Psychic Parasite

Chapter 215: Tactics
It was a sound plan. As the Life Leech swallowed the piece of meat, its body portion attached to the mouth bulged. Also, due to the bone lodged within the meat, it wasn’t something that could be compressed anytime soon, thanks to it originating from a Tier 1 One-horned Rhino, a Frenzy Beast focused on strength and defence.

The boy grabbed onto the bulged portion, his hold anchored using the rigidity of the bone in the swallowed meat, allowing him to hold the Life Leech in place. He placed a hand below it, preventing the Life Leech from swallowing it further in.

A psychic arm entered the open mouth of the Life Leech, seeping into the piece of meat, and preventing it from being pushed out. Immediately, a couple more psychic arms followed suit, reinforcing the pressure exerted upon it.

The girl retracted her leg, using the chance to deliver another kick from the top, slamming the Life Leech down. The tail end of the Life Leech aimed at her leg upon contact, the mouth biting her.

The body of a Life Leech was cylindrical, with elongated ends, thin and smooth. Both ends looked almost the same, barring the minute differences in circumference. The bigger end was the head while the smaller end was the tail.

Functionality wise, there wasn’t much difference. Both the ends had a mouth to suck the blood of its prey. Only the efficiency of blood suction varied, with the one at the head being superior to its tail counterpart.

”Ugh,” The girl winced in pain; her heart thumped in fluster, her hands shivered, and her face was pale. Resisting all negative emotions, the girl pressed through sheer adrenaline, crouching forth in flow, using her hands to grab the portion of the Life Leech below the mouth.

Her teammates arrived at her help, with each of them slamming their foot on the Life Leech’s body, pinning it to the ground. They cautiously dragged the body of the Life Leech away from the One-horned Rhino’s corpse.

Thanks to the number of people involved, and the careful approach they executed, the Life Leech was wholly suppressed. In the meantime, five people surrounded the One-horned Rhino’s corpse, alert, but acting like they weren’t on guard.

They carelessly approached the corpse, occasionally even touching it, resisting their aversion to the gore splattered before them. But, irrespective of what they did, the other Life Leech never came out. It seemed to have sensed something, coiling within the carcass, unwilling to even budge an inch.

The surrounding students discussed with each other, having long since determined the location the Life Leech had hidden within. But, due to the unavailability of weapons, they couldn’t damage the carcass and force the Life Leech out. The body of the One-horned Rhino was tough to the extent resistant against attacks of their level.

”I’ll be taking this,” Dalna Doppler arrived beside them, placing her hand on the horn of the One-horned Rhino.

”Wait…” A student was about to stop her but was blocked by his friend with a shake of his head. Dalna Doppler scoffed once, firming her hold over the horn.

”You apply pressure on the root part and try to weaken it. It would be a loss if it breaks in the middle,” Dalna Doppler said to George, upon his arrival. George nodded and held the bottom-most part of the horn. Ashten and Esina too arrived at the scene, standing beside the two, guarding against the other Life Leech’s possible sneak attack.

Using their strength and their control, they managed to break the horn from the one-horned Rhino’s skull, albeit with a lot of effort. The portion they broke off was around 48 centimetres long, in contrast to its 60-centimetre size when attached to the One-horned Rhino.

Even though they had been a lot careful, the sturdiness of the horn had baffled them, forcing them to make use of their full strength, eventually causing a drop in their precision. Hence, the horn broke off at a spot way above their intended location.

Moreover, it wasn’t a perfect cut. It looked similar to how a stick would look like if it was broken in the middle, rough, with a lot of splinters. Dalna Doppler inspected it up close, noticing a thin crack in the broken spot that trailed to half the length of the horn. It wasn’t apparent past that.

”It might break any moment when in use, so we have to consider that into our plans.” Dalna Doppler commented.

”Well, it is better than nothing,” Jyorta replied from behind, separated by a distance of two metres from her. It was a spot beyond the reach of the Life Leech, with the other one having been dragged a good distance away. Also, even if the Life Leech were to come out, Dalna Doppler would be able to easily intercept it.

”True,” Dalna Doppler nodded, glancing at the other group trying their best to kill the Life Leech. The Espers among them faced difficulty seeping their psychic arms through the Life Leech’s body. Of the Espers with better skill, they were currently busy, trying to stop the blood flow of the girl that had been bitten.

