Chapter 88
While complaining, Frieren took off the coat for the elf who was already drowsy from the heat and cast a "cooling Magic" to relieve the heat.
Suddenly, the giant unidentified object in the distance gradually rose higher, and a huge dragon-shaped monster appeared before everyone's eyes.
A pair of red dragon eyes swept over everyone present, and an invisible pressure enveloped them. Although the monster did not attack immediately, its aura alone was enough to make everyone take it seriously.
"Look, what's that?!"
"It seems this is the Monster the examiner was talking about."
"Monster I've never seen before, instructor, where did you find it?"
"Monster that can bring natural disasters... Just that name reveals the power of this monster."
"Heh, whether it's strong or weak, we'll find out once we try."
Xiu Er took in the candidates' reactions. As expected of the elites who had passed the first two rounds of assessments, they did not lose their composure even when facing a powerful Monster they had never seen before.
However, he did not want this group of people and the monster to continue their standoff. His gaze passed through the crowd and was fixed on the monster's pupils.
The next second, the monster's pupils suddenly dilated.
"Throat----!!!"
A sharp, metallic roar emanated from the monster's mouth, forcing everyone to cover their ears.
Looking at the group of people in front of him who were stunned by the dragon's roar, Xiu Er was not surprised.
At the same time, Xiu Er also noticed that the moment the Alatreon finished roaring, its mouth filled with flames and its eyes were fixed on him.
A fireball flew out of His mouth, aimed directly at Xiu Er.
"Watch out! Everyone get out of the way!"
The first person to recover immediately noticed the movement of the Alatreon and stepped forward to warn the others.
Everyone evacuated the area that would be attacked by the monster before the fireball arrived, except for Xiu Er remained motionless.
The fireball in the eyes of the Alatreon struck its target precisely. As the fireball "hit" Xiu Er, some of its energy was also injected into the area beneath Xiu Er's feet. Then, layer upon layer of flames spread outward from Xiu Er's feet.
This scene was witnessed by all the examinees. They saw with their own eyes that Xiu Er, the examiner, did not dodge at all, was engulfed by the fireball, and then the fireball that gradually expanded almost affected them as well.
The Alatreon by Alatreon did not pursue further. After unleashing the fireball, it maintained its distance, observing the movements within the flames from afar.
This action also gave everyone time to think about the current situation.
The examiner just disappeared like that?
"The examiner was hit by that fireball and didn't even have time to cast a Defense Magic?"
"I don't think the examiner could be dealt with so easily; she must have other defense mechanisms."
"I think the examiner who came in with us might not be the real person, but just an illusion, otherwise why wouldn't he dodge that attack?"
"Frieren, Xiu Er, what about her?"
"Don't worry, Frieren, this level of damage won't hurt that guy, even if it's just Doppelganger."
Frieren wasn't worried about the comfort of this Doppelganger. After giving Frieren a reassuring answer, she curiously observed the Alatreon.
Ultimately, only a minority of people cared about Xiu Er; the rest focused their attention on Alatreon.
As expected, just as Frieren had said, when the flames subsided, Xiu Er appeared unharmed in the same spot.
His gaze swept over the crowd, over the various expressions on their faces, and finally settled on the Alatreon in the distance, whose entire body was already tense.
It was ultimately just a magical Magic Beast with only a little bit of consciousness, and could not possibly be like a true Alatreon.
Although defeating this Alatreon would be a piece of cake for Xiu Er, it would be a difficult problem for the test takers. If he, the one who set the questions, helped solve the problem, then what would be the point of the test?
"[Reminder] This dragon is called Alatreon, and it is the target of this round of assessment. Whether you can defeat it is the key to passing the test."
"[Supplement] Don't waste your only three chances."
After speaking, Xiu Er took off into the air and flew high into the sky when the Alatreon chariot was halfway there. In the eyes of the Alatreon and the others, he disappeared into the air.
Xiu Er left, the Alatreon's greatest enemy disappeared, and the presence of that guy was no longer felt in the surroundings.
His anger dissipated, and he turned his attention to the humans who had previously been ignored by Him.
The word "human" is knowledge that Alatreon was created by Xiu Er and entered into his knowledge.
He didn't care when he found these humans entering his territory. Would you care about the ants under your feet?
But things are different now; He knows that these humans were brought in by Xiu Er.
This is equivalent to having a whole family of cockroaches in your house! (Although you could easily beat that cockroach to a pulp.)
Alatreon immediately prepared to use the same trick again, intending to snipe all the targets from a distance with a fireball.
But suddenly several white lights appeared in my field of vision.
Bang bang bang—
Frieren made the first move. When she saw the monster make that fire-breathing motion again, she reacted immediately, bombarding the Alatreon's head with a continuous barrage of magic-slaying Magic.
The rapid, machine-gun-like spray immediately filled Alatreon's vision with almost complete white, but it did not interrupt his charging up. Because he had lost his sight, he could only spew flames from his mouth at the angle he remembered.
However, after Frieren made his move, the others did not remain idle either, and began their own actions as well.
With the help of Frieren's suppressive fire, the rest of the group dispersed.
The fireball naturally struck the open ground.
Something doesn't feel right.
Frieren, who was continuously attacking, immediately sensed something was wrong. Just as a warrior can judge the situation by the feel of his weapon hitting an object, Magic User can also judge the situation by the effect of his attack.
In layman's terms, it's about "feel".
Frieren discovered that his attack had not actually caused any damage to the Monster called Alatreon, or more accurately, it had no effect other than the visual obstruction caused by Magic.
