The Ape roared in anger again, and an invisible force slammed on the incoming feathers, crushing many of them in the impact. Still, there were hundreds of them, and some were more powerful than the others.
The stream of feathers engulfed the beast and slammed on its body, releasing clinking sounds that echoed in the area. Most of them shattered when they touched the fur, but a few of them managed to leave white marks on the skin underneath it.
One even pierced its skin when it hit the spot affected by the Black Mark. The poison in the disposable items had spread further after the last detonation, successfully weakening the Ape's body by a bit.
There were now sensitive spots on its skin, and the poison could only keep on spreading since the hunting team didn't give the beast any time to recover.
The Kesier Ape roared in anger when it saw the feather stabbed on its chest. The wound wasn't deep, but it felt humiliating to allow weaker beings to hurt it.
Its mental waves went crazy and released shockwaves that spread everywhere around it. The ground and the sky fell apart when that violent force swept them, and the trail of feathers either crumbled or changed direction during that chaos.
Nevertheless, a slim figure maintained its trajectory even among the storm of mental waves and landed directly in the Ape's right eye.
The beast was still roaring when a black needle stabbed its eye and exploded as soon as it found a body tissue that it couldn't pierce. The mental waves stopped raging at that point, and Noah could control the remaining feathers to aim them back at the Ape.
He had hidden one of his quasi-rank 6 disposable weapons in the gale of feathers and managed to decide accurately on its trajectory thanks to Skully's knowledge. If it weren't for her telling him exactly how the Ape would react when attacked, Noah would have never hoped to land such a precise blow.
Noah and his allies didn't waste that chance and launched their most potent spells toward the stunned creatures. A trail of multicolored spells flew together with a fuming six-armed dragon and crashed on the defenseless Ape.
The ground never stopped trembling during that battle, and the sky struggled to close the cracks that the many abilities caused. The last attacks worsened that situation, especially since the Ape released a condensed beam made of mental energy toward the hunting team.
Noah and the others were ready for that reaction and left their spots. Yet, the beam was too fast, and Carl's right leg vanished as he performed his evasive maneuver.
The expert clenched his teeth and shot a glance toward Noah, who had eyes only for the creature in the distance. Seeing him in one piece made Carl breathe a sigh of relief. After all, the plan would be a failure without him.
Noah kept his gaze on the Ape while a cold smirk lingered on his face. His aura became sharper whenever he saw a new injury appearing of his prey. He couldn't help but enjoy seeing that his power was finally allowing him to fight beings in that realm.
The Ape sensed his challenging gaze and launched another dense mental beam before shooting forward. Noah performed another evasive maneuver and commanded Snore to cast lightning bolts aimed at the creature's path.
Snore's attacks triggered more traps, and the same rotating sphere made of corrosive smoke and threatening saber-shaped runes appeared around the Ape. The rest of the hunting team quickly reinforced it with their spells and grouped again as they prepared themselves to activate the next traps.
The Ape roared to no end as it struggled to destroy the sphere. The smoke eventually dispersed due to its mental waves, but more black spots had appeared on its body by that time.
The hunting group retreated and triggered the traps planted beforehand as the Ape chased after them. Noah had created enough disposable weapons to arm entire nations in those years, and he had deployed most of them to kill the rank 6 specimen.
Cycles of explosions, spells, and retreats repeated themselves as Noah, and the others weakened the beast. Almost a thousand bombs with power at the peak of the fifth rank had exploded by then, but there seemed to be no end to it.
A second quasi-rank 6 needle eventually found its way toward the creature's left eye and exploded after it stabbed the organ deeply. Noah had managed to predict the precise moment when the Ape vanquished the smoke to catch it by surprise.
Another series of powerful spells landed on the Ape right after the needle detonated inside its skull. The hunting team wasn't giving it any time to breathe, which prevented it from attacking.
Noah and the others could remain safe most of the time in that way, and the Ape was slowly reaching its limits. The beast's fur was a mess, and only the six runes had remained intact. Its skin showed numerous cuts, some even deep enough to reach its internal organs.
However, the vitality of a beast in the sixth rank was immense. The Ape still charged and destroyed attacks without the slightest effort. Only Noah's attentive eyes could notice the small changes and delay in its reactions.
The plan was working, but they needed the third needle to deliver the finishing blow. The first two had managed to hurt the Ape quite severely, but not enough to kill it.
Noah's eyes became resolute when he realized how deeply the poison was affecting the Ape. There was a high chance that he could create an opportunity for his allies.
"Aim for the brain," Noah said as he passed the last needle to Carl and shot toward the Ape.
A layer of black ice and rocks covered his figure before the corrosive smoke turned him into a fiend. Snore's figure enveloped him too as he marched toward the beast.
The Ape unleashed a gale of mental waves when it sensed Noah's presence, but those ethereal attacks weren't enough to pierce his defensive methods. Also, the beast was nowhere near its peak, which affected the power of its attacks.
More traps detonated, and more spells landed on the creature as Noah marched forward and released roars. He was challenging it to a physical battle right on that spot.
The Ape's mind was a mess of anger and pain, and Noah's roars triggered its most basic instincts, making it shoot directly at him. It didn't even bother to use its mental waves during the charge.
Noah executed the second form of his martial art, and a deep cut appeared on the Ape. Still, the beast didn't stop its charge and used its long fingers as claws as it slashed its arms at him.
Noah quickly raised his arms and blocked the blows, struggling to resist the immense force trying to reduce him into pieces. He didn't even have any remaining power to launch flames.
Yet, the Ape suddenly went limp and kneeled in front of him, showing a fuming hole on the back of its head.