Only I Am A Reader

"It doesn\'t last long and it wears off with damage, so be careful with it. I will replenish it as long as you are in front of me."

Dictating the conditions of the ability that she had cast on them with cold words, Bing Baek exchanged glances with the four, lastly turning to Leo before walking away. For a moment, her figure seemed to completely disappear as she blended with the white snow.

\'As expected of a protagonist\'s companion!\'

Just as Leo was aware, Bing Baek just happened to be one of the few possessing special physiques that allowed her to perform abilities that were out of the norm. Specifically, her Ice Phoenix Constitution not only granted her Internal Energy the Eternal attribute similar to that of a Fire Phoenix, but it also gave her the natural advantage in cold environments like the Northern Island they were standing on!

Though what she could give others was limited, a flame-neutralizing Ice Protection was more than enough to balance the scales of battle. With this little change, the only advantage remaining for the Devouring Centaur was its large size.

Neighhh!

Noticing what had just happened, the monster wasn\'t exactly pleased to see its attack prove completely useless. As it quickly deduced that Bing Baek was the source of the change, the Devouring Centaur concentrated its flames into one direct ray that shot off towards the meddling princess.

Wishhh…

However, all that resulted from its agitated action was the spread of water vapor through the field as a thick hemisphere of ice rose around the camouflaged Bing Baek. With the ability to resist something like the Emerald Calamity\'s poison, the mixed-up Phoenix flame was nothing now that she was in her home ground!

<Alright everyone, make sure to take care of yourself, don\'t do anything desperate and… Let\'s move out!>

Sharing a message with Yeon and the others, Leo moved out under the cover of the rising smoke. Although it didn\'t do much to impair the extraordinary vision of a monster like the Devouring Centaur, it was still a good starting point.

Crackle!

In order to officially begin the delayed battle, Leo pulled out a tall icicle from the ground, charging it up with Black Dragon Energy before throwing it at the Devouring Centaur\'s eye!

Neighhhh!

Leo\'s accuracy was limited at that distance, so the monster easily raised his forearm to block the ice pick thrown at it. However, the sudden spread of lightning truly turned it blind for a split second.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

The Four Heavenly Beasts jumped at their distracted prey, each targeting one of the Centaur\'s legs. With one straight slash, they severed a part of the ligament that allowed the leg to stand tall. Having used both weapons in conjunction he was able to completely tear it apart, hastening the monster\'s imminent collapse!

Neigghh!

In reality, no matter how prepared the monster was, dealing with the beasts of the Heavenly Strength Society was a completely new experience. During their stay in the Heavenly Furnace, the seedlings learned everything there was to be in the art of battle, be it human or monster, they knew how to deal with the opponent to the best of their advantage.

Most importantly, the small team was no longer that of before. In addition to their strong individualistic battle style, Leo, Yeon, Sohee, and Yong had learned how to coordinate their abilities well after years of monster hunting! The towering monster looked like the herald of doom, but to this, this was no more than a prey that they had to go around!

As the Devouring Centaur screamed in pain, flames lit up the vicinity as its body bathed in it. Unlike normal fire-breathing creatures, the Phoenix flame\'s manifestation wasn\'t restricted by such simple limitations, any part of its body was ready to ignite at any moment.

Swish!

The four ignored the flame as they continued to slash down the rest of the ligaments. Unfortunately, getting attacked by it wasn\'t the only troublesome part of dealing with a Phoenix\'s flame. After all, Eternal flame was also the flame of rebirth!

The recovery ability of a monster at the Devouring Centaur\'s level was already high, but its current evolutionary state pushed it to an even higher extreme. Thankfully, the already impure blood of the Phoenix that the Centaur had devoured kept its recovery ability within realistic levels, otherwise, the four would be basically dealing with a True Immortal…

\'It\'s doable.\'

Leo completely focused on his target as he repeatedly tempted himself by the rewards he would receive in the end for taking down the cheat monster. Just like it viewed them as its ticket to escape the two pillars, Leo directly saw the Devouring Centaur as his readymade Ascension material!

Neigh… ghhh…

Even as it struggled to rise over and over, the Centaur was brought to its knees every single time. With the four abusing the cheat given to them by Bing Baek, the situation only grew better for them.

<Time for a recharge.>

Naturally, the irrelevant heat started growing stronger with time. The hack and slash game they were indulged in couldn\'t continue as it is, but all they needed with a few seconds!

With the four coordinating their retreat to Bing Baek\'s position, the Devouring Centaur finally got some breathing room. However, even if it wanted to escape this losing battle, Cheon Chang\'s piercing gaze didn\'t allow it to do so.

\'Round two.\'

After taking the fraudulent buff for a trial run, Leo and the others returned with a new cast, fully ready to push up the battle one notch higher!