Chapter 326 - 286: Attack (2)

Chapter 326: Chapter 286: Attack (2)

Soon, a massive creature revealed itself before them. It clung upside down to a tree trunk, its skin constantly shifting colors. The Ant Farmer in its mouth was still struggling, so it seemed he hadn’t been bitten to death.

"That shape," Shire narrowed his eyes, "why does it look like a chameleon?"

[Name: Phantom Chameleon]

[Race: Magical Beast]

[Danger Level: 5, Slightly Strong]

[Personality: Patiently Waits for Prey]

[Ability: Breath Concealment Technique]

"So it really is a Magical Beast, and a chameleon at that. Its special ability must be why none of us noticed it before." Shire quickly ordered his men to surround the tree and prepare to rescue the Ant Farmer.

Chameleons are slow-moving creatures. They primarily hunt by shooting out their tongues. That white rope from before was its tongue.

THWAP, THWAP, THWAP! With a series of dull thuds, the Centaurs’ arrows struck the Phantom Chameleon’s back. Unfortunately, only a few of them had any effect; the rest were deflected by the scales on the Magical Beast’s back.

"Climb the tree," Shire commanded loudly. The creature was the size of an ox. There were no sounds from any other living things nearby; this thing had probably eaten them all.

’Good thing it moves slowly. As long as we get close, we should be able to take it down easily,’ Shire said softly to himself, full of confidence. Following his orders, Red Eyes had already drawn his sword and was preparing to use a Worker Ant to charge up the tree.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as Shire expected. As the Centaurs continued to fire their arrows, the Phantom Chameleon seemed to grow pained and annoyed. The ribs on its abdomen began to open and close, and then, with a POP, two sections of its ribcage spread wide, transforming into something like a pair of gliding wings.

"This thing..." Shire’s eyes went wide. The Magical Beast’s physical transformation was beyond his expectations. "It’s trying to fly away."

The Ant Farmer’s struggles were weakening. If they waited any longer, he might slowly suffocate. At the same time, the Phantom Chameleon flapped the "wings" on its abdomen a few times and began to float up from the tree.

"Don’t let that thing escape!" Shire shouted. If it actually flew away, it would be extremely difficult for them to pursue it on the ground.

The Centaurs nocked their arrows again and fired at the fleeing Magical Beast, but to little effect. Just as Shire was about to order everyone to give chase, a sound of something slicing through the air went WHOOSH. A white, spear-like object shimmering with blue light shot out and, with a CRACK, struck one of the chameleon’s "wings."

The spear-like object pierced straight through the flimsy rib-wing, leaving a large hole.

In response, the Phantom Chameleon was forced to retract one side of its ribs. It could no longer maintain its flight and plummeted toward the ground.

Shire looked back at the Naga Prince, who was standing a few steps behind him. He was holding up his hand, an Ice Spear forming within it. He then gripped the Ice Spear tightly, ready to throw it at a moment’s notice.

"What kind of Magic is that?" Shire asked casually.

"Ice Spear Technique," Pazani replied immediately. His eyes never left the falling Magical Beast, and his hand remained half-raised with the Ice Spear, ready in case the creature tried to take flight again.

But the Naga Prince didn’t need to do anything more. A green figure shot forward like the wind. Just as the Phantom Chameleon propped itself up on its four limbs, about to do something, the green figure spun like a top and swept right through the Magical Beast’s body.

As a few drops of blood hit the ground, followed by a couple of THUDS, the chameleon’s head separated from its torso and fell to the ground. Its body then collapsed limply, but its claws continued to twitch, as if in defiance.

Shire watched as the green body stopped spinning, revealing Red Eyes’s face. He flicked his Black Sword, walked over to the chameleon, and stabbed it several more times for good measure.

’Red Eyes has changed, too.’ The corner of Shire’s mouth twitched up as he walked over and called up his subordinate’s status panel.

