Ben is facing the Beholder Etherious, Mreye. He has displayed some troublesome abilities. It can regenerate, it's tendrils are very fast and flexible and it has a petrification curse.
'It's defense and offense are very strong, and the attack's range is wide and long. If I attack it at close range, the tendrils will protect it and it will heal the damaged parts with it's regeneration.' He thought.
While Ben pondered, Mreye attacked him using it's tendrils. It can extend it's tendrils and use them like whips. He ducks to dodge a horizontal swipe, then he rolls to the left and avoids a vertical attack.
But then, a tendril came out of the ground and hit him in the stomach. Ben spit out a mouthful of air and was sent flying into the sky. He senses something and looks at Mreye's eye which had just turned purple, an indication it was going to shoot it's petrification beam.
"Shit!" Ben cursed.
He immediately gathered magic power into his hands and clapped them. A magic circle with 3 meters diameter appeared under his feet.
"Sun Dragon Sphere!" A sphere of bright orange energy appeared around Ben like a ball. The purple petrification beam hit the sphere and pushed it back with him inside. Ben falls to the ground while still inside the sphere.
'Phew, I made it in time and luckily it can't petrify magic or else I'll be doomed.' He thought.
Ben was pushed further from his initial spot. Now his distance with Mreye is around 200 meters.
"Can that thing's attacks reach this distance?" Ben questioned.
He can't see Mreye because of the trees between them. But he can feel Mreye's presence with his magic sense. He sensed Mreye coming closer to his location now.
'It moved, that means it can't attack from this distance. I'll wait here and see how far it's attack range is.' Ben thought.
Ben waited at his spot while preparing to dodge an attack anytime. He saw Mreye getting closer to him, then at a 50 meter distance, Mreye sent it's tendrils to attack Ben.
'50 meters and it didn't use the petrification beam. Is it cooling down or something?' He mentally asked.
Ben dodges the tendril's attack while keeping his vigilance to the ground. He doesn't want to be attacked from below again.
Then it came, a tendril attack from under the ground. Ben couldn't dodge because he was still in the air after the jump, so he kicked the tip of the tendril away.
He kicked it without any magic covering his feet, this surprised Mreye. It's tendrils are strong, and mages usually don't have the power to hit it without magic. If they only use their body, they'll just hurt themselves.
"You are pretty fast and strong for a small human. And your magic power is high too. But it's not enough if you want to defeat me." Mreye sneered.
"If it's not enough, then I will make it enough to win. A battle isn't mathematics or statistics, a higher number doesn't always win. No result will be determined until it really ends." Ben retorted.
"Fu fu fu, indeed it is, but if the number is too far apart, nothing can change the result on paper." Mreye smiled.
Mreye shot a petrification beam that Ben had prepared for. He covered his feet with light and his hand with plasma. Then Ben dodged to the left and avoided the purple beam.
Ben didn't stop and immediately ran towards Mreye at high speed. The Beholder Etherious swiped it's beam towards Ben, but he jumped to dodge it again. Mreye then sent a tendril to stab him while he was in midair.
Ben caught the tendril and burned it with his hot plasma-covered hands. The tendril was burned to a crisp and Ben ripped it apart. He looks at the purple beam that has disappeared and then looked at A.I Chip's interface.
'10 seconds. The beam lasts for 10 seconds when used. Now what about the cool down?' Ben thought.
He looked at Mreye who had regenerated the broken and burnt tendril. Ben kept running forward and prepared magic to attack Mreye. He jumped toward Mreye and an orange magic circle appeared in front of him.
"Sun Dragon Solar Burst!" Ben punched the magic circle and bright orange energy explodes from it. The magic circle created a solar energy explosion on one side and it engulfed a rather wide area.
"AARRGHH, DAMN YOU HUMAN." Mreye gritted it's teeth.
Mreye screamed after receiving the attack from such a close distance. After his attack subsided, Ben moved away from there. Mreye might suddenly attack him, so he needed to get out of the way.
"Did it work?" He asked.
Ben watched the explosion that had dust and smoke covering it. After a minute, the dust and smoke subsided and Ben saw a big crater left by his attack. The ground was charred and turned black like charcoal, with smoke still rising from it.
"It's not hot enough. From the description of this spell, Sun Dragon Escanor can even melt the ground and turn it into lava. So it must be really hot to turn the soil into lava in an instant." Ben noted.
He looks at the crater, and he saw Mreye laying in the middle of it. He can still sense curse power from the Etherious, so it's not dead yet.
"Tch, it's not enough, huh?" Ben grumbled.
Right when he thought of that, Mreye floats up again and looks at him. It's skin and tendrils were burned and it's eye is almost closed completely. It looks at Ben with anger, even with it's almost shut eye.
Mreye's burnt skin started to crumble, and even the burnt flesh comes off. All the burnt tendrils crumble as well and make Mreye look like a ball. All it's damaged parts are now discarded and then Mreye regrew all those parts.
"Hateful human, you've really caught me off guard. It seemed I've underestimated you too much, so now I will take more seriously." Mreye glared.
Ben got ready to fight Mreye again who almost finished regenerating.
"Hmm? I forgot that I have a weapon." He muttered.
Ben remembered that he had a weapon now. He grabbed something off his right thigh. It was the knife he asked Roubaul to forge. It was made from the fang of the giant female serpent. It was very sharp and has high resistance to heat.
Ben held the knife with his right hand, then his magic power flowed into it. The knife started to turn red, then bright yellowish-orange, indicating it's rising temperature.
"Let's fight with this and save my magic power for later. That attack used a lot of my magic power and I can't replenish it without sunlight or fire, so I need to use my magic power wisely now." He stated.
Ben got ready to fight and just used his magic on the magic knife. After evaluating the battle so far, he's confident that he can dodge and move to attack Mreye solely with his physical power.
That's why he only used the magic knife to fight. This magic knife produced heat around 2000 degrees Celsius. It's very hot, so it should be able to cut Mreye's skin and tendrils easier.
Ben ran at Mreye before it fully regenerated. Mreye saw him coming and sends it's tendrils to attack. He dodged the incoming tendrils and used his knife to attack the tendrils he was unable to dodge.
Just like he predicted, his super hot knife could cut the tendrils a lot easier. But Mreye can regenerate the broken tendrils again and again. Mreye also shoots the petrification beam on occasion, making it a lot harder for Ben.
"HA HA HA HA, USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS! YOUR STRUGGLE IS USELESS!" Mreye bellowed.
"Damn, I can't get closer anymore." Ben cursed.
Ben and Mreye have a 10 meter distance between them. He wanted to get closer, so he could use a decisive attack, but he couldn't get closer now.
Suddenly, Mreye propelled forward with it's tendrils and got close to Ben. He was caught off guard and hadn't prepared anything.
"WHAT?!" Ben's eyes widen in shock.
Mreye fired a petrification beam at him at close range. Ben can't dodge, so he blocked it with his knife and covered his hands in solar energy.
BOOM*
Ben was pushed back by the beam and crashed into the trees in the forest. He was flung far away and crashing into the trees caused blood to trickle from his mouth. He was stopped by a big boulder and then fell to the ground weakly.
"This is the end, human." Mreye smirked.