Chapter : 708

Zinia focused her earth magic. She slammed her hands onto the ground. A massive pillar of solid gray rock ripped out of the white tiles. She swung her arms forward. She launched the giant rock pillar through the air. The rock flew fast. It carried enough force to crush a normal building.

The rock pillar slammed directly into Gargantua's thick steel leg.

CLANK.

A loud, metallic sound echoed in the room. The solid rock bounced off the steel hide. It did not leave a scratch. The rock fell to the floor.

Suddenly, a thick drop of toxic green sludge dripped from Gargantua's knee. The sludge landed directly on top of the fallen rock pillar.

The sludge hissed violently. Acidic smoke rose into the air. The solid rock began to melt. It melted fast. In less than three seconds, the giant rock pillar dissolved into a bubbling puddle of gray mud. The toxic radiation eradicated the earth magic.

Zinia stepped backward. She looked stunned.

"Physical projectiles are useless!" Zinia warned loudly. "The sludge is highly acidic! It is melting the stone on contact!"

Luna stepped forward. The gray-haired girl did not look sleepy at all. She raised her hands. She fired a fast volley of sharp wind blades mixed with yellow lightning.

The wind blades sliced through the air. The lightning cracked loudly.

The attacks hit the toxic green field around the monster. The exact same thing happened. The wind blades dissolved into soft breezes. The yellow lightning scattered harmlessly into tiny sparks. The toxic radiation neutralized the elemental magic instantly.

Ira summoned two high-pressure water whips. The pale water mage lashed the whips toward the beast. The water touched the green sludge. The water evaporated instantly into a cloud of useless steam.

The magic attacks did nothing. Gargantua stood unharmed. The monster took a slow, massive step forward. The ground trembled. Thump.

Sayma typed furiously on her small digital tool. She pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her dark eyes scanned the red warning text on the tiny screen. She opened her notebook. She clicked her silver pen rapidly. Click. Click. Click.

"Princess Iris! Listen to me!" Sayma reported politely but urgently. Her voice carried a high amount of stress. "The creature radiates a continuous field of toxic Solurius energy. The radiation creates a total anti-magic barrier. Standard spells melt before they even reach its main body. The toxicity dissolves the raw mana in our attacks."

Princess Iris frowned deeply. "If magic dissolves on contact, how do we pierce the armor?"

Naomi tightened her grip on her twin silver daggers. The fierce vanguard leader wore her sleek green shirt. She looked determined.

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"We use pure steel," Naomi stated bravely. "I will test its physical defenses. I am faster than the sludge."

Naomi turned her head. She looked at Ken. He sat on the floor near the metal crates. He chewed a gummy worm. She smiled a very soft, warm smile. She cared about his safety deeply.

"Stay where you are, Ken," Naomi instructed gently. "Do not move. I will be right back."

"I am a master of not moving," Ken promised lazily. He gave her a goofy thumbs-up.

Naomi turned back to the monster. She dashed forward.

She used her incredible wind magic to boost her physical speed. She became a fast green blur. She darted past the puddles of green liquid. She avoided the dripping sludge perfectly. She reached Gargantua's massive leg.

She swung her twin silver daggers with all her strength. She aimed directly for the rusted joint of the monster's knee. She wanted to slice the metal.

The daggers hit the steel hide.

CLANG. CLANG.

Bright orange sparks flew into the air. The sound hurt their ears. A massive vibration traveled up Naomi's arms. Her wrists ached instantly. The rusted steel was impossibly hard.

A large drop of green sludge fell from the armor right above her.

Naomi noticed the shadow. She jumped backward immediately. She executed a flawless backflip. She landed safely near Princess Iris. The toxic sludge splashed onto the exact spot where Naomi stood a millisecond ago.

Naomi looked down at her trusted weapons. She gasped softly.

The edges of her twin silver daggers were smoking. The metal blades were slightly dull. The brief contact with the steel hide and the toxic air actually damaged her weapons.

"Physical attacks bounce right off the steel hide," Naomi reported quickly. She breathed fast. "My blades did zero damage. The armor is impenetrable. If I stay too close, the acid will melt my daggers ."

Risa hugged her brown teddy bear. She stayed safely behind the group. She clutched her glowing white purification shard. She looked terrified, but she trusted her friends.

Ken Eliot sat on the floor. He watched the entire sequence of events. He slouched his shoulders. He reached into his plastic bag. He pulled out a red strawberry gummy worm. He tossed it into his mouth. He chewed it slowly.

He ran the battle data through his flawless video game logic.

"This is what I suspected," Ken analyzed casually in his mind. He shoved his free hand into his sweatpants pocket. "This is a massive gimmick boss. It is a puzzle encounter."

Ken looked at the giant monster. He looked at the glowing green core on its chest.

"The boss has a permanent immunity buff," Ken deduced lazily. "You cannot deal damage during this phase. Standard magic attacks melt on contact. Physical melee attacks bounce off the steel armor. Attacking the front is a total waste of weapon durability and mana points. You cannot just hit it until it dies. That strategy will get a total party wipe."

Ken let out a quiet sigh. He leaned his back against the metal crate.

"This means we have to interact with the environment," Ken reasoned smoothly in his head. "We need to drop a ceiling pipe on its head. Or we need to use a very specific quest item. Or we need to hit a hidden switch on the back of its knee. Normal fighting is disabled for this stage of the fight."

The realization slowly sank in for the 13th Unit.

Princess Iris lowered her silver rapier just a tiny bit. She looked at the towering Solurius Behemoth. Sayma stopped clicking her pen. Zinia dropped her strong arms. Laxmi looked at the gray smoke drifting near the ceiling. Naomi held her smoking daggers.

They looked at each other. The terrifying truth settled heavily on their shoulders.

The magic attacks did nothing. The physical attacks bounced off harmlessly. The toxic radiation melted everything on contact. The beast was immune to their entire arsenal.

They realized they could not fight it the normal way. Standard combat tactics were useless. If they kept throwing spells, they would run out of mana. If they kept swinging swords, their weapons would break. The giant monster took another massive step forward. The ground shook violently. They were backed into a corner, and they urgently needed a brand new plan to survive.

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