17 Forest Battle

Since he had left the cave, Derrick had been worried about his progress. After all, the cave had been the system's starting point and it had been a real treasure trove.

Derrick's blood was coursing through his body violently, his heart pumping it in troves. It had been a while since he had met a challenger worth his time.

"Come out now. We'll fight him together. He's too tough for me, and he's even going to be hard for you"

"You underestimate me, Human... But I guess we can practice our coordination..."

Derrick's shadow started crazily expanding and the big dark lizard came out in front of the Leshi. Drako really was a majestic beast, even if he looked utterly terrifying.

The necromancer pulled out the sword from his back and started analyzing the opponent in front of him. It was the strongest he had ever faced and the system had given him the vaguest weakness there was...

"Drako, you're clearly a darkness related monster. I'll act as the bait and you finish the bastard off. If you miss, I definitely won't let you off..."

Now that the three of them were on the battlefield, a stalemate had formed. Derrick didn't want to bring out Io because the poor thing would probably get in the way. He would only summon it as the very last resort.

"Try not to damage the monster too much... I need materials to make weapons"

"Pfffft... You demand a lot. The only thing you should be concerned about right now is your life. If you die, I die, so you better keep up!"

"Yeah yeah..."

Drako's cynical laugh sounded in Derrick's mind, which made him swear that he would tame that shameless thing one day.

It had already been several seconds since both parties stood still, observing each other. The Leshi finally ran out of patience.

Without any warning, it jumped in the direction of Derrick with speed that defied its ridiculous size. How the hell was that thing moving so fast?!

Derrick could barely steady himself before tumbling to his right and slashing the passing beast's legs.

The sword was made with the remains of Drako and as the most powerful beast in the cave, it didn't disappoint. Even with its bear hide, the leg's defenses couldn't stop the murderous slash that Derrick unleashed.

The Leshi let out an ear-piercing screech and looked at its wounds. Its left leg was profusely bleeding and its outer thigh was badly lacerated. Green blood was pretty much gushing out of the wound.

The Leshi's gaze was beyond murderous when it looked at Derrick again. It had never been humiliated like that in its entire existence, and it had been done by an ant at that!

It lowered its deer-head and aimed its antlers at Derrick, ready to use its Deer Charge. Alarms started going off in Derrick's consciousness because the system had specified that this was unstoppable move.

"IT'S YOUR TIME TO SHINE DRAKO!!!"

After his shout, the giant lizard that had been lying low pounced towards the monster. Derrick had given him a perfect opportunity, and he wouldn't miss it.

He bit the wounded leg of the beast and used his tongue to pump poison into its bloodstream.

The Leshi wasn't dumb and its survival instincts kicked in. It would die in a matter of seconds if it didn't get rid of this damn reptile.

As such, it shifted its focus from Derrick to Drako and swung its long bear claws at his neck. Drako recognized the precarious situation he was in and immediately let go of the leg. He darted backwards at a safe range of his opponent.

Even though he was immortal, as long as Derrick lived, he still felt pain when he was injured.

When it missed its target again, the Leshi entered a furious frenzy. Being toyed with by two opponents weaker than itself was a shame so big that it would rather kill itself than continue living.

But before that, it would bring those two down with him.

Its green eyes started to shine vigorously and its body started swelling. Its exposed thoracic cage started opening and it exposed its huge rotten heart. It was beating at an unsustainable speed that would surely make it explode in a couple of minutes.

The beast's body kept getting larger and larger. The expansion finally stopped when it was around 30 meters high and 10 meters wide. It was an absolute abomination of nature. The pressure it emitted was entirely different from before, and it felt way more oppressive.

Now that the poison was in its blood, its fate was sealed. As such, it was going all out. Its remaining minutes would be a glorious battle.

Derrick grew serious. His senses were screaming that he was at deaths' door. If he made a mistake, it would be over. Even the system was sending him multiple warnings.

Drako also realized what was happening. The Leshi had 'overclocked' its metabolism and entered a self-destructive state.

They needed a plan and fast.

"Drako, you'll be the bait now. I have to reach its heart. If I can pierce it, we win"

Drako let out a low grunt, but acquiesced. He had to protect Derrick no matter what.

Now that they were on the same page, they both exploded in the direction of the beast. The Leshi looked at them with an expression of contempt and derision.

Nothing was its equal in this state, and it would finally be able to quash these bugs before dying.

It lowered its head and aimed its antlers at Derrick, initiating its Deer Charge again. When it was about to launch in his direction, Drako reached it and tackled the beast with all his body.

He had to destabilize it long enough for Derrick to reach its body. When the Leshi felt the reptile, it only scoffed. What was this little guy trying to do? He was unmatched in his current state!

With its left arm, it tore through the entire body of Drako and threw his mutilated corpse against the nearby trees. Drako could only let out a deafening howl of misery before going completely silent, his dark corpse disintegrating a second later.

[Summon Drako has been killed! A cooldown of 72 hours is needed]

After killing an opponent, the Leshi had a victorious expression. That feeling of power was intoxicating. It licked the dark plasma off its arm and turned its head toward the last position of Derrick. It wanted to taste his flesh as well.

Uh?! Where was the other ant?! It was nowhere to be seen!!!

The creature started panicking because it was running out of time. It had to kill the other one or it would be another failure! This was unacceptable!

It suddenly roared to the sky in anger and started trashing its surroundings.

"You thought I'd run away?! TOO BAD FOR YOU! NOW DIE YOU FUCK!!!"

Derrick suddenly appeared over its head, diving from the sky with his sword pointed at its chest.

The creature was dumbfounded. It had been fooled once again...