"I finally found prey."
The hunter, an A-Rank beastman, grinned savagely to Bloed and Atai.
Fuck. Bloed cursed in his mind. This was the worst situation possible.
He had met an A-Rank.
It was the same A-Rank Bloed had seen a while ago through Oculus.
Bloed had made sure to keep an eye in the A-Ranks and to avoid meeting them. This time, though, he was too focused in his battle with Atai that he failed to notice that the A-Rank was approaching.
The A-Rank was probably attracted here due to the commotion Bloed and Atai caused.
"Nice to meet you, kids." The hunter spoke up cheerily. "Now, are you ready to face the hunter?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying pressure was emitted from him.
The powerful A-Rank pressure assaulted Bloed and Atai, as though it wanted to make them kneel.
Just that show of power was enough for Bloed to know he was not a match for this enemy.
Bloed looked and Atai and found the cougarkin looking towards him as well. Obviously, he had also realized how grim the situation was.
Without hesitation, Bloed and Atai nodded to each other. Both of them agreed to cooperate with that nod.
The hunter stared at them and grinned. He then grabbed a greatsword from his back and took a step forward.
"Come on, kids. Show me what are you made of."
After saying that, his figure disappeared.
Bloed and Atai reacted instantly, both of them kicking the ground and jumping away.
The next instant, the A-Rank appeared just in front of them and swung his sword!
Then–
*Boom!!!*
The sword slash cut through the ruins of the city, destroying completely the building behind Bloed and Atai.
The pair's expressions turned solemn. If they did not evade in time, they would have been defeated with just that attack.
The A-Rank looked at them and nodded. "Good. You were able to evade that. Then, how about this."
With a smile, his muscles tensed up!
Then, his sword cut the air, creating a storm of sword energy that assaulted Bloed and Atai!
Bloed and Atai responded immediately. One of them called upon Leto and used it as a barrier, while the other materialized a cougar-like figure around him that barely stopped the attack.
Then, the two of them moved.
Both towards the A-Rank!
Saber and daggers cut through the air at great speed, arriving in front of the A-Rank.
But it was useless. With a twist of the hunter's body, both attacks were evaded. Then, the hunter stomped the ground, causing it to shake.
Bloed and Atai lost their footing briefly. Using that opportunity, the A-Rank swung his greatsword again.
Bloed and Atai watched how the sword became bigger and bigger before their eyes.
At the last second, though, Leto turned into several chains that wrapped around the greatsword, slowing it down and giving Bloed and Atai enough time to jump back.
At the same time, Leto's metallic sand lit up fiercely, creating countless arcs of electricity that traveled through the sword and arrived at the A-Rank's body.
"Argh!" The A-Rank grunted and pain and swung his sword, blowing Leto's metallic sand away. But during the brief instant the A-Rank was stunned, Atai shot an arrow and Bloed fired his blaster guns.
Unable to move due to the effects of electricity, the A-Rank could only receive the attacks forcibly. He used his greatsword to stop Atai's arrows and one of Bloed's energy bullets.
As for the second energy bullets, he braced himself and received it with his shoulder.
"Ugh!!!"
Pain filled the A-Rank's body. The blaster bulled burnt his shoulder, creating a dangerous-looking injury.
But Bloed's expression was ugly. Although the injury seemed ugly, he knew it was not as threatening as it looked.
In fact, the bullet had barely burned his muscles.
"BRATS!" The A-Rank roared in pain. He then kicked the ground and charged towards Bloed.
But at that moment, Atai appeared behind him.
Using his monstrous speed, Atai wielded his two daggers in a crisscrossed manner and cut towards his back!
Suddenly, though, the A-Rank spun his body and raised his feet, unleashing a kick.
*Bam!*
Atai was sent flying away and crashed against a wall.
The A-Rank was prepared to continue attacking Bloed, but then he felt something wrapping around his legs.
Looking down, he saw the metallic sand covering from his feet to his knees.
And–
*Zak!*
Electricity danced, paralyzing his body.
The A-Rank reacted instantly. With a thought, mana erupted from his body, sending the metallic sand flying away.
However, his body had been paralyzed for a brief instant.
And since the start of the battle, more than three seconds had passed.
At that instant, a ray of light fell from the sky, straight towards the A-Rank's body.
It was Oculus's plasma ray!
The A-Rank's eyes opened wide in astonishment. Surprisingly, his instincts were warning him of danger.
Without hesitation, he unleashed her entire mana.
"Argh!"
With a roar, he forced his body to move. Then, his greatsword lit up with a terrifying glow that clashed against the plasma ray.
*BOOM!!!*
A powerful explosion shook the surroundings, and the blinding light produced from the clash between the plasma ray and the sword was visible from kilometers away.
When the light faded, the A-Rank walked out of the epicenter of the explosion with his body covered in burns.
His face, however, was showing an excited smile.
"They escaped, huh."
As he expected, the two kids made use of that attack to escape.
However, he was not disappointed.
Instead, he was happy the candidates were so outstanding.
"Mm, who should I go after? The human or the indigenous boy?"
With a grin, he decided.
"I guess I will follow the king's orders."
And followed after Bloed.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels