Chapter 230

BACK IN THE MAIN BATTLE!

Caster stared at the blinding light encapsulating the beast, his pulse hammering against his ribs.

’A blast?’

Scanning the area with frantic eyes, he realized that his wolf and Trish were both well within the potential range of a wide-scale attack.

Clenching his jaws in a fit of rage, Caster kicked the air with immense force, flipping away from the immediate danger zone before sticking a rough landing on the cavern floor.

The light was intensifying, growing brighter and more volatile with every passing microsecond.

"Shoot," he groaned inaudibly, the word lost to the hum of gathering energy.

Glaring at Trish, who seemed poised to launch another offensive despite the danger, he scowled fiercely.

"Can’t you run?! Fuckin’ move!" he roared, his voice echoing off the jagged walls.

Without waiting for a response, he zipped toward his fallen wolf.

He crouched down, hand reaching out to pet the singed fur, ready to haul the creature to safety.

But then, the light consumed them all, and his heart skipped a dozen beats instantly.

He braced for the end, spinning around in primal fear, only to see the brilliance dimming back down as suddenly as it had erupted.

"Huh?"

They all blinked in shared confusion, their eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden return of the dim cavern light.

Van twisted and turned, his gaze darting across the rubble before voicing the question on everybody’s mind.

"Where is it?"

The beast had vanished.

One moment it was the center of a localized sun, and the next, it was gone from view.

No matter how hard they searched the shadows or the dust clouds, they were unable to spot the massive silhouette anywhere.

A sudden, sharp movement was felt beneath Caster, causing him to glance down.

His wolf was struggling, appearing slightly better than before, but it wasn’t looking at him.

It was glaring with bared teeth at the space directly behind its master.

"Look out!" Trish’s warning shout tore through the air.

Spinning around sharply, Caster saw the nightmare had returned.

The Minotaur had materialized behind him, its heavy mace already lifted to the side.

It swung toward him with blazing, lethal speed.

Clenching his jaw tightly, the boy dove low, darting between the Minotaur’s massive legs at the precise moment of impact.

The mace clobbered into the stone ground, splintering the floor and sending debris flying under the weight of the beast’s monstrous strength.

The blow would have certainly crushed the wolf, still paralyzed from the previous lightning strike, if Caster hadn’t managed to desummon it just in time.

Flipping backward to create distance, he narrowly avoided a swift, follow-up counterattack in the form of a bone-cracking elbow strike.

Simultaneously, Felix crashed down from above.

He was bleeding from the mouth, his face a mask of agony and determination.

His hands were healing at a frustratingly slow rate, yet he refused to yield.

He drove his claws toward the beast’s head, attempting to split it open.

However, lightning crackled around the Minotaur’s frame in an instant.

Arcs of electricity danced across its hide, electrocuting the werewolf and forcing a guttural howl of pain from his throat.

From across the clearing, five jagged ice spikes shot toward the Minotaur with deadly velocity.

Before the creature could reposition, Trish slammed her hands onto the ground, her face pale with effort.

A wave of frost rushed forward, immediately beginning to pin the Minotaur’s hooved feet to the floor.

Felix was still reeling from the shock, his teeth squeezed tight as he tried to maintain his grip on the monster.

The beast’s movements were visibly sluggish, hampered by the ice encasing its lower limbs.

Staring at the incoming spikes, the Minotaur realized its predicament.

Without delay, it swung its mace downward, the heavy iron shattering the ice around its feet into a cloud of pale blue shards.

It was at that exact moment that the ice spikes connected.

They hammered into its chest and shoulders with full force, the momentum pushing the beast backward.

Some of the projectiles found their marks, lodging deep into its tough hide and drawing a fresh spray of dark blood.

Caster dove back into the fray with immense speed, kicking Felix off the beast’s electrified body to save him from further shock before zipping forward again.

Blood began to dribble down his own chin as he started to circle the Minotaur, utilizing his overwhelming velocity to become a phantom.

