Chapter 126 - Clash of Beast Tamers
The flock of seagulls approached menacingly towards the artifact ship driven by Old Tohyon that accommodate Hei and the others on board. Watching these spirit beasts approaching at high speed, Ho Yeon-Hong could only get nervous.
"Hei, what's going on? Why are those creatures all coming here?" asked Ho Yeon-Hong with a trembling voice. She couldn’t understand why those birds had changed so abruptly their targets.
"Don't worry about the reason; get ready to fight instead. Lian, for the time, being just to support us, alright?" Hei responded without giving a proper answer. There was no time to explain in detail; she just needed to do what he ordered.
"Yes, let it to me. Don’t worry, Hei." Lian answered while watching the upcoming seagulls. She trusted Hei and had learned just to follow his commands.
The flock of seagulls finally arrived where the artifact ship was. The first specimens swooped down against the humans who were on the deck. The beak on their heads was shining with a lethal glow. It was as if they had been trained to pierce the flesh of their victims.
'Gull meat, yum yum!' (Xing)
'Lil’ Gull, come here so that I can take a big bite' (Ye)
Unlike Ho Yeon-Hong, Ye and Xing didn't seem worried at all about the flock that had descended on them. With clearly excited and amused tones, they launched themselves against the first downhill seagulls. They still had their minute dimensions used when they hid on Hei's body, but their strength wasn’t at all hindered by it anyway. However, at the moment, they weren’t using all their power, thus hiding the fact that they had reached the second level.
Slash! Crunch!
The seagulls who dared to challenge them were beheaded while they were still flying, and their bodies continued to fly for a few more meters as the blood came out of the clean wounds on their necks. Ho Yeon-Hong watched with horror as the blood shower descended from above onto the ship's deck along with the beheaded heads of the seagulls.
Meanwhile, Hei had also moved. Waving his spear, he imitated his little sisters and started slicing the seagulls. The flock immediately saw the danger and tried to surround him to peck him from several sides. However, Lian was protecting Hei with her ribbons, preventing the seagulls from approaching beyond a certain distance, allowing Hei to attack without worrying about his defense.
Ho Yeon-Hong eventually recovered. Although she was still flustered and agitated about her first big fight, she was still the sister of Pirate General Ho Ri-Na. Taking a deep breath, she drew her sword as she helped Hei chase the seagulls away.
The seagulls that made up the flock were all first-level spirit beasts. Their power ranged from specimens comparable to fourth stages to those with a seventh stage power. Still, none of the seagulls managed to inflict concrete harm to the humans on the deck.
The defense of her ribbons allowed Lian to delimit a perimeter in which Hei and Ho Yeon-Hong could attack without problems, not to mention Ye and Xing, who were overwhelming anything in their path. As second-level divine beasts, there was no way they could lose against first-level spirit beasts.
Watching the flock losing its momentum and being repelled, suffering huge losses, Pang Ja-Kyung finally started to get irritated. From his seated position, he rose to his feet and commanded the leader of the flock, the Great Black-backed Gull, to the artifact ship.
"Lian, get ready. It's almost time!” Hei quickly communicated as soon as he noticed Pang Ja-Kyung's movements.
"Okay, whenever you want," Lian replied as she took on a more serious expression.
Both knew that there was no way Pang Ja-Kyung would have allowed them to slaughter the flock of seagulls undisturbed. So far, he had let them fight as it was only the beginning of the battle. It was a way to break the ice. But now that the ice had been broken. The moment of the main course had finally come, which was what Pang Ja-Kyung was waiting with fervor. After all, he still remembered the searing defeat he had endured because of Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing.
However, Hei was also waiting for that moment. Their job was to engage Pang Ja-Kyung and make sure he wouldn’t head to the other battlefields. If the beast tamer wanted to settle accounts with him, it was okay for Hei. He already had a plan in mind to fight Pang Ja-Kyung and his second-level spirit beast. He wasn’t afraid; after all, he had two second-level spirit beasts. And they weren’t mere spirit beasts, but divine beasts that even had awakened their Concepts.
When Pang Ja-Kyung came close enough, Hei gave the signal to Lian, "Now!"
At that point, the blue-haired young woman used one of her ribbons to wrap the neck of one of the larger seagulls. The bird tried to free itself but without success. Left without alternatives, it decided to go up to the sky, thinking that in this way, it would be able to get rid of that annoying human.
