Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 297

The large cat kicked back viciously with its wounded paw. The former laziness in its eyes was wiped away by the piercing pain it felt. Since it transcended its form and became a Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast, this was the first time it had been injured. And it lost an entire toe too.

The speed of the kick was unlike any of its attacks so far, consolidating Domineering Tiger’s claims that the beast was toying with Arthur. Now that it was angry, it struck with full force, at full speed.

Arthur didn’t waver seeing the large paw hurtling towards him like a lock-on torpedo. If it was before, he wouldn’t have dared take this strike, even if he had an extra life. But his fury had granted him unprecedented power, and he wasn’t going to put it to waste. Readjusting his stance from attack to defense, he used the large sword as a shield and placed it before himself.

*Boom*

A deafening sound was produced when the beast’s paw struck Durandal. It was a metallic sound, nothing like flesh hitting metal, but more like metal hitting metal. Arthur was pushed back several yards, but he still maintained his footing. He pushed down the blood that threatened to force itself out of his throat and into his mouth, and dashed right down the centre in the direction of the beast. He wasn’t going to be passive anymore. He needed to create and opening for his father. He hadn’t forgotten that the man was lying in wait, just seeking for an opportunity. And Arthur knew that every injury he sustained would unsettle his father, and may lead to the man abandoning his mission and coming to his rescue. He didn’t want to mess this up.

*ROAR*

The large cat roared in fury when it saw that the ant that had bitten it was still coming. Its eyes gleamed with a vicious light, and it brought out the claws that it had retracted earlier, and jumped high into the air. Like a tossed coin it somersaulted midair several times, defying gravity and once again proving that its massive size didn’t hinder it in the slightest. Then it descended towards Arthur and struck mightily, the impact shaking the battlefield like a cannonball smashing into a building.

*Boom*

Arthur back flipped several times to avoid the vicious assault of the beast. Upon landing he ignored the large amount of dust invading his eyes and nose and rushed towards the place the beast had fallen. There was a large hole several metres deep and several metres wide where the beast had met the ground, and its large claws had dug deeply through the surface of the earth and into the soil below. Its beautiful black fur was covered in dust, but its majestic aura was only growing. Seeing the approaching Arthur, its eyes flashed with a strange light, and it swiped powerfully towards the boy.

This time Arthur didn’t block the attack with Durandal. The beast was in the perfect position to be exploited. For the second time since the fight started, Arthur could see an opening. And this time it wasn’t a toe that he would cleave off, he was aiming for its throat.

*Whoosh*

Arthur twisted his body athletically and evaded the powerful and sharp claws of the Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast. He curled himself into a ball and propelled his elusive figure onto its forelimb after dodging the swipe. He stamped powerfully and pushed himself towards its head.

*Roar*

The cat roared in pain from the power of Arthur’s stomp. There were only a few parts of its body that weren’t covered with the jet black scales. Its joints were scales free to allow optimum movement and range of motion, and because it was a cat and highly flexible, its neck was also scales free. The area Arthur had stamped on was its wrist, and the pain that travelled to its bones almost drove it mad.

In less than 2 seconds, Arthur found himself close to the head of the beast. It opened its wide mouth, exposing its powerful teeth and tried to swallow Arthur who looked nothing more than a little stone on a large mountain, in one huge gulp.

“Definitely don’t want to get caught in that,” Domineering Tiger smiled bitterly and said. Their purpose was to provide Arthur with some backup. But the battle was so fast paced that for the first time in his life, and he reckoned that it was the same with Frowning Tiger and the others, he was reduced to a mere spectator.

“No one would,” Rash Tiger gripped his axe tightly and replied. Although he tried to sound breezy, his constant grinding of his teeth was enough to send the message across that he was anxious.

Frowning Tiger watched nervously as Arthur displayed wonderful flexibility and inhumane agility to get out of the way and avoid the monstrous mouth that sought to end his life. He watched his student slide across the beast’s neck to get to the scale less area and stab Durandal powerfully into its neck,

*Roar*

The large cat roared in pain and started to jump around, shaking its head and neck, trying its best to swing the pest that was hanging on its neck off. Arthur held on to Durandal for his dear life. He tried his best to maintain his grip as the beast jumped up and down and tried to shake him off. When its efforts dulled slightly, Arthur didn’t miss it. He pushed deeper with his sword; an action that elicited another painful roar from the Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast. Suddenly it stopped struggling, and it dove towards the ground.

