Chapter 848 Chapter 847: Terracotta Grottos (13)
Raising my Khopesh, I rolled to the side as a gnarled root burst from the trembling earth and spiraled upwards, trying to stab me from below and allow the charging bovine time to gore me with its long, sharpened horns.
The smaller monsters had only one set of horns as opposed to two, and their tusks were much shorter than the larger one's tusks, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous; far from it, since they were still larger than normal bulls by a good amount, and they were hopped up on Nature Magic, so...
Staring at the stampeding bovine, I leapt to the side again as another root shot towards me from behind me, the creaking and grating of the wood growing and rubbing together alerting me to its presence before it hit me, so I had ample time to dodge.
The bovine took advantage of that time to slow down and shift its body, turning to face me before stamping back down and charging forwards, this time at a much closer distance.
Strength rolled off of this monster as it charged me, each stamp of its hooves against the gravel sending vibrations through the ground, and when it got within striking distance of me, it pushed off the ground and revealed its hooves, which were radiating a deep brown light as two Earth Ritual Circles appeared beneath the black keratin adorning its feet.
Slamming its front hooves down, the bovine monster moo'd at me as it sent multiple spikes towards me, but sadly for it I was already on its side, my legs carrying me swiftly from right in front of it to the right, where I was able to raise the serrated, toothed inside crescent of my Khopesh and swing it down like an axe towards the bovine's grass and root covered body.
Ice lined the teeth of my weapon, and the Wind Mana billowing off of the blade as I swung it down as swiftly as I could for added kinetic energy, which would hopefully be enough to break through the bovine's defenses and deal some serious damage.
It's moo turned frightened as it realized that I had dodged the spikes it pushed out of the earth, but before it could do anything to protect itself besides brace, the Khopesh was already slicing into its meaty side, the serrated, ice covered teeth chewing into its flesh and ripping at the muscles beneath its brown, almost wooden skin, whilst tearing through the grass that added a thin layer of protection.
On force alone the Khopesh dug deep into the bovine's side, but when I added my weight to the blade afterwards and wrenched the blade free with a harsh yank, I dealt more damage and made the bovine squeal in agony, its front hooves lifting again as it tried to pull away from the weapon.
Ritual Circles appeared on its hooves again, and I yanked my Khopesh away and leapt back, away from the nest of earthen spikes that erupted from the ground as it stamped its legs back down, now bleed profusely from the side but still just as powerful as before.
Flicking the blood from my blade, I observed it before lunging forwards again, this time leaping into the spikes and kicking off of them as I made my way over the bovine, relying on its large body and inability to manipulate said large body quickly to let me get another attack in.
Going to the other side, this time I targeted its hind leg, switching from the serrated inside crescent to the slick outer crescent, honing its edge with more ice and hacking away at the limb with efficient swings, scoring a dozen cuts across its meaty leg.
Whilst I took care of one of the bovines, the others were holding their ground and doing the same, with Jahi, Anput, Satanya, Leraie and a few others battling to take down the larger one, moving around it and going for a death via a thousand cuts.
Tearing my eyes away from the larger monster, I focused on my own as it squealed again, before it once more stamped its hooves down.
Another wave of earthen spikes targeted me, and the monster screeched in fear as it wondered where I would attack next, though it got that answer quickly as I leapt into the air once more, this time landing not on solid ground away from it, but instead on its broad, muscular back, startling the monster.
It tried to shake me off, but before it even had a chance to react, I covered my Khopesh in a thick layer of Ice Mana and slashed down at the monster, my lips curling into a delighted grin as I watched the outer crescent slice cleanly through the bovine's thick neck, revealing the large white bones that lay beneath the muscular, dense flesh of its neck, though they were swiftly covered by a pool of blood as the bovine stumbled, unable to control itself as the nerves that traveled from its brain to its body were mostly severed.
Leaping off of its back, I landed in front of the monster and watched as its four eyes blinked in surprise, only for the light to leave them as it dropped to the ground and began to bleed out, its spine damaged.
With some planning and good execution, the bovine filled with Nature Mana and incredibly tanky - with insane defensive capabilities, given a little time - fell so easily to my blade, and so beautifully too... though it could have been better.
Staring at it for a moment, I unsheathed my dagger and swiftly carved away its chest, revealing its heavy Core, which I yanked from its insides and stored inside a pouch, before doing the same to the heart, which was about the size of both my hands and then some... and damn heavy as well.
Securing them both, I washed my hands off quickly and lifted my Khopesh again, launching myself towards the 'raid boss' bovine and joining in the efforts to take it down.
Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m