17 Forest Battle

Since leaving the cave, Derrick had been worried about his growth.

After all, it had been the system's starting point, a treasure trove that allowed him to progress by leaps and bounds.

But right now, 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 worthy of 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 synergy kekeke..."

Derrick's shadow started crazily expanding, and the big, dark lizard came out in front of the Leshi. Drako's pressure really was immense, clearly amplified by the 15% boost that the summoning skill granted.

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...

Wasn't his upgraded skill supposed to give him more details? What was up with that?

"Drako, you're a darkness-related monster, right? I'll act as bait, and you finish the bastard off. If you miss, I won't let you ever forget it"

With the three of them now 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 a last resort.

"Also, try not to damage the monster too much... I need new materials to create weapons"

"Kekeke, you sure demand a lot. The only thing you should be concerned about is your life. If you die, I die"

"Yeah yeah..."

Drako's cynical laugh resonated in Derrick's mind, making him swear that he'd tame that shameless thing one day.

It had already been several seconds since both parties had moved and began observing each other, and it seemed like the Leshi had finally run out of patience.

Without any warning, it jumped in Derrick's direction with speed that defied its ridiculous size.

How the hell was that thing moving so fast?!

Derrick barely managed to 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 and high defenses, the Leshi couldn't stop the murderous slash that Derrick had unleashed.

The creature let out an ear-piercing screech and looked at its wounds.

Its left leg was profusely bleeding, with its outer thigh being badly lacerated. As a result, green blood was gushing out of the wound and all over the place.

The Leshi's gaze was beyond murderous when it looked at Derrick again. It had clearly never been humiliated like that in its entire existence.

It lowered its deer-head and aimed its antlers at Derrick, readying itself to use <Deer Charge>.

Alarms started going off in Derrick's consciousness because the system had specified it was unstoppable.

If this went through, his chances of survival would be pretty much nil.

"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 waste it.

With speed that didn't lose to his opponent, Drako bit the wounded leg of the beast and used his tongue to inject poison into its bloodstream.

The Leshi wasn't dumb, and its survival instincts kicked in. It realized 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, darting backwards at a safe range of his opponent.

Even though he was immortal as long as Derrick lived, he still felt pain from physical injuries.

When it missed its target again, the Leshi entered a furious frenzy.

Its green eyes started shining vigorously while its body began swelling.

Its exposed thoracic cage began to open as well, exposing its huge, rotten heart. It was beating at an unsustainable speed that would surely make it explode in a matter of minutes.

But it appeared it wasn't done, as the beast's body kept getting larger and larger. The expansion finally stopped when it was around 30 meters tall and 10 meters wide.

It had become an absolute abomination of nature.

In the end, the Leshi had recognized that it couldn't survive the poison now coursing through its body. As such, it was going all out, with its last minutes ending in a furious battle.

Derrick's expression fell. His senses were screaming that he was at deaths' door, and that 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 <Deer Charge> again.

When it was about to launch in his direction, Drako reached it and tackled the beast with all his might.

He had to destabilize it long enough for Derrick to reach its body.

When the Leshi felt the reptile, it scoffed. What was this little guy trying to do?

With its left arm, it tore through Drako's entire body and threw his now mutilated corpse against the nearby trees.

Drako could only let out a deafening howl of misery before going completely silent, with his dark corpse disintegrating a second later.

[Summon <Drako > has been killed! A cooldown of 72 hours has been applied before it can be summoned again]

After finally killing an opponent, the Leshi had a victorious expression. It then turned its head towards the last position of Derrick.

Uh?

Where was the other ant?!

The creature started panicking since it was running out of time. It had to kill the other one, or it'd have sacrificed its life in vain!

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

"You thought I'd run away?! DIE YOU FUCK!!!"

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

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