Chapter 200: Battle in the Tower
Born Battle Maniac climbed to his feet, brandishing his battle axe as he roared and charged at the Five-Headed Dragon Monster.
"Ugly freak!"
"Your grandpa Battle Maniac is here!"
He swung his axe to deflect one snapping head, slashing at its long neck, but another head headbutted him, sending him flying again.
Mantou scrambled to roll left, narrowly avoiding the monster's gaping jaws, though he cried out as corrosive saliva splattered onto him.
"This thing's heads must've been stitched from wyverns. I know that acidic burn too well!"
Dodging another heavy stomp, Mantou glanced at Singo in the distance and shouted:
"Damn it, do something useful!"
"Battle Maniac and I are fighting for our lives here, and you're just standing there slacking off!"
Singo observed the chaotic battlefield. Mantou and Born Battle Maniac were clearly outmatched by the Five-Headed Dragon Monster, and he hadn't found a perfect opening to strike.
The dragon monster's thick hide and scales made it nearly impervious to damage unless a weak spot was hit.
"Without a caster, fighting this thing is a nightmare."
Singo waited patiently, watching as all five heads reared up simultaneously, exposing their vulnerable throats. His eyes lit up.
He shouted, "Mantou, now's the time!"
"Use Dragon Roar!"
Singo had already used up his Dragon Roar charges for the day, but as a fellow Crimson Scaled Conqueror, Mantou could activate it, albeit with weaker effects without a draconic mount for resonance.
"Damn it, now you're giving orders like a Pokémon trainer?"
Grumbling internally, Mantou obeyed without hesitation. He opened his mouth wide and unleashed his skill.
"Roar—"
The roar echoed deep from Mantou's throat, mimicking the fury of a red dragon. This power, drawn from Cassius, exerted an intense bloodline pressure, freezing the Five-Headed Dragon Monster in place.
Singo reached back for a black arrow etched with jagged patterns, its surface gleaming coldly.
He drew his hunting bow to full tension, aiming with one eye, and released after a single breath.
"Swoosh—"
The arrow sliced through the air with a piercing whistle.
Mid-flight, it split into three arrows, each targeting a different head's exposed throat.
The arrows pierced the unscaled, vulnerable skin, rupturing the monster's tainted blood vessels and embedding deep into the heads.
The Hunter's Mark glowed faintly, its magic amplifying the damage and shredding the wounds further.
Blood sprayed out.
Three gory fountains erupted mid-air.
The monster's three heads thrashed violently before going limp, dangling lifelessly.
Though stitched together, the Five-Headed Dragon Monster shared a single nervous system linked by Wagner's magic, making all the heads feel the same searing pain.
With three heads destroyed, the remaining two howled in agony.
"Raaagh—"
Then came a horrifying sight. The two surviving heads turned on the dead ones, biting them off and grotesquely swallowing them whole.
The creature's insatiable hunger overrode its sanity, compelling it to consume even its own kind—though this also replenished its energy.
Singo prepared to shoot again, hoping to finish the monster off, but when he reached for his quiver, he found it empty.
"Damn it!"
He cursed aloud.
Mantou and Born Battle Maniac charged from opposite sides, but the monster's thick tail swept them off their feet, sending both crashing into the walls.
The two-headed monster, still chewing, glared at Singo with predatory intent. Its dull eyes glinted with cunning—it possessed a beast's primal intelligence.
The creature parted its jaws, frost forming in its throat.
Recognizing the scene, Singo shouted a warning:
"It's Frost Breath!"
Twin streams of icy mist spewed from its heads, freezing everything in their path into solid ice.
Anyone caught in the breath would be turned into a lifeless statue, wasting their hard-earned progress in the dungeon.
"Run!"
Singo ordered without hesitation.
Frost rapidly spread behind them, chasing at an alarming speed.
Mantou and Born Battle Maniac scrambled to their feet and bolted for the exit, barely able to keep up with Singo. Their stamina and resources were nearly depleted, leaving escape as their only option.
"Roar—"
The monster roared, smashing through the walls and chasing them relentlessly, its massive frame tearing apart the dungeon's structure.
"We need to lose it!"
"If not, it'll freeze us solid and swallow us whole!"
Mantou yelled frantically, feeling frost forming on his back.
The monster's claws swiped through the air, narrowly missing Mantou as he dodged.
Singo noticed a large, ten-meter-wide opening in a distant wall, leading away from the experimental chambers to the tower's central core—Wagner's largest laboratory.
Gritting his teeth, Singo said, "We take the gamble and go in there!"
Mantou, narrowly dodging another Frost Breath, shouted back, "Fine, just don't screw me over!"
"Three, two, one."
"Go!"
At the last moment, the three turned sharply into the dark passage, avoiding the monster's claws and disappearing into the yawning void.
The monster instinctively lunged after them, but as its heads entered the tunnel, it recoiled suddenly, as though facing something terrifying.
Whimpering, it retreated from the opening, growling menacingly into the dark corridor.
"Roar—"
Panting heavily, Mantou bent over to catch his breath, but couldn't resist taunting the creature outside.
"Ugly freak!"
"Come in if you dare!"
"Roar!"
The two-headed dragon monster snarled furiously but remained rooted outside, unwilling to step into the passage.