Chapter 183 Facing the Bear Pridelord
The war between Jack's party and the Flat-nose Bear pride was finally underway.
Maura, Daliea, and Maynard were gods of slaughter as the carved through the rampaging bears. Of course, their beast companions played a huge role. Without them, the adventurers would be hard-pressed to face so many bears at once.
Offering aerial support, Rydel and his Wind Roc dominated from the skies, making sure that no one was facing too many bears at once. The other two supports were in the back, guarded by Jack. Together, Eliza's buffs and Keela's healing were a huge help to the party.
Everyone was in perfect sync, using their new ability to communicate telepathically to the fullest. Since they were all linked to Jack, everyone was always aware if someone needed help.
With how much easier it was, Maynard and Rydel almost felt like they were cheating compared to how their previous parties had handled things. Then again, they weren't complaining at all.
"Keep it up! We're halfway through them!" yelled Jack. He always tried to keep a view of everyone, keeping them all on their toes and ready for anything. Facing such strong beasts, one wrong move was all it took for things to turn for the worse.
"RRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRR!!!"
A resounding roar echoed through the forest, startling everyone, including the Flat-nose Bears.
As they looked behind them, an enormous beast was rushing towards them. With a hulking frame over six-meters tall and almost four meters wide, the Flat-nose Bear Pridelord had finally made itself known.
"Maynard, protect Eliza and Keela!"
Jack's yelled caught the party off guard. They all understood what Jack was planning to do.
"Are you insane!" yelled Rydel.
"Rydel, have Aiden take me to the pridelord before it joins up with the pride," shouted Jack. "If they work together, then we'll get overrun."
With a worried yell, Maura looked to Jack. "But Jack--"
"Don't worry, I'll just hold him off with my flame body while you all finish off the pride. That way we can all fight the pridelord together," yelled Jack. "Now hurry up and take me over there!"
"Fine, but you'd better not do anything too stupid! Just wait for us." Knowing that Jack was right, Rydel had his roc, Ayden, pick Jack up and carry him over the pride. Once on the other side and near the charging pridelord, the roc released Jack.
"Flame on!" Out of habit, Jack yelled as his form became fiery and expanded to the size of a toll, almost matching a typical Flat-nose Bear. His level shot up from lv. 31 to lv. 37, almost matching the pridelord's lv. 38.
A lv. 35 greatsword appeared in Jack's hand, but he was wielding it like he would any regular sword. "Let's see how strong you are!"
"RRROOOOAAARRR!!"
As is accepting Jack's challenge, the bear pridelord eyed Jack and dove at his flaming body. It's giant claws pressed forward, intent on tearing Jack to smithereens.
Just before the claws reached Jack, he disappeared from where he stood. While the pridelord was confused, Jack reappeared beneath it and slashed into the pridelord's armpit. Though it wasn't as effective as Jack would've hoped, at least he was able to make dents in the pridelord's impressive defenses.
Enraged by Jack's unexpected attack, the pridelord roared again, but this time Jack could feel his very soul shaking.
It was a soundwave attack used to stun prey and intimidate other beasts. Even if Jack was smarter than an average beast, he was still stunned momentarily and saw the bear's claw coming at his.
Again, he vanished and reappeared in the air right above the pridelord's head. Jack swung his sword down, aiming for the bear's neck.
This time the pridelord wasn't surprised, though, it was smart enough to understand that Jack could vanish at will and kept its guard up. Sensing Jack above it, the bear swipe again, this time meeting Jack's attack with its own.
With a shrill grinding sound coming from the clash of blade and claw, Jack was thrown back.
The pridelord's paw was numb from Jack's attack, but it didn't care. With Jack thrown back, it leaped toward him, swinging its paws yet again.
For the third time, Jack vanished and reappeared in the distance. He was breathing heavily and his arms were shaking after taking colliding with the bear's attack. His mana was starting to run low thanks to the combination of his flame body and his constant use of Sudden Death. At that rate, the fight wouldn't last too much longer.
