Chapter 228 – Bear-san Fights the Cockatrice, Part 2
As I was making sure Mumuroot-san had escaped, I didn’t take my eyes off of the Cockatrice for one second. As it watched me, purple breath leaked out of its beak and it growled loudly.
Judging from the previous fight, I could tell that a Cockatrice’s wings were a formidable form of both attack and defense.
I threw a short glance at the red and black feathers stuck into the ground all around me. A small Bear Fireball could only singe its wings. Since the feathers could be used as projectile attacks, it made my opponent quite tough? If I wanted to take it down, I would have to use a larger Bear Fireball.
Still, what would happen to the Cockatrice’s body if I did? If it had any useful materials, I wanted to procure them. Normally in games, even if you burned or cut up the enemy, they would drop undamaged items and materials, but things were different in reality.
With Swaying Bear behind me, I stood directly in front of the Cockatrice as it angrily released purple breath from its beak.
The large Cockatrice then cried out and flapped its wings, shooting red and black feathers everywhere.
The amount, size, and power of these Cockatrice’s feathers were on a completely different level from the first one, so I created an Earth Bear Golem to act as my shield. The feathers pierced into the Bear Golem, but it stood its ground. Even though I wasn’t sure if the feathers had poison on them, they meant nothing to the Bear Golem.
I then sent the Bear Golem to rush at the Cockatrice. The Cockatrice hurled more feathers to stop it, but the golem did not even flinch from the attacks.
Still, just as the Bear Golem was about to body slam the Cockatrice, the monster took to the sky.
I quickly followed up by sending a Wind Cutter at it, but the Cockatrice easily dodged it while also returning the attack with another volley of feathers, forcing me to jump backwards.
Ugh, this was so annoying. Should I maybe try to take this one down with a Bear Kick as well? The fight would be a lot easier if the Bear Outfit had some type of flying skill. Hmm, did flying magic even exist in this world? I hadn’t really looked into it, but so far, I hadn’t heard of it. Still, a flying bear sounded way too surreal. The Bear Outfit already stood out too much as it was, but to fly in the skies while wearing it… just the thought of it frightened me. If I could somehow learn it, I would have to be very careful about flying in front of other people.
I stopped my wild delusions and focused on the flying Cockatrice, only to notice the wounded Cockatrice on the ground was breathing out purple breath.
It could still move even after losing a wing?
The purple mist slowly began to accumulate around the grounded Cockatrice.
It was that poison nonsense again.
For a split second, the thought of the Bear Outfit blocking poisonous gas crossed my mind, but it would be simply too dangerous to test that out right now. Still, if the grounded Cockatrice kept letting out more poison, it would most likely spread and cause damage to the surrounding area.
While making sure to keep an eye on the Cockatrice in the sky, I decided to first take care of the grounded one.
Immediately, I used a large amount of magic power to create a powerful tornado, which started to collect the poison in the area. Once the poison was all gathered up, I sent the tornado into the sky to disperse it.
I also tried my luck by directing the tornado towards Cockatrice in the sky, but it simply flew a bit higher to avoid it.
Returning my focus to the grounded Cockatrice, I first confirmed that all the poison was really gone, before creating a Bear Flame larger than even my Bears. The flame quickly reformed into the shape of a bright red Bear, ready to charge ahead at my command. Thanks to my Bear Suit, I could only imagine how much heat it emitted.
Not wasting any time, I let the flaming Bear loose and watched it pounce onto the grounded Cockatrice. The Cockatrice let out a pained cry and attempted to somehow get away, but the flaming Bear had already completely engulfed it. The creature only managed to spread out its wing one last time before collapsing to the ground.
After I dispelled the flaming Bear, only a scorched body remained.
Hmm, seeing how badly the Cockatrice was burnt, if I didn’t have my Bear Outfit on, I would have likely been steamed alive. It would be too dangerous if I were to use the flaming Bear with people around. If I made even a slight mistake, they could end up being burned alive.
Now, only the Cockatrice in the sky remained. No more would appear, right? When we had grounded the first one, a second one appeared so it was possible, especially with the saying ‘the third time’s the charm’.
I immediately used my detection magic to check. Huh? Rather than another Cockatrice, several wolves were heading our way. Sanya-san’s group was supposed to handle them, so either her group missed them or the wolves came from somewhere else. Regardless, it would be a pain if they showed up during my battle with the Cockatrice.
