Chương 237: Rhampholeon

A chameleon. That explained why Damion had not seen the Demonic Beast. True Sight told him it was there, just a few meters ahead of him, but actually seeing it, was another matter entirely.

"That is a Rhampholeon," Inara said confidently.

"Keep your distance," Damion told them.

"This one may not be as big, but it is a lot stronger than the beetle." Now that Phil had exposed the side of the Demonic Beast, Damion could make out the general shape and he could make out its eyes. From what he could tell, the Rhampholeon was roughly three meters long with body that tapered upwards almost like a sail. It had a triangular head with a number of small fleshy horns. As the Rhampholeon moved, Damion could see how its skin shifted in color, blending in with the surroundings.

He had seen chameleons on Earth in his past life, but those small reptiles could at most have their skin adapt after a few seconds. But his former world did not have magic. This Demonic Beast could change its skin nearly instantly. Since it was exposed, the Demonic Beast did not try to conceal its movements any longer and rushed forward. Damion cast Ice Shield and made his shield as large and as thick as possible before the Rhampholeon slammed into it.

The blow shoved Damion back a meter, his boots leaving furrows in the ground. While the creature was focused on Damion, Thomas, Inara and Geoffrey all started attacking the Demonic Beast's flanks. Unfortunately, their attacks were too weak to penetrate its skin. The C Rank Demonic Beast turn its head slightly, looking at its weaker opponents and blinked its bubble-like eyes. Just when the three thought the giant lizard was going to ignore them, its tongue shot out of its mouth.

The Rhampholeon's long tongue wrapped around Inara's waist and began pulling her towards its mouth. The Dark mage struggled to resist the tongue's pull, but she was much weaker than the Demonic Beast. Seeing his teammate in trouble, Damion quickly cast Ice Sword and rushed to her aid. When he sliced his sword through the Demonic Beast's tongue, Inara fell backwards as the force dragging her in was abruptly severed. The Rhampholeon let out a shrill cry and pulled the remainder of its tongue back into its mouth.

In the short few moments of the Demonic Beast trying to make a snack of Inara, Phil had swooped around and hit the lizard with another Ice Breath. This time, even more frost clung to the skin of the Rhampholeon and allowed the group to easily see it.

"Go for its eyes," Damion shouted to his teammates. There was no way they could overcome the strength of the Rhampholeon's skin, their only chance of doing anything meaningful in this fight was to hit the creature's eyes. Thomas, Yuri, and Geoffrey started sending their spells at the Demonic Beast's head. Once Inara got back to her feet, she began casting her Dark Blade spell at the lizard's eyes as well. Ronald, while wanting to contribute, knew he was unlikely to be able to hit the Demonic Beast's eyes.

Even if he did, being even weaker than the other four, he felt his attacks might not even penetrate the Rhamphleon's eyes. Instead, he threw out a few Razor Leaf spells that harmlessly bounced off the Demonic Beast's hide and fell to the ground. When the leaves hit the ground, the Wood mage began casting Nurture Growth. After a few seconds, the fallen leaves began to grow. Ronald shaped their growth into a thick viny plant. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

While Ronald was growing his plants, Damion cast Ice Shard and hit the Rhampholeon with three Ice Shards at once. The giant lizard responded by darting forward and trying to bite through Damion's Ice Shield. Jumping back, the Ice mage was able to avoid the attack, but the Demonic Beast was not finished. Just as the Rhampholeon was about to make another lunge at Damion, Ronald cast Constrict. The vines he had grown leapt around the Demonic Beast's back legs, holding it firmly in place.

A moment's confusion from the Demonic Beast was all Damion needed to rush forward and stab his Ice Sword into its eye. However, the Rhampholeon jerked its head to the side before he was able to force his sword into the creature's brain. Losing one of its eyes caused the Rhampholeon to go into a rage. The beast pulled and kicked its back legs. Despite Ronald reinforcing his vines, after a few quick jerks the Demonic Beast tore the vines from the ground and was free to charge at Damion.

This time, Damion was more than ready for the Rhampholeon and sidestepped its charge, moving to the side which lost an eye. Before the Demonic Beast could turn and locate him, Damion slashed his sword across the giant lizard's side, opening a large gash. The Demonic Beast spun its body when it felt Damion's blow, trying to catch him with its tail.

A quick jump allowed him to avoid the Rhampholeon's tail and when Damion came down, he brought his Ice Sword down in a two-handed grip, driving the tip into the Demonic Beast's neck. The blow was enough to sever the Rhampholeon's spine. A few seconds after Damion pulled his sword from the creature's body, the Demonic Beast collapsed. He let out a sigh and the Magic System's notifications started coming in.

Ding [Spell Ice Familiar mastery increased to D Rank] Ding {Quest Completed} [Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]"That didn't seem so hard," Thomas commented as he approached the dead lizard.

"You say that now," Yuri laughed.

"But I saw you hiding behind that log."

"I was taking cover, not hiding," Thomas defended.

"Yeah. You started taking cover real fast when your spells started bouncing off the Demonic Beast's hide," Geoffrey joined in the teasing. Damion ignored the trio's ribbing of Thomas. The interactions between the three of them made him wonder if he would be able to joke like that with friends if he had any. Pushing the thought aside, Damion pulled the dead C Rank Demonic Beast into the Magic System Inventory.

'Why sad?' Phil sent through their bond. Since their bond had increased in Rank, Damion had not seen much difference, but now it seemed Phil was able to pick up on some of his emotions.

'I miss my family,' Damion sent back to the Snow Hawk.

'We family.'

'Yes, we are family now,' Damion responded. He felt a small burst of joy through the bond from Phil at the pronouncement. Before Damion or Phil could reflect further on new effects of their bond, both of them felt a chilling aura approach. Turning quickly, Damion saw approaching what could be described as a tall dark man, but he felt a more apt description would have been a tall dark giant. True Sight told Damion the creature approaching was B Rank.

Normally, since its increase in Rank, True Sight would show him its Rank and affinity, but all he could see was the Rank and that the thing approaching was considered a mage.

"Heads up," Damion alerted his team.

"B Rank tall dark man is coming." If you are reading this novel anywhere except Royal Road you are reading a pirated copy. Support authors and their mediums by reading on the original hosting site.