This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 209 Facing the "Dragon"

Kain and the others followed closely behind the golem, the air thick with tension as they ventured into the dark passageway.

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The looming presence of the golem was a reliable reassurance for what they'd encounter next, but Kain's mind was still heavy with the visions he had just witnessed.

It was a terrifying task, to confront something so powerful, even if it was in a weakened state. He exchanged worried glances with the others. He could see the determination on their faces mixing with fear. Except strangely, Serena, who appeared more pensive after the visions, but not particularly frightened.

'Does she have some kind of hidden card to remain so confident?'

"Stay close," Jin murmured once they began to see an end to the tunnel. "We don't know what lies ahead."

The passage opened into a larger chamber, its ceiling soaring high above them, but the air felt heavy and thick with some kind dark energy that made it difficult for Kain and the others to breath.

"Ah!" One of the second-year girls in their group while grabbing the necklace provided by the school for this expedition. She moved the necklace away from her skin and Kain could see a large red welt appear just below her collarbone as though she'd been branded.

Clearly, her necklace had been working so hard at keeping something away from her that it'd gotten hot enough to scald her as a result.

Hiss

Kain couldn't help but expel a sharp whistle of air between clenched teeth as he also felt he bracelet heating up to an unbearable degree. Similarly, many of the other second years were also clutching at various parts of their bodies as, what Kain assumed to be the enchanted objects they were carrying, got so hot that they were burned.

Nothing visible had attacked them yet, but despite the hot objects pressing against their skin, a chill crept down the spine of Kain and the other, as an eerie silence fell.

Ignoring the pain coming from his wrist, Kain looked around the chamber they'd just entered.

The room was vast and cavernous, the air thick with the scent of decay. In the center, on a raised stone altar, lay a massive tail, coiled and twisted as if in eternal agony. The tail shimmered with a dark energy, that seemed to absorb all of the light in its surroundings.

Kain's heart raced as he looked at the object from the vision. However, contrary to the intense pull he'd expected from his affinity, the pull was no stronger than what he'd experienced from the dead egg previously. He practically had to be next to it to feel the pull without concentrating.

However, now that his spiritual power had grown and he was next to what he assumed to be a portion of the original body, he'd thought the pull would be much more intense.

Suddenly, a low growl reverberated through the chamber, shaking the very ground beneath them. The tail twitched before grotesque sore-like bumps began to appear on its surface.

Bang

Kain and the others couldn't help but flinch as the bumps burst open. But rather than something disgusting like puss splattering in all directions, instead limbs, wings, and a faint head shape burst out from the lumps.

Soon, what was previously only a dragon tail morphed into a much smaller weakened version of the black dragon, its scales dulled and its wings tattered. It raised its head, eyes glinting with malice, and opened its mouth, releasing a stream of dark energy that curled through the air like smoke.

"Back!" Jin shouted, pushing the others away as the dragon lunged forward. The golem stepped into action, its massive form stepping between the group and the creature, fists raised as it prepared to defend.

The dragon roared, a sound filled with fury, and lunged at the golem, but the golem's massive hand grabbed both sides of its open mouth to keep it from tearing at its limbs. Kain felt the ground tremble beneath him, the raw power of the clash palpable in the air.

The creaking and occasional pieces of rock falling from the rock let Kain know that the current stalemate was at the expense of much of the golem's energy. They couldn't afford to waste this opportunity.

"Now's our chance!" Kain yelled, summoning Bea and the Vespirae to attack from a distance.

The others also used their contracts to launch their attacks at the dragon from a distance.

A barrage of energy bolts was unleashed, striking all areas of the dragon not blocked by the golem.

Mostly long-distance attacks were used. Based on what they'd seen in the vision, most of them didn't dare to let their contract get too close. Only those with contracts resembling the golem holding off the dragon dared to get a little closer, hoping that the absence of any flesh would prevent the dragon from infecting them.

However, the dragon soon proved that hope to be useless.

Even in its weakened state, the black dragon was formidable. It retaliated with a swipe of its tail at an approaching smaller golem contract and sent a blast of dark energy erupting from its open mouth straight at another lion-like spiritual creature that appeared to be made of shining crystals.

The crystal lion, despite having no flesh, soon began to decay and crumble at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Ahhh!" A second-year boy unfamiliar to Kain let out a panicked scream, before moving to recall the lion into his star space.

"Wait! Don't recall it!" Kain called out. Kain had never tested if one of Bea's splits could be recalled into the star space of another beast-tamer if a contract is infected. He hadn't needed to use Bea much in the re-ranking and there weren't many opportunities for him to fight against other beast-tamers.

Moreover, he also didn't know if the split was brought into the star space if it could still exert any effect.

However, this dragon was clearly the host of something far more dangerous than Bea, and he had a hunch that recalling the lion would only result in his schoolmate's death as well.

Unfortunately, Kain's warning came too late and the lion disappeared from the cavern.

Kain looked worriedly at the boy, but after a few seconds passed with no changes, he began to let down his guard. That was until the seniors ear suddenly fell off without warning.

"Ahhhhhh!" The student suddenly dropped to the floor and began to thrash in pain as black bulges slowly began to rise up all over his skin.

A shiver ran down Kain's spine as he began to hyperventilate. Serena turned to him in confusion, since he was usually more mentally resilient and would not panic at just the sight of a dead peer he wasn't close too.

However, Kain had no time to pay attention to the glances of concern around him as his memories transported him off of the current planet to somewhere light-years away—Brazil.