Chapter 72: Make It Suffer Enough

A long howl echoed through the air. Having failed to conquer it for so long, the giant beast was clearly enraged. Facing someone whose strength was clearly inferior to its own and still finding the battle so difficult infuriated it greatly. What made it even angrier was that this wretched creature dared to leave wounds on its body. It hadn’t been hurt in ages, and feeling the pain and irritation from the wounds only fueled its fury.

Especially under the magical attacks of the red serpent in the sky, the beast became even more agitated. Though it wasn’t afraid of such magic, the relentless attacks made it hard to contain its anger. Under this dual assault, the greatly provoked beast could think of nothing else. It opened its mouth, and a stream of black flame shot toward Rod. Immediately after, the beast exerted all its strength and charged at Rod once again.

Seeing the black flame, Rod’s eyes narrowed sharply. It was also a fire-type magical beast. He had never seen it use magic during previous battles, which surprised him. What puzzled him even more was that the black flame carried no heat at all—instead, it felt cold. It was the first time he had seen such a cold flame. Yet even so, Rod could sense the terrifying destructive power within it.

Not daring to be careless, he quickly dodged to the side. The Dark Dragon swept forward, creating a dark curtain of light as it rushed at the beast! Then, with a fierce kick of his right foot, he used the rebound to soar upward. His combat energy burst forth like raging flames, and he effortlessly wielded the Dragon Slaying Sword. With perfect precision, he swung it at the beast’s abdomen.

Pushed back by Rod’s attack, the beast tried to dodge, but it was too slow to react to the power of the Dragon Slaying Sword. A faint dragon roar could be heard as the sword flashed by, leaving behind streaks of crimson blood. Rod landed on the ground, panting heavily.

It had succeeded! With just one strike, he had achieved something. After enduring so much and constantly searching for opportunities while controlling his combat energy, this moment of explosion after finding an opening was a small victory. At least he could see the wound deep inside the beast’s body and hear its pained screams and roars.

Fen Tian continued to unleash magic endlessly, seemingly resigned to his fate as he searched for opportunities to ambush the beast. After several attempts, he helped Rod gain many more chances!

At this moment, upon looking again, the giant beast was no longer completely dark after casting its previous spell. On the contrary, the previously faint fire-cloud patterns on its body spread rapidly under these circumstances, quickly covering most of its body. Under the sky-burning fire spell, it was clear to see the fire clouds constantly changing and expanding.

By now, it seemed the beast had also begun to fear the sky-burning spell and gradually learned to dodge it! It appeared that these spells could inflict damage on the beast in an instant.

Rod, who had been observing carefully, noticed these changes. Seeing this, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a hint of excitement. “Sky-Burn, don’t stop! Make it suffer enough!” Faced with the beast’s monstrous talent, Rod was no longer afraid. It was evident that its defenses had limits—once they reached a certain threshold, they became ineffective. For example, these changes were likely related to the patterns on its body; perhaps allowing those patterns to expand until they covered its entire body could yield unexpected results.

With such thoughts, Rod redoubled his efforts, shifting his combat style from offense to evasion. He began to buy time and engage in a war of attrition, leaving the main task to Sky-Burn, allowing it to deal a thorough beating to the beast.

If it couldn’t win, running was still an option. So far in the battle, it was clear that though the beast was powerful, it was only at the mid-stage Saint level. It had an advantage in speed and strength, but Rod chose to dodge. Although gravity limited his speed to less than 80%, evasion combined with occasional counterattacks was sufficient. Moreover, Sky-Burn kept disrupting the beast’s attacks and speed from above, allowing Rod’s defense-and-counter strategy to be utilized to the fullest.

Faced with Rod’s tactics, the beast could only roar in fury, unable to find a way to counter. When it attacked Rod, Sky-Burn above launched relentless assaults, while Rod below took the opportunity to launch sneak attacks.

In just a short while, the beast’s body was covered in more and more wounds. Though not fatal or even serious, they were still agonizing—like being torn apart piece by piece.

His eyes were bloodshot; he hadn’t looked so disheveled or depressed in ages. The giant beast grew increasingly frenzied, its animal instincts taking over. Yet this not only failed to help it but only made its situation worse. With its mental state disrupted and full of flaws, Rod found more opportunities!