Lian smiled as she saw this and didn't try to counter the seagull, letting it drag her up into the sky. Before leaving the ship's deck, however, she threw back her second ribbon, which was quickly grabbed by Hei, who had Ye and Xing on his shoulders.
“Old Tohyon, activate the formation shield. Ho Yeon-Hong, in the meantime, you continue to engage the remaining seagulls.” Shouting orders as he was being dragged through the air, Hei then moved his gaze to the Great Black-backed Gull, which was a few meters away and was flying at full speed against them.
"You made a mistake to go up here, kid! You should have stayed on your ship. Great Black-backed Gull, kill him!” Pang Ja-Kyung cursed with words full of hatred and joy for the revenge so close to him.
With enthusiasm, he urged his spirit beast to go faster while the Great Black-backed Gull opened its beak ready to tear apart the human who was so hated by his master. However, a few moments before the contact, Lian maneuvered the ribbon that held Hei and his little sisters suspended, throwing the three of them high in the sky. Soon after, Lian loosened her grip on the seagull that had carried them in the air and launched herself towards the Great Black-backed Gull as she wrapped her ribbons on the creature's neck.
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Keow! Keow! Keow!
The Great Black-backed Gull didn’t seem happy at all about being tied up like that and began to shake its body vehemently as it tried to free itself. Pang Ja-Kyung looked with hatred at that scene and wanted to intervene. However, in front of him, Hei and his little sisters were blocking his way.
"Do you want to go somewhere?" Hei mocked as he smiled. He knew that Pang Ja-Kyung felt a strong grudge against him. As a result, he wouldn't have wasted the opportunity to make him more nervous. After all, those who ended up being clouded by anger ended up making mistakes during the fight.
And Pang Ja-Kyung was furious. He didn’t dare believe that a boy like Hei was so arrogant towards him. Last time he had lost his precious whale, yet now he had become the target.
"Brat! Do you really think you can do something? Let me teach you the difference between a spirit soldier and a mere spirit apprentice.” Pang Ja-Kyung spat each word angrily as he drew his sword. Then with swift footwork, he lunged forward against Hei.
Hei raised his spirit power to the maximum and infused it into the spear. Then he used his weapon to ward off the sword that was coming against him.
Peng!
A loud metallic sound rang out while the blade of Pang Ja-Kyung's sword was blocked by Hei's spear shaft. No matter how much strength the spirit soldier tamer tried to exercise, Pang Ja-Kyung was unable to advance his sword further, getting stuck a few centimeters from Hei's face.
"How is it possible! How can you?!” exclaimed Pang Ja-Kyung in amazement. He couldn't believe his attack had been blocked in such a way.
It was known that Hei hadn’t yet resorted to using his battle formation, and therefore, it was natural that Pang Ja-Kyung thought he had the advantage at the moment. However, Hei was a half-step spirit soldier, meaning his spirit power was on the threshold of the second rank. Although it was still at a disadvantage when it came to cultivation, the gap wasn’t that big. Furthermore, his spear had been made with his mother's body, a sixth-level divine beast; consequently it wouldn’t have been broken so easily. All Hei had to do was resist the impact, and that was precisely what he was doing right now.
Spit!
While Pang Ja-Kyung was still appalled by the scene in front of him, a large spit of saliva was generated from Hei's mouth. Using Chameleon Tongue, he perfectly centered Pang Ja-Kyung's right eye.
Although it was a simple spit and there was the layer of spirit power to act as a barrier, Pang Ja-Kyung couldn’t help but react instinctively when that lump of saliva temporarily blocked a portion of his vision. Immediately, he stopped exerting pressure with the sword as he wiped his right eye, and that action gave Hei a breathing space for charging against his enemy.
Stab!
With all the strength he possessed, Hei ran forward and pointed the spear at his opponent's stomach. The enemy's protective layer still held up, saving Pang Ja-Kyung from a severe injury. However, this wasn’t what Hei was aiming for. No, Hei had a completely different plan in mind.
Taking advantage of the enemy's protective layer of spirit power, Hei continued to push Pang Ja-Kyung along the body of the Great Black-backed Gull until they reached the creature’s tail. Then, using the momentum he had built up, he pushed Pang Ja-Kyung away from the second-level seagull and threw himself after that.
