The Gilded Baron Beetle's roar snapped me out of my trance. The screams of my classmates were ignored; everything focused on the threat before me.
No dedicated ranged options available that were strong enough to kill it outright, with everything I could personally cast being far too costly to fire due to my dwindling reserves. I'd be gambling the lives of everyone present if I went all in on one attack. My memory recalled that even a High-level Fireball mere stunned the Duel-Level Demon Beast.
The Gilded Baron had nearly every tactical advantage, from fuller reserves to better weapons and armor. This was a monster that humans were not meant to fight outside of Knights; the loss of life would be catastrophic if they attempted with what they had.
The only thing I could rely upon was my warhammer and my vibro-claws, against the monster's various talons, fangs, pinchers, and the unforgettable fire breath.
My goal wasn't to kill the beast, just to distract it from killing anyone and keeping it busy long enough for the upperclassmen to arrive.
Very well; maximum effort.
]I[
"COME GET SOME, YOU OVERGROWN FREAK!" The armored form of the Kishi roared back at the descending insect. To the shock of everyone, it crouched down for a moment before launching towards the beast that crashed down in front of the group.
"Frededen?!" Stephania cried out in shock, "What are you doing?!"
"GO! GO! GET TO THE HIGHSCHOOLERS! I'LL HOLD IT OFF!"The armor yelled back, evading a quick strike from the enormous stinger tipped tail of the Gilded Baron.
"But-" the noblewoman-to-be stopped, her face twisting in worry and regret. She remembered her classes and the specific instruction for this expedition: If a Demon Beast appears that's higher than what the group's supposed to be able to handle, they were to retreat with as many members as possible above all else. Seeing the Battle Armor dodge around another stinger strike, she realized that she was simply going to have to trust her junior to survive on his own long enough to be saved. After all, the group was still being attacked by the lesser beasts that were with the Gilded Baron.
"E-everyone! Form up and retreat to the camp! Hurry!" She nearly choked out the order, with a vile taste in the mouth. "You better not die, Echevalier!"
"HAHAHA! TRUST ME!" The hearty laugh was her reply as the boy slid underneath a swiping foreleg. Stephania would later admit that she had felt something akin to awe as she watch him jump up to the fanged filled maw above him, before swinging a flame trailing hammer with such force that the weapon exploded as a few teeth flew from the things mouth.
]I[
The Gilded Baron shook its head from the blow before roaring with fury at the audacity of its prey to strike it. Despite being the size of a mere morsel, the hardened thing was easily evading its blows. The small thing's feet carved gouges in the earth as it forcibly pushed itself around.
Snarling with rage at being forced to do such a thing, the Baron opened its mouth and drew in a deep breath. Flinging its head in the direction of the annoying thing, it spewed a torrent of flames nearly directly beneath itself, uncaring for the flames licking at its armor and its small ones that were caught up in the blast.
The river of flame cut short as a searing pain suddenly burst forth from its left foreleg. As the flames dispersed, it saw that the horrid thing had been unaffected by the fire, having in fact used it as a cover to rush up and tear out the softer flesh of its inner leg joint.
Shrieking in pain, and a small amount of panic, the Gilded Baron redoubled its efforts to crush the puny thing that was hurting it. To its growing frustration, the small bipedal thing continued to dart, jump, and slide around its many limbs.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The Gilded Baron had perfected an ideal hunting strategy years ago: wait for the groups of small two-leg things to be away from their nests or any larger individuals before sending in their smaller kin. While the two-leg things were pinned down by its brethren, the Baron would swoop in and use its great size and power to utterly crush the prey to be consumed.
It had assumed that the small-shelled thing before it was merely a hatchling of the large and dangerous ones that it had seen from time to time. It stood by that thought; yet it realized that it shouldn't have attack this group without total surprise, specifically to kill the small thing hurting it. The ground around them was being churned up by the small thing's endless moving, and the Baron's own attacks failing to connect.
Not wanting to fight this thing anymore, the Gilded Baron Beetle started flapping its wings to get away. It had seen the smaller two-legs flee earlier; it was intent on making sure that this hunt wasn't a total waste...
]I[
Despite focusing nearly solely upon dodging, except for those cheap shots I got it due to it not taking me seriously, I was starting to feel the strain of mana exhaustion. That or my heaving breath was from when the thing tried to cook me alive. Thankfully my armor had been sealed enough to keep me from the flames themselves.
I paused in my near ceaseless evading in front of the giant bug when the Beetle evidently got fed up with my antics and tried to fly away.
I couldn't let it do that; the odds of it simply flying over to the fleeing party were way too high for me to just allow it to escape.
With what could have either been a growl or a groan, I charged the Duel-Level Demon Beast again. Managing to grab onto the injured leg as it lifted off, the Baron shrieked as it futilely tried to shake the damaged limb in an attempt to get me off. With the treetops dropping away beneath us, I used a chunk on my depleting mana reserves to heave myself up the giant leg, the vibro-claws in my left servo and the sharpened haft of the shattered warhammer serving to create handholds for me.
