253 Chapter 253: Aping Around (2/2)

Growling, the Fiery Apes flung dozens of fireballs at us from their newly taken up position. Lily cursed and brought her shield up, but she was aware that she wouldn't be able to protect all of her teammates, plus the students we had just rescued, with such a small armament.

Splash!

Water descended upon them, forming a dense curtain that proved impervious to the fireballs. Water boiled and steam flooded the entire place, obscuring vision. The Fiery Apes grunted, but dozens of highly pressurized geysers shot out and pierced through them. More than a handful of them died in the first barrage, their bodies burst apart by the colossal forces of water. The rest were swept away, carried by the irresistible flow and washed further out.

”Thanks, Black Tortoise,” I told my Celestial Guardian. The gigantic tortoise nodded as he crawled to check his charges behind the water barrier he had conjured, and turned back toward the remaining Fiery Apes. A few more had drowned, but the majority managed to cling onto trees to prevent themselves from being washed away.

One of them snarled and spun about the thick branch it clung to, lunging at me. Casting a spell, it uses its flames as makeshift rocket engines, propelling itself toward me like a bullet and leaving a trail of smoke.

Wow. I didn't think monsters were capable of conceiving such creative ways to use their magic.

In any event, I couldn't afford to be impressed. Having summoned Aquarius as a precaution, I brought the blue broadsword up and cleaved the charging Fiery Ape into two. Then, scraping my front foot against the ground, I swung Aquarius and unleashed another tidal wave to knock three more Fiery Apes back before they could finish pouncing on me.

Craig jumped up and above me before he lanced through the heart of the center Fiery Ape with his spear. Lily darted forward and decapitated the Fiery Ape on the left, while Theodore crushed the one on the right with his thunder hammer, its skull giving way under the massive weight of the large weapon.

The surviving Fiery Apes hung back warily. The arrival of my team had exterminated over eighty percent of the numbers, and now there were about ten or so of them left. Realizing that to continue would be suicide, they began to turn tail and run.

Or so we thought, but they suddenly whirled around to bare their teeth at us. We weren't intimidated, especially since we all had our weapons and spells to the fore and responded appropriately.

”And I was about to tell you guys not to chase them down.” Harrison sighed. ”If they want to be idiots, then I guess it's their funeral.”

I frowned in puzzlement, especially since something about the Fiery Apes' behavior and their sudden change of heart bothered me, but before I could even begin to guess, one of the students who we had just saved spoke up.

”Thank you for saving us. We really don't know how to repay this debt.”

”It's nothing,” I began, but Harrison cut me off.

”Well, for starters…” he smiled charismatically. ”You can help us fight these Fiery Apes off and survive.”

”Sure thing!”

Harrison was an amazing leader. With just a sentence, he lifted their morale and revitalized their fighting spirit. And he did so naturally. Such a thing had never occurred to me, and once again I was reminded of the difference between me and him.

”…!”

I was about to bring another tsunami down on the approaching Fiery Apes, but they wisely kept their distance and flung fireballs at us. Those flaming projectiles sizzled ineffectively against Black Tortoise's water barrier and did nothing.

My brow furrowed further. They must be aware of the futility of their attacks, yet they continued casting their spells. At the same time, they were maintaining a distance…almost as if they were buying time and waiting for reinforcements.

”We should leave, now!” Harrison had evidently come to the same conclusion, his face a little pale but he still managed to maintain his composure. ”Theodore, Lily, escort these guys out of here. Craig, Richard, you're the rearguard with me.”

”You mean you're the center guard,” Craig corrected. ”Can't lose you in a fighting retreat, leader.”

Harrison nodded, his hands glowing white. ”Even so, I'll help you as much as I can.”

The next moment, however, something crashed into the clearing, at the head of the Fiery Apes. About twice their height and almost three times their size, the newly arrived monster reared up to almost nine meters in height and bellowed, beating his chest.

”That…” Harrison's face was ashen. ”That's an Inferno Kong, a rank B monster.”

”Fuck! I never heard about this!” Craig shouted, his hands gripping his spear tightly. Even though he was no coward and relished battle, even Craig was apprehensive at facing a rank B monster. He still recalled how he almost lost his life against the rank B Silver Skeletal Wolf during the invasion of Jing Tian City.

That wasn't all. The Inferno Kong held up a hand, a mocking grin on its bestial face. Flipping it facedown, it dropped a bunch of stuff on the ground.

”That's…”

Ten charred corpses scattered across their ground, huge portions of their bodies missing. Their faces were mostly blackened beyond recognition, but I could tell from the vague shapes that their expressions had been locked in hideous scream before they died from the incineration.

”Those are the other two groups that were watching with us earlier,” Harrison murmured, fear gripping his voice.

”You've got to be kidding me!” Craig exclaimed in disbelief. ”Are you telling me that the Inferno Kong annihilated both groups in an instant without us noticing there was a massacre taking place behind u at all?!”

”The damned Inferno Kong was aping us and monkeying around!” I grumbled, earning a glare from the other two.

”Run!” Harrison snapped. ”Now! Both of you!”

”We won't make it. I'll buy as much time as I can.” Black Tortoise crawled over at my mental command and placed himself between us and the Inferno Kong and its cronies. Understanding the situation, my Celestial Guardian strengthened his water barrier.

Not caring about the thick magical screen between itself and its prey, the Inferno Kong smirked sinisterly at us before lunging forward with a terrifying bellow.