In mid-air in the sky, Pang Ja-Kyung stopped using his flight skill. He didn't know why Hei had done such a thing when he wasn't even a spirit soldier. Fighting in the air would only have favored him, after all, while placing Hei in a passive position. But he had no time to think about the reasons for such a suicide. Since he had been given the opportunity, he would have used it to teach the brat a lesson.
"Take this, Intent of the Sword, Piercing Blade!" Pang Ja-Kyung lunged forward while intercepting Hei, who was falling. But this was nothing more than a mistake.
"Ye! Xing! Now!” Hei screamed as he commanded his little sisters.
Suddenly, Ye lunged forward from Hei's shoulder. Waving her tail, she went to intercept Pang Ja-Kyung's sword aimed at her big brother.
Peng!
Another metallic noise rang out as the snake's tail and the sword blade collided. Entirely shocked, Pang Ja-Kyung realized the creature that had blocked his attack was a second-level spirit beast.
"How is that possible!?" Pang Ja-Kyung exclaimed in horror. He couldn’t believe that such a brat could command second-level spirit beasts. That meant they were equal regarding their taming skills.
'Snake Coiling!'
Without answering, Hei used Snake Coiling and wrapped his four limbs around those of Pang Ja-Kyung. The enemy beast tamer tried to react, but his sword was quickly stolen by Ye, who was now wielding it with her tail.
'Snake Hair!'
Leaving a lock to hold his spear behind his back, the rest of Hei's hair went to increase the grip on Pang Ja-Kyung. Meanwhile, Xing was also contributing to this, generating spiderweb threads to tie the two as tightly as possible.
"Brat! What the fuck are you trying to do?” Pang Ja-Kyung asked bewildered.
At the moment, they were being suspended in midair thanks to the spirit soldier's flying ability. Still, if Hei had started attacking him, the most direct consequence would have been that they would both have fallen down towards the ocean.
"How about a nice dive in the ocean waters?" Hei mocked as he looked at Pang Ja-Kyung a few centimeters from him.
At that point, Ye approached the beast tamer of Hong Shin’s crew and buried her fangs in the man's neck. The spirit power layer was still active, and it momentarily prevented Ye's fangs from entering the flesh. However, Xing was also attacking that area with her eight legs. So it was only a matter of time before the protective layer of spirit power that protected Pang Ja-Kyung collapsed.
"Shit! Great Black-backed Gull, where are you?!” Pang Ja-Kyung vehemently screamed as he realized the situation he was.
Since it had received no orders, the second-level gull had concentrated on trying to get rid of Lian still above its head. However, the young blue-haired woman had been more tenacious than ever. Holding on to her two ribbons wrapped on the head of the seagull, Lian had remained anchored on the bird's back even though the creature was constantly spinning on itself.
But, unfortunately for the seagull, there was no time to get rid of that annoying insect, and the bird quickly ran to its master after hearing his desperate cry for help. To its surprise, the seagull noticed the aura of two second-level spirit beasts. After sending a shout of defiance against Ye and Xing, it increased its flight speed even more.
'It has finally arrived.' Hei thought to himself as he smiled. The arrival of the second-level seagull didn’t bother him in the least.
"Xing! It's up to you! ”Hei immediately issued an order to his little sister, who understood what she had to do. With their level of familiarity, they didn’t need many words to understand what they were thinking.
With a jump, Xing launched herself into the air against the seagull heading for them. Quickly, her small body began to grow. In front of Pang Ja-Kyung's astonished gaze, the small spider became a huge three-meter spider. Xing's eight legs went to close on the body of the Great Black-backed Gull, who didn't expect such a change. Quickly, the two beasts crashed down as they spun at an insane speed.
Before plummeting down, however, Lian loosened the grip of her ribbons and jumped into the air towards Hei. Using one of her released ribbons, she wrapped that ribbon around the bodies of Hei and Pang Ja-Kyung, increasing the pressure between the two, and settled herself behind Hei's back, firmly grasping the young man's body.
“Nice job Lian. The time has come. Ye, take us down.” Hei said, smiling at Lian.
Since his hands were stuck, he used his tongue to lick Lian's forehead quickly. She made no sign of remonstrance at that gesture of affection and, in turn, smiled a little. Meanwhile, Ye was carrying out her big brother's command. Increasing the size of her body as Xing had done before, she quickly reached three meters in length. And when she did, Pang Ja-Kyung was no longer able to maintain the altitude, and the rapid downward fall began. Before long, they would encounter the harsh impact of ocean water.