After collecting all the fruits from the five trees the twenty students approached the cerberus 

The cerberus finally noticed some disturbance coming from the direction of the trees, and snapped back its three heads with a jolt. The central head’s crimson eyes locked onto the trees… and what it saw made it howl in rage.

The branches were empty, the fruits it had been guarding were now gone.

A blood-curdling growl rumbled from its chests. Red, smoky vapors began seeping from the beast’s thick fur, curling upward like mist being dragged into a vortex.

Its muscles bulged unnaturally, veins glowing faintly under its skin. All three of its heads let out an ear-splitting roar that silenced even the sounds of spells behind it.

“Holy sh*t,” one of the students whispered, frozen in place.

Vivian’s eyes widened in horror. “It’s going berserk!”

“Fall back…now!” one of the team leaders shouted.

But it was too late.

With terrifying speed, the cerberus spun on its paws and lunged straight toward the twenty who had just left the trees. It ignored the fighters behind it and the spells they were throwing at it entirely, its fury focused solely on the ones who had stolen its precious fruits.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed as he felt the pressure in the air became heavy in an instant. The mana around the beast had grown denser after its transformation.

He looked at the charging beast, he felt these twenty 2nd Circle mages might not be able to withstand the attack and got ready to stop it.

The others were already breaking formation, shouting in panic, some trying to raise barriers, others just running. But the beast was too fast, its right paw raised, ready to unleash a devastating swipe directly at a boy at the front of the group, who was too stunned to move.

But just then, Arthur vanished from his spot.

BOOM!

A thunderous sound echoed through the grove as the cerberus’s massive claw collided, not with the boy’s body, but with Arthur’s forearm.

A visible shockwave rolled through the grass and trees due to the attack, and the student the cerberus was going to attack was thrown away due to the shockwave. But the attack wasn’t even able to make Arthur step back a bit.

The cerberus reared back in shock, snarling in fury seeing its prey still standing still.

But it wasn’t done.

All three of its heads reared back in perfect unison, its mouths glowing, before unleashing an inferno at its opponent.

FWOOSH!

Three streams of searing hot flame crashed into Arthur’s position. The air around him warped from the heat, several students had to shield their bodies due to the heat.

“No!” Vivian shouted from the rear, hand raised. “He’s…!”

“He’s… gone,” Jonathan muttered, his face pale. “That was its strongest attack…”

The scene was silent except for the roar of the flames, every pair of eyes locked on the inferno raging in front of them. The flames didn’t stop for at least five seconds.

They all believed Arthur was going to be the first casualty in this battlefield. Vivian felt she might have misjudged Arthur’s strength, he was clearly strong enough to withstand a blow from a C-Rank beast, but still she believed it is impossible to survive its strongest attack from so close. 

She sighed and was going to order the students to use their strongest spell when she noticed something odd, the cerberus was still not moving after completing the attack. 

And just as the cerberus stopped spewing fire and the smoke was swept away by the wind, they all saw a silhouette still standing there and a magical shield pop like a soap bubble bursting, just as the fire stopped.

The cerberus froze, so did every student who saw the sight.

“…He’s alive?” one of the team leaders muttered, eyes wide as dinner plates.

“No freaking way…” a girl whispered, jaw slack.

Vivian’s lips parted. “Mana Shield?” she whispered, incredulous. Thinking, how a basic spell used by a 3rd Circle mage can be this strong to withstand an attack of a C-Rank beast.

Sure enough, Arthur was still standing there even after the attack. Completely unharmed, and without even a scorch mark on his clothes.

Arthur had used his spell ‘Mana Shield’ to save his clothes from being burnt away, and he didn’t want everyone to know that he could withstand the fire without the shield.

Before the cerberus could react again, Arthur crouched a little.

With a controlled exhale, he pivoted on his back foot and launched a devastating right hook straight into the beast’s chest.

BOOOOM!

The impact sounded like a thunderclap.

The cerberus, with all three of its heads stunned mid-roar, was lifted off its feet and hurled backward like a ragdoll, crashing into the grove’s edge and skidding through the dirt, flattening a few trees in the process.

Dust and splinters filled the air.

Arthur turned calmly and looked down at the stunned boy he’d saved, who was still sitting on the grass, staring up at him as if he’d just witnessed Arthur grow another head.

“You okay?” Arthur asked as he approached him.

The boy nodded absentmindedly, as Arthur extended a hand and pulled him up.

Then he turned to the rest, who were still staring, stunned into silence.

“What are you all waiting for?” Arthur barked, seeing everybody still not attacking the beast. “Start attacking!”

The spellcasters blinked and scrambled to react, mana surging again through the field as renewed chants began filling the air.

Vivian, still stunned, finally snapped out of it. “Y-Yeah! Reinforce the frontline!”

