Chương 32: Rhino

The earth shook with every step of the giant one-horned rhino's as it charged forward in the open field. Behind it was a trail of footprints that were imprinted deep within the earth. Ahead of it, an unarmed red-haired girl charged right back.

"NOW!" With Dan's shout, the earth began to rumble. Ahead of Elena, three thin pillars rose from the earth. Each pillar increased in height the further away it was from her. She continued forward. Then, when she arrived at the pillars, she jumped. Using each one as if she were climbing a stairway, she rapidly got further and further off the ground. Upon reaching the third and final pillar, she leaped. The rhino continued charging forward towards her, but by then she was much too high for it.

Using her height, she easily flew over the beast. Below her, the rhino effortlessly crashed into the pillars. Each crumbling down with ease, failing to stop the momentum of the heavy beast. A chilly aura pulsed outward on each impact. An arrow flew at it from afar, but it simply bounced off its callused armor. Another chilled aura pulsed. Elena gently floated down from her height. Tessa had given her an enchantment with her power earlier, which greatly lightened her weight.

That had been the main reason she had been able to get so high up in the first place. Turning around, Elena assessed the situation. The rhino continued to run further into the distance. For a beast with its speed and weight, it failed to make sharp turns or quick pivots. This alone had bought them a lot of time so far. Dan, Leo, and Tessa approached her.

"Still has the chilly aura. Doesn't look like it's weakened at all, and the arrow just bounced off." Elena walked over to Tessa. The seven of them had been embroiled in the battle for a while now, and the beast's armour had proven to be a difficult obstacle to overcome. Luca's wolf and Juniper's porcupine only proved useful as a temporary distraction, and simple sword strikes didn't do any good either.

Dan's earth-shifting abilities had been useful to escape in times of need, but didn't help in bringing harm to the beast. Brenton's wondrous ability had saved Elena near the beginning of the battle when she had gone in and tried to stab it from up close, but even that had failed. Elena's own ability only helped her to speed up specific parts of her body and weapon, but it just wasn't the tool for the task. A butterknife may be able to cut down a tree given enough time, but they didn't have all day.

"Is it ready?" Ten minutes. It had been ten minutes of running around, circling the dumb animal, and Elena was seriously starting to get annoyed. They had gone through many different strategies, and Leo had come up with the next one they'd implement. His logic was as simple as it was ingenious. If the aura of the rhino was chilly, why not use his heat? An idea hilariously simple, but Elena truly felt that this time it could work.

Tessa placed her right arm on Elena's shoulder, and she slowly felt her weight returning to her body.

"Thanks, Tessa!" She smiled back, "Bring it right to me." Elena gave her a thumbs up as she got used to her body and strength once again. She turned to Leo, who had his arms out in front of him, holding out Brenton's fancy new sword. Leo apologetically warned, "I tried to concentrate on the blade, but the handle still got hot." With a quick nod, Elena grabbed onto the handle. Dan's gloves worked to avoid some heat, but the searing pain tore through and reached her palms regardless.

"If this doesn't work, let me distract it until Brenton can patch you up." Elena accepted Dan's offer as her hands acclimated to the new temperature. It wouldn't stay this hot for long. The clock was ticking. Her eyes met with the trio, and after sharing a nod, they jolted back to their hiding spots. The stupid beast's horrible eyesight was another aspect they'd been abusing. With a deep breath, Elena turned back to the beast.

It was mid-brawl with Juniper's summon, as the poor porcupine desperately tried running away from the enormous beast. Unfortunately for it, with a single stomp, it evaporated into Energy. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Elena filled her lungs to their limit.

"OVER HERE, PEANUT BRAIN!" Then, with a loud war cry, Elena began her charge once again, this time with the heated longsword in hand. The rhino rotated its massive body, with eyes filled with fury. It began its stampede, the gap rapidly shortening. A head-on collision would turn her into pulp, but that wasn't what she was going for. Twenty meters. Fifteen. Ten. Five. Now – Elena dropped her center of gravity, leaning back until her shoes lost their grip and turned into a glide.

Her momentum pushed her forward, transitioning from an upright sprint into a slide, flattening the grass on her path. The massive beast's horn whistled through the air where her head had been a heartbeat earlier, as Elena skimmed beneath it. With a flash of Energy, she directed the scorching weapon upward into the underbelly of the beast. Another flash of Energy shot out. Chilly. The beast rejected her attack as the sword bounced off, but Elena wasn't done yet. Elena grinned.

This had been the strongest reaction they had been able to get yet. Her aura flared harder. She sliced side to side in a continuous motion at a pace even her eyes couldn't register. Each strike got denied, but she expertly controlled the bounceback and transitioned the momentum to continue the assault. Soon, the beast had passed, revealing the clear blue sky above head. She had only been under the beast for a second at most, but she felt satisfied with the number of attacks she managed.