[Name: Red Eyes]

[Race: goblin]

[Danger Level: 7, A Bit Dangerous]

[Personality: Reckless]

[Ability: Basic Power (Positive), Basic Endurance (Positive), Intermediate Magic Resistance (Positive), Charge, Horizontal Sweep, Regeneration, Vortex Slash]

"He’s got a new skill." Shire raised an eyebrow. "’Vortex Slash’ must be that rapid, spinning top-like attack he just used. A new Combat Technique."

Ever since he’d discovered the changes in Broken Tooth’s and Caocao’s abilities, he had been regularly pushing the few subordinates he’d granted powers to to practice using them. Now, it seemed the results were quite obvious.

Everyone worked together to pull the unlucky Ant Farmer out of the chameleon’s mouth. The poor guy was already foaming at the mouth from the chameleon’s bite. It was only after they poured three Healing Potions down his throat that he slowly started to recover.

"Let’s rest for a bit," Shire ordered with a wave of his hand. The injured man needed time to recover, and the Phantom Chameleon needed to be dealt with urgently. For now, they could only halt their advance.

The team began to rest in an orderly fashion. A few Centaurs stood guard on the perimeter, while Oreco took two other Centaurs and started to skin the chameleon.

Shire merely went closer for a look. He was still quite interested in this Magical Beast. Little John had told him that the number of Magical Beasts would increase after winter began, and he hadn’t expected to run into one so soon after leaving the Fortress camp.

But this Phantom Chameleon was only a Basic Magical Beast. The Basic Beast Core that had been carved out of it was already wiped clean and placed by Shire in a pouch on his lower back. He was more interested in the hide; he wondered if it could be made into a special Magic Item, like an Invisibility Cloak.

He had also acquired the chameleon’s Ability, [Breath Concealment Technique]. That Ability, combined with the chameleon’s natural traits, was what had allowed it to go completely unnoticed by the entire party. Now, Shire had directly granted this Ability to his subordinate, Broken Tooth.

The memory of Broken Tooth’s arm being struck by the Feathered Serpent Evil God’s Electric Ball served as a constant reminder to Shire that his goblins were still very weak. Against powerful foes, killing a goblin was as easy as lifting a finger. Now, with the boost from [Breath Concealment Technique], it should be much harder for Broken Tooth to be discovered while hiding in the shadows.

’This Ability still seems a bit Low Level, though. An Advanced Concealment Technique would have been best.’ Shire shook his head slightly. He knew he was being greedy; a Basic Magical Beast couldn’t possibly possess an overly powerful Ability. Just obtaining its Ability at all was already a great outcome.

"Your Magic just now was impressive." He walked over to Pazani’s side while adjusting his Hand Crossbow.

The other man was looking at a Pocket Watch and simultaneously recording something on a piece of animal hide.

"That kind of Magic... do you know any others?" Shire holstered the Hand Crossbow at his lower back, then frowned as he watched the other man’s actions. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, it’s nothing. Just recording the time. This counts as a break, so I have to deduct this time from my work hours." Pazani kept his head down, scribbling on the hide. "How long are we resting?"

"Uh," Shire was taken aback for a moment. "We have to wait for Oreco and the others to finish processing the chameleon’s corpse."

"Oh, okay. I understand." Pazani nodded immediately, then muttered, "Tentatively setting the time for half an hour. I’ll need to add the time back by evening."

Shire’s mouth twitched. "You’re pretty serious about this."

"Of course," the Naga Prince nodded. He then held out his hand, and two streams of pale yellow, frothy liquid flew out from a pack beside him. "Light Beer, want some?"

"Yeah," Shire didn’t refuse this time. He was about to take out his waterskin, but Pazani shook his head. "You won’t need that."

A ball of Light Beer simply hovered in front of Shire without falling. Shire looked at the ball of liquid, thought for a moment, then leaned in and took a big gulp.

"Not bad. This is the beer Little John brought back."