Chapter 99: Trials: Byakko, the Beast of the West

BANG! BANG!

The strikes of Byakko rebounded on the Domain of Balmung's barrier. Despite the sturdiness of the barrier, the moment Byakko pounded it a few more times, it collapsed immediately without much effort. As expected of a celestial beast, a mere barrier is nothing to it. However, I refuse to be defeated here. If I die trying to beat up this enemy, then I have no chances of winning against the assault of the demons.

"RAAAAWWWWRRRR!"

Byakko is once again charging up electricity on its body. I was able to dodge them before but those dodges are just a fluke, I doubt I can easily do that again. What is bad for my situation is that Byakko seems to know what my next attacks are going to be because every time I attacked, all of my attacks would miss before Byakko strikes in which I have yet to get my bearings from casting a spell.

"Weakness Perception!"

In a split second, the results came out and as expected, it was indeed going to be a hard trial. The requirement to defeat this enemy are spells I have yet to learn.

[Celestial Beast of the West, Byakko]

Weakness: Earth Type Magic, Wood, and Nature Magic

I completely disregarded this kind of magic before because I prefer magic spells like the water and light ones since they are much more comfortable to use. To think I would regret doing so, I would have practiced at least a single one in case unexpected enemies that needed to fight with certain elements can help. I learned my valuable lesson here

Blue can't help me with this situation and my phone is acting up, cutting my communication with the chat group for any help or accessing the magic archive channel that might hold one or two Earth, Wood, or Nature Magic. I can't ask for backup either since I have been trying to ask help on my familiars and they have not responded to my calls. I can't also expect some help from Maple and Anya since they are held back just by at the entrance. I am on my own without any outsider's help to use.

Byakko takes a while to charge so I used this chance to at least deal some damage despite it being something weaker than Byakko. I want to burst down Byakko but I doubt I can do that so my biggest chance to defeat the Celestial Beast of the West is to whittle the energy and vitality and take it down when the time is right.

I continue throwing fireballs on the beast but Byakko did not even flinch or dodge, instead, it just keeps on charging the electricity on its body. The power of electricity seems to get stronger and stronger that my hair started to stand up even in my skin.

Then, when the electricity that crackles around Byakko thickens, Byakko released another howl which caused countless lightning appearing above my head. And without any warning, it descended straight to me. I panicked and instinctively activated the Domain of Balmung without saying it like how I usually do.

CRACKLE!

I braced for impact at first but then I realized it did not even occur so I looked around and noticed the barrier erected around me. It is still the same barrier that can't last from the attacks of Byakko but at least, it erected before the lightning hit me. If it didn't activate, I am dead. But I also realized that I can activate spells and magic without shouting the name of the spell. Is this chant less magic? No, I am not chanting so maybe I can just activate it without any problem like how I do in my gloves and shoes.

But enough of that, Byakko is once again trying to attack with the electric charge. I can keep on shooting Byakko without any problem but I am quite aware that the damage it deals is not enough. So how about using other elements that I rarely use in battles?

I quickly imagined the Light Blast to occur even without shouting its name and just focused on Byakko. I don't expect anything to occur but before I can even react a huge blast of light appeared above Byakko's eyes, causing Byakko to wail. The blast was enough to momentarily stall Byakko and blind the beast. It started rampaging since the eyes were temporarily blinded and just can't see anything at all.

"My chance!"

Activating the flames in my shoes, I rush towards Byakko and ready my spell, Frigid Wind. Frigid Wind is a debuff spell allowing me to slow enemies. The coldness it releases is not damaging of some sort, just some chilling numbness that can limit the movement of the enemy. And as expected, when I released the Frigid Wind, Byakko's movements started to slow down. I can easily predict its movements now and dodging them is easier.

Byakko just randomly attacks around but due to the effect of the Frigid Wind, it allowed me to see where it will land and dodge without any problem. I managed to get close on Byakko and when one of the paws of Byakko is about to slam towards my direction, I slightly activated the dragon ability but focused it all in my feet.

I sucked in a mouthful of air and when the paw is about to get in me, I jumped and released a roundhouse kick mid-air, kicking the paw pads of Byakko. I didn't just kick Byakko half-assedly, I gave all the strength that I can muster on it.

What I didn't expect was... Byakko flying and hitting the wall. The impact was too strong that the whole place shook as Byakko hit it. I felt a little bit of pain in my legs but it slowly stabilized so I am not really injured. On the other hand, Byakko crumbles and dissipated like small orbs lights.

Wiping off the sweat and dirt in my face, I then heard the same voice that announced the beginning of my trial with Byakko.

"Congratulations on passing the first trial and defeating the celestial beast, Byakko. As a reward of this round, the inheritance of power from Byakko will now be yours. The first trial has concluded. The second trial: Suzaku, will now commence."

And as soon as the voice stopped talking, a bolt of lightning suddenly zaps my whole body. But it didn't hurt, in fact, I feel revitalized. It was like I was given a small dose of energy from an energy drink. But I didn't have time to celebrate, the sound of shrill caw of the bird rang around the place. Looks like this signifies my battle against the Vermillion Bird, Suzaku. My second trial is now going to commence.