71 Chapter 71: On Fire (1/2)

Even as I said that, I was calculating the several strategies that could prove useful in our current predicament and dismissed them one by one.

There was the option to summon Sagittarius or Orion and fire off Alnasl or Rigel, but I dismissed the idea. Firstly, the Fiery Ape clearly had an affinity with fire. Not only would it have a resistance against my fire-based arrows, there was a possibility that I would just inadvertently made it stronger. I doubted that, though. Not unless it was a rank A or S monster with unique abilities. As was the case with a certain game regarding monsters and balls, just because the creature was of the same element type didn't mean it would be immune to attacks of that elemental type (unless it possessed a unique ability such as Flash Fire, though that got patched pretty quickly in the next generation). It just meant it took about 50% less damage.

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With how powerful the Fiery Ape was, I couldn't be sure I could kill it with just 50% of the firepower of my arrows. Best to be safe than sorry.

It also meant I should avoid summoning Vermillion Phoenix, as his flames would be ineffective against the Fiery Ape. Of course, this went both ways, but my goal now was to destroy the monster before my schoolmates took any casualties, not merely to survive.

Right now those schoolmates were fighting for their lives to buy me the time I needed to summon the appropriate soul beast.

Let's get real. They weren't fighting for me. Even if I wasn't here, they would still be doing their best to survive. Before I arrived, they had already been fighting as hard as they possibly could and defying the Fiery Ape's brutal attempts to slaughter them. The only difference was that they knew my summoned beasts could provide a slim chance of victory and increase the odds of their survival. So they decided to stake everything on me. Not because I was the protagonist, or because I was some important person.

Merely because I held their biggest hope of getting out of this mess alive.

”GUOOOH!”

The Fiery Ape's head whipped back as Jin Hao's lightning struck it, but before it could throw a fireball at him, Nicholas kicked its arm aside, throwing off its aim. The Fiery Ape twisted to retaliate, but was forced to raise its arm to block an axe attack from Elliot. While it focused on batting the burly axe-wielder away, several spells detonated against its face as the remaining party members added to their magical onslaught. Thanks to that, Elliot was able to safely withdraw before he got pulverized by the Fiery Ape's massive arms.

The ideal image of a party working together, covering each other's weaknesses and watching each other's backs. It wasn't perfect – the corpses and wounded lying sprawled around the area attested to that – but it definitely prolonged Nicholas and Elliot's lives even as they kept the monster's attention away from the long-range but vulnerable spellcasters.

Most of all, they were buying the time I needed.

”!!”

The Fiery Ape suddenly erupted from rage, its fiery aura boiling upward in an inferno. Elliot and Nicholas jumped back, but the axe-wielder was weighed down by his weapon and couldn't escape the flames in time.

Splash!

Fortunately, a girl with long blue hair raised her hands and conjured a blast of water that washed over the flames. Like my attempt with Aquarius, the water immediately boiled away into scalding steam. But it was more than enough to buy Elliot the few seconds he needed to withdraw to a safe distance. As he landed right next to her, he nodded gratefully.

”Thanks, Aoi.”

Mizuno Aoi nodded, but didn't say anything, instead directing another geyser of water at the bellowing Fiery Ape. The aqueous attack didn't have much effect, vaporizing before it could reach the monster's fur, and it turned on her, summoning a colossal fireball in its palm to fling it at her.

Before it could hurl the fireball at her, a lightning bolt detonated against the side of its head, causing it to stagger and the fireball to dissipate before it could finish forming.

”Over here, you brute!” Jin Hao shouted. Snarling the Fiery Ape turned toward him, but Nicholas appeared behind him.

”Nope. Behind you!”

A kick to the back of the Fiery Ape's neck sent it stumbling forward, but it was far from down. Growling, it whipped around to swat him away, but already Elliot had renewed his attack and attempting to cleave its arm off.