CHAPTER 15: ELEMENTAL DOGS

I had managed to wound the Elemental Dogs, but when comparing the severity of our injusries, it was clear that I came off far worse in that exchange.

I glared at the creature and clicked my tongue in annoyance. Then, something else happened.

"Huh?!!"

The eye of the fire themed part of the elemental dogs were glowing an ominous crimson colour all of a sudden.

"Growwwlll..."

Inexplicalbly, I sensed something ominous was about to happen...

"What could it be?"

In that instant, the head that was cloacked with fire spat out a hot column of fire towards my general direction.

"Gahh!"

I yelled as I ducked out of the way to the right, barely evading the attack that could very well end my life if I took it head on.

Next, the elemental dogs left the ground in a poqwerful leap.

"Fuck!!!"

"They know it would be hard to kill a small prey like me with long distance attacks..."

They were faster than I thought they would, even before I could react, the creature appeared right before my eyes. I panickly swung my sword, but it only managed to graze the side of one of its heads.

And then, both heads bit into me simultaneously. The sound of blood and hot ringing filled my ears as I cursed myself for letting greed and excitement chew me alive.

I gritted my teeth as my necj, waist and thigh all got bitten.

The elemental dogs ran at its top speed and slammed me against a might, study rock.

My health and remaing emdurance left were crashing and I could feel the life within me drain like constant flowing tap.

But right when I was about to close my eyes in death and defeat, the image of my twin younger brother flashed across my mind and my eyebrows immediately shot up in anger.

Itd be easy to go mad from pain and being rag dolled about, but id lose this great oppurtunity, which would most likely never happen for a while. Loosing consciousness or dying now would mean my end, and that would NOT solve anything, itll only add more problems.

I clenched my sword tightly so I don’t loose grip of it, and it was at this moment I had my name from several yards away and the voice of the person who called gave me more hope than I have felt since the battle against the boss monster.

"Levi!"

"Valeria!!!"

Immediately I called her name, a greenish hue enveloped within me and all my depleted health came back to life. Even my tattered left arm was healed as good as new in the blink of an eye.

"It is now or never!"

Luckily for me, Valeria had found her way to my position and healed me.

My eyes blazed coldly. In such cclose proximity, no matter how agile this monster was, itd not be able to dodge my attacks.

My eyes locked onto the elemental dogs, their dual head were snarling as one raged one with crackling flames and the other blazed with ice shards.

The crimson glow in the fire head’s eyes pulsed like a heatbeat, in contrast with the icy head’s glacial blue stare.

Valeria’s healing magic still pulsed thoruhg my body with a warm, verdant glow that stitched my torn flesh and mended my broken bones. My left arm, momemts ago was mangled to ruins but now I could flex it with renewed strength. The pain I felt was now gone and it was replaced by a surge of adrenaline.

"Valeria! don’t stop!" I shouted at the top of my voice to make sure she would here me. The dogs lunged in attack again, their massive paws shaking the ground underneath me any moment they made contact with the floor. I dove to the side, feeling the heat of a fire blast scorcth the air where I stood.

The icy head followed up, spitting a torrent of frost that coated the ground in a slick, icy shine. I skidded across it, barely keeping my balance as my boots werent equipped for this kind of footing.

Then I noticed as the ice quench the raging flame the fire head had spilling earlier, and then an idea struck me like a meteor.

’Fire cancels out ice, and ice cancel fire...’ the thought struck me like a lightning. The creature’s dual nature was its strength, bit it could also be its very own weakness. If I could find a way to trick the heads into targeting each other, their own elements might do the work for me and cancel each other out.

"Levi, hold on!" Valeria’s voice rang out from behind a jaggered boulder. Her hands glowed with a radiant green light and another wave of healing magic washed over me, soothing the bruises from my slide. Her prescence was a lifeline now, I could feel her concentration, her breath hitching as she channelled her energy to sustain me.

"She’s using way too much Arcane energy, she wont be able to keep up for long..."

The dogs charged again, their were distinct and synchronized at the same time, having two heads and one body. The fire head snapped at me, jaws dripping molten saliva, and breathe as hot as a volcano, while the icy head swung wide, aiming to flank me with a massive paw. I ducked under the fiery bite, rolling forward and slashing upward with my sword.

The blade caught the icy head’s snout, drawing a thin line of frost that hissed as it met the warm air. The entire creautre roared, with both heads thrashing in fury and disorder.