Even a blur was unseen as Caster moved with such fluid grace that it looked as if he were teleporting through the shadows.

The beast remained rooted to the spot, twisting its massive neck and searching for the elusive boy.

Eventually, the monster gave up the search, forced instead to deal with the relentless ice barrage from Trish that refused to cease.

Lightning coursed through its veins, and it began moving its arms with incredible speed, using the heavy mace to swat away the frozen projectiles.

It moved with the precision of a master combatant, albeit a much more brutal one, swinging the mace in tight, defensive arcs.

Shattering the final spike of the barrage, the beast found Caster materializing directly before it, moving faster than any mortal should be able to react.

The boy’s claws gleamed dangerously in the dim light as he prepared to whip them through the air, but his eyes suddenly widened in realization.

The Minotaur’s eyeballs rolled in their sockets, catching sight of the strike before it even landed.

A twitch.

And then—

Boom—!

The monster moved with predatory precision, catching Caster’s wrists mid-swing.

It yanked them out of the air roughly, the sudden force causing the boy to let out a sharp yelp of pain.

However, he wasn’t granted even a single moment of respite.

With a violent motion, the Minotaur slammed him into the earth with tremendous force.

Blood spritzed from his mouth and nose upon impact.

His frame formed a wide, jagged crater in the stone, and a powerful shockwave blasted out in all directions, kicking up a wall of grit and dust.

The Minotaur wasn’t finished yet.

Its hooved foot, arcing with lethal lightning, rushed forward.

It sped toward the boy’s head with terrifying velocity, intent on ending the fight right there.

Felix watched in horror, unable to intervene.

His hands were far too mangled to even perform his ’swapping’ ability, and his body was simply too exhausted to move a single muscle.

Van stared at Caster, who was looking up at his own certain death.

The genius observed a slight twitch in his comrade’s muscles—a final, desperate spark of life.

’This is the last shot I have,’ Van mused inwardly in agony as he pointed his cannon hand forward.

BOOOM—!

A concentrated ball of energy shot forth with blazing speed.

Simultaneously, the beast core embedded in his contraption turned dim, its power completely spent.

The Minotaur lifted its head to track the energy heading its way; it swiftly leaped backward, putting a huge distance between itself and the blast.

The projectile drove into the earth, creating a deep, smoking gouge in the cavern floor.

Luckily, this distraction gave Caster the narrow window of opportunity he needed to bolt away with his overwhelming speed.

When he reached a safe enough distance, he collapsed to his knees, coughing out blood violently.

"Shoot... My meta-force is depleted," he rasped, his voice thin.

They all stared at one another in grim silence as the beast prepared to lunge forward once more.

Van was too weak to act; so was Chloe.

Kai had depleted his reserves, and Caster was spent.

Felix remained down, unable to stir.

Only Trish was left standing.

"Doesn’t matter. I will clutch the win for us," she said calmly as she unsheathed her sword.

A stoic, unbreakable look settled on her face.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

She walked forward with a steady gait, unperturbed by the overwhelming disadvantage she faced.

The beast watched her approach, a confused, almost mocking expression crossing its monstrous features.

"No, no, no! What are you doing, Trish? It’s a King rank beast!" Chloe shouted in a state of pure panic.

Without looking back, the ice queen paused for a moment and then smiled softly. "It’s just a King rank beast."

"What a fool."

A deep, guttural growl echoed from one of the tunnels in the wall.

Everybody, including the Minotaur, immediately turned toward the sound, shock written across their faces.

Then, with a dark smirk playing on his lips, a figure leaped into the cavern.

He held a limp body clutched in his grip in a princess-style carry.

He strode forward calmly, his presence heavy and suffocating, before coming to a stop to stare down the beast.

"Brother?" Felix croaked out, his eyes widening.

"Ray?!" Van and Kai uttered in unison, their voices thick with disbelief.

"Fret not, weaklings," Bruce uttered coldly, his yellow eyes gleaming with a terrifying new light.

"Your saviour is here."