Elena quickly turned, the rhino still charging away and a wide smile spread across her face. The grass along the rhino's path was accompanied by a trail of blood, and the stupid animal continued charging forward. It seemed like Elena's attacks were able to break through.

"IT'S DOWN!"

Elena yelled with her entire chest while dropping the searing sword. The gloves had been burnt off leaving her skin on her palms completely destroyed.

A hiss of pain climbed through Elena's body as her adrenaline had worn off. Despite this, she felt satisfied knowing her job was done. The rest was up to her team. After making sufficient distance, Elena turned to catch the end of the fight. Juniper's arrows littered the rhino's hide, and Luca's wolf continuously circled around the beast. The rhino pursued the wolf over and over, barely missing each time. Eventually, its horn connected with the wolf, causing it to explode into a burst of Energy.

Its movements had gotten slower, predictable. The combined abuse from the arrows and her own attacks caused the beast to bleed substantially. Elena whistled, her eyes drawn above the beast. Far above, at least four times the already massive rhino's height, a small figure with flowy clothes flew above. Tessa had used Dan's earth pillars along with her own ability to soar into the skies. Her body was flat like a pancake, and had flaps of clothes between her limbs and her body, keeping her floating in the air.

Tessa shifted in the air, pointing her sword downward. With the flaps no longer extended and her weight rapidly increasing, she plummeted downwards. The air trembled at the absurd mass and acceleration as she neared her target. With a loud crash, she landed sword-first on the rhino's head, instantly digging deep through its head and skull. Undoubtedly, it had reached the brain. The rhino's head crashed down into the ground, causing its stumpy legs to follow, collapsing the entire beast. Elena was amazed.

The beast had been instantly killed. She walked over, this time, leisurely allowing her legs some rest. Leo and Dan arrived before her. Tessa sat still atop the rhino's head. Elena was quick to tease.

"Scared of heights?" Tessa awkwardly smiled back.

"My legs are broken." Elena opened her mouth to explain she was joking, but closed it immediately. In the end, she instead offered a quick "Hang in there." Brenton arrived next.

"Thanks for letting me borrow this." Elena tossed the now-cooled longsword back to Brenton, who caught it in the air and sheathed it away.

"About half an hour until I can fix you up." Brenton consoled. Tessa weakly nodded before hesitantly asking. Her face was flushed red.

"C-could someone help me down?" Dan, whose eyes had been fixed on the dead rhino, quickly snapped back to reality.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Luca arrived next, his arm hung around Juniper's for support.

"Will he be alright?" Elena asked, a little unsure why he looked so hurt in the first place.

"His face is quite pale."

"Just the consequence of having your summon die. It happened to me a bit earlier, too, but in a few minutes he'll be fully fine." Elena nodded and helped Juniper seat Luca down. His summon had been crucial in keeping the rhino in one spot for Tessa to be able to collapse on it. From the edge of her hearing, a comment by Leo to Brenton caught her attention.

"You're like a different person." Elena smirked and immediately barged into the conversation.

"Oh?" Leo's gaze instantly lowered to his feet. Elena clarified, "No, no, I was curious what you had to say." Leo slowly looked up, and after a moment of hesitation, he spoke lightly.

"I was just… telling Brenton that he acts a little…" Leo's eyes rose to meet Elena's, then he gulped.

"J-just a little different when he's not around you." Elena looked over to Brenton with an amused glance.

"Oh really? In what way?" Leo sheepishly looked over to Brenton, who was rubbing the back of his head with a hint of embarrassment.

"You can tell her what you told me, it's not a big deal."

"H-He just seems a lot more timid around you."

"So he's less timid when I'm not around?" Leo gave a short nod.

"So you think I scare Brenton?" Leo shrank down, and his eyes went back to his feet. Elena's eyes travelled to Brenton.

"Leo over here claims I'm a scary woman." Brenton pursed his lips. He looked over at Leo, who stood so still it could put a statue to shame.

"The scariest I've ever met, at least." Elena burst into a bout of laughter. Seeing Leo so distressed over such small things was just so amusing to her. She looked over to Leo, who was like a small child whose parents had been arguing. Once that picture etched itself in her mind, the laughter became uncontrollable. She slapped Leo on the shoulders a few times, as she continued laughing. Brenton broke as well, and he joined Elena in her amusement.

Elena felt her body lighten as the stress and intensity of the long battle washed off. Sure, some legs were broken, and a bit of pain was felt, but they had killed a beast with nobody dead. The one who suffered the most permanent damage was probably Leo, and his damage was purely emotional. He was currently flushed a bright pink, averting his gaze the best he could. She yelled out to the group.

"Feast!" They matched her yell with a triumphant cheer.