Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 291

Even after unleashing the strange energy, Arthur was still full of strength. The well of power in his body increased in capacity and grew a bit bigger, meaning that it could take a lot more and do a lot more. Under the stunned expressions of all the fighters who had never seen something like that before, Arthur continued his rampage.

It had only been a few seconds, yet several Magical Beasts, four Mythic Classes included had fallen. The Predators and Thrashers felt their blood boil as they dashed into the crowd of beasts.

Frowning Tiger deftly evaded the claw of a Mythic Class Magical Beast thrusted viciously with his sword. The beast was fast, but it lost a limb whilst trying to evade the blow meant for its head. However, as if that meant nothing, it pounced on Frowning Tiger and opened its mouth wide. Like a cannon, it blasted a blue energy ball from its mouth towards Frowning Tiger. But Frowning Tiger was prepared. He twisted his body strangely and employed a strange set of footwork. His figure disappeared, and he reappeared right behind the creature. He swung his sword, intent of decapitating the beast.

Suddenly, his movements slowed down, and the beast quickly jumped away. But Frowning Tiger was unfazed.

“Energy blast. Cool time: 3 minutes. Gravity Manipulation. Cool time: 5 minutes. Simultaneously using these abilities leads to a 15 seconds period of weakness. You are out of tricks.”

The Magical Beast was unsettled by Frowning Tiger’s calm demeanor. It didn’t understand what he was saying, but as a Mythic Class, it possessed a high level of intelligence. So it knew that something was wrong. It tried to escape, but Frowning Tiger was having none of that. The Tiger fished out a dagger from his clothes and flung it at the fleeing beast. Its speed was slower and it was currently weaker, so the dagger lodged itself into its head with little issue.

“There are only about 15 Mythic Classes left, yet it still hasn’t shown itself”

After killing the Mythic Class Magical Beast, Frowning Tiger did a quick headcount. Arthur alone had taken down four Mythic Class Magical Beasts in a flash. Frowning Tiger had killed two. Rash Tiger had killed one and was currently embroiled with another. However, the beast he was facing had been heavily injured by Rash Tiger’s brute power and would die soon. Every Predator had killed at least one Mythic Class and several High Classes, and two Tigers, other than Frowning Tiger and Rash Tiger had killed five collectively. It wasn’t a surprise seeing that they were the strongest Tigers in the village and ranked above both Rash Tiger and Frowning Tiger.

There weren’t minor human loses either. Out of the 19 Predators, two had died under the besiegement of a company of Mythic Class Magical Beasts, and three were injured. The injured Predators were carried out of the battlefield by a Snake under the protection of a Tiger. This meant that there were only 12 Predators currently engaged with the beasts. The Thrashers weren’t spared from the damage either. As beings weaker than Predators, they could handle a High Class Magical Beast. But the flurry of High Classes that roamed the battlefield meant that they had to work as a unit. However, even when working together, several of them were still injured and out of the 74 (Samoa was not included), 20 had died. The injured ones slowly made their way to the back of the fighters underneath the cover of arrows Samoa and his men provided. Although the arrows didn’t have enough power to pierce the hides of the Magical Beasts, they did their job; which was to be nuisances.

However, the damage report could have been much lengthier if it wasn’t for Arthur. The power the boy wielded was equal to his father’s, if not greater. And he seemed to get stronger with every swing. But the real factor here was the morale boost he provided for the troops. Village Head Fan was strong. It had been long since anyone saw him in action, but it was an undisputed fact that he was the strongest the village had to offer. If he was the one leading the line, he would probably garner the same reaction Arthur did. Probably.

But the men would still get tired. The stamina of a man could never compare to the stamina of a Magical Beast. Even Middle Class Magical Beasts had greater stamina than Thrashers who weren’t Stamina Types. So the men would still get tired.

Yet under Arthur’s lead they fought like men on drugs; without exhaustion, and with very little to be afraid of. It was an adrenal rush that was created by seeing the son of the village’s strongest, prove his worth. Seeing someone they had never seen battle before fighting with the same power his father held, if not greater power even, lifted their spirits. And knowing that Village Head Fan had yet to show himself gave them hope.

No one even dared to think that Village Head Fan wasn’t coming. They knew that wasn’t possible. He was powerful, and no beast on the battlefield had the capacity to tie him down. Plus everyone knew just how much he doted on Arthur. There was no way he would abandon his son. This meant that the strongest warrior they had had yet to show himself. Knowing that one had an additional card to play – a trump card at that – was always great for morale and a confidence booster.