“Crap”

Arthur had never been one to swear, but upon seeing what the beast was up to, he couldn’t help himself. He tried to pull out Durandal, but the sword was lodged in so deeply that he couldn’t pull it out. Added to the fact that the cat had tightened its neck muscles, he was finding it impossible to pull out the mighty blade. Left with no other choice, Arthur abandoned Durandal and hastily jumped off the Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast.

*Bang*

The large cat rolled on the ground and stood up. Arthur got away just in the nick of time to not only avoid getting rolled into a meat patty, but evade the large beast rolling his way. Unfortunately, Durandal was stuck in the beast’s neck, and it would be difficult to get it out. The beast retracted the claws on one of its limb, and tried to paw the sword out of its neck. However, its paw was so large and Durandal so small in comparison to its size, that it couldn’t even touch the sword. After trying for a few more seconds, it gave up. Then it returned its gaze to Arthur, its eyes brimming with hostility. The hatred of losing its toe hadn’t been accounted for, when Arthur added a pierced neck to the list of grievances. Although it was so large that the stab did nothing but cause it some pain and discomfort, it was still mad that the person it had regarded as an ant, and even gone as far as playing with him, had injured it twice.

Its anger skyrocketed seeing the boy largely unarmed, and its figure flashed as it appeared in front of Arthur even before he could react. A large paw came crushing down with blistering speed, and Arthur could only watch it descend with a bitter gaze.

Without Durandal his strength was even lower than Domineering Tiger’s. Since the blade had been feeding him with strength all this while, he had grown stronger than Frowning Tiger and Rash Tiger. Even Beastly Tiger wouldn’t be his match even if Arthur didn’t have Durandal. But he was still slightly weaker than Domineering Tiger. Given few more hours, he was certain that he would be stronger, but now that the large claws of the Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast was descending upon him, he realized that he may never get that chance. His speed had reduced drastically now that Durandal wasn’t within his hands, and even though he tried to get out of the way, he was still within the range of effect of the large cat’s paw.

“Arthur!” Along with Frowning Tiger’s desperate cry, Arthur’s figure was covered by the paw of the large beast.

*Boom*

The beast struck the ground with its powerful paw, and the ground broke apart from the sheer power of its swing. Yet its eyes weren’t filled with glee. It looked confused as it lifted its paw and didn’t find the mashed up figure of Arthur underneath. In a comical act, it dug the ground to see if it had been a little too harsh and buried Arthur underneath the soil. Yet it didn’t find the human there. It looked to the side and waited for the dust to settle, only to realize that the human was safe and sound. But he wasn’t alone. The pesky human was standing with another. But it hadn’t seen this human when the battle began. It had seen the other four who stood back and watched because they couldn’t provide any help, but it hadn’t seen this person.

“Wandering Cheetah?”

Just like the Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast, the four Tigers who were too late to do anything were stunned by the new addition. Next to Arthur was the figure who arrived just in the nick of time to pull Arthur out of danger. The newcomer was a Predator. He was handsome and well-built, and his dark skin was peculiar in this place where only light skinned people could be found; but that was about the best one could say of him. He was a Cheetah, but he wasn’t the fastest, so no one really paid any attention to him. Added to the fact that he was a genius who never lived up to his potential, many held nothing but disdain for him. But Domineering Tier knew this man. For this man had once been hailed as one who would be greater than him.

“That coward?”

Beastly Tiger didn’t have a good impression of Wandering Cheetah, and he didn’t do anything to hide it. His voice was loud, so everyone heard it. The Mongoose who had only just arrived, and Wandering Cheetah who was standing next to Arthur heard it as well. Yet whilst the Mongoose was displeased by what he was hearing, Wandering Cheetah didn’t show any particular reaction to Beastly Tiger’s comment. This wasn’t the first time he had been verbally abused by the uncouth Tiger. And it certainly wasn’t going to be the last.

“Are you okay, Sir Arthur,” Wandering Cheetah asked.