BXBX NOVEL 141 Chapter 141
The serpent's fierce blue eyes remained fixated on Aron's figure despite him being so small in comparison. Normally his figure wouldn't be clear to others because of the trees but those were long blown away by the shockwaves leaving behind a open muddy terrain with debris in certain parts.
Aron wasn't the least bit intimidated by the creature and his stable heart beat was testament to this. He came into this fully prepared to obtain heavy injuries but also knew he could leave anytime he wanted provided nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
*Hisss!*
The staring soon came to an end and the serpent lunged forward and released it's corrosive drizzle. Aron furrowed his brows and quickly raised the hood to his cloak up and covered himself completely while crouching.
Like rain dripping down an umbrella, the drizzle simply slid off his cloak and left him unharmed. 'There's a small interval between attacks, probably to build up venom in it's sacs' He thought before quickly standing up and looking up at in again.
The openness of the area left Aron few options to use in combat against a creature of its stature. His earlier attack proved that direct confrontation was useless given it's scales were significantly tough.
He could only turn back and begin to run in the opposite direction of the serpent. The situation didn't leave him much time to think of an idea of approach so he took the defensive and decided to have it chase him.
*Hisss!*
"It's still moving rather slowly on land...good" Although Aron didn't fully understand why the serpent did so it worked in his advantage as he increased the distance between himself and it.
Soon Lady Rose's scouter appeared next to him and her voice resounded from it. "Seems we're going with the fourth strategy correct?" Her voice inquired.
"Yes, it would take us too long to fight it fully and the damage to its body may grow." Aron replied and the scouter immediately flew away from him.
*Hisss!*
Despite the distance Aron was creating the serpent's corrosive drizzle could still reach him due to it's height. He would need to travel much further to be completely clear of it's trajectory but the attack itself wasn't a big deal to him so he continued to move.
Just when he thought the situation would become easier, the serpent fully emerged from the water showcasing just how long and large it truly was.
This left many astounded but the situation would only get worse as it used it's large webbed tail to sweep the land in front of it in one fell swoop.
Another rumbling shockwave was created and it blasted Aron further forward along with the debris and trees from the ground.
He could only raise his hood and brace himself for the forceful impact that followed afterward but it didn't end there. The serpent then followed up with another torrent of corrosive drizzle towards the debris Aron was buried under.
*Boom!*
Before the drizzle hit, Aron's figure burst from the debris with minor cuts and abrasions that were quickly fading.
Unknown to everyone Aron's eyes began to experience a subtle change until they resembled those of a Horned Basilisk, his aspect changed.
[ Horned Basilisk Aspect: Earth Manipulation ]
As the serpent continued to approach he raised his hand towards it and the earth rumbled furiously before large chunks of it began to fly up towards the sky.
In that moment Aron's muscles tensed up and he showed a smirk before bursting toward the serpent with an immense speed. He covered the the distance of five hundred meters in no time at all before jumping upward.
*Hisss!*
The serpent's reflexes weren't bad either but it found it difficult to accurately aim for the fast moving Aron who used the airborne boulders to propel himself from place to place in the sky.
This forced the serpent to lunge forward directly and attempt to take him into it's mouth but the second this opportunity presented itself Aron gestured his hands towards the serpent's mouth and all the chunks of rock and earth in the air moved towards its mouth.
Once there he balled both his hands into fists and the earth immediately joined together to create one large circular ball of earth and rock within the creature's mouth.
'Your outer shell may be tough but your insides remain vulnerable.' Aron stretched out his hand and began guiding the ball down the Serpent's throat before splitting it into numerous tiny yet solid sharp shards of earth and bursting it in all directions.
*Hissss!*
The serpent let out an even louder hiss than before and burst forth lot's of corrosive drizzle however this time mixed in with blood which gave it an eerie red color.
The serpent wriggled around and shook violently destroying much of the land in the process. At this point Aron had already began falling back towards the ground but he gestured his hand towards the earth and chunks of it came up which he used to get down.
After doing so he looked at the giant serpent hiss in a pain as large pours of red corrosive drizzle began to descend. Aron only raised his hood and increased the distance between him and it just in case of anything and watched as it continued to struggle before his eyes.
....
Meanwhile those who watched this scene were at a loss for words. The Crown Rigar who had initially wanted to advance and provide support could only hover where they were and observe the serpent struggle as well.
"Sir?" One of them turned to Yugar who alternated his gaze between the giant serpent and the small speck that brought it into this state.
"It's dying... it's really dying." Yugar was in disbelief at what he saw, a strategy so simple yet so effective. Had they done something similar from the start they may have finished it off long ago.
He couldn't help but feel great regret upon pondering about this but the truth was even Aron had strayed from the plan he and Lady Rose had agreed upon.
He was merely supposed to lure it away and keep it busy while she and the others prepared a trap for it. However upon experiencing it's combat capabilities first hand Aron was forced to use one of his aspects and thought only of using this type of attack when he got into mid air.
...
Soon the serpent no longer struggled and it's entire figure crashed to the ground with immense force causing yet another shockwave, the last the islands would ever experience from this unknown creature.
'Tsk, that attack cost me much of the horned Basilisk's mana. This better be worth it.' Aron was perhaps the only one who wasn't content with his victory given what it cost him personally.
As proven now aspects were extremely useful and using them haphazardly wasn't wise especially since he wasn't in Limbo at the moment. But given his direct skill level in controlling mana, such an attack could not have been made by him without preparation beforehand or great mental exhaustion.
Although the battle was brief it did make Aron realize he needed to expand in other areas so as to avoid bringing out his aspects unnecessarily.
....
"He did it... he actually did it!" Meanwhile on the Sovereign, some members couldn't contain their excitement over what they had just witnessed so they began to yell and cheer towards Aron.
Although Riya showed a smile on the surface alongside her friends, she was mentally shaken by what she just saw. Wasn't Aron human like the rest of them? Wasn't he a commoner? Then why? Why was the gap between them so large?
Deep down she knew no matter how long she trained she would likely never come close to being as powerful as heavy hitters like Aron and certain aristocrats, this realization was hard to swallow so rather than happiness she felt a tinge of depression instead.
She wasn't alone in feeling this as Xavier felt similar if not worse. He had already accepted that Aron was stronger but he felt with time he could grow to become just as if not stronger.
Since Aron practically never trained most assumed he was arrogant about his current strength and stopped putting in the work. So for someone like Xavier who trained daily he assumed it was only a matter of time but now... he wasn't so sure.
Jin however felt elated for whatever reason and couldn't stop grinning. 'Change is coming Hinako, far sooner than we expected.' He thought before turning his attention to Lady Rose who just observed him silently.
Unlike the other she didn't look at all impressed, given her status most would assume she's no stranger to such power. But in truth she had her own thoughts on the matter. 'Such frightening potential...' She thought momentarily before turning her attention to the prize, the body of the serpent.
"Begin descent." She instructed Claudia before going silent once more, with the serpent down one problem was taken care of... now remained the other.
A/N: So quick behind the scenes info, I was actually planning on making this fight large maybe 3-4 chapters long but I quickly tossed that idea after realizing I'd be wasting time on a small scale battle. Yes in this series that is small, so instead I spent some time thinking how best Aron could handle it given what he currently had in his arsenal and I reached many conclusions... whenever this is the case I realize delaying the battle without reason would just be nerfing him but you guys prefer long fights over strategic ones. Big fights will usually only happen once or twice per arc for climax but let me know how you feel about that in the comments