John lowered his stance with his left hand in front of him in a guarding posture. He lightly spun his halberd before settling it horizontally behind him on his right.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
He lunged at the Earthflame Rat King, concentrating his full strength on the main blade of his halberd and stabbing out six times consecutively while covering the nearly 500m distance separating them.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The Rat King flicked its 9.8m long tail a few times, creating metallic sounds upon contact with the halberd.
"Hmph!"
The beast coldly harrumphed before swiping her barbed and heavy tail in a frontal semi-circle.
John felt the impact of the beast's violent and wild strength and retreated to defuse the force.
Rawr!
The Earthflame Rat King's back contracted like a compressed spring and then shot out like a bullet, pouncing at the now quickly retreating John.
Her bucket-sized head parted, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth the size of kitchen knives.
Snap!
John ducked under the beast that passed a mere 5 inches above his head, narrowly missing the snapping jaws.
Swish! Thuck!
The almost 10m long tail finally made contact with John's chest. He was smashed 800m away, leaving a few broken trees in his wake before flipping and steadying himself mid-air.
Huuuu!
John exhaled a stifled breath before gripping his weapon tightly. His battle suit was a pretty high-end one at the diamond grade, able to withstand damage from even peak stage 6 individuals.
"Everyone below King realm... retreat!" He ordered through his helmet.
The twenty-seven Crysalis realm mercenaries heaved heavy sighs of relief and began retreating without hesitation.
This battle had nothing to do with them. They covet the rewards and wanted to protect their city as well, but it seems impossible for them to accomplish anything by staying here.
Hell, even catching the movements of these two was an impossible feat to these mid-level combatants. So in what way could they participate? Stay here and become cannon fodder?
They weren't that noble!
"Jejeje, you can't leave!"
Of course, leaving here safely might not be up to them.
The beast opened its mouth, concentrated and spat out a 2m in diameter fireball at the fleeing mercenaries.
Seeing the growing fireball, the prepared John swung his halberd. A red qi wave shot out of the main blade, connecting with and dispersing the fireball.
"Cheh!"
"They can't escape far anyway. I'll still gobble them up after I'm done with you!" The beast squinted her red eyes complacently.
The beast had a right to be complacent.
Normal humans although can cultivate their martial arts, were almost always weaker than beasts of the same rank. Of course, there are always exceptions to everything.
Just like how beasts are separated into normal, rare, epic, divine descendants, and divine beasts, humans on Rivellus also have their own difference in strength. Apart from plain martial arts or physical cultivators, there are also espers who go through their second awakening at 16 years of age.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
While she was mocking John, the silently waiting Geri found his chance.
He retrieved a 1.5m wide and 9-inch high crossbow pre-installed with twelve 2 feet long and 2 inches thick bolts. He prepped the weapon and infused his metal-attributed origin qi into the silver-grade bolts, increasing their penetrating power and lethality before taking aim.
Thuck! Thuck!
RAAAWWWRRR!
The pain-filled roars of a damaged beast rang out for hundreds of kilometres.
"Nicely done!"
John rushed the beast, hacking at its head once more.
"Die for me!"
The beast howled. This time, the Earthflame Rat King didn't evade or block. She charged directly at the incoming John.
She was enraged!
Seven of those twelve bolts connected and submerged deep into the right side of her stomach while she was distracted.
Each of those bolts was of the silver grade and infused with metal-attributed origin qi. When paired together with the brilliantly shining diamond grade Calamity Warding Crossbow, the damage could be imagined.
It wasn't enough to instantly kill a stage 6 Calamity beast, they weren't cheap cabbages. But as the name suggests, these mechanical weapons were made specifically for the commanders in charge of defending the various cities in the Oolong Republic.
Geri had always been tempted to whip out his final trump card these past few days since the beast was driving him crazy. But without having a surefire chance at success, doing so would be meaningless and only needlessly put the beast on alert.
"You're too cocky!" John said calmly.
A full health, uninjured Calamity beast was cause for concern. But once it took so much damage, the chances of everyone dying here had already dropped by a few degrees.
Of course, an injured Calamity beast was still a life-threatening disaster for everyone present.
Clang!
Blades met with teeth as the beast bit down forcefully on the halberd, refusing to let go.
John vigorously spun the halberd in the beast's mouth, drawing copious amounts of blood.
Fhwip! Thwack!
The thigh-thick tail sent John flying once again.
Ka! Ka! Ka! Rumble!
This time, he flew for over 5km before slamming into the base of the 13km high Mount Anansi.
Cough! Cough!
John pulled himself out of the 30m deep self-made cave where he was embedded, coughing out a few mouthfuls of blood. He waved his hand, and the blood circled both his wrists.
He flew into the air, hurriedly following the devastation he left in his wake.
Rumble! Rumble!
"Ahhh!"
"Fuck!"
He swore while moving at his max speed.
...
Alfred looked at the three remaining holograms floating on the table, his face pale.
'So this is the strength of beasts in this world...'
He bit down on his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. Trying his best to vent this stuffy and tight feeling in his chest, and calm his wildly galloping heart.
What was he feeling?
If he had to put words to his feelings at this moment...
Was it fear?
Yes!
Definitely fear, but also...
Excitement!
Such power!
Such a magnificent display of martial might!
Much wow!
...
[...]
[Is this guy a masochist?]
...
Huuu! Haaa!
He took a few deep breaths.
He had watched everything to the best of his abilities. Ninety percent of what was going on flew over his head. It couldn't be helped. His cultivation was just too low.
But when he saw the rat standing on two legs and taunting his father while speaking the human language, he almost got the shock of his life.
However, the biggest shock came when the beast slapped John away, then swallowed that Captain Don Omar in two bites.
Now, the beast was looking directly into Alfred's eyes through the second biggest hologram.
'Uncle Geri is in deep trouble!' Alfred thought, as the beast charged at Geri.
Sadly, whether it be speed, strength, or reaction speed, Geri was never a match for the Earthflame Rat King. But naturally, as the one who inflicted the most damage unto the beast, Geri knew he was at the top of its kill list. So he was always prepared.
Swish!
Geri dodged, leaping behind an 8m thick Red Oak tree. Well, at least he tried to.
Chomp!
The beast bit down savagely.
Crack! Ka! Ka! Ka!
"Ahhh"
Geri's left leg and a 1m wide section of the tree disappeared into the belly of the beast.