Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 295 - Tamer’s Battle Week - 31

”I hope she eliminates another one of Kleinʼs followers,” commented Min, following Larissa with his gaze as she entered the arena. ”Do you think it will be similar to the previous match?”

Ren studied Astor, who was advancing from the opposite side. The boy was considerably larger than Feng. His blue rhinoceros, also at Bronze 1 rank, was known for its extraordinary defense and had obtained its new devastating spinning horn attack.

”It will be different,” Ren responded after a moment. ”Astor is much more resistant than Feng and doesnʼt have an elemental or natural disadvantage. His defense could prove problematic for Larissaʼs relatively low attack compared to Lioraʼs.”

The combat began with the same instruction as always, but the development was notably different, as Ren predicted.

Astor, instead of waiting, attacked immediately by invoking his rhinoceros completely, the creature manifested with a roar that reverberated throughout the stadium. It was an imposing beast, almost as large as Taroʼs Living Tunnel, with skin that seemed made of hardened sapphire plates.

Larissa, studying her opponent, kept her mineral fairy partially fused. Small golden crystals adorned her skin, shining with inner light each time she moved.

The first move was Astorʼs. He sent his rhinoceros in a direct charge, the beast lowering its enormous head to aim its horn at Larissa. As it advanced, the horn began to spin, becoming a living drill.

To no oneʼs surprise, Larissa executed a spatial jump, disappearing just before impact. What did surprise many was how close she allowed the rhinoceros to get before jumping. So close that some swore they saw the horn graze her.

Larissa appeared in front of Astor, but the boy had already anticipated the situation, so he had returned his beast to his body to use its armor. Larissaʼs attack barely left a scratch.

Larissa retreated with another jump, and Astor launched his rhino to attack again.

But each time, Larissa waited until the last moment to jump.

”Sheʼs playing with him,” observed Min, narrowing his eyes.

”It seems like a psychological strategy,” deduced Ren. ”Each time she dodges by such a narrow margin, she makes him pay attention to timing and increases Astorʼs frustration.”

Indeed, after several failed charges by increasingly reduced margins, Astorʼs expression began to tense. His orders to the rhinoceros became more abrupt, his calculations less precise.

”You almost caught me that time,” commented Larissa after a particularly tight jump. ”One more centimeter to the right and it would have been my end.”

It was a deliberate provocation, and it worked exactly as expected. Astor, irritated by what he perceived as condescension, ordered his rhinoceros to execute a series of faster charges with its new activated abilities, each from a different angle.

”A mistake,” murmured Ren, watching how the strategy developed. ”Heʼs exhausting his beast unnecessarily. Thatʼs why Larissa isnʼt attacking him with long jumps anymore and only throws small stones at him... Sheʼs saving mana.”

Larissa continued her game of dodging by impossibly narrow margins with short jumps followed by attacks directed at Astor to force him to return the rhino to the starting point, occasionally adding comments that only served to increase Astorʼs frustration.

It wasnʼt cruelty; it was pure tactics, designed to make her opponent spend mana.

Finally, after almost ten minutes of this exchange with no apparent results, Larissa changed her approach.

”Itʼs been fun,” she declared, reappearing after her last jump in an offensive position, ”but itʼs time to see if that defense is as good as you think.”

With a fluid movement, she materialized her mineral spear. The weapon shone with golden light, a glow that seemed to use Larissaʼs light element in a way similar to Renʼs style.

Astor, recognizing the threat, absorbed his rhinoceros to adopt a purely defensive posture. The plates on his skin grew, acquiring a deeper blue tone.

Larissa attacked with elegant precision, her spear seeking the points where the plates joined or had just finished expanding in the small openings of the formidable defense.

To the surprise of many, possibly including Larissa herself, the rhinocerosʼs defense proved even more formidable than it appeared. Even the adjacent skin was quite hard thanks to the enormous increase in defense, and the spear barely managed to leave marks and superficial cuts.

”Impressive,” acknowledged Larissa after several attempts. ”Your defense is truly exceptional.”

