"He's not going to move again," Apollo muttered, noticing that the Great Serpent was only watching him, its tail swaying despite clearly being at a disadvantage.
Is this his way of looking down on me? Apollo thought, shaking his head. He had to defeat the serpent; he realized there was no leaving this place otherwise.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, he activated his True Hardening Technique, one of the abilities he'd learned during the second round of the previous Advancement Examination.
At the same time, he focused intently on every detail of his opponent.
"I just have to react in time," Apollo thought. He had seen it—he could injure the Great Serpent with his Simple Wind Sword Technique. Although he hadn't managed to cut through the fist entirely, it was a good sign. He had something that could threaten the creature, but he had to worry about the serpent's swift, almost unavoidable attacks. Fortunately, the attacks weren't fatal in one blow.
With determination, he raised his hand, and fire gathered in front of him, raising the temperature around him and illuminating the space. He didn't call for the Wind Blast yet—he had other plans for it.
"Take this!" Apollo shouted, firing the Fire Blast toward the serpent! But as expected, the Great Serpent blurred, instantly appearing in front of the beggar. "Not this time!"
But instead of coming from in front of Apollo, it descended from above!
Apollo smiled as the Wind Blast struck the serpent directly! But he wasn't done yet. Using his hand like a sword, he slashed horizontally at the creature!
Blue blood spurted as his fingers sliced through the scales as if they were nothing!
"You're nothing after a—" Apollo couldn't finish his words as the serpent's tail whipped toward his chest. "Damn!"
The tail moved so fast that Apollo barely managed to react by crossing his arms in front of him. With a loud bang, his body skidded across the water-covered floor.
His hands were trembling, a testament to the serpent's power.
Glancing at the Great Serpent, he saw its chest still spurting blood. A smile crept onto his lips but quickly vanished as pain shot through his chest.
Looking down, he saw a long wound, shaped like the Great Serpent's tail.
"Ugh, that's gross," Apollo muttered through gritted teeth. He stopped the bleeding using the surrounding Qi, letting out a sigh of relief. But when he looked back at his opponent, he was shocked. "This is cheating!"
The serpent's chest had already healed, new scales forming rapidly.
Regeneration, faster, and stronger than me. This is tough! Apollo thought with a frown. He didn't have the Headmaster to rely on this time, unlike his previous boss fight with Alphadusk. Now, he had to figure this out on his own.
"But distractions work," Apollo muttered. Fortunately, the Great Serpent was only standing still. Revising his Wind Blast technique to summon it from any direction instead of just in front of his hands had allowed him to land a hit. With this discovery, the beggar had found one of the serpent's weaknesses.
Apollo squinted at his opponent, scanning it from head to tail before his gaze settled on the Great Serpent's neck.
Severing the head could kill almost any creature. With his Simple Wind Sword Technique, Apollo bent his knees and sprinted toward his opponent!
"Where is he?" Headmaster Axton asked as he arrived on the fourth floor of the school's library.
"He's still inside, Headmaster," one of the guards tasked with protecting the fourth floor bowed his head and replied.
"How long has he been in there?" Axton stared at the closed doors with a frown on his face.
"A few hours," the guard answered.
"A few hours?" Axton repeated, surprised. He hadn't expected his Personal Disciple to enter this floor so soon, even though Yoma already possessed techniques that could defeat the other Seniors. Did he enter out of curiosity, or was he determined to learn more techniques?
Nevertheless, those who attempted to learn the techniques here typically had to stay inside for weeks or even months just to memorize and master their chosen technique.
But the beggar had only been inside for a few hours, and something had already happened.
"Is there anyone else inside besides the Personal Disciple?" Axton asked, his eyes locking on the guard.
They didn't dare meet his gaze, so they lowered their heads. One of them responded, "Personal Disciple Yoma is the only one inside, Headmaster."
"Is that so..." Axton nodded, his expression serious. There was only one explanation for what was happening. His Personal Disciple Yoma had likely managed to enter the fifth floor!
If that was the case… Axton's eyes burned with anticipation and excitement. "You can do it," he whispered, cheering inwardly for his disciple.
Twenty minutes later.
Mist rose into the air before being scattered by a strong wind.
"Ah! Take this, you piece of snake!" Apollo's small voice reverberated inside the chamber as five or six wind blasts surrounded the Great Serpent!
The moment the blasts landed and enveloped the serpent, Apollo dashed toward his opponent, his hands covered with the Simple Wind Sword Technique. Even from a distance, he was already slicing through the air, wind slashes materializing and bombarding the Great Serpent.
"Die!" Apollo shouted, his hands turning into a blur as he continued to slash at the creature. His body was covered in his own blood as the Great Serpent repeatedly landed attacks on him. Though he could injure the snake, he remained at a disadvantage.
This forced him to exploit the Great Serpent's one weakness: its tendency to get distracted. Apollo had also revised the Wind Blast Technique and the Fire Blast Technique on the spot, enabling him to use them from any position with five to six blasts at once. Although the combined attack power was lower than before, it was still enough to catch the serpent off guard!
Blue blood sprayed across the beggar's body, but he didn't stop. On the contrary, his hands moved even faster!
"Ah!" Apollo shouted, but before he realized it, the Simple Wind Sword Technique vanished from his hands. At the same time, exhaustion overtook him as his energy to control both Unrefined and Refined Qi ran out.
He jumped back and stared at the fire- and wind-covered spot where his opponent had been.
"Hehe, I won," the beggar muttered, panting. "No way that snake could have survived that, right?"