Chapter 216: Against a higher rank beast

Zennie turned pale after hearing her attendant's words. Seeing the numerous beasts around them, it would be bad news to all of them if Rossbert was defeated.

When she took a peek outside of the carriage, she saw Rossbert was surrounded by numerous beasts. She grimaced upon seeing it and turned pale. Instinctively, she reached out the carriage door.

"Wait, Lady Zennie! Where are you going?" Hurriedly asked the maid in worry when she noticed Zennie was about to climb down off the carriage.

"I'm going to help!" Although she wasn't good at fighting and her magical prowess wasn't so high, it didn't stop her from wanting to help.

"B-but, you are going to die i-if you do that," said the maid in a stuttering voice.

Zennie quiver and fell silent after hearing it. She understood it. "W-We are going to die otherwise," she replied but nervousness was apparent in her voice. Right, even if she helped or not, they would die anyway if these beasts took down Mr. Rossbert.

Hence, she chose to climb down the carriage rather than waiting for her demise.

"I-I see…"

The maid seemed to understand her reason. She followed after her.

"L-Lady!?" The guard leader, who was struggling against a beast, was shocked to see them outside. 

However, Zennie's eyes widened. "Watch out!" She shouted. The warning wasn't for the guard, but Rossbert. One of the beasts was able to sneak behind Rossbert.

When Rossbert heard the warning, it was already too late. One of the beasts was already behind him, gaping to bite his exposed part. In fact, there's nothing he can do now as he was locked against the two beasts in front of him.

Rossbert grimaced as he swore in a mutter. "Dammit!" 

Unexpectedly, before the beast could bite him, the beast's scalp burst out. Then blood spurted as they smeared on the back of Rossbert and the ground.

Awr...

The beast could only groan briefly before it fell to the ground without moving again.

'What was that just now?' Their thoughts.

Zennie and the maid, who happened to witness it, widened their eyes.

On the other hand, Rossbert made a glance to where he believed the attack was coming from. Before the beast's scalp was pierced by something, he caught a glance of a red glint at the corner of his eyes.

Before Rossbert could glance in the direction, more red glints came flying along with sounds that seemed like piercing the empty air.

One after another, the beasts around them fell one by one with noticeable wounds and groans.

The attack was so quick that their eyes could not follow. They only were able to have a glance of the red glint but could not understand what those were. After the glint, another one of the beasts fell as though it lost strength out of a sudden.

On the other hand,

The guards were dumbfounded when the beasts in front of them suddenly fell on the ground. Their faces showed skeptical expressions as they wondered if they were truly dead. One of them hardened his resolve and poked the lying beasts to confirm if it was. When the beast did not show any reaction, the guard confirmed it. "I-it's dead…"

"What?!" The guard leader exclaimed a second after hearing it.

How the hell did these monsters suddenly die after giving them so much fright?! The leader thought.

Though, thanks to it, he avoided having his head gnawed by the beast. 

On a second look, they noticed wounds and blood on the beast's corpse. They wondered what just happened. Regardless, what were those red glints just now?

Without knowing what was happening, their attention was drawn to a sudden yell.

"Oryaaa!"

Their eyes were magnetized to where the yell came from.

They saw the Gold Rank Guardian, Rossbert, rushing towards the bigger beast while positioning the shield in front of him. He must be planning to tackle it.

Before Rossbert could tackle it, the beast pounced one of his front limbs to the approaching Rossbert.

Wam!

Bang!

Rossbert was able to hide behind his shield. The impact caused a dull sound. Rossbert braced himself by stepping back a step.

Then he swung his mace towards the beast. Noticing that his attack missed the target, Rossbert summoned magical energy on his shield then used a skill.

"Assault Charge!"

It was a tackle attack by leaping towards the enemy and using the shield as the weapon. Though, it has a short distance.

Luckily though, Rossbert succeeded in tackling the beast. 

The beast staggered back and was stunned for a moment.

"Ascend!"

From the back, they heard a shout. It was coming from Zennie, who was currently raising both her hands towards Rossbert. Her hands were glowing brightly.

Rossbert was quite surprised when his body suddenly became lighter, and also stronger. Also, there was a foreign glow surrounding his body.

He made a glance to where he felt the energy was coming from. It surprised him that it was Zennie who cast it. He muttered the word 'thanks' before returning his gaze to the beast.

It was the effect of Zennie's ability. It power-ups the target of the spell, though in a limited time only.

Seeing the stunned enemy, Rossbert did not waste more time and lifted his weapon in the air.

More magical energy was gathering on the spiky circle of his mace until it shone brightly. A glint flashed in Rossbert's eyes. The next second, he jumped about 4 meters above the ground, rapidly coming closer to the beast. Then he swung his mace while still in the air.

"Skull Basher!"

Whoosh!

Boom!

A loud explosion generated a semi-shockwave and wafted all the grasses and dust around creating a gust of grass and dust.

The beast was smacked on the ground.

"S-Strong!" Muttered one of the guards as he was bracing himself to avoid getting blown away by the pressure. Even the carriage shook.

They could even feel the ground slightly trembling. It was already a strong attack, plus with the addition of Zennie's [Ascend] skill, the power of the attack increased a lot.

"Phew! I-Incredible," After saying it, the foreign glow that was enveloping his body suddenly disappeared. That's the extent of her [Ascend] skill.

Rossbert suddenly felt weak and tired. He used most of his magical energy in that last attack.

Regardless, the enemy was on the ground. Looking at it, although it looked alive, it was barely moving. 

A poke will end it. Rossbert believed so. Everyone was already sighing in relief. They avoided getting killed.

Rossbert lifted his mace to end the beast's misery. But he suddenly froze when he noticed the beast was already standing in front of him. 

"Wha-- how come?" A chill ran down his spine as his hand quiver for a second.

That slight delay gave the beast a chance to hit him. He wasn't even able to block it with his shield. He just noticed his whole figure shot away after an impact.

He has been thrown away.

Although the beast's head took a grave injury after receiving the [Skull Basher] attack of Rossbert, it didn't kill it on the spot. The beast, after all, was a high-ranking beast.

"Mr. Rossbert!"

Zennie shouted with a pale face when she saw the flying Rossbert.

Even before Rossbert's body landed on the ground, the beast chased after him in a frenzy.

Everyone gasped with widened eyes as they watched the super fast beast getting closer to Rossbert. They feared that Rossbert would get killed. After him, there was only them. 

A few inches away from the rolling Rossbert, the beast suddenly slowed down. Then it made a few steps before unexpectedly plopped on the ground. 

Surprisingly, its body split into two, the upper and lower part.

"Eh?"

"What happened?"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Their eyes caught a man standing beside the fallen beast. He flung his sword to get rid of something which they assumed was blood.

Regardless, who was he?