The Author's POV

"Whooooo!"

The Abyssal Mammoth raised its tusk into the air and let out a ferocious cry, much like the way a trumpet would sound. Simultaneously, its body raised up on its two legs―exposing its fluffy underbelly in the process—with its legs smashing down against the ground when coming down.

Rumble! Rumble!

The cave began to shake as a result of the mammoth's violent movements, and the color of the mammoth's eyes shifted to an ominous crimson hue.

"Not good; it's agitated!"

"The cave will collapse at this rate!"

Confronted with an unexpected circumstance, the demons began to panic a little. However, the panic didn't last too long. After all, they were all seasoned veterans.

It didn't take long before the order was restored, and immediately after, every demon began forming formations and barking orders at each other.

"Aim for the underbelly! That's its weak point!"

"Make sure you don't kill it!"

"Coming!"

Boom―!

The cave began to shake once more, and the combatants on both sides—the mammoth and the demons—engaged in a struggle with one another.

'This is worse than I anticipated..."

As I turned my head to look at Amanda, I heaved a sigh of exasperation and gazed at her with a frown.

It wasn't just her; everybody else was affected by it as well. They were getting to the point where they were a real pain to deal with.

...but I couldn't really blame them, to be honest. It was my choice to bring them along, and I was aware from the very beginning that the more mana, or demonic energy, they used, the more their minds became corrupted by the demonic energy.

It was also the reason why I avoided using my powers as much as possible.

Really...

If there was anyone to blame, it was me.

Xiu―! Xiuuuu―!

"Whoooooo!"

Amanda's arrows tore through the air as she continued to shoot in the direction of the mammoth. They rode through the air like silver bullets, arriving at the beast in a matter of seconds.

Ca―! Clank!

Unfortunately, when they collided with the mammoth's hide this time, unlike her first attempt, the arrows were deflected away and sent careening aimlessly toward the ground.

I wasn't surprised by this.

After all, there was a significant gap in the level of strength that existed between the Mammoth and Amanda. The simple fact that she had been successful in obtaining a hit in the first place was mind-boggling in itself.

Of course, it would have never occurred if it had not been caught off guard. But that was the whole point.

"Are you not going to make a move?"

asked, observing the battlefield from

them to get rid of

"I guess..."

nodded, agreeing

move from my position and continued to observe from

the same argument for the Duchess. If she

as strong as the normal

omit the last

***

Clank―!

"Whooooo!"

struck against the hard fur of the mammoth, which further enraged it and caused it to

stalactites that hung above the ceiling of the cave began to fall like

was used to construct the cave, held an incredible

"Argh!"

"Watch out!"

sight was not a pretty one as dark blood spattered all over the cavern, and the demons didn't even get

to the fact that their cores were not damaged, but those were

size of the stalactites made sure that

have

asked, overlooking the entire battlefield from

her eyes her glare became

ten Marquis ranked

prepared for the

"Ten already?"

appeared on Priscilla's pristine features as her brows momentarily moved

more than she had

caution. "I believe that the reason for the losses is due to none

"Enough!"

be said for her voice as a bone-chilling

forget our objective. We're not here to coddle them into defeating the beast. We're here to test them. If it were up to me, I'd have killed the beast a while back. I

truly nothing for her to be wary of. Sure, if she were alone, it'd prove to be an annoying

enough to appease her uncle for a brief

he once again opened his

"Yes, I know, but—"

"Did the shot miss?"

gaze focused on the hooded figure

made it a point to keep a close eye on

wasn't out of spite or annoyance. It was more out of

courageous people to cowards. The hooded's figure

mean she liked reckless ones. Had the individual missed, it would've been a whole different

didn't miss their shot, they did nothing wrong. For those who died...they were

to adapt to any situation

eye lost, they had gained a good advantage. It was now up to them to exploit that advantage and seal the

for its right side! At

once

'Another hooded figure?'

was donning a black hood, the same kind of hood as the one that belonged to the person who had fired the first

it was, and the instructions that she was giving seemed to be directed toward another hooded figure who had managed to get on the

its right side, you fuckwit! That's where the mammoth's

were rather

to it, and then made its way underneath it in

or the figure's skills, or perhaps both, but

SHAAA!