Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 266

The battle stretched on longer than expected.

Ron continued launching fire, but the flames, which initially appeared impressive, were now visibly smaller. His salamander's iron rank wasn't sufficient to maintain that level of attack for so long.

What had begun as a confident display of power now revealed its limitations with each passing minute.

Nia also showed signs of fatigue. Her wind control, crucial for enhancing Ron's fire, became erratic. Her previously precise gestures grew sloppy. Sweat streaked her face, plastering strands of her reddish hair to her forehead.

Gulhan's mole, perhaps the most affected, emerged with decreasing frequency. His attacks from the tunnels, initially precise, now seemed disorganized.

To gain more time and recover, instead of frontal attacks, they began moving in a circular pattern, constantly surrounding the platform and attacking the beast in small bursts.

Gulhan no longer attempted direct attacks from below. Instead, he created strategic tunnels around the monster, weakening the ground beneath its feet and only attacking when the Big Lurker stepped on one of them.

It was a strategy that the auxiliaries controlling the roots to avoid hindering the mole found annoying.

Nia concentrated her wind gusts only at the moment of impact, timing them with Ron's attacks to maximize their effect while conserving energy.

Ron, abandoning the constant fireballs, now generated more concentrated and sporadic flames. Each blast was carefully timed, aimed at areas already weakened by previous attacks.

"Better," Ren nodded, his mushrooms pulsing as approval. "Though I'm not sure if their stamina will be enough in the end..."

The new strategy began showing results. The Stone Lurker, though still formidable, could no longer advance with the same speed. One of its front legs moved with difficulty, affected by the concentrated heat on that side.

But time worked against them. After almost twenty minutes of combat, exhaustion was evident in all three students. Gulhan could barely keep his beast manifested. Nia breathed with difficulty, her wind gusts increasingly weak.

Even Ron, whose initial confidence had seemed unshakable, showed signs of extreme fatigue. His salamander scales, partially deactivated, barely maintained a faint glow on his arms.

"They won't make it," Taro murmured, leaning forward with tension, his hands gripping his knees tightly.

The Big Stone Lurker, sensing its opponents' weakness, began moving with renewed aggression. Twice it nearly caught Nia and Ron, saved at the last instant by their teammates' intervention.

"One last charge!" Ron shouted, his voice hoarse from effort and heat. "Everything you've got!"

It was a desperate move, but they had no alternative. Their endurance was depleting faster than the monster's defenses.

The team lured the beast toward a large trap that Gulhan had gradually created. The ground was honeycombed with tunnels, a fragile lattice designed to collapse under the creature's weight. They moved with surprising synchronization despite their exhaustion, herding the monster toward the center of the weakened zone.

When they finally managed to make the Big Stone Lurker fall into it and teeter on the verge of toppling over...

Gulhan's mole emerged directly beneath the Stone Lurker, not to attack, but to create a fulcrum. Using his last reserves of strength, he pushed upward, partially lifting the beast and exposing its belly.

Nia, drawing on reserves she didn't know she possessed, generated the largest air current of the combat, directing it like a cyclone toward the exposed point.

Ron, his salamander glowing one last time with intensity, channeled all his remaining fire toward the same target.

The combined impact resonated throughout the arena. An explosion of fire, wind, and rock fragments temporarily blinded the spectators.