「Swaying Bear, once the wolves reach us, take care of them, okay?」
I decided to let Swaying Bear handle the wolves and returned my focus to the Cockatrice in the sky, starting to formulate a plan to bring it down to the ground.
While I could try using wind magic again, it could simply negate it with its own attack or dodge it. In that case, could I maybe really try jumping into the sky and using a Bear Kick again? Still, that might have only been possible thanks to Mumuroot-san distracting it. With the Cockatrice completely focused on me, the move most likely wouldn’t work.
Also, engaging a battle in the air would leave me at a big disadvantage. Even with me being on the ground, the Cockatrice could freely shoot feathers at me or send strong wind magic at my way. I had to spend a lot of energy simply defending.
The worst part of it all, was the fact that I had to keep looking upward at it. I had been looking up so much by now that my neck was starting to hurt. Hmm, maybe the true enemy wasn’t the Cockatrice but rather my neck? I should try bringing out some new magic and end this quickly.
Making my decision, I sent a wide gust of wind at the Cockatrice, making its stance waver to an extent that it was unable to return the attack. Using the opening, I summoned lightning into my hand.
Some time after the Iron Golem subjugation, I had spent some time thinking of a way to make the electricity successfully leave my hand. Only after many trials and error, I had accomplished it.
Imagining a Bear, the electricity changed into a sparkling, golden Bear. This way, I could throw it and it wouldn’t disperse.
Still, simply throwing it at the Cockatrice in the sky and hoping it would hit was no more than wishful thinking; I had to launch it at a much faster speed.
Gathering magical power in my other hand, a small whirlwind began to swirl around in it. I then put the two hands together and sent the electric bear spinning inside the whirlwind. Using my right hand, I aimed at the Cockatrice in the sky and sent my spell flying.
The electric Bear rocketed into the sky at a high velocity, heading straight for the Cockatrice. Since there was a chance that the Cockatrice would dodge even such a quick attack, I created more electric Bears and rapidly fired them at it.
The Cockatrice flapped its wings as strong as it could, attempting to change the trajectory of the electric Bears, but it was all for nothing, as the spinning Bears pierced through the windwall
the Cockatrice had created and hit its wings.
Oh, I actually managed to hit it. Was the attack stronger than I thought it to be? During the test runs, I had indeed noticed that the electric attacks seemed to get stronger when spun inside a high-speed whirlwind, but the damage caused surprised even me. The electric Bears completely pierced through the Cockatrice’s wings, leaving behing gaping holes. With the last impact, its wings were practically in tatters, and the Cockatrice plummeted to the ground.
I was sure that all the electricity would have left the Cockatrice paralyzed, but when it hit the ground, all the electricity got grounded as well. I didn’t know if the Cockatrice was completely free of the paralysis effect, but it wasted no time in standing up, spread its tattered wings, and squawked threateningly at me.
Yet, it left me unamused. In this state, it obviously wouldn’t be able to fly anymore, making this fight much easier.
The Cockatrice glared at me while letting purple breath continuously spill from its beak. It was surprising to see it still so lively after taking such a barrage of attacks. It would make more sense for it to drop dead immediately. Anyway, with those wings, the feather and wing attacks were now impossible. I kind of felt bad for it, but I decided to finish it off quickly, since its poison was still dangerous.
I dashed up into point-blank range and shot another electric Bear at its body, using my whirlwind technique, of course.
The Electric Bear Whirlwind cleanly pierced through, causing the Cockatrice to drop to the ground, motionless.
Finally…
The fight left me more tired that I had thought it would. In fact, it had tired me out mentally. Not to mention my aching neck. I moved my neck around for a bit to try and loosen it a little, but it didn’t help at all. Would I only feel better after if I slept in the White Bear Suit?
Anyway, since I managed to defeat both Cockatrices, this area should be safe now. I called for Swaying Bear to return.
Not a single wolf had bothered me, so I assumed Swaying Bear must have defeated them while I was focused on the second Cockatrice.
I then used detection magic to get a read on my surrounding and noticed that Swaying Bear was with Sanya-san and a couple of elves.
Author’s Note:
With there being no dialogue in this chapter, I again realize just how bad I am at writing description-only paragraphs. W
Also, just to make it clear, a Flaming Bear Whirlwind is possible as well.
When I recalled about the Flaming Bear that appeared in volume 2’s illustrations, spinning as it shoots at the enemy, it seemed like a rather cool idea. w