“Now!” Yuri said the moment she activated her Glyph. It was also the moment that Alnea felt the dread of the Mystery disappearing from around himself. Normally, he would have taken a moment to reorient himself, and reflect on what the Mystery was, before doing anything else. But the panther was not going to wait for him to satiate his curiosity. And so, the moment he heard Yuri’s voice, he rushed towards the Oren Beast with all the strength that he could muster.
However, using just his own strength was not enough. To match the speed of a Black Lighting Panther, even one which had been weakened, and stop it from escaping, he needed something more. Something from the Origin Sea. Something like a Martial Style which focussed completely on Speed, and Agility. Like the Lightning Stream Style.
Of course, he did not have the appropriate Aspect for the Lightning Stream Style, but that did not affect his ability to use the Martial Style… by too much. He just needed to reach into the latent lightning roaming inside his body, and amplify it with Oren, before letting that lightning run in his body like a stream. It was not as good as it would have been if he had had appropriate Aspects, but the way he could use the Lightning Stream Style was enough.
With flashes of lightning flickering around his body, speeding up both his reflexes, and speed, Alnea reached the Beast just as it was about to activate its Innate Ability, and pulled out his sword from its sheath, before stabbing it towards the panther. The panther was not a sitting target though. The moment it saw a sword coming directly towards his head, it immediately abandoned its plan of using its Innate Ability, and focused on dodging his attack by stepping towards the side. A big mistake.
Right when the Beast was about to move out of the sword’s range, Alnea concentrated two of his Aspects at the tip of his sword, drastically increasing his stabbing speed, as well as the penetrating power of the sword. And in a fraction of a moment, the sword, which was around a tenth of a metre away from the Beast, came just within an inch, about to stab into the Beast’s head before it could even have the chance to dodge. It was only because of the beast’s survival instinct, honed through countless battles, forcing it to jump back at that last moment, that the panther managed to live through the attack.
However, the predicaments of the panther were not over. Having just escaped from a fatal attack, it sensed another fatal threat from its back. Once again, purely on instinct, it jumped aside right at the last moment to feel something hit the ground where it had stood. Keeping an eye on its first enemy, it shifted its position to look towards where the second attack had come from.
Another enemy, shaped similar to its first enemy, had one of its paws buried into the ground. Probably what the attack was. Two enemies. Both capable of hurting it fatally. It did not wish to fight such a war. But the two enemies were not giving it any chances… If they would not give it chances, then it would just make one. Growling to declare its intent, the panther jumped towards its enemies, to either tear through them, or to find its chances.
Chances, which neither Alnea, nor Cecilia were willing to give. Seeing the panther dodge her attack, Cecilia did not immediately pull her fist out of the ground. Instead, she placed her other palm on the ground, and twisted her body, borrowing support from the ground, and the momentum from her twist to kick both of her legs in the Beast’s direction, hitting it jaws just as it jumped towards her.
A daring manoeuvre, Alnea noted, that left Cecilia completely defenceless for a moment. Moment enough for the beast to recover, and charge at her again. But by then Alnea had stepped in as well, stabbing his sword in between the two, forcing the beast to stop in its tracks, and retreat with a jump to avoid the glowing attack. An attack rife with the breath of death. It had lost its chance once again. It had—
The Beast glanced at its two enemies. They were both a little distance away from it. And both were gathered in one direction, leaving its back side open. A chance. And it never missed a chance. Neither did it ever forget its enemies. Imprinting both its enemies into its very being, the panther growled, declaring vengeance, before turning around, and rushing into the darkness.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
On the other end, Alnea noticed his mistake the moment he moved his body. However, he had already made his move, and he had no regrets. Still, he could not let the Beast escape. So, after driving the Beast away from Cecilia, he immediately rushed after it, while Cecilia pulled her fist out of the ground, and came rushing behind him. But the beast was fast, and had a head start. If the beast were to truly escape…
Thankfully, they were not alone in fighting the Beast. The moment that the Beast was about to vanish into the darkness, a wall of grey fog materialised in front of it, cutting off its path of escape. The panther, of course, refused to give up, and just charged at the wall of fog. It was just some fog anyway. It did not care about mere—
The panther wailed in pain, as a burning sensation spread through its body, reaching even its bones, the moment it came into contact with the wall of the grey fog. Whimpering, and scared, the beast immediately back off from the wall, looking at the darkness that lay beyond it with unwillingness, and indignation. It was so close…
If only it was a little faster… If only it did not have that strange sensation holding back its speed… But there were no ifs. Its path of retreat was cut off. The only path of survival it had left was to either kill its enemies, or break through them. Both of those things would have been a lot easier if it could have used its ability. Yet its enemies were already upon it, and would not give it the chance to cast wrap itself with lightning. And so, it could only jump at them, howling in indignation, anger, and determination.
For Alnea, and Cecilia, the panther’s sudden change in attitude meant that instead of an Oren Beast looking for chances to escape, they had to fight an Oren Beast fighting for its life. A ferocious, and frenzied beast. The fight was about to get a little dangerous, even for them. But they were not scared. Rather, in his Heart, Alnea even felt a sense of thrill, and excitement. Maybe it was because of the Martial Styles. Or maybe it was because he could almost taste victory. The more frenzied the Beast got, the more mistakes it would make, and the more easily they would be able to kill it.
However, that the Beast was frenzied did not mean that they could afford making more mistakes. Instead, they had be even more careful than before. Especially after the mistake they had made before. So, while Alnea charged at the Beast from its right, Cecilia came at it from its left, giving it no room to escape. And just to extra sure, they even attacked at the same time.
A blade like palm, covered with a green glow, coming in from its left, aiming right for its neck. And from its right came a real blade, with black spine, and silver edge, glowing in golden light, with darkness flowing along its edge.
A clever use of Aspects Alnea had learned from a Martial Styles just a few hours ago. Crescent Slash Style, it was called. A Martial Styles focussing more on fine manipulation of Aspects, rather than letting them make an instantaneous show of prowess. Alnea, of course, did not have the kind of fine manipulation that the Martial Style had described. But he could still call forth his Aspects when needed. And for the Beast in front of him, that was enough.
Urging both his Aspects, one calling for annihilating his enemies, and the other shouting for him to drown his enemies in despair, Alnea concentrated on the edge of his blade, and made a large swing, completely blocking off the Beast’s right side, forcing it to either face his sword, or Cecilia’s palm. And the Beast chose the latter. A small palm was much easier to deal with than a whole sword.
Unfortunately for the Beast, it failed to notice that rest of Cecilia’s body was also faintly glowing, just not in the light of her Aspects, but in that of Oren. And the moment that the Beast ducked under palm, ready to jump straight for her throat, her body shifted in an unnatural manner, one that reminded Alnea of a terrifying snake coiling around its prey. And before either the Beast, or Alnea knew, she had already pinned the Beast on the ground, with arms wrapped around the Beast’s neck, and her legs wrapped around its waist.
“Now!”
Alnea did not need to be told twice, or be explained what Cecilia was asking him to do. Changing the course of his sword, while concentrating even more to further sharpen the Aspects on its edge, he sliced right through the belly of the Beast, almost cutting it in half. Almost. He was careful not to hurt Cecilia in any way, even by mistake.
The Beast, on the other hand, had no such concern. It thrashed around, trying to claw, or bite through Cecilia’s hands. Her hold, however, was too tight, and precise. No matter what the Beast tried, it could not reach her. And soon, as it kept losing its blood, and organs, it also lost its strength. The Beast was no more.