Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 278

Luna, Mayo, and Matilda advanced with firm steps toward the center of the arena. Unlike Klein's ostentation or the princesses' elegance, Luna's team displayed a sobriety that bordered on severity, almost military in their march.

"If they managed to surpass the princesses, I doubt the tragic noble's kid can beat Klein," murmured a student near Ren. "That Phantom Claw..."

"Don't underestimate Luna," Ren replied, interrupting the analysis. "Her team has the best coordination of all that have gone before."

Taro nodded, remembering the demonstrations of power they had witnessed from the Starweaver heiress. "If there's anyone who can beat that time, it's her."

Luna invoked her shadow wolf. Mayo brought forth her cloud bird, a creature with blue-grayish plumage that immediately began generating a faint mist around it. Matilda completed the trio with her tree turtle, a slow but resilient being whose shell carried a small dwarf tree.

The three rejected the standard arsenal; Larissa had provided them with three spears.

Ren noticed the different quality of their tips.

"Elephant Bull horn," he identified. "Not as powerful as Qilin ones, but sufficient to damage the Big Stone Lurker."

When Larissa had offered them, Luna had slightly frowned, an indication that she probably would have preferred the academy's conventional weapons instead of her cousin's help.

But Larissa knew perfectly well the Starweavers' economic situation and the reason for it, so she had "kindly" insisted until Luna accepted.

Matilda and Mayo had taken the other two, showing no reservations.

"Beginning in three, two, one..." Yang counted.

The auxiliaries' containment retracted, releasing the Big Stone Lurker.

The team's signature strategy deployed quickly as in previous combats. Mayo directed her cloud bird upward, generating a denser curtain of mist that began to gradually descend over the battlefield. Matilda, meanwhile, made her tree turtle use a defensive formation, creating a barrier between the monster and the three students.

Luna didn't wait. She ordered her wolf to attack quickly; it instantly disappeared into her shadow as if it had never existed.

"Where is it?" asked a confused student.

"Everywhere," replied Ren, pointing to the Big Stone Lurker.

As if responding to his words, a black flash emerged from one of the cracks in the monster's carapace. The shadow wolf partially emerged, only the tip of its maw materializing outside the darkness, biting ferociously before disappearing again.

The Stone Lurker roared, a sound like grinding rocks. Another black flash, another precise bite, this time in a different crack. And then another. And another.

"It's jumping between the shadows of the cracks," Ren explained to companions from other grades and halls, genuinely impressed at never having seen such a beast in combat. "It can only bring part of its maw out of the shadows because the spaces are too narrow, but it's attacking the internal tissues directly."

Min let out a whistle of nostalgic admiration. "That's... terrifying as always. Imagine facing something that can bite you from inside your clothes or armor. I wonder what one could do in such a case...?"

As if answering the question, the Big Stone Lurker began to shake violently, trying to dislodge the intruder inside it. The plates of its carapace rumbled against each other as they tried to crush anything trapped between them.

Luna briefly reappeared, emerging from the mist next to Mayo. "Now," she ordered simply.

Matilda commanded her tree turtle to advance.