Hovering in the air, Madam Rizenne discreetly seeped her psychic arm through the wound of the girl, retracting it after a moment, sharing a comment with Madam Mila, ”Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be any Essence of Frenzy injected into her. There are traces of poison, but it isn’t lethal, and only causes the blood to leak without stop.”

”Let’s see how they handle this.” Madam Mila said.

”If her condition becomes serious, I will intervene,” Madam Rizenne glanced at the injured girl, trailing her gaze to the three Espers focused on stopping her blood flow. ”Though, it seems my intervention is not necessary. They are faring quite well.”

The conversation shared by the two Sky Controllers was inaudible to the students who began to jump into the stage one by one. Dalna Doppler aimed at a student and threw the horn, ”Catch.”

After a momentary surprise, the boy—that acted as the lead in the group—grabbed hold of the horn, faced the pointed end to the bottom, and plunged it straight into the Life Leech’s body. He had exerted his full strength, adding onto the horn’s sharpness, it penetrated the Life Leech’s body.

His aim was directed to a spot 10 centimetres above its centre. The Life Leech twitched in response, its actions fully suppressed by the students that held its body tightly, not even leaving an inch of open space.

After the first attack, the boy targeted a couple more locations, shaking off the blood once before throwing the horn to Dalna Doppler, ”Thank you.”

After twitching for a while, the Life Leech died. Blood spurted out from the holes the boy had created, but had been blocked to a fair extent by the Espers using their psychic arms. That was how the students prevented themselves from being drenched by the blood. It was also a precaution against the Essence of Frenzy carried in the blood.

”Don’t mention it,” Dalna Doppler turned around, noticing Ashten Coorg point at a spot on the One-Horned Rhino’s back. It was where the other Life Leech had been hiding.

Ashten Coorg sighed, ”It is using the bones of the One-horned Rhino to protect itself. All its vitals are protected by it. It would be difficult to kill it with only this horn. I am afraid it would snap into two if we forced it through the One-horned rhino’s tough body.”

”We can only wait for an opportunity,” George said, pointing at two Frenzy Beasts being carried towards them. Soon, the two Frenzy Beasts were dropped 10 metres away from the carcass of the One-horned Rhino, the place surrounded by many students. ”It is bound to surface amidst the chaos. We can use that chance to kill it.”

The two Frenzy Beasts that had been dropped consisted of a Floating Spider, and a Rigordile. The appearance of the Rigordile sent the students scurrying away in fear. Within ten seconds, the entire stage became vacant.

The Rigordile gathered its bearing and began to make its way to the carcass of the One-horned Rhino. The Floating Spider, on the other hand, floated in the air, not making any moves. It turned around in place, observing its surroundings, apprehensive of making a move.

It flew up all of a sudden, increasing its altitude while proceeding in the direction of the Red Building’s exit. It suddenly stopped, noticing a psychic energy barrier that formed a dome, encasing it and the students inside.

It glanced at the top once, noticing the figures of Madam Rizenne and Madam Mila, letting out a shriek in fear. It then flew back to its previous spot, but hovered four-five metres above the ground.

Once it arrived at its previous spot, the psychic energy barrier disappeared. It was visible before only because Madam Rizenne wanted everyone to witness it. Now that its purpose had been served, she retracted it.

”A Rigordile,” Jyorta frowned, his expression serious. The Rigordile was a reptile, its body armoured with scales, even tougher than the One-Horned Rhino’s skin. Its scales were only inferior to the Lava Turtle’s shell, but in comparison to the Lava turtle, the scales of the Rigordile encompassed its entire body.

The Rigordile had two pairs of limbs, long and ripped. Its body was slightly serpentine, adding on to its long neck. Its head consisted of triangular jaws, the likes of which spread to the entirety of its body’s width. The neck was flexible, allowing the head to turn in all directions.

It sported a tail, long, sharp, and uniform, possessing a spike at the end. While sprawled on the floor, it spanned three metres long, a massive Frenzy Beast. It had a menacing appearance. The worst part of them all, the Rigordile pushed forth with its forelimbs, lifting its body.

Its tail elongated horizontally, using friction on the ground to pull the body to its back. Standing on its two legs, and using its tail to balance was a hulking creature, the prime reason all the students retreated.