*Boom*

Frowning Tiger swiveled to the direction of the loud blast. Although the battlefield was noisy, that blast was particularly loud. Everyone heard it. What he saw would be etched into his brain for as long as he lived.

A large shadow shaped like a cat made an entrance. It was rare beast known as a Shadow Leopard. The Shadow Leopard was a Mythic Class Magical Beast with spectacular strength. It was at the peak of power among Mythic Classes, and didn’t really have any equals. They were as rare as they were mighty, and no one, even Tigers, would want to face them on the battlefield.

The large Shadow Leopard surveyed the battlefield with an arrogant gaze. The battlefield was chaotic, yet it sauntered through the mob of beasts like it was in its playground. Its dark fur stood out, and its blue eyes were full of disdain for the beasts that fell under the sword of men. Wherever it went, the beasts instinctively made way for it. It didn’t matter if they were High or Mythic Classes. All of them gave way. That was how mighty this creature was.

*Roar*

It gave a mighty roar full of prestige, and every beast engaged in battle, irrespective of their positions – be it under a disadvantage or in total control – backed off. Quickly, they all retreated behind the Shadow Leopard.

“Absolute Majesty” Frowning Tiger frowned when he saw this. The Shadow Leopard was blessed with two abilities. But they were both crazy strong.

The first ability was what it had just employed – Absolute Majesty. The Shadow Leopard was a beast blessed by nature itself. It had a grandeur that other Mythic Classes didn’t have, and it was born as a weaker Mythic Class Magical Beast. This meant that even Shadow Leopard Cubs were qualified Mythic Classes!

Absolute Majesty was a rare skill that any beast would and did envy. It allowed Shadow Leopards to command other beasts of different species! This was a cheat-like ability, and although it had a long cooldown duration, it didn’t change the fact that it was a great ability. Because of this ability, some called the Shadow Leopard the Magical Beast that was meant to rule. In fact, many argued that if the Legendary Winged Serpent had been a Legendary Shadow Leopard instead, then humankind would have been killed off.

The Shadow Leopard stared at Arthur with its blue eyes. Those beautiful eyes carried a sense of dread. It could feel Arthur’s aura, and knew that this human was the largest threat to it. Even after weighing its chances of winning, it wasn’t confident. But it felt that if it could consume the strong human, it would grow vastly stronger. So it did something exceedingly cruel.

*Rip*

The figure of the Shadow Leopard disappeared, and under the astonished gazes of the fighters, it began to slaughter the Magical Beasts.

“What is it doing,” Rash Tiger asked, stunned like everyone else.

“Not good!” Samoa suddenly exclaimed.

“What is it,” Frowning Tiger shouted. His voice traveled across the battlefield and dug deeply into Samoa’s ears.

“It must be stopped! It’s trying to grow stronger by assimilating the abilities of the other beasts!” At Samoa’s words, everyone felt their blood run cold. In only a few seconds, 3 Mythic Class Magical Beasts had been killed. The skill Absolute Majesty was still in effect, and made them defenseless. So they were easily torn apart by the Shadow Leopard, as their bodies turned into black smoke that was inhaled by the cruel beast.

The Shadow Leopard was so rare that many didn’t know about its second skill. Even Frowning Tiger didn’t. But Samoa did. Its first ability was spectacular already, but its second ability was even more heaven defying.

Assimilate

That was its second ability. The Shadow Leopard could assimilate the remains of any creature it killed into itself, increasing its strength. That was why it could grow to be so powerful. As long as it killed any beast, their power would become its. This made it difficult to discern the abilities of a Shadow Leopard. The one ability each of them possessed was their speed. They were so fast that even Cheetah’s had a hard time keeping up with them! Apart from that, every other ability was gained from whatever beasts they killed.

Blistering Cheetah dashed forward. Behind him, the other members of his team rushed towards the leopard. They were the fastest, so they wanted to intercept the beast and hold it off long enough for the others to join. Arthur didn’t stay idle either. He propelled himself forward as well. However, he was far away from the main group because he had detached himself from them during the fight. In his frenzied slaughter, he had slowly distanced himself from them, and now the closest to the leopard were Blistering Cheetah and his team.