I glanced at my surrondings, a rocky clearing with sscattered boulders and a narrow ravine was to my left. It was perfect for what I had in mind, baiting the dogs to follow. Their massive forms chased after me, the fire head unleashing another column of flame that scorched the ground at my heels. I leaped over a low rock, feeling valeria’s magic surge again, a tingling warmth that boosted my stamina.

"Stay with me valeria..." I muttered, taking note of the fact that she would run out of arcane energy sooner or later.

The gorge like space loomed ahead, and its walls were tight. I skidded to a halt just at its entrance, then spinning to face the Elemental Dogs. They were close, too close, and their heads weaved in a deadly dance of fire and ice. I needed them to strike at the same time, to aim for me but hit each other instead.

"Come on, you over sized mutt!!!"I taunted, waving my sword. The fire head snarled with its massive maw opening wide as it prepared another blast. The icy head mirrored it, frost gathering in its throat.

I waited, my heat pounding until both heads reared back in unison.

’Now...’

I dove into the ravine, pressing myself flat against the wall. The fire head realesed its flames and the icy head loosed a blizzard of chaotic ice shards, both attacks aimed at where id been standing.

But the narrow ravine funneled their assaults and the two elemental forces collided in midair. Fire met ice in a violent explosion of steam and sparks, the shockwave shook the ground for several meters. The dogs howled, staggered by their own clashing powers.

"Valeria!!!" I shoouted, scrambling to my feet, another pulse of her healing magic flooded my senses, wiping away the sting of stray embers and frost that had grazed me.

At that moment, I felt invicible, my mind was sharp as I saw my opening. The dogs were dazed, their heads snapping at each other in confusion, the fire head’s flames licked at the icy head’s frozen fur, and vice versa.

I sprinted forward, with my sword raised above my head and targeted the fire head first.

I feinted left, then darted right, luring the icy head to snap at me. As it lunged, I dropped low, letting the frosty jaws sail over me and straight into the fire head’s neck.

The fire head roared, instinctively biting back, its molten fangs sinking into the icy head’s shoulder. The two head tugged violently as their elements clashed in a frenzy of steam and sizzling cracks.

I didn’t let up, I wung my sword in a precise arc that sliced into the fire head’s flank wile It was distracted. The blade bit deep, drawing a spray of molten blood that hissed as it hit the ground.

Valeria’s magic pulsed again, healing a gash on my right leg from the stray ice shard, keeping me in the fight. "Youre doing it levi!!" she called, her voice strained but still very feirce.

The dogs were weakening, their movements were now sluggish as their own attacks eroded each other. The fire head’s flames dimmed, quenched by the icy head’s frost, while the icy head’s crystalline armor cracked under the heat.

I saw another chance, with a final burst of energy, I climbed onto a nearby boulder, using the height to leap onto the creature’s back. Both heads twisted to snap at me, but I was ready. I drove my sword down between them, forcing them to turn inward.

In their fury, they lunged at each other. The fire head’s jaws clamped onto the icy head’s throat and the icy head’s fangs tore into the fire head’s skull. And just like that, a deafening screech filled the air as their elements consumed each other, leaving the creautre’s body in a smoldering, frost crusted ruin.

I stumbled back, my chest heaving with exhaustion as the elemantal dogs collapsed and their twin heads draining of life. Valeria wasted no time and ran to my side, her hands still glowing faintly as she checked me for wounds. "You are absolutely insane..." she said with a mix of awe and relief in her voice. "But you did it..."

I grinned, wiping sweat and soot from my face. "Couldn’t have done it without you, Valeria." my sword was still in hand, its blade was now scroched and chipped but somehow unbroken.

’I guess even an arcane infuse blade tend to wear off over time...’

Ding!

~Congratulations! You have completed the objective: Defeat the Low-level gate boss Elemental Dogs~

~Reward: Canine Blood Locket~

~Description: This item is a relic that is used to collect the anti-arcane of a shadow creature, and turn it into the pure arcane version of itself, it can only be used once~

~You can have another Arcane pet, but only one can be summoned at a time due to low arcane reserve~

~This gate boss Elemental Dogs can be turned into your Arcane pet using the reward item Canine Blood Locket~

I nodded with a smile as I spotted the locket sitting in the debris as the elemental dogs began to evaporate into nothingness.

The system said it would use the anti arcane of the boss to make the pure arcane version of the creature, allowing it to be my pet. Therefore, I would have to confiscate the Anti-arcane stone from within the Elemental dogs.