Koji Fights The World - Chapter 30 Beast Guardian

When his centurions started dropping to the ground from mental exhaustion, Xanthur was astonished at first. But he soon understood the reason, and the commander felt great shame. “How could all of you be so frightened by a mere lion?” he demanded to know.

“It’s a Rank 4 beast,” someone replied.

Xanthur narrowed his eyes at Saltem, who spoke up. “So?” Saltem was their second best sword fighter after Mylia.

“We’re only Rank 3,” the subordinate replied.

“But there are six of us! If we combine our strength, we could have handled the lion,” the commander claimed with a brave face.

His men laughed and shook their heads. They knew the truth even if their leader refused to admit it. “Our arrows couldn’t penetrate its skin. If we resort to hand-to-hand combat, none of us will survive the fight,” Saltem said calmly.

Xanthur grounded his molars in anger. But he couldn’t refute this astute observation. The primary strategy of centurions was to use their superior archery to soften up the enemies before engaging in saber fighting. Sometimes, this included running away from the chaser while shooting arrows continuously.

But this tactic was worthless against a Rank 4 beast because it could run faster and chase them down. Furthermore, projectiles could not easily penetrate the tough skin of this beast. Seeing the hopelessness of arguing, the commander changed the topic immediately. “Halix, get the beast core!” he barked.

“Yes, Commander!” the skinner saluted and walked over to the body of the lion. Halix performed his task, and then cleaned both stones with his waterskin. He marveled at the sight at the amber-colored, oval-shaped cores. Halix confirmed that one core was Rank 4 and the other Rank 4. The centaur turned around and approached Koji. With great reverence, he said, “Prince Consort, here are your beast cores.”

The centurions saw the stones wrapped in a clean cloth in Halix’ hands. They became envious. But none dared to stop the presentation of these precious stones to the young man. Koji was their savior twice over, and he was the rightful owner of these valuable items.

When Zelea saw her husband’s reluctance to accept, she intervened and said, “I’ll take it on his behalf.” She nodded and took the bundle from Halix. She placed it inside her spatial ring, which created a small sucking sound as the packet disappeared.

The centurions sighed when they learned that Princess Zelea possessed a spatial ring. This item was a million silver taels! However, none of the centaurs harbored any desire to kill Zelea and take her ring because the Centurion Code revered Honor and Loyalty. The princess was accompanying the centurions at their request, and it would be dishonorable for them to commit this crime. Also, harming Princess Zelea in this manner was tantamount to a declaration of war between the two kingdoms!

Koji observed their reactions when he learned that his wife possessed a spatial ring. He already understood its value; therefore, Koji watched the centurions for signs of greed and desire for the ring. Fortunately, he discovered that all of the centurions in the party were honorable; their eyes expressed only surprise at her possession.

Zelea looked at the hills and pointed in a direction toward the spire. “Let’s go that way,” she ordered.

The centurions regrouped into a circle around her. But with both mountain lions now dead, the centaurs widened their enclosure around the Royal Couple to twenty feet.

The party continued steadily moving higher up the mountain. They encountered badgers, wolves, and even a bear, but the centurions put them all down without further assistance from Koji, who noted that only the bear was Rank 3 and offered no challenge to his protectors.

After the encounter with the bear, Xanthur called for a water break. The centurions remained vigilant because they were steadily climbing higher and toward the living habit for more powerful beasts. Each member claimed a beast core during this mission and being rewarded individually helped buoy their spirits.

Koji took the lotus position and cultivated. He felt the environment was far more abundant in energy as well as Qi compared to the Nephosian Palace. The simple reason was that, aside from the beasts, there were no cultivators to compete for this energy in the mountain.

The young man’s decision to cultivate moved the hearts of the centurions because they believed that he trusted their protection enough to lower his guard to cultivate. However, that was not the case. Koji used his Qi Perception to sweep his surroundings and found no powerful monsters lurking nearby. Therefore, he took advantage of the lull in action to cultivate and draw energy from this rich environment.

Seeing Koji’s action, Xanthur decided to lengthen the water break from five minutes to fifteen minutes. He passed the word of this change in plan by flashing three fingers in his left hand to his subordinates.

The centurions saw the silent hand signal and nodded in understanding. Their eyes glanced at Koji briefly before turning to face outward again.

Zelea noticed this activity and quickly understood what happened. She expected the commander to give the order to break camp shortly. But when the party lingered here beyond the usual five minutes for a water break, the princess realized something changed. Zelea silently mouthed “thank you” to Xanthur; she then closed her eyes and cultivated next to her Bonder.