The cerberus staggered to its feet, growling, as it looked at Arthur with caution.

…

Arthur stood at the back of the formation, the dust from earlier still hadn’t settled, but already, the students had begun to regroup in front of him.

Vivian and the other leaders were barking orders, their eyes sparkled with a newfound determination. The twenty who had gathered fruits now reinforced the exhausted frontline, merging with the original formation to create a wide arc of mages.

Arthur didn’t move to join them, not yet at least. It wasn’t because he didn’t care, it’s just that he does not want to spoon feed the points to them, he would interfere if someone’s life is at risk, nothing more nothing less. It’s up to them to subdue the beast and collect the points.

The Cerberus was already standing again, its chest heaving with rapid breaths, saliva and blood dripping from its mouth, but the beast wasn’t down yet, not by a long shot.

The beast, seeing Arthur not attacking it anymore, looked towards the mages, but it kept one of its heads fixed at Arthur.

It growled in a low and guttural tone seeing its attackers preparing their spells again and started to gather mana inside two of its mouth, as gouts of flame sparked between its teeth. 

Vivian also saw the mana buildup “Focus!” she shouted. “Don’t let it finish charging its attack!”

“NOW!” Vivian shouted, her voice cracking with strain.

The students unleashed a volley of spells at the beast.

Fireballs the size of a human head, lightning lances that cracked with thunder, ice shards, a kaleidoscope of destruction hurtled toward the beast.

The cerberus didn’t flinch. It opened both of its mouths, launching two massive fireballs, each as large as a wagon wheel, straight into the storm of spells.

BOOOOOM!

The ground trembled, as a massive explosion took place where the attacks met.

The explosion was deafening. Wind tore through the grove, flattening the bushes, and forcing the students to shield their eyes.

Smoke and flame exploded outward, and Arthur had to squint through the brightness as the shockwave rippled past him.

For a moment, everything was silent. But the silence didn’t last long.

A blur of black fur burst from the smoke, and the cerberus charged towards the formation of students, not to give them time to come up with another attack.

“Shields!” Vivian screamed, snapping her head toward the ten support mages designated to maintain defenses.

The mages raised their hands, their voices overlapping.

“Barrierum: Hexa Wall!”

A translucent blue dome popped into place, six-sided plates locking together to form a shield around the students.

The cerberus reached the wall in a heartbeat, and slammed its claws down.

“Brace for impact!” Vivian cried.

BOOM!

Spider-web-like cracks started to spread through the barrier. The shield trembled violently like a ripple in a pond, pushing dust and sparks outward.

CRACK!

With a resounding cracking sound the shield split from the middle, but it was able to save the mages from a devastating attack.

The sheer force of the attack knocked several mages off their feet. The remaining students gritted their teeth and started chanting desperate counter-spells.

The cerberus growled, steam curling from its jaws. It reared back for another attack.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed, seeing the mages defenseless for a moment after the shield crack, so he moved again.

BAM!

His punch landed squarely in the cerberus’s side, right between its ribs. The impact was so sudden and violent, that the beast’s entire torso shuddered. All three of its heads snapped to the side due to the whiplash.

It flew again, skidding backward like a cannonball, dirt flying from beneath its paws as it gripped the ground to stop itself.

Arthur landed in front of the formation, his boots hitting the ground.

“Everyone okay?” he asked coolly, glancing over his shoulder.

A few students nodded, wide-eyed.

Jonathan was the first to speak. “What the hell?! If you are so powerful then why didn’t you help us fight the beast?”

Arthur didn’t answer, he stepped towards him as he looked down on him.

“I am not your babysitter,” he stated matter of factly. “If you want to collect the points you have to do it yourself.” He then turned back and said, “And I already saved you guys twice, that should be enough for the few fruits I took.”

The cerberus stood up again, growling, its fur matted with blood and burn marks. Its rage was undeniable, but it hesitated a bit before attacking again.

Vivian placed a hand on the fuming Jonathan’s shoulder, “That’s enough Jonathan, he is right. You have to remember we are still in the tournament, we cannot expect someone else to help us score points, and he has already helped us twice.” She paused and looked towards Arthur and bowed a bit, “Thankyou Arthur for your help till now, we are very grateful.”

Jonathan calmed down a bit and sighed. He knew he was being unreasonable, but it was not entirely his fault, he had been too agitated due to facing a life and death situation. He looked towards Arthur and said, “I am sorry for my earlier behavior.”

“No problem…but you might want to pay attention to the cerberus.” Arthur said as he turned towards Vivian.

Vivian saw the cerberus was looking towards Arthur with wary eyes, and knew that if Arthur wanted he could fight the beast alone. And from their earlier experience she knew they were no match for the beast and can only retreat.

***

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep