Lucas was still locked in combat with the Green-Striped Python, so naturally he had no time to notice the changes in his companions' attitudes. After another exchange, Lucas was driven back again.
The Green-Striped Python was an intelligent creature, and it was no fool. It knew that of the four morsels before it, the spear-wielding human posed the greatest threat. Although he posed no lethal threat to it, every one of his attacks could wound it.
The boy shooting arrows could harass it too, but his attacks were not as powerful as those of the morsel right in front of it. So after driving Lucas back, the Green-Striped Python did not rush to deal with Eric and the others.
Instead, it turned its head toward the direction Lucas had been knocked back, preparing to lunge straight at him. By now, Lucas was panting from the prolonged fight. He had only just managed to brace himself with his spear and dissipate the force of the beast's attack. He was about to catch his breath when he saw the creature charging at him again.
Eric and Benny also noticed Lucas gasping for breath. Benny urged Eric, "Hurry up and shoot! It's going for the boss!"
Without even turning his head, Eric snapped at Benny, "Shut up! I know what I'm doing."
Windsor said to Benny, "I didn't bring many arrows. There are only two left now. Eric is doing the right thing."
Eric also knew his attacks were weaker than Lucas's, but seeing the beast about to charge at Lucas, he hurriedly loosed an arrow. Although this arrow could do only limited damage to the Green-Striped Python, it could still pierce its skin and cause it a fair amount of trouble.
Lucas gained a brief respite, then charged in again. Eric assessed the situation and told Windsor and Benny, "There's only one arrow left now. Once I've fired it, Benny, the two of us will have to charge in and join the fight!"
Benny naturally nodded. When Lucas fell into a disadvantage once more, Eric had no choice but to loose the last arrow. Lucas assumed the Green-Striped Python would defend against it as it had before, so he abandoned his cautious approach and committed himself to an all-out strike.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated this fourth-rank magic beast's intelligence. It gave up defending against the arrow and met Lucas with its full strength instead. Only after exchanging a blow with it did Lucas realize that its attack was stronger than any before. The blow sent him flying, and he did not stop until he slammed into a huge rock. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
Lucas knew his internal organs had been injured. Seeing that even Lucas, the strongest among them, had been defeated, Eric took his sword from Windsor and charged in.
Benny saw Eric rush over and engage the beast, which had been about to seize the opportunity to kill Lucas. He then said to Windsor, "I'm going to help him too. Be careful on your own, Windsor."
Together, Benny and Eric barely managed to keep the Green-Striped Python occupied. Windsor hurried over to Lucas, helped him up, and asked with a face full of concern, "How are you? Are you hurt?"
Lucas nodded, then saw that Windsor was on the verge of tears. He wiped her tears away and said, "I'm sorry. I was the one who brought you to this dangerous place."
Windsor shook her head as she cried and said to Lucas, "I was the one who wanted to come."
Lucas smiled at Windsor's tear-streaked face and had her help him to his feet. In that brief interval, he had recovered some strength.
Then he saw Eric and Benny get lashed away by the Green-Striped Python, their fates unknown. At the sight, Lucas's heart raced as fast as it could. He understood that he and his companions were going to meet their ends here today.
Yet his heart was still filled with defiance. I finally managed to transmigrate into this world. At last, I had a chance to become a god and enjoy an endless life. Why do I have to die here? Lucas saw the Green-Striped Python about to charge at him.
With a loud shout, he charged forward again, this time convinced he would die. He thrust his spear straight into the Green-Striped Python's gaping mouth as it came to swallow him. Even after his strike, the momentum of the python's corpse carried him back to Windsor. Once again, Lucas landed on his backside and slid until he stopped against the rock.
Looking at the giant python's corpse still writhing before her, Windsor asked Lucas uncertainly, "Is it dead?"
Lucas nodded, then told her, "Hurry and check on those two. Bring them over here."
Windsor nodded and hurried off to find them. Sitting beside the rock, Lucas closed his eyes and recalled his final strike. In that state, he had gathered the last of his strength and driven it into the creature's head with all his might. Because he had practiced martial arts in his previous life, he had fairly strong control over his body's strength. In the end, he had probably managed a rudimentary form of the attack he had dreamed of achieving in his previous life: concentrating force on a single point to break through a surface.
In this world, that was Wielding Something Light as Though It Were Heavy, a technique attained before the Saint level-a sudden burst of concentrated strength. Otherwise, he was certain that his current attacks were unlikely to kill a fourth-rank magic beast. Unfortunately, when Lucas tried to examine that feeling more closely, he found that he could not reproduce it at all. But he knew he had already succeeded once. Once he became more familiar with it, he would be able to use it again.
Just then, Windsor came over with Eric and Benny. After fighting side by side in this life-and-death battle, the two were on much better terms. Both of them were injured as well.
Eric looked at the spear still lodged in the beast's head and asked, "You killed it? Did you break through to become a Fourth Rank Warrior?"
Lucas shook his head and told Eric, "No. I just made a breakthrough in another area."
Eric murmured an acknowledgment, then said to Lucas, "I'm sorry. I didn't know there was a magic beast here."
Lucas shook his head, then said, "It's all right. I doubt you'd risk your own life to set us up."
Benny glanced at Eric, then said, "Boss, didn't you want the corpses?"
Eric said to Lucas, "Benny and I will go look for them now."
Lucas stopped the two of them and took the masks he had made out of his clothes. He told them, "Wear these over your mouths and breathe through them, in case there's anything poisonous!"
The two nodded, then turned and climbed up to the cave. Lucas also had Windsor break open the Green-Striped Python's head. After doing as he asked, Windsor found a glittering crystal inside. She handed it to Lucas and asked, "What is this?"
Lucas explained to her, "This is a Magic Beast Core. Magic beasts of the third to fourth rank and above can have them. It's the main source of a magic beast's fighting power!"
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