As the tiger leaped through Clover, it didn't even touch the ground and continued soaring to Clover like it was flying. Its wide open mouth acted like it was about to bite Clover with its canine teeth.
Clang!
The pair of daggers clashed with the two pairs of canine teeth. The dagger crack and visible fractures could be seen slithering to the dagger before it stopped. Clover flew over to the trees, caused by the powerful, aggressive force behind the tiger's attack.
Boom!
Clover's airborne was stopped by the trees, which caused the impact absorbed by Clover's body. He couldn't help but cough out blood from his mouth, as he was trying to open his eyes from the dizziness like he was about to faint.
Trying to get up, his gaze landed on the tiger who looked at him – dumbfounded. The tiger was shocked by the turn of events. Shouldn't his enemy's strength be equal to him? What happened?
His thoughts almost reached what a kid could have, though supposed his mind should be a child. He was so excited that he neglected his enemy's physical ability and focused on the aura radiating from the enemy.
If truly the enemy before him managed to kill a lion comparable to him. Shouldn't the lion feel ashamed to be killed by someone who he could injure with just one move? He didn't even use his full strength yet.
The yellow stripe tiger was so disheartened that a sigh came out of his mouth. His eagerness earlier like a cat who found a toy turned into nothing but dismay. Like a cat who lost interest in his toys, the tiger was about to turn its body and walk away, when something sharp object flew toward him.
Swoosh!
The Lion's left side abdomen was pierced by the flying knife, and blood could be seen coming out of it. The knife may not be sharp for the tiger, but its abdomen was one of the weakest parts of the body. It was full of flesh rather than muscles, so it was inevitable for its abdomen to resist the sharp point of the flying knife.
Growl…
The Tiger snarled in grimaced, as it turned its blazing eyes to Clover who was holding the dagger. He was standing on a branch of a tree, where his body landed on the impact. His right hand leaned to the tree, while a smirk was visible on his face.
The tiger feels through the man's smirk mocking him for dropping his guard down. It took seconds for the tiger to process his thoughts and come to this conclusion. He decided to kill this human since the threatening aura radiating from the human was nothing to laugh at.
Taking the human seriously, the tiger leaped upward once more to Clover, who was standing at a height of five meters.
Swoosh!
Although the tiger didn't show any sign of stopping and falling to the ground, as if the law of gravity didn't apply to him. Clover was still putting a smile on his face, but his inner side was at odds with his smile.
At first, when Clover saw that the yellow-striped tiger was about to leave, Clover almost panicked and didn't hesitate to attack it with his flying dagger. He couldn't just leap to the tiger and attack it with a dagger, right? It was nothing more than a suicide attempt.
So although reluctantly, his five flying knives turned into four. With this, he couldn't activate his skill which was the only strongest trump card he have. He doesn't have a choice either, he needed to provoke the tiger and decided to act with the plan. To lure the fish with the bait.
Jumping to the nearest branch, he manages to dodge the tiger's attack like a truck that sends people to the otherworld. The branch he was previously standing on, was cut like tofu. The claws just accidentally cleaved it, yet it didn't even manage to stop the tiger for the second and just sliced through the branch.
Seeing this, Clover's back was drenched in a cold sweat, and a shiver ran through his spine. Although he already saw how sharp the claw was to the crust, seeing it close – cutting a thick branch that was almost the size of his body, his life just flashed through his eyes. As if the impending death, would literally happen if he was the branch.
Gulp
Gulping his own saliva, he tried to sort his messy mind, and use it to calm it down alongside his body. Although his legs turned numb and he almost couldn't feel it anymore, he slapped it to awaken it from its slumber and jumped to gain distance from the tiger who was falling to the ground, and finally, the law of gravity brought him down.
"This is bad, this beast is much stronger than the mutated lion. I overestimated my capabilities and blindly follow my desires, next time I should control this. Though, there will still be next time? Next time in the afterlife, I guess," Clover said. The optimistic person from before was now turning pessimistic.
Well, who wouldn't be? When the situation was against him. He needed to accept reality rather than continue to believe in an unfeasible dream.
The yellow-stripe tiger turned its head and saw the despair in the eyes of Clover. He didn't care about it, as long as the human dies before him, nothing could satisfy him at the moment. Although his first and second attempts failed, that didn't cause him to lose his mind and attack blindly.
Leaping to Clover once more who also dodges its attack. The scene was quite strange, like a man who was holding a fish and baiting a cat who also cooperated and jumped in an attempt to get the desired fish.
This scene continued for about five minutes, though five minutes was not that long. For Clover, it was almost an hour, and he was already exhausted, and sometimes gasps for breath whenever he jumped into the trees.
"No! This can't be continued anymore since I will be the one who will be worn out. If I continued doing this, then I will replace what happen to the branch before – with my body," Clover exclaimed, as he came to realize how dangerous if he continued battling the tiger with attrition.
From the tiger's expression, it didn't seem to be tired, and instead, its leaping speed was increasing. It must have felt that Clover was beginning to feel exhausted and trying to take it to his advantage.
"I still need to live. There are still many things in my life left unanswered, and I can't just forget about them. I still need to find Eleanor and Rose, and ensured that they can survive and come out strong to this New Age." The usual optimistic Clover was now back, and determination steeled his heart.
With the sudden change of mentality, his body agreed as if it was waiting for it to happen. His eyes darted to the yellow-striped tiger, as his memory flashed to the yellow-striped tiger's movement earlier. He was analyzing the pros and cons of the tiger and decided to make another new probable decision.