Chapter 145: Chaos
Tiara was trying her best to distract the Blood-eyed Minotaur, but the intelligent monster had already taken note of her attempts. It used Tiara as a plaything to make it seem as if it was fully focused on her while the exact opposite was actually the case.
The Blood-eyed Minotaur focused on Michael, his mental attacks, and the other ant-like opponents.
The Spearmen, Warriors, and other 1-Star Summons weren't even worth its attention. Only Michael and Tiara were at Tier-1. Thus, nobody would be capable of inflicting injuries on a 2-Star Monster like the Blood-eyed Minotaur.
However, that was actually what was happening right now.
The Blood-eyed Minotaur couldn't feel the pain caused by the minor injuries they inflicted, but it could clearly sense the resistance of its hide when the sharp blades and projectiles impacted upon its body, and its flesh stopping the advance of the minority of attacks strong enough to pierce its hide.
Fueled with anger and frustration, the Blood-Eyed Minotaur began to slaughter the lowly ants that were daring enough to approach.
Tiara fought with the Minotaur with all her might, and the others tried to help her desperately. But it was useless.
The Warriors were picked up like toys and torn apart with brute force, or flung through the air, crashing into others or the trees like cannonballs.
The damage caused by the Minotaur's basic attacks was already extremely terrifying, yet it looked like the Blood-eyed Minotaur was just getting started.
A single attack could injure several combatants severely, or kill an individual quickly. It was terrifying.
The Priestess did her best to contain herself, but she was shocked to the core. In the years she had lived as a young Elite Priestess, she had seen many bad things, but even she felt at a loss when one of the Assassins was impaled by one of the Blood-eyed Minotaur's horns and pulled through the air.
The Assassin's horrified screams echoed through her ears as she - and everyone else on the battlefield - witnessed how their comrade was flung around and slowly torn apart from the insides.
The Minotaur didn't even seem to realize that it had impaled the Assassin as it continued to fling its head around and throw its fists. The Assassin's insides were slowly torn apart as the gaping hole in the young man's chest widened. At one point, his horrified screams grew more and more muffled and silent until they were no more.
The Assassin stopped moving completely. He was dead.
Yet, even after the Assassin died, the Blood-eyed Minotaur didn't seem to notice anything. It attacked the nearest opponent, whose head it squashed like a watermelon. The next opponent was torn apart mid-air, and another was flung through the air like a deadweight.
At last, Michael's subjects stopped and nobody dared to approach the Blood-eyed Minotaur anymore to fight head-on. But that did not mean they had given up already. The Water Elemental Mage had combined her spell with the Earth Elemental Mage to create a mud field around the Minotaur's hooves.
It restricted the Minotaur's movements and speed, but the effectiveness was not exceptional.
Icarus and Iglisis attacked the Blood-eyed Minotaur from behind. Their dive was sudden and their acceleration terrific.
The Blood-eyed Minotaur noticed them but the Elemental Mages controlled their mud-field spell precisely. They released two pillars of mud from the ground. The pillar engulfed the Minotaur's arms, slowing down the monster effectively.
Utilizing the opportunity, Icarus' talons pierced through the Minotaur's damaged left eye, drawing a line of blood, while Iglisis pierced his shortswords deep into the Blood-eyed Minotaur's back.
A flood of black smoke burst out of the Minotaur's body when Iglisis' swords pierced his back, and a terrifying roar reverberated through the vicinity. The weakest combatants lost their ability to move and breathe as the roar seemed to shake the deepest parts of their souls.
For a moment, they weren't sure if their territory could overcome this ordeal.
Their death seemed to be inching towards them with every passing second, creeping closer to deliver the final blow.
The black smoke burned some of Iglisis and Icarus' feathers, forcing them to retreat immediately.
One of Iglisis' wings caught fire and began to smoke, but they extinguished the likelihood of a Demi-human getting burned to a crisp at once with a flood of water splashing all over Iglisis' body as he returned to the canopy bridge.
The temperature in the Minotaur's vicinity increased drastically as the black smoke engulfed the Blood-eyed Minotaur like a second layer of hide.
Overflowing with rage and power, the Blood-eyed Minotaur demolished the mud pillars. Meanwhile, the sodden mud field around its feet dried up, returning the Minotaur's movements and speed back to its peak.
In fact, the Blood-eyed Minotaur seemed faster than before. Its hooves kicked the ground and it shot toward the closest enemy at once.
The monster's armor had long since disappeared - fallen to the ground after its armor burned to a cinder - exposing the rippling muscles all over the Minotaur's body.
It appeared in front of Tiara, who was the only one left in its range - other than Michael. However, instead of attacking it with its fists and attempting to defeat her with a single attack, the Blood-eyed Minotaur slowed down and tried to catch her first.
After fighting Tiara for a while, it had realized that the young member of the Silverfang Tigerfolk was nimble, in perfect control of her body, and that the Tigress possessed a unique power with which she could execute unique movement patterns and change her direction with a terrifying speed.
The Blood-eyed Minotaur was intelligent enough to come up with a different tactic to deal with Tiara. It was overflowing with wrath and clearly influenced by the rage and power surging through its veins, but the Monster could still follow the simple tactic of catching her opponent before tearing her apart.
Tiara noticed the change in the Minotaur's strategy the moment it slowed down. She reacted at once and closed in. Her silver spear shimmered brightly, reflecting the afternoon sunlight straight into the unscathed eye of the Minotaur.
The Minotaur instinctively shut its eyes close and backed off while one of its arms shot forward to shield its vision from the blinding light. However, it was already too late. A barrage of arrows whizzed through the air, and most of them found their designated target. A handful of them were repelled, but a few pierced through the layer of black smoke and the crimson hide beneath.
Following that, Michael, the Berserkers, and the Knights appeared around the Blood-eyed Minotaur. They issued various attacks and hacked at the black smoke protection layer before they could reach the Minotaur's hide and flesh.
Michael was the closest to the Minotaur so it heard him and kicked in his direction. However, Micahel twisted his body at such an awkward angle that his bones creaked but he managed to avoid turning into the Minotaur's plaything.
The Minotaur's leg missed Michael by a hair's breadth, but Michael didn't even realize that anymore.
Seron Voulge pierced forward, digging the lengthy blade deep into one of the many wounds all over the Minotaur's chest.
He twisted the blade inside the Minotaur, and pulled it down with all his might, worsening the injury tremendously.
The Minotaur didn't feel any pain, yet it stared menacingly at him when it opened its eyes.
'You don't like that, huh?' Michael thought to himself before driving the blade deeper into the Minotaur's body.
But even then, the Minotaur didn't move.
It even turned its head to look at one of his hands.
Subconsciously, Michael's head turned to his left as well, and his eyes widened in terror.
Tiara was dangling in the Minotaur's grasp, clawing the Minotaur in a desperate attempt to free herself.