8-14: The Beast Comes

The roar that shook the girls echoed throught the large arena's walls. And, from seemingly nowhere, a gigantic beast had jumped out and landed on the ground with a thud.

The murals weren't cryptic, they were on point. A lion with a goat's head on it's back and a large snake for a tail. And all three heads stared the girls down.

Without speaking a word, the girls took formation, trying to formulate how to deal with a beast of this size. A giant lion is one problem, but the goat head and snake must do something as well. It would be there if they didn't.

The creature slowly stepped back, with the girls slowly inching forwards. By the time the girls were a bit further in, the creature had started to circle them, causing the girls to try and move further back.

Turns out, the creature didn't much care for that as it leapt for the girls. As in it leapt from it's position and was about to land right on top of them.

"Scatter!" Seraph ordered, pushing a couple of the girls out of the creature's path.

The rest of the girls understood, running or taking a dive out of the way. When the creature landed, a huge puff of dirt rose and spread, concealing the creature for a split second. During the recovery, the girls grouped back together, and now they were trying to figure out even more.

'It acts like a wild beast... so it should be at least somewhat predictable, right? But the goat and snake...' Veronica thought to herself, trying to study the creature.

The girls split into groups, flanking the monster attacking it from both sides. While fur was definitely being cut off, the cuts weren't getting in all that deep. It's muscle was too tough, even for Veronica's blade.

Magic seemed to work best, actually stunning the creature, and leaving good visual marks of damage.

Though, the creature's roar shook the girls, literally and figuratively, filling them with terror. It grew aggressive clawing and swiping away at the nearby girls. Aviris got lucky, dodging away just soon enough to only have a minor cut.

It's speed was terrifyingly fast for the creature's size, keeping the girls on their toes.

However, it seemed to get fed up with the pelting of spells, as the goat screamed out as a magic circle appeared. The creature can use magic.

Specifically, Silence, as none of the girls could use their magic anymore. And it didn't exactly help that the snake seemed awfully venomous.

The absolute Apex predator. It wasn't man, it was this. This creature is, and always will be, at the top of the food chain.

Thick hide, able to cast spells that prevent magic, and a potentially venomous bite from the snake, a lion's agility... it was a creature made to fight against the original Apex predator.

Sirtia attpeted to attack it, but she sudden froze, a look of worry and fear crossed her face. She was being petrified from one of the goat's spells. And there was no saving her as she turned to stone.

The girls didn't have the time to figure out if she was still alive, or if she was truly gone, as they have to completely focus on this creature.

Though, they were running low on energy. The dodging, spellcasting, attacking, it was all getting to them, and adrenaline can only do so much.

Aviris had been targeting by petrification, then Sable, then Kazue, then Eleanora. Cassidy, Seraph and Veronica were left.

A huge fireball crossed the room, hitting the creature in the head, knocking it back and stunning it.

'Magic works again!" Cassidy yelled out.

And, without thinking, Veronica lifted her hand, and just simply imagined the destruction of the creature. She felt the magic welling up inside of her, the warmth, the cold, the shock, everything.

"Veronica, wait—!" Lilith tried to stop Veronica, but it was too late.

The creature had been knocked around and thrown to the ground like a wooden puppet. Limping ang having difficulty standing back up, Seraph took initiative, jumping onto the creature and plunging her sword as deep as she could into it's skull.

It roared out in agony, thrashing about as Seraph kept digging her blade in deeper and deeper. By the time her blade was down to the crossguard, the creature had barely any fight left in it, and with a twist of her blade, the creature had stopped moving and went limp. All three components, the lion, snake and goat.

It was finally dead. And, thankfully, all the petrified girls were released from the stone prisons, falling to the ground.

"Is it... finally dead?" Veronica asked, dizzy and holding her head.

"Yeah. It's being consumed back into the dungeon now." Seraph responded, sheathing her blade and helping some of the girls back up.

Though, strangely enough, Lilith was nowhere to be seen.

"Ver, you alright?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah. Is it normal to be light-headed. and dizzy from using magic?"

"If you use a lot of mana, then yes. And looking at the spell of absolute chaos you casted, it probably used a considerable amount."

"Ah. Fun."

After a quick check and some healing from Eleanora, the group wandered up to the newly spawned chest.

Inside was a large amount of that mysterious ore from before. There was also a circlet with a possible enchantment, some decorated throwing knives, a bow, an axe that shouldn't be able to fit in the chest but somehow magically does, and a cloak.

At the moment, just to be quick, they took what they could carry and got out of there.

After all, it was time to go home. Some proper rest and relaxation.