As the Baron pulled the leg towards its head, fire glowing within its throat, I used an Air Burst spell beneath my feet to launch me onto the bug's back. Thankfully, its continued ascent helped me stick the landing and stab a hold onto the thing, something I immediately needed when it shrieked and started flying erratically to try to shake me off. While the haft might not have helped much when the thing literally started barrel rolling, the vibro-claws saw to it that my fingers had a grip inside bug's very armor, keeping me locked onto it despite its efforts and that of the howling winds.
Yet I was at my limit.
While the Kishi wasn't falling apart on me, my mana reserves were practically out. Without power, my mechanical grip would fail, and I would plummet to my death far below. Looking around, I realized that I had managed to land nearly directly in front of the Baron's right-wing joint. Letting go it my perch, I grabbed to the great armor wing sheath, or elytra, before I could be pulled off entirely. Thinking that I was indeed about to fall, the Baron redoubled its efforts to throw me off.
Looking "down", I looked at my final chance to keep my class safe, and the probable key to my present survival for that matter: The thundering blur of the giant bug wings. Priming my claws, even as I felt that horribly clenching in my chest as my reserves were emptied, I let go and fell right into the path of the wings.
]I[
"Hurry up, Dietrich!" The stark white form of a Silhouette Knight charged its way through the massive forest; a similar yet scarlet Knight lagging slightly behind it.
"Wh-why?" the scarlet Knight nearly tripped on a root, barely managing to keep pace. "You heard the others already found the other groups!"
"If you had been paying attention to what those students had been saying, then you'd know there was one student that had stay behind to distract the Gilded Baron!" The pale paladin nearly snapped.
"I did hear that, Edgar! Why are we chasing the Baron instead of searching where they were attacked for him?!" The red crusader snarled.
"Because what you didn't hear was that the student in question was in a suit of 'mini-knight' armor." An emerald Knight emerged from the trees next to them. The feminine voice of its pilot laughed despite herself. "He was last seen charging into melee against the damn thing."
"That doesn't answer my question, Helvi!"Dietrich hissed.
"Then look up, you idiot. What do you think is causing the Baron to do that?"
Through the gaps in the thinning tree canopy, the Gilded Baron Beetle could be seen flying erratically, jerking and weaving at seemingly random.
"I dunno, maybe he somehow managed to hurt it really bad?" the red Knight shrugged as it ran.
"My god, D, you really are- Holy shit!"Helvi's insult was cut off by her shocked cry.
The Gilded Baron Beetle was shrieking in agony as it started falling from the sky, one of its great wings spinning uselessly in the sky above it.
"What?!" Dietrich yelled. "How did its-"
"There! I can see him!" Edgar's Knight surged forward with all that it had; its optics locked into a faint speck in the sky near the falling beast. Thankfully the creature had flown clear of the forest and over the surrounding plains at this point, allowing the trio to accelerate to their max speeds without having to dodge around any trees.
The Gilded Baron Beetle hit the ground first; the impact causing their Knights to nearly stumble as a great explosion of dirt was thrown into the air.
"You two make sure it's dead!" Helvi yelled as she sprinted past the dust cloud, holding the great mage's staff up towards the plummeting form of what was indeed a small Knight. Casting out a sustained Air Burst, she was able to slow down its fall enough for her to make it underneath and catch the armor with both hands after casting the staff away at the last second.
Absolutely caked in scorched gore; the mini-Knight evidently had made a fantastic showing for itself. While she hadn't had a good look at it before this, she did remember it having glowing optics like proper Knights, optics that were now dark.
"Hey kid, you alive in there?" Helvi murmured as she moved slightly away from the fallen Demon Beast.
"... yeah..." A faint tortured groan was her response, causing her to sigh in relief.
"Eh, Helvi? This thing's already dead."Dietrich called out, casually stabbing the twisted and broken body of the Gilded Baron to no effect.
"The impact must have overwhelmed its reinforcement magic, which also means that our friend here must have nearly exhausted the bug before this." Edgar mused as his Knight walked over to see what was in Helvi's hands. A low whistle was his response at the sight. "Let's get him back to base camp, I don't want to know what he must be feeling right now under there."
"Wait!" The scarlet Knight suddenly yelled, a finger pointing accusingly at the scorched figure. "Are you telling me that this guy soloed a Duel-Level Demon Beast on his very first expedition?! Outside of a Silhouette Knight?!" The near manic denial blatant in his tone caused the other two to chuckle.
"Of course, D. Try to keep up with the class for once." Helvi lightly teased as she began carrying their little hero back to the camp as quickly and as stably as possible. Dietrich's cry of frustration at being shown up by an underclassman caused open laughter at his misery.