Her attacks couldn't even push the opponent's head.
It was very powerful; the monster made Frieren feel powerless simply by doing nothing.
However, Frieren's efforts were not in vain, and the others also took advantage of the moment when Alatreon's vision was blocked to display their individual skills.
Suddenly, all sorts of Magic appeared in this red space, and the originally vast lava plate suddenly began to crack from the edges, with fragments floating into the air and crashing into the body of the Alatreon.
Boom boom boom—!
Suddenly, a strange change occurred in the area beneath the feet of the Alatreon. The originally flat ground began to mutate, and piles of ground spikes emerged from the ground.
Although none of them could break through the monster's hard scales, the remaining rock spikes thrust upwards without any obstruction. Then, several stone pillars made of lava blocked the Alatreon's limbs, trapping it in place.
At the same time, a white-haired man stared intently at the monster, two golden halos enveloping the body of the Alatreon.
That was one of this person's Magic that could immobilize the target in their sight.
He did this in order to strengthen his control over the monster.
Immediately afterwards, all sorts of attack Magic surged forth, bombarding the Alatreon's body.
Explosions and roars filled the air, and smoke billowed up, only to be pierced and dissipated by subsequent Magic.
At this moment, everyone's cooperation was perfect, with each person fulfilling their role.
It seems that similar difficulties still exist in the previous round of Zanze's test, thought Xiu Er, who was silently floating in the air above and quietly watching the scene below.
Yes, Xiu Er did not leave; he remained in this initial space to ensure the absolute safety of the examinees.
He simply used Optical Camouflage to conceal his figure and completely hide his "aura," creating the illusion that he had already left.
The main goal of this action is to prevent Alatreon from attacking only itself regardless of the consequences.
If Xiu Er has to shoulder all the burdens, then the purpose of this assessment is lost.
The team cooperated well and got a good score with Xiu Er, but the key to passing is whether they can defeat the Alatreon.
His Alatreon is no ordinary Monster.
"[Conclusion] If you cannot detect the changes, your win rate is 0%."
Half a minute into the battle, those whose Magic was unsuitable for dealing with large Monster stood by and watched, while the rest did their best to attack the Alatreon.
It seems they intend to destroy the Demon Dragon in one fell swoop.
Frieren also joined in, but she didn't use her full strength right away. Instead, she used ordinary demon-slaying Magic to attack while conserving her magic power and observing the Monster's condition.
She was the most experienced person in the group, and also the one who knew Xiu Er the best.
"Xiu Er wouldn't set up a level that's easy to pass; this Monster must have something special about it."
Frieren flew around the Alatreon, observing its situation from different angles.
With its limbs immobilized and the binding Magic applied, the Alatreon showed no signs of breaking free from its earthen prison, and intense firepower enveloped its entire Demon Dragon.
She turned to look at Frieren, who was not far away. Philon had been maintaining this intense formula for quite some time and seemed to still have energy left.
After confirming Frieren's condition, Frieren approached the Alatreon again, wanting to observe the Monster's condition more clearly.
Then, in the intervals between Magic attacks, she was surprised to find that the purplish-black scales were undamaged, only covered with a little dust.
"How could it remain completely unharmed after such an attack?"
Could it have the same characteristics as the Red Mirror Dragon?
However, observation reveals that this conjecture is immediately refuted. Alatreon and Red Mirror Dragon are completely different, and Xiu Er would not set up a level that is impossible to pass.
Then Frieren quickly went to the other side, wanting to see what was happening there.
She suddenly noticed that the Alatreon had sustained some minor injuries.
How did this happen?
Just then, an ice Magic grazed past her and struck the Alatreon.
The already damaged area was further aggravated. Although the change was not significant, Frieren could immediately notice the difference.
"This is?"
Looking at the scales covered in cold air, she began to have some guesses.
Having discerned the key to breaking the deadlock, Frieren immediately flew away from the Alatreon and stopped directly above Demon Dragon.
A magic circle appeared beneath her feet.
In an instant, white merged into the red space, and fierce icy winds and snow surged out from the magic circle, covering the entire body of the Monster below. Irregular objects, each more than ten meters in diameter and formed from condensed ice, appeared above the Demon Dragon.
It seems that Frieren has discovered the weakness of the Alatreon, and she is now preparing to deliver a fatal blow.
"Hey, aren't you guys feeling a little cold?"
"How could it not be cold with such a heavy blizzard?"
"Throat----!!!!"
Suddenly, the unexpected roar of the dragon stunned everyone once again. Despite the pain in her eardrums, Frieren smashed down the ice block that had already solidified.
After doing all this, she covered her slightly bleeding ear and slowly landed on the ground.
Boom boom boom ——————!!
One massive, mountain-like block of ice after another slammed into the back of the Alatreon, the force of its fall carrying it into the ground, destroying the earthen prison that had been used to hold the monster in place.
His figure disappeared from everyone's sight.
The remaining impact penetrated the ground, causing a significant earthquake. Fortunately, the tectonic plates beneath their feet remained relatively stable, and Frieren's attack did not destroy their footing.
Frieren rushed to Frieren's side as soon as she returned to the ground and began to check on her condition.
Then she saw it: Frieren's bleeding ear.
"Lady Frieren, your ears?!"
"..."
"Lord Frieren?"
When Felix realized that Frieren hadn't responded to her words, Frieren, who had been anxious, suddenly became puzzled.
"Ah, Frieren, you've come."