The flames on the beast’s body grew denser, larger, and more numerous. Two-thirds of its body was already covered in thick clouds of fire. At this point, it shouldn’t be called a black beast but rather a red beast.

As the flames increased, the beast seemed more and more anxious and desperate. Its speed began to decline, its movements slowed, and it became irritable. Glaring fiercely at the human before it and feeling the pain from its wounds, it roared in frustration several times. In that moment, the beast stopped pursuing and attacking, glanced at the burning sky above, and for the first time showed a hint of fear in its eyes. It panted heavily, growled a few times, and did something that shocked Rod greatly.

It looked at Rod, stepped back cautiously, then dashed away into the jungle behind it.

“Brute, trying to run again?” Seeing this, a smile flashed across Rod’s face, replaced by immense excitement. He knew he had guessed right—this guy seemed to have a critical point in terms of defense! This reminded Rod of a magical beast he had seen in “Chronicles of Monsters”—the Fire Devourer.

This beast was one of the Beast Devourers, along with the Water Devourer, Wind Devourer, and others. These magical beasts were not afraid of attacks using their own element’s magic and were known as the bane of mages. For example, the Fire Devourer, though a fire-type magical beast, wasn’t good at casting magic but could absorb fire magic and wasn’t afraid of attacks using fire magic! Of course, this didn’t mean it was invincible against fire mages. Depending on their strength and stage of growth, they also had their own critical points. Once reached, their bodies would start self-destructing due to the unbearable elemental impact! Moreover, they couldn’t cast magic at will—each spell cast drained their vital energy, reducing their ability to absorb magic by one level!

This made Rod think of how this magical beast had performed after casting a fire spell earlier. Although it differed from the Fire Devourer, it must be the same species. Originating from the same lineage, the patterns on their bodies reflected their defense capabilities. Perhaps in this strange place, the Fire Devourer had also undergone some changes.

Realizing this, Lu Dongen became even more excited: “Fen Tian, don’t spare him—hit him hard!” Before his words faded, Rhode took the lead, pushing his speed to its limit. With Fen Tian’s assistance, he quickly blocked the giant beast’s path, trapping it in front of him. Mocking the once-mighty but now panicked beast, he sneered, “Today is your day!” Four-fifths of the beast’s body was covered in patterns that continued to spread. He could also sense Fen Tian struggling in the air, having expended too much magical energy—Fen Tian was likely about to give out as well. Taking a deep breath, Rhode condensed his combat energy and launched an attack along with the Dark Dragon, hoping his assault would help! Naturally, what Rhode wanted most now was to see how the beast would behave once it reached its critical point.

Roaring in fury, the beast had its path blocked and was entangled by the figure before it. Feeling its condition worsen and on the verge of self-destruction, it grew increasingly desperate. Its anxiety couldn’t help it escape. Finally, with Rhode and Fen Tian’s combined efforts, its entire body was enveloped in deep red flames, creating a grotesquely blood-red scene. The temperature around it rose steadily, turning the beast’s eyes blood red. Unable to bear it any longer, it roared in agony and completely gave up resistance, rolling on the ground. Having achieved his goal and wanting to see what would happen next, Rhode stopped attacking and stepped aside, blocking the beast’s escape route. Watching coldly, Fen Tian seemed to sense the change as well and continued to carry out his aerial attacks despite his exhaustion.

With a dull thud, a bizarre scene unfolded—the beast’s body suddenly caught fire after the dull sound. The raging flames quickly engulfed it. Amidst agonized screams, the beast soon turned into a ball of flames, rolling and struggling. “Natural? Interesting!” Rhode, observing from afar, murmured with a half-smile. He realized that the beast had accumulated too much fire element, which it couldn’t consume or break down, leading to an excess of fire that caused spontaneous combustion from within. God is fair—even such a monstrous beast had irreparable flaws, and fatal ones at that. As the saying goes, those who drown are usually skilled swimmers, and those who die from falls are usually strong climbers.

In just a moment, the flames gradually died down, leaving only a pile of ashes on the ground. A cold wind blew, turning the ashes into dust that vanished into the air. Dust returned to dust, and earth returned to earth, once again merging with the world.