Theo poured out practically all of his remaining mana.
Overhead, the clouds started spreading hundreds of yards through the sky.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Bright golden flashes illuminated the storm repeatedly.
With every passing second, the pressure in the sky grew heavier and heavier.
The King Cobra stopped paying attention to Iris and Jim completely.
Instead, it instinctively looked up at the sky.
Hissing softly, a strong sense of danger washed over it as its eyes locked onto the storm above.
Without another moment’s hesitation, its enormous body twisted around as earth mana began erupting beneath it.
Just as it was about to launch itself away...
WHOOOSH!
An immense wave of emerald wind slammed down on it from above.
The King Cobra was pressed into the ground before it could even move.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The earth beneath its body shattered apart while large fractures spread out in every direction.
It immediately began thrashing wildly, but every attempt to rise was met by the sheer weight of Feng’s wind.
At some point, it even tried using acid once more.
But Iris’s metal still clung stubbornly to its fangs, sealing the acid holes shut.
HISSS!!!
The King Cobra suddenly stopped moving completely.
It slowly glanced up, almost like it was accepting being stuck in place.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Theo’s lightning had already gathered into five massive spheres.
’’Now!’’ he shouted, swinging his hand down.
The spheres discharged at once.
Five massive lightning beams shot down from the sky.
They danced through the air while circling around each other.
As they approached the ground, the beams gradually began to merge into one massive lightning pillar.
HISSSSSSS!!!
The King Cobra let out one more extremely furious hiss.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The desert exploded beneath it.
Tens of thousands of massive boulders shot up from the ground and gathered in front of it.
Within a heartbeat, they formed a colossal dome around it.
It continued pouring earth mana into its shield, forcing it to grow thicker and stronger with each passing second.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The colossal lightning pillar slammed straight into the dome.
Massive chunks of stone disintegrated under the lightning’s force.
CRACK!
The first layer exploded apart.
A moment later, the second and third layers followed.
The King Cobra poured a tremendous amount of mana into the dome, forming several more layers.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The colossal lightning pillar tore through layer after layer of compressed earth.
Every new layer the King Cobra had formed was instantly obliterated.
Within only a few seconds, only the final layer remained.
The King Cobra poured every last bit of its mana into it, a clear unwillingness flashing through its eyes.
CRACK!
Spiderweb-like cracks spread over the entire layer as the lightning struck, directly starting to disintegrate it.
Within only a heartbeat, the entire layer had become riddled with fractures.
BOOOOOM!!!
The final layer exploded apart.
The colossal lightning beam continued downward without slowing in the slightest.
HISSSSS!!!
The King Cobra desperately tried to twist its body.
But it was already too late.
The pillar continued directly into the now-exposed wound on the back of its neck.
SSSSSSSHHHH!!!
The already damaged flesh offered almost no resistance.
Scales, flesh, muscle, and bone all disintegrated beneath the overwhelming power.
A split-second later, a bright golden flash lit up the entire battlefield.
Once the flash faded... complete silence fell.
High above, Theo watched the King Cobra’s body sway for a moment.
THUD!
The giant creature finally collapsed onto the ground, its eyes completely lifeless.
Theo stared incredulously as his chest rose and fell heavily.
"We... did it," he muttered.
"Congratulations, contractor," Feng’s voice rang out beneath him. "It was a marvelous fight."
Letting out a long breath, Theo felt his body drain of strength.
Had it not been for the roughly five percent mana he’d saved, he would’ve passed out right away.
"Thank you, Feng," he said lightly. "It wouldn’t have been possible without you."
The unicorn let out a light chuckle.
"Shall we go down now?" it asked. "Your friends seem to be waiting there."
Theo’s gaze slowly lowered.
After closing his eyes for a moment, he nodded once.
"Let’s do that."
Feng tilted its wings slightly, starting their descent.
Meanwhile, Theo glanced back at the massive corpse lying beneath them.
’Though it was injured and much weaker compared to the others I’ve seen,’ he thought. ’That was still a genuine B-rank...’
A broad, warm smile slowly began forming on his face.
’And we actually managed to kill it.’
Somehow, it didn’t feel real to him.
Defeating a creature like this alongside his friends... it was a dream come true.
A few moments later, Feng gently landed on the shattered desert floor.
Theo jumped off its back, his legs nearly giving out as he landed.
"Contractor," Feng’s voice rang out behind him. "I’ll have to go rest, as I’ve used up my mana once more."
Glancing back at the rapidly shrinking unicorn, Theo nodded once.
"Until next time."
With that, an emerald mass swallowed Feng’s body.
"Theo!"
Two voices called out at once.
Only moments later, Jim and Iris appeared in the distance.
They jumped between the massive shattered boulders, rapidly heading toward him.
Iris was the first to reach him.
Without hesitation, she grabbed both of his shoulders.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her eyes quickly scanning his pale face. "You’re not bleeding anywhere, right?"
Theo’s smile widened immediately.
"Nothing like that," he said, taking a step forward. "I’m just a little exhausted."
Without another thought, he let himself fall against her shoulder, wrapping his arms loosely around her neck.
"Theo?" she called out, startled.
She immediately wrapped her arms around him, scared he’d fallen unconscious.
"I’m alright, I’m alright," Theo muttered, closing his eyes. "I just want to rest here for a moment."
"That’s fine," Iris muttered softly.
For several seconds, silence settled around them.
Theo let out a deep, content sigh, truly enjoying the moment.
After a few more seconds, he opened his eyes slightly.
From several feet behind Iris... Jim was staring at him with a completely deadpan expression.
"..."
"..."