The extra ten minutes passed by quickly, and the commander reluctantly gave the order to break camp.

Koji hopped to his feet and stretched his arms upward like a cat. His body felt revitalized and full of energy!

Xanthur smiled inwardly. Once the princess pointed the direction, he barked, “Let’s move!”

The centurions formed their circle around the Royal Couple and moved in unison. An hour later, the party encountered a thick wall of thorns! Furthermore, they felt a commanding presence behind the wall!

“Formation Alpha!” Xanthur barked.

Suddenly, something jumped over the natural barrier! The centurions immediately backed away.

CRASH! Landing before them was a Giant Ape! The beast was covered in dark brown coarse fur and stood seven feet tall. Its obsidian eyes stared with hatred at the trespassers. It pounded its chest with its humongous fists and roared!

Violent Yang Qi infused the sound wave, and the attack caused listeners of Rank 3 or lower to faint in fright!

Xanthur became dismayed when all his men fell unconscious.

Koji pulled out his saber and calmed stepped forward. Having experienced Queen Herecia’s sound attack from her zither, the young man wasn’t surprised to see his companions disabled already.

The ape’s nostrils flared in anger when it saw Koji still standing. The guardian didn’t expect this weak looking boy to be a high-ranked person! It decided to eliminate him first because he was the biggest threat to the garden. The beast pounded its chest again and suddenly pounced toward Koji!

The adrenaline pumped in the young man’s body as the humongous figure blotted out the sky above him. Suddenly, Koji received an inspiration. He smiled and waited for the beast to arrive at a certain point in the ape’s trajectory. Suddenly, he channeled his Yang Qi into his legs and launched the Hurricane Kick! Koji flew into the path of the ape, and his feet kicked the animal’s face a dozen times!

The kicks sounded like slaps, but the blows battered the ape’s brain and made it woozy. Its momentum suddenly stopped, the ape lacked wings to maintain its altitude. It crashed to the land. BOOM!

Koji was in the same predicament as his opponent. But as he returned to earth, the fighter retained his presence of mind to press forth his attack. Whoosh! Koji slashed with his saber and cut the beast’s throat.

The ape’s eyes lingered on him before its head rolled to the ground. The body remained upright, and hot blood gushed out of its neck like a water fountain. FWOOSH!

Koji rolled on the ground to avoid the explosion of blood.

Xanthur stared at the decapitated head for a moment and then shook his head in disbelief. He quickly smacked each subordinate’s rear with his hoof to awaken the centurions.

“Koji, can you cut the wall with your saber?” Zelea asked. She believed that the ape was a beast guardian, and something precious was behind the wall.

Her husband obeyed and slowly cut through the barrier of plants. He made a peephole the size of a fist to peer through the wall.

“Let me see,” she demanded and gently pushed him aside. Princess Zelea’s eyes widened in shock when she saw a field full of ginseng roots, motherwort, echinacea, wild bergamot, and other medicinal plants. Zelea wondered who made this secret garden and placed a beast guardian to watch over it.

Suddenly, the plants moved, and a section of the wall parted, creating an opening in front of Zelea.

A creature emerged from a tree standing in the middle of the garden. It was female, with green vines weaved into a bikini top to cover her full breasts and a skirt over her hips. Flowers mingled with her grass-like hair. Her skin was a light-brown color and coarse as wood.

“You’re a dryad,” the princess identified.

The dryad ignored Zelea and looked at the decapitated head of her beast guardian on the ground. “Oh dear,” she sighed. “I only wanted Godo to scare you away. I didn’t expect him to die,” the dryad remarked.

Koji stepped forward and bowed. “I apologize for killing your beast guardian, but he left me no choice. His roar attack made several of my comrades lose consciousness. If I hadn’t intervened, your beast would have stomped them to death,” he explained.

The dryad nodded. “Yes, Godo did have a bad temper. I forgive you for killing him.”

Xanthur approached politely. “Mistress of the Forest, I am seeking a thousand-year-old ginseng root to create an antidote for my Great Chieftain, who is on his death bed from poison. Do you have any in your garden?” he asked.

The dryad turned and stared at the centaur with her pale green eyes. Suddenly, vines sprouted from the ground and grew until it reached her height. The vine dropped an object into the dryad’s hand. “You mean this?” she asked with a faint smile.

Princess Zelea examined the item in dryad’s palm and saw a ginseng root in her hand. The herbalist counted several hundred prongs and confirmed the age of the plant. Then, Zelea noticed Xanthur’s gaze and nodded subtly.

“What do you want in trade?” Xanthur asked politely.

The dryad’s smile widened.