Changing his strategy, Jack let a mass of fire gather in his palms before he launched the Fireball spell he had gotten from Lillith's Literature. Since he was already using his flame body, Jack's the fire type high-tier spell didn't use much mana.
The bear flinched as it blocked the fireball with its paws. It hadn't taken too much damage, but there were patches of burnt fur now.
Seeing that, Jack kept throwing Fireballs as he circled around the pridelord, not letting it reunite with its pride.
Each time a fireball cam near the bear, it swiped with its claws, destroying it on contact. However, more fur was now burnt and a few patches of skin were now charred.
Jack realized that the pridelord's resistance to the fire was weakening and sped up his production of fireballs. As he did so, Jack drank two elixirs to regain his last mana. It helped Jack keep up the volley of flames, but it was only a temporary fix. Any more and his mana would be affected by consuming too many elixirs.
"ROOOAAR!!"
Unhappy that a human was able to stop it, the bear pridelord hurled itself toward Jack. When Jack's fireballs came at it, the pridelord didn't block them. Instead, it let the flames crash on its thick fur so it could finally catch Jack.
Since the pridelord had given up on its chances of blocking, Jack smiled. Another mass of flamed emerged from Jack's hands, but this time it was different. The flame was more concentrated and intense as if it would explode into a fiery oblivion on impact.
"DIE!!!"
Yelling at the top of his lungs, Jack hurled his most powerful fire type spell, Flame Burst, at the pridelord.
Sensing a major threat from Jack's attack, the pridelord halted its charge and swung both of its arms at the flames nearing it.
A fiery explosion ensued and consumed the entire pridelord.
All trees, bushes, and greenery in the surrounding twenty meters were destroyed by the heat. The hot light of the explosion lit up the shaded forest and the battlefield.
Most of the bears were already dead and there were only small injuries thanks to them having both a cleric and an enchanter.
When the party saw the fiery explosion completely engulf the bear pridelord, they were in awe. They all understood that such an attack would completely obliterate any one of them. To see Jack create such an attack, even though he was almost out of his mana for the second time now, was a huge boost in morale.
With a rise in their determination, the party carved through all bears in their way. Not a single bear would have a chance of survival.
Breathing heavily and feeling like he would soon collapse from exhaustion, Jack watched the flames slowly disappear. Left behind was a charred and almost hairless pridelord.
Still breathing but in agonizing pain, the behemoth Flat-nose Bear glared angrily at Jack, the cause of it suffering.
With firm but slow steps, the bear pridelord walked toward the weak Jack.
"Really?! You still want more?" Jack laughed, feeling his lungs ache with every deep breath. "Fine, I'll keep playing with you."
Another elixir appeared in Jack's hand as he popped off the top with his teeth and chugged it. As mana started to fill his body, Jack's veins felt like they were on fire and about to burst.
As all the mana and fire type energy Jack had left was gathering into his palm, his flame body was also absorbed into the condensing ball of fire. Jack smiled madly at the approaching pridelord. "I wonder, can you handle another one?"
"RRRROOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!"
Frantic and unwilling to take another one of Jack's Flame Bursts, the bear pridelord summoned all its strength to charge at Jack, closing the gap with record-breaking speed.
"Try this one," Jack taunted the pridelord once more as he tossed the flames at the giant bear.
He laughed when he saw that the pridelord had given up blocking the attack and instead swung its powerful arm at Jack's chest. It had already understood that Flame Burst wasn't like Fireball and that the explosion was where its damage came from and not the actual hit of the Fireball.
Both attacks hit their marks. The bear pridelord let out an agonizing cry, filled with regret and suffering, as it was again consumed by the flames. Jack was flung through the air, crashing through some trees and undergrowth and leaving his blood all over the place.
The party was about to finish and join the fight against the pridelord, but they were already too late.