Chapter 143: A Leader

Everyone's attention was fixated on Nox, the collective gaze of the alliance resting heavily on him. Such scrutiny could easily overwhelm a teenager, or even an adult, but there wasn't the slightest hint of anxiety in Nox's midnight eyes.

"But before I start, let me hear your own plans." Nox glanced at Reyes, who nodded his head. Though he didn't know it, by asking to hear Reyes' plans, Nox had subtly increased his standing in everyone's eyes.

Even the leader of the Silvermist Guild couldn't help but look at him strangely, the skepticism in her eyes gradually fading. 'Maybe he isn't that bad... If we could defeat this beast, I'll try poaching him over to my guild... After all, I heard he's merely a temporary agent for this doofus.'

Feeling a glare at the back of his head, Reyes proceeded to explain his plan. His plan had several steps. The first step was preparation for the unknown. The guild master was aware that they might be walking into a trap, so he had sent out a group made up of scavengers and a few of Captain Bofan's squad to scout the area for any potential traps set by the Lich Court or even the Elemental Beast.

"However, we found out that there were no traps..." Reyes explained, his appearance once again vibrant as a huge chunk of his stamina had replenished. "So we proceeded to the next phase, which was the use of group strength."

Each group and faction had its own strength. Reyes' plan was to leverage those abilities without forcing everyone into the same role. Because of Bladesong Academy's impulsiveness, they would face the Elemental Beast head-on along with Reyes and Captain Bofan, while the Silvermist Guild would focus on defensive magic. After all, they didn't lack mage-type Awakened.

As for the scavengers, because of their fragile build, they'd only assist with long-range attacks.

It took a while for Reyes to explain the entire plan, and Nox listened intently. When the young guild master was done, he finally spoke, and everyone stared at him with full attention.

"Guild master, your plan is sound, but you're missing one key detail," Nox pointed out. "The beast's energy is concentrated in its core. Hitting it from all sides won't work."

"Huh, the kid is right." The Silvermist Guild leader's eyes sparkled. "All this while, we've just been targeting the hide of the Elemental Beast, but what if we attack its chest area where beast cores are usually located?"

In Eos, beast cores/crystals were the life essence or force of beasts; the energy that kept them alive was radiated by this core. It was just like a human heart—take that out, and they'll die.

If they concentrated their attack there, wouldn't it mean that it would disrupt the flow of energy, forcing the beast to lose control?

Everyone's eyes shone in realization. This wasn't common knowledge in Eos; it was only known by those scholars who were obsessed with studying beast anatomy. Still, it was an obvious fact that the beast cores were the life essence! So all they had to do was concentrate all their attacks there.

Elemental crystals were very sturdy, and there would be no way their combined attack would destroy it, but it was more than enough to disrupt the energy. How did this kid think of this? Everyone shared the same thought process, unaware that Nox had read a book about beasts and their weaknesses. seaʀᴄh thё NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The real genius wasn't him but his father.

Seeing the excited look on everyone's face, Nox pointed out with a serious expression, "Of course, the beast won't stand by and watch us attack its core. That's why we'll split up!" He then looked at the terrain that was now littered with craters and icy ridges and added:

"We'll take advantage of the surroundings."

"What do you mean?" Brolly asked, confused. He was struggling to follow everything Nox was saying, and his head was starting to ache badly.

Nox pointed at the ridges and craters. "We'll force the beast out of that cave; it's trying to lure us in for some reason, but we won't rush in, as that might be a trap."

"How are we going to force it out of the cave without getting in?" Captain Bofan asked with a thoughtful expression as he stared at the huge frozen mountain where the Elemental Beast dwelled.

Nox merely displayed a confident grin. "Leave that to me."

Captain Bofan wanted to ask more, but that confident smile assured him, so he decided to keep quiet and listen as Nox went through the rest of the plan.

----

"Guild master, you and Captain Bofan, with your respective teams, will take the front line..."

Reyes and Captain Bofan stood on a crater that had formed a slight frozen hill a hundred meters away from the mouth of the cave. Behind them were the likes of Cormach with his round shield, Brenda Nahim, Hex, Adin, Adam, and the military men belonging to Bofan's squad.

Cold wind tousled their hair, and the fierce pressure slammed into them, but they didn't falter and glared into the mouth of the cave where they could see a pair of eyes watching them.

"Since it's an ultimate skill, I doubt the Elemental Beast will be able to summon that hurricane anytime soon... If you two can stall it with your earth and wind blades, it would buy us time."

"As for Brolly, the rest of the Bladesongs, and scavengers, you guys will take on the most dangerous position in this fight. You'll attack the beast's sharp spikes from behind."

"We're fine with this!" Brolly displayed a toothy grin. In a sense, there was nothing dangerous about attacking the beast from behind; the most dangerous position was already taken by Bofan and Reyes, as they'd face the powerful Elemental Beast head-on, but Brolly didn't notice this.

"And last but not least, the Silvermist Guild." Nox turned to the intellectual woman, who had a charming smile on her face as if she wanted to bewitch Nox. She was a real beauty, and everyone would be pleased and even aroused, but it had no effect on Nox whatsoever.

Instead, he felt slight disgust that the woman was looking at a minor with that kind of look. Yes, he was not a minor mentally, but physically, he was.

A slight glint of disappointment flashed across her eyes when she noticed that Nox didn't seem to appreciate her beauty. She covered it up with a smile and said, "Boy, so what is my role?"

"The reason the previous fire attacks hadn't worked was because the attacks weren't intense enough." always-on-MvLeMpYr

"You want it to be intense? You got it," the woman spoke in a filthy voice, her cat-like eyes shining. "But how intense?"

"Very intense. It should be hot enough to penetrate an alloy wall with ease... I want you and your team to focus this attack on the core of the beast, to not only weaken but disrupt the energy flow."

Reyes nodded his head, impressed, but then he thought of something. "Do you have a way to deal with the ice domain thingy?"

"Naturally," Nox nodded his head. "I've come very prepared this time."

"Which position will you take?" Hex, the cryomancer, asked.

"Me and my beasts will come in later," Nox assured as he told everybody to stand back. He held his hand out.

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AN: Great Job You guys Hit the Hundred Golden Ticket! Which means I'm currently owning four chapters