Chapter 745: So Close!!
In the final hours, the dragon's progress had been much slower than Leo's, pushing Aurelius Beast Academy's percentage close to 50% and putting them in the lead.
But the real reason was that the main players—Azrakar, Vorthak, and Vulcarion—had targeted a section of the skull and were fiercely attacking it to dig a hole through the extremely dense bone, which was even tougher than raw adamantium.
While the rest of the dragons contributed to the slowly rising percentage by attacking the Behemoth from within, those three relentlessly hacked at its skull.
Azrakar was in charge of delivering raw physical blows that cracked the top layer. He then used the same physical force to forcibly peel away the cracked portions.
Vorthak and Vulcarion, meanwhile, were in charge of breathing continuous flames directly at the spots Azrakar had weakened with his physical strikes.
Azrakar didn't care if they breathed flames directly onto his back. His body was sufficiently resilient to withstand their relatively weak flames. Not to mention that the treasures he had won from the academy's competition had made his body even more defensive than that of a normal dragon at his level.
The flames heated the exposed bones, causing thermal stress that widened the fractures from the earlier physical blows.
Then, any connective tissue they encountered along the way was swiftly incinerated, making it even easier to crack the bones.
Azrakar would then tear away more pieces of bone until, finally, the internal membranes became visible.
They immediately burned them away. Then, they removed some of the superficial brain tissue, revealing the pale, folded surface of the enormous brain beneath.
It was a strange sight, covered in countless ridges and grooves that looked like a vast mass of tightly packed pale flesh, with faint pulses running beneath its surface.
But they also noticed something else.
A neon-green tint in everything visible before them. It was some kind of harmful substance that gave off a faint draconic aura.
This has no business being in any beast's head, even one this large.
"Dragon poison...?" Azrakar muttered, trying to make sense of why the brain would be filled with poison.
Vulcarion, however, immediately recognised it.
"This!" His eyes widened.
"Lord Azrakar! It's that human's poison! He's poisoning the beast from within!"
Azrakar's eyes narrowed sharply.
Because if the poison had already reached the brain, Leo must have dealt substantial damage to the Behemoth, possibly even more than 50%!
"Zephyrax—THUNDER DIVE, RIGHT HERE!!!" he roared at the top of his lungs.
The summoned spirit immediately circled around, gaining some distance before lowering itself to the 1.3-kilometre height where the neck had contracted in defence. It then initiated a dive attack along the horizontal path.
Its body was covered in swirling wind with cutting edges and lightning crackles that charged the whole path it travelled.
It even reduced its size in the hope of fitting through the hole and digging into the brain matter—
SKAAAAHHHHH!!!
With a loud screech, the beast spirit dove straight into the brain matter, forcing the soft tissue apart as it bored deeper into the skull.
The electrical shock immediately disrupted brain function with a massive surge. Since a brain is an electrically active organ, the effect was instantaneous.
Sunborn Royal Academy Damage Progress: 26.7% → 36.8%
The Oreback Behemoth's brain malfunctioned, knocking the beast out in an instant. Though it still hadn't killed it.
Unfortunately, the hole Azrakar had made still wasn't big enough to accommodate the spirit. With the tremendous force behind its attack, Zephyrax's spread wings shattered immediately, allowing only its main body to enter through the hole while its spirit wings— which had broken off and remained outside—slowly disintegrated.
But the force from its incredible speed was enough.
And with Zephyrax still diving through the brain matter and damaging the vital parts of the brain, the percentage began to shoot up.
Sunborn Royal Academy Damage Progress: 36.8% → 40.1% → 45% → 49%
And finally...
Sunborn Royal Academy Damage Progress: 49%→ 51.4%
The dragon audience, which had been on the verge of cursing the shit out of Sunborn Royal Academy for losing the competition, erupted with excitement as the entire stadium roared.
Multiple dragons even openly breathed flames into the air—rising hundreds of meters high. They were unable to contain their excitement. Though they were soon escorted away by disciplinary officers, they were still overjoyed.
But the human audience didn't share their enthusiasm. They slumped back in their seats, grimacing. They couldn't even bring themselves to curse because the students had done their best and had almost succeeded, only to lose because of this sudden stroke of bad timing.
Still, Aurelius Academy managed to make the last bit of progress.
Aurelius Beast Academy Damage Progress: 48.5% → 48.6%
With that, the beast finally died.
A large screen appeared above the place where Zephyrax had bored through the skull.
But there was no time to look at it when Azrakar, Vorthak, and Vulcarion found themselves covered from head to toe in disgusting brain matter that could make anyone vomit just from the sight of it.
When Zephyrax had dove in, the crushing pressure it created inside the skull directly threw all the mashed brain matter through the only outlet. And the trio had been standing exactly there.
Azrakar immediately breathed flames on Vorthak to burn away the mess, while Vorthak did the same for the others.
But the stubborn burnt matter still stuck to their bodies, making Azrakar roar in annoyance while also breathing flames.
Meanwhile, beneath the hole, Zephyrax struggled to make any meaningful progress toward getting out. It had no wings left to flap, nor could it wriggle its way out through the soft brain matter that had been crushed and mangled around it.
For now, it would have to lie there until the dragons decided to rescue it… if they ever did.
As for the Aurelius Academy students, their eyes remained fixed on the same wound Leo had entered. There was still no sign of him.
As for the person in question...
He was busy checking his status plate.
Apparently, somehow, he had been credited with the final blow that killed the beast, even though all he had been doing was continuously pumping poison into its veins.
But as he checked his status plate, he began to tweak out when he noticed a crucial detail.
Ding!
Oreback Behemoth (High 5-Star) Killed - 1,500,000 XP
[Additional 500,000 XP for killing a comparatively higher-ranked beast]
Level 31: 1,080,000 → 1,550,000 / 1,550,000
Ding!
Level Up!
Level 32: 1,530,000 / 2,000,000
Ding!
Stats Updated!
[50% Increase to Base Stats]
Vitality: 3970 -> 5955 + [5500] + {50% boost (Optional)}
Strength: 3960 -> 5940 + [5500] + {90% boost (Optional)}
Agility: 3950 -> 5925 + [5500] + {240% boost (Optional)}
Stamina: 3900 -> 5850 + [5500] + {490% boost (Optional)}
Intelligence: 7270 -> 10,000 + [5500] + {50% boost (Optional)}
Mana: 799,700 -> 1.1M + [605,000]
He ignored all the kill notifications, the additional experience points, and even the euphoria he felt from the massive stat increase.
There was only one thing that caught his attention.
He was missing some Intelligence points.
Not just a few, but 905 points to be exact!
Because if his maths wasn't failing him, a 50% boost to 7270 should have brought his Intelligence to 10,905, not just 10,000.
Oi, System! Where are my stat points?!