"ROOOAAAR!!!"
The colossal beast threw its head back and unleashed a deafening roar. From its gaping maw, scorching flames erupted and poured forth like a raging torrent.
This was a demon's innate ability.
The fire spewed from a demon's mouth was even more powerful than the magic cast by mages of the same rank. Even the residual shockwaves alone were enough to inflict devastating casualties upon the kingdom's soldiers.
Fortunately, after escaping the pit, the beast didn't continue attacking the soldiers.
Ur completely had its attention.
Its bloodshot eyes were fixed on him, brimming with hatred and murderous intent.
Although the kingdom army had suffered heavy losses, the demon beast itself was far from unscathed.
Nearly half of the bone spikes along its back had been shattered. Its massive body was covered in scorched, blackened marks, and fresh blood streamed continuously from its wounds. It looked pitiful, yet at the same time, more terrifying than ever.
Boom!
The beast opened its mouth and fired off another blast of flames.
Ur's pupils shrank as he hurriedly twisted his body to dodge.
Bang!
The scorching flames slammed into the rock behind him. With a thunderous explosion, the massive boulder shattered into countless fragments.
The battle had reached its climax.
Due to its enormous size, the giant beast possessed an astonishing amount of magic power. Every casual strike carried a terrifying, destructive force. Every casual attack carried devastating force. Its only weakness lay in its speed—its attacks were relatively clumsy.
Ur relied on agile footwork to evade the attacks while constantly releasing low-tier magic to harass and wear it down.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Violent surges of magic erupted repeatedly. The shockwaves from Ur and the beast's clash were so overwhelming that Levy couldn't even approach the battlefield. She was forced to retreat far back, watching from a distance.
This battle shook Levy to her core. More than shock, it filled her with bitterness. She was a mage too, yet she had never imagined mages could be this powerful. Even less had she expected that, by comparison, she wouldn't even qualify to participate in the fight.
Without Ur, forget revenge; she wouldn't even know if she could survive against this monster at all.
Staring at the battlefield, Levy unconsciously pressed her lips together, her mood sinking.
Basic Water Magic, Water Shield!
Lower-Tier Earth Magic, Earth Spike!
Taking the risk of further injury, Ur used a Water Shield to forcibly block another burst of flame. The moment he landed, he followed up with Earth Spike.
A deep-yellow magic circle flared beneath the beast's abdomen. Several jagged stone spikes erupted upward with a wet thud, plunging deep into its flesh.
"ROOO—!" The giant beast let out a pained howl, thrashing instinctively as it snapped the rock spikes apart. But the pain did not fade because the sharpened tips had already broken off and remained lodged inside its flesh.
Demonic bodies were naturally tough, but that toughness was connected to their magic reserves. The stronger a demon's magic power, the more resilient its body. As that power declined, so too did its physical defenses.
Earlier in the fight, Ur's Earth Spikes had only managed to pierce the beast's skin. Now, however, they were inflicting severe internal damage.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind swept toward him.
Ur immediately raised his sword defensively. In the next instant, an overwhelming force slammed into him. Even with the Behemoth's Power passive, he couldn't fully withstand it.
He was sent flying.
Bang!
He crashed hard into a tree trunk.
"Cough, cough…" Ur struggled to his feet, coughing violently as he spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged foam. His face was pale as he glanced at his status panel.
Less than fifty points of magic power remained.
Compared to the demon's colossal body, Ur's mana pool was laughably small. In the latter half of the fight, he had relied almost entirely on physical combat and low-consumption spells.
Even physical techniques consumed magic power, but far less than direct spellcasting. Still, he was nearly empty now.
"Damn, strong as hell," Ur muttered viciously, spitting out another mouthful of blood.
"No wonder it's a demon from the primordial era."
Ur hadn't fought many other demons before, but honestly speaking, he didn't believe that most of Zeref's creations, excluding certain exceptional cases, could beat this monster at the same level.
Its vitality and mana reserves were simply absurd.
By now, the entire coastline was almost completely obliterated. Within a hundred-meter radius, there was practically no raised terrain left. The ground was riddled with craters from repeated explosions, the air thick with the stench of battle and scorched earth.
Almost all of it was the demon's doing.
For this beast, its magic power seemed endless. Spitting out fireballs one or two meters in diameter was like hawking loogies, one every second.
Even Ur struggled to defend against such near-instant magic.
"Grrr…" The beast stared at Ur, growling low in its throat.
Ur wasn't the only one wary.
The beast itself regarded Ur with deep caution. In all its long existence, it had never encountered such a troublesome opponent.
After a tense stare-down, the beast suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a fireball. More accurately, it looked like it was coughing up a giant wad of phlegm.
Ur's composure was usually excellent, but even he couldn't help snapping.
"Are you kidding me?! Again?! Damn it all—!"
Ur pushed the evasive techniques from Kuga Combat Technique to their absolute limit, darting rapidly around the beast's massive frame.
After missing more than ten consecutive shots, hesitation began to appear in the beast's eyes.
It wasn't mindless.
Earlier, it had lost its sanity due to manipulation and the pain inflicted by Ur, but after such a prolonged battle, its rationality was slowly returning.
The situation wasn't favorable.
Retreat was the smartest option.
After all, as an amphibious creature, the ocean was right behind it.
The beast hesitated.
Ur noticed instantly.
The moment the beast revealed that brief opening, Ur's eyes flashed sharply.
The next second, he moved.
Seizing the instant when the beast's flame attack misfired, Ur slammed his hands together, drawing out every last drop of mana left in his body.
All of it surged forward in a single, reckless burst.
Fusion Magic, Magma Claw!