are the soldiers? Please don't tell me they are all wiped out," I asked.
"Things are stabilising now. Most of the soldiers are at the eastern gate trying to stop them from coming in. But I would say that since you've taken down the Chaplain Beast, a lot of them had started fleeing. I guess we won't be able to track them after all. Might have to wait for their next round of their attack," she explained.
"Wait— things might not be over yet. Can you carry me to where we were fighting the monsters near the gate? Perhaps all is not lost," asked Lily.
Rose nodded, and I followed after the two of them on foot. It was a small race that I challenged myself to, to see who was faster. As it turns out, we actually reached the same time. But Rose was carrying Lily, so her speed was hindered in some way. But I would argue that since I'm running on foot, there were plenty of obstacles for me to avoid. Is my speed faster than Rose's? What a pointless thing that I do during my free time.
"Now, let's see. Please be alive," she mumbled.
She placed her hands on her ears and pushed them forward. Those soft ears of hers are nice to nibble at, as I recall. W— what the hell is wrong with me? My brain kept thinking of stupid things right now! Control yourself, you moron!
We kept quiet, but Rose was looking at me, smacking my own forehead. She shushed me to keep quiet so we didn't disturb Lily as she listened to what she was looking for.
"Can it be?" she started moving towards the direction of some rubbles.
We followed after her, helping her to remove some rubbles aside. Please be good news. Who knows what's going to happen next time the monster attacks? There might be more beasts or something worse than a Chaplain Beast.
Pushing aside the remaining rubble, we found what we were looking for. A beast, legs fully tied together from Lily's bola, and best of all, still alive and kicking. Yes! We finally stand a chance at finding who's behind these attacks. And I'm not going to show any mercy to the mastermind behind these attacks. Mark my words, I'm coming for you.