Brock struggled to grab the blade at his neck, the sharp edge slicing through his fireproof gauntlets and cutting into his fingers.
At that moment, more gnome gargoyles swarmed him.
Another gargoyle clung to Brock's leg, its scimitar slicing directly toward his groin.
"You shameless bastards!" Brock cursed.
These gnome gargoyles were small, capable of concealing their presence, and targeted the most vicious spots.
Though their individual strength was weak, their numbers made them a threat even to powerful warriors if they were caught off guard.
Moreover, being made of stone, they were incredibly heavy.
Clinging to Brock's body, their weight bore down on him, severely restricting his movements.
Even with the physical boost provided by the wood armor monster, he couldn't withstand the mounting pressure of the gnome gargoyles piling onto him.
Seeing the fireproof suit at his crotch about to be sliced open, Brock stopped holding back.
He unleashed his magic.
"First-rank magic—Flame Art!"
Another basic fire-attribute spell!
An orange-red magic circle expanded beneath Brock's feet, and searing flames erupted upward!
The wave of fire instantly blasted away the other gnome gargoyles that were about to pounce.
The two gargoyles clinging to Brock were instantly engulfed by the flames. They let out shrill cries as they were burned to death, falling to the ground.
However, the radius of the Flame Art also included Brock himself.
But with the heavy fireproof suit and the wood armor monster protecting him, and the fire resistance granted by the Forbidden Fire Blessing, he managed to endure the searing heat of the spell.
As soon as the gnome gargoyles fell, he quickly deactivated the fire magic, stepped back, and activated the Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment once more.
This time, it was a full-power burst!
On the ivory-white snake bone, lightning flowed like thick molten pulp, spreading across the ground and swallowing the gnome gargoyles that were still trying to close in.
The swarm of gnome gargoyles was instantly paralyzed by the electricity, their bodies twitching uncontrollably as they were frozen in place.
Brock seized the opportunity and waved his staff.
"First-rank magic—Acid Volley!"
A blue water magic circle expanded, and bolts of acid shot out one after another, accurately striking the paralyzed gnome gargoyles.
The strong acid rapidly corroded their stone bodies.
It worked!
Brock felt a surge of joy, but suddenly, he saw a sharp phantom flash past.
Then, a sharp pain bloomed in his chest, and he was sent flying backward, slamming into the wall!
The lightning chains had trapped the gnome gargoyles, but under the cover of the electric glare and the massive snake bone, Brock hadn't seen the movement of the other heroic gargoyle.
The halberd gargoyle was still in a throwing posture.
Brock looked down and saw a halberd pierced through his shoulder, pinning him to the rock wall.
The point of impact was exactly where the previous halberd strike had opened a wound!
Brock finally understood.
The reason this gargoyle was using a halberd it wasn't proficient with was for this very purpose!
The halberd gargoyle charged again, pulling the greatsword from the other fallen heroic gargoyle and lunging forward with massive strides.
Sweat beaded on Brock's forehead as he struggled to break free.
However, the halberd was like a nail, pinning him firmly to the rock wall; he couldn't budge at all.
Furthermore, the halberd was heavier than he had anticipated, and it seemed to have an effect that sluggishly weighed down his body.
"Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment!"
Brock summoned the snake bone again!
Once summoned, the Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment could be instantly called to his side even if it was already on the field.
However, each re-summoning required a massive amount of mana.
An ordinary mage wouldn't be able to sustain such a cost.
But Brock possessed several times the mana of a mage of the same rank; being a summoner was truly his natural calling!
The thick snake bone pierced through the ground at an angle, like a rock spear erupting from the earth, and lunged at the heroic gargoyle!
The heroic gargoyle gripped the greatsword with both hands and sidestepped, using the thick blade to deflect the lunging snake bone.
Brock waved his staff, and lightning erupted from the snake bone again, engulfing the heroic gargoyle and paralyzing it in place.
Yet, Brock was still pinned and unable to counterattack effectively.
As an elite monster, the heroic gargoyle had extremely high resistances; he couldn't kill it from this distance.
Unless he could land another Explosion at point-blank range.
But he was currently nailed to the wall and couldn't move.
"First-rank magic—Acid Volley!"
The blue magic circle expanded, and acid bolts hammered into the heroic gargoyle!
The paralyzed heroic gargoyle couldn't move, and as the acid bolts exploded upon impact, they rapidly corroded its thick stone armor.
However, as Brock expected, the heroic gargoyle endured the acid corrosion and began to charge again.
Brock took a deep breath, as if making a final resolution.
He dropped his staff from his hanging right arm, and the wood armor monster rapidly grew over his hand, transforming into a sharp wood saw.
He looked at his pinned left shoulder, gritted his teeth, and swung his right arm.
Then, he began to saw through his own shoulder.
A mage lacked the physical strength to hack through flesh and bone directly.
So, he would saw through it!
As the flesh was sawn open, the agony nearly drove Brock insane.
With the heroic gargoyle still closing in, Brock triggered the lightning from the Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment once more!
This time, as if anticipating the move, the heroic gargoyle held its greatsword horizontally to block the lightning, which only resulted in a brief moment of paralysis and sluggishness.
Facing a life-or-death crisis, Brock's eyes turned bloodshot as he accelerated his movements.
Now, only the collarbone was still caught by the halberd.
In his frenzy, he had already reached the bone and was sawing desperately.
The pain was drowned out by his madness until a sharp crack echoed—the collarbone had been sawn through.
His body fell from the wall to the ground, the halberd sliding through the sawn wound.
Half of his body felt numb, and blood poured from the wound.
Brock collapsed on the ground, desperately funneling mana into the wood armor monster on his body.
The wood armor monster grew rapidly over the wound, pressing the flesh back together and using vines to plug the breach.
Boom!
The heroic gargoyle swung the greatsword down.
Brock used his blood-stained hand to snatch his staff from the ground.
"Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment!"
The snake bone was summoned once more, blocking the descending greatsword at the very last second.
Brock pressed his staff directly against the gargoyle's chest.
With lightning magic, the gargoyle was paralyzed again!
"First-rank magic—Explosion!"
Boom!
Amidst the roaring explosion, the heroic gargoyle collapsed. Brock, having exhausted his strength, fell back as well.
He had depleted the majority of his vast mana reserves.
A few basic spells didn't cost much, but the Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment and the wood armor monster were massive mana sinks.
Every re-summoning of the Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment consumed a huge chunk of mana.
As for the wood armor monster, it drained mana continuously, and every time it took damage, repairing and regrowing it cost even more.
Lying on the ground, Brock maintained the snake bone and the wood armor monster.
The wood armor monster worked diligently to heal the wound on his shoulder.
He turned his head to look at the heroic gargoyle, carefully checking if the terrifying monster was truly dead.
He saw a green light rising from the heroic gargoyle's corpse.
A metallic, green-glowing card slowly floated up from the remains.
That was...
The card of the elite monster heroic gargoyle: [Heroic Gargoyle Lv. 1]!
Rate on N.U.
