Chapter 145 145 Two’s Cooperation



The sheer bulk of its weight was enough for the ground underneath its feet to crack every time it tried to make a move. It was at least three to four times larger than a normal rhinoceros if not even larger.

While Diana and her people were trying their best to contain the walking disaster as much as possible, it was extremely hard for them to actually do so due to the sheer size of the thing. No matter how much damage they tried to inflict on it, the rhinoceros never took them seriously as if their serious attacks were nothing more than an itch to it.

Previously they had been thinking that the defense of the Iron Mantises was good but they could never have known that all their concepts were up for a refresher from that moment onwards. The ranged attacks especially were completely ineffective as they were repelled off by the tough outer skin of the beast. Even the shrapnel grenades that exploded right underneath the beast were incapable of significantly harming the beast.

After trying out several attack patterns, Diana found that it was completely impossible to beat the rhinoceros in this manner and therefore began thinking of another strategy like the one Zach had employed in order to beat down the Iron Mantises earlier. But no matter how good a strategy might be if the strength behind the offensive was lacking, the abyssal defense could not be countered at all unless they attacked from the inside out.

Diana quickly came to the conclusion that the rhinoceros was completely undefeatable with their current strength. There was only one other chance but it came with too much risk. It employed forcing the rhinoceros to open its abyssal mouth so that the soldiers could attack it from the inside to cause damage directly to its vital body organs.

Seeing that Zach had arrived on the scene, Diana quickly urged her horse towards him and made an extensive report regarding the enemy since he would be taking over from her soon.

Zach nodded along with all the decisions that Diana had taken on her own and didn't criticize her for anything because all her decisions were based on his training. He was happy to see that she had not deviated from the path that he had taught to her and had kept her men safe. Moreover, Zach completely agreed with Diana's suggestion of attacking the rhinoceros from the inside because at the moment there was no better solution than that to take down the beast.

Fortunately, Zach had unlocked a weapon that could breach and penetrate the defenses of an opponent no matter how strong their defenses might be. Therefore he was confident that with the right strategy it would not be far off to claim that he could take down the beast with some effort.

However, there was one small problem. The beast was too strong. Each of its attacks was devastating to the surroundings and its targets. Therefore, Zach needed to get close enough to it without suffering from any of its attacks that were quite capable of killing him.

Even with the help of the Skeletal armor that Zach always relied on, he could not be quite sure of making it. The fact that the skeletal ego-armor was a low level armor indicated that it was not good enough to take on the attacks of the beasts as strong as the rhinoceros. Even the ability of the armor could only resist three attacks unconditionally from any beasts that were not more than two levels above the user. Therefore, Zach was sure that the armor wouldn't be able to protect him from the rhinoceros just as it had failed to be useful in his fight against the Black Panther. He was afraid of being trampled beneath the giant rhinoceros' feet.

Still Zach had to try because he had already made a deal with Clara. Moreover, Zach at least had a chance of winning this time compared to the last time. This time the clouds at least had a silver lining amongst the darkness of the storm.

Zach called for anyone who had yet to engage in the battle or was currently resting after taking on the rhinoceros in order to talk about his intent to fight the beast.

"I am confident that I can deal a deadly blow to the beast by getting past its defenses. But I need someone who is confident in creating opportunities for me to get close to the beast without being attacked. Someone who can immobilize an opponent for a second will be my optimum choice but I know that the monster is quite strong. Therefore, I just want someone who can keep its attention away from me for some time while I prepare my attack to take it down in one go."

Zach's words sounded like the casual boasting of someone who was not aware of the reality or the consequences that came with uttering such words. Clara would have despised him if she hadn't seen him fight the mantises again.

To Zach's surprise it was none other than Clara who raised her hand while the burly men and soldiers beside him hesitated while their legs trembled from the fear.

"I can restrain it for a short period of time and allow you to approach closer to it but you need to understand that I don't have any ways to deal it a killing blow. If you fail to do so, my life would be in danger. So please don't make any superfluous statement that would get us both killed if you don't have the ability to carry through with your words."

Clara's words were reasonable since she would be putting her life on the line to make an opportunity for Zach. But he seriously doubted whether Clara could really make good on her words. The reason for his doubt was that Clara was a young girl who looked no older than fifteen years old. Her body looked so fragile that he couldn't understand how she could make such a claim without even batting an eye.

To Zach, Clara looked like a mascot or a porcelain doll that can only be used for decoration purposes. 

Bruce on the other hand was grinning widely as he knew that they could profit from the deal that Zach had made with Clara. Unlike Zach, he was quite knowledgeable and knew about the strengths of the various prominent families of the empire. Therefore, he chose to trust them both when he saw Bruce nodding vigorously at him from afar. It was easy to infer from this gesture that Bruce was backing up Clara's stance and was asking him to trust her as well.

Zach on the other hand seriously doubted that she could make good on her words but Bruce's assurance allowed him to put his trust in her.

Since it would be a loss of a good warhorse if both of them chose to ride their horses into battle only for them to abandon it midway, they decided to ride the same horse to make their initial charge towards the rhino.

Zach thought that it would be better if they used Clara's warhorse which was far better in agility and endurance then his own charger and climbed up behind her in a steady and composed manner.

Clara didn't seem to mind it either because she knew that it was the logical choice. Only Diana seemed a little upset with this outcome. The more she looked at Zach's hands wrapped around the thin waist of the petite doll like girl, the more she hated it. She felt like a wife who was being cheated on by her husband right in front of her.

Diana might be a jealous girl but she knew that there was a time for everything. Right now she couldn't afford to act so petty and therefore didn't make a fuss about it. She decided to hold in all of her righteous anger for the time being.

A battlefield wasn't a place to harbor such grudges against allies. She made arrangements with her soldiers and made sure that they would be ready to charge into the battlefield at full speed in case there was a problem with the plan and they had to extricate Clara and Zach. Zach was her personal priority but she couldn't ignore Clara either considering that the latter was a part of Windsor family. Their group had just escaped the confines of the Elizabeth city due to the powerful Royal family and she knew that they couldn't afford to offend a powerful family at the level of the Windsor family. Therefore, her arrangements were a cautionary measure against such an outcome.

All the soldiers that were on standby had serious expressions on their faces as they watched Zach and Clara heading into battle with the rhino on their own. Even though they knew that Zach was the best of them, they still couldn't let him go with a peace of mind. The reason was that Zach was a symbol of hope for these people and he couldn't be allowed to fall no matter what. He was far too important for that. Therefore, the soldiers tasked with the contingency measures were exceptionally devoted to the task given to them and were willing to carry out the task at the cost of their lives if possible.

…

Clara galloped her horse in close proximity to the rhino and jumped from the horse without any warning to Zach. Although he had been expecting something like this to happen, he still felt a small signal before pulling off such a stunt would have allowed him to keep his eyeballs from popping out just from the suddenness of the action.