Astor smiled for the first time since the combat began. ”The Blue Rhinoceros has the best natural defense of almost all beasts at its level,” he declared with pride. ”Not even a tier 3 beast can damage it easily.”

”True,” nodded Larissa. ”I guess Iʼll have to try something different.”

With these words, she changed her strategy. Instead of attacking the body, she began attacking the face and less defended parts, executing a series of quick spatial jumps so Astor couldnʼt catch her after each blow.

With each appearance, her spear connected with some soft point on the face, the side of the rhinoceros plates, just below its left shoulder, or even in the groin area, to the terror of male spectators.

Despite everything, the damage was limited.

Each impact was individually insignificant, but they were accumulating damage little by little.

”Sheʼs torturing him,” explained Ren to his friends. ”For some reason I feel that this is a ʼvery Larissa likeʼ style... but I think now sheʼs the one running out of mana.”

The strategy required patience and an extraordinary energy economy. Each spatial jump consumed mana, and Larissa was executing dozens of them to stay away from Astorʼs counterattacks.

”She canʼt maintain this pace indefinitely,” observed Taro. ”Youʼre right... She must be near her limit.”

Indeed, although Larissa maintained her serene expression, subtle signs of fatigue began to manifest. Her breathing became slightly more labored, the glow of the crystals on her skin occasionally fluctuated.

Astor, noticing these changes, smiled with renewed confidence. ”Now youʼre the one running out of energy,” he declared. ”Soon you wonʼt even be able to jump.”

Larissa didnʼt respond verbally.

Instead, she intensified her attacks.

Her jumps, though less frequent now, were more precise and followed by 2 or 3 attacks instead of 1. Each appearance resulted in blows that penetrated a bit deeper than the previous ones.

The mineral fairy fused with her began to manifest its power more visibly, sending discharges of earth and light energy through the spear with each impact. The crystals on her skin shone with new intensity, channeling all her remaining energy toward the tip.

But Astor saw his opportunity in the increasingly easier-to-follow jumps of the princess, who had lost color in her face from fatigue.

However, Astor wasnʼt in better condition forcing his resistance. It was now or never...

Right after a triple combo that sent waves of pain through his left side, he launched a kick to force her to jump and lunged forward to the new place where Larissa appeared. She couldnʼt jump consecutively anymore; he was sure he could catch her now.

Indeed, Larissa couldnʼt jump anymore...

But jumping wasnʼt the girlʼs only quality. It was time for those Lynx reflexes Ren had gifted her to shine.

She planted the back of her spear in the ground, propelled herself upward, leaving the tip directed at Astor, who drove his shoulder into it during the charge, finally breaking his plate. Larissa invoked another spear with the last vestiges of her mana.

The spear stuck in the ground broke along with the plate on Astorʼs shoulder, and in his concern about missing the attack and having the princess on top of him, the boy forced his mana to grow another but failed as he didnʼt have enough.

Larissa put all her weight on the new spear as she started to fall and aimed it at the top of the now exposed shoulder.

Finally, the rhinocerosʼs defense gave way. The spearʼs tip penetrated completely, reaching the vulnerable flesh beneath the hard skin.

It wasnʼt a mortal blow of course, as it was near the deltoid connection, but it was enough for the rhinoceros boy to roar in pain, momentarily unbalanced.

Taking advantage of this single opportunity, Larissa executed a double kick to the back of Astorʼs neck, knocking him down with her weight to end up barely standing on his back. Her spear, now glowing with the last drop of energy she had left, stopped inches from his neck.

”Itʼs over,” she declared simply, her voice slightly trembling from the effort.

Astor assessed his situation, barely enduring the pain in his shoulder and the various cuts on his body. The spear at his throat made it clear that he had lost, but the noble girl had given him the option to declare his defeat honorably.

”I surrender,” he finally declared, both frustration and genuine respect in his voice.

Lin advanced to the center. ”Victory for Larissa Dravenholm!”