A fierce gust of wind hit Raymond's face, causing it to sting sharply. The Black Lion's tail lashed out with terrifying speed and ferocity, creating a sharp sound as it whipped through the air. Raymond's dynamic vision couldn't track it; all he sensed was that in the next moment, the long tail was already upon him! Suddenly, a flash of white entered his field of vision!
A white figure collided violently with the black, night-like lion's tail!
The force was overwhelming!
The tail was flung back and quickly curled away!
BEN MAO landed lightly on the ground. It had been guarding Raymond all along, growling angrily at the Black Lion.
The sight was alarming. BEN MAO now bore a deep wound that exposed the bone, caused by the Black Lion's sneak attack. Hot blood seeped from the wound, staining its originally white fur a shocking red.
Raymond felt deeply distressed. He said softly, "That's enough, BEN MAO. You should leave now."
The battle was clearly one-sided. BEN MAO was no match for the Black Lion. Not only were there differences in physical qualities, strength, and speed, but their combat experiences were also worlds apart. This was understandable. One was a lion, and the other was a cat.
Raymond didn't want BEN MAO to get hurt any further.
"Meow! Meow!" BEN MAO shook its head firmly.
This time, it had learned its lesson. It shook its head without looking back, keeping its eyes fixed on the Black Lion. BEN MAO understood the hidden meaning in Raymond's words. It also knew that while its master could revive after death, that didn't mean it should just watch him die in front of its eyes.
No!
BEN MAO glared angrily at the Black Lion, refusing to back down!
Opposite, the Black Lion's tail recoiled, and it appeared exceedingly enraged.
To it, this human was just an incredibly weak ant, easily crushed underfoot. Did it need to exert full strength to deal with such an ant?
Of course not!
Thus, its earlier tail swipe had been casual, not nearly as powerful as the previous sneak attack on BEN MAO.
And because of the reduced power, BEN MAO had managed to swat it back.
Humiliation!
For the king of beasts, this was a great humiliation!
The Black Lion's eyes shone with cruelty as it roared madly, "Insolent… thing…! I will… kill you!"
With a furious roar, it lunged at BEN MAO.
BEN MAO meowed and fearlessly charged forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of violent collisions echoed continuously in the confined space, with blood splattering everywhere!
Unbelievably, despite facing a much stronger opponent, BEN MAO actually managed to protect Raymond, not allowing a drop of blood from the fight to fall within a meter of him.
But all this came at a great sacrifice.
Roar——!!
The Black Lion roared angrily to the sky.
Bang! Bang!
With another violent collision, both sides retreated.
The once proud Black Lion now looked rather disheveled and battered, its body covered with claw marks. The most severe injury was on its wing; one wing had been torn off, blood flowing from the wound and dripping to the ground.
But compared to BEN MAO, the Black Lion was in better condition.
BEN MAO had a large wound on its forehead, deep enough to expose bone, blood flowing down and making it hard to open its right eye. Its left foreleg was twisted grotesquely, clearly broken, and the most severe injury was a massive wound on its left abdomen, almost disemboweling it, with some intestines even spilling out. Its body was covered with wounds, bleeding all over.
It was clear that in this brutal battle, BEN MAO was at a disadvantage.
It was never a match for the Black Lion, and it had to protect Raymond throughout the fight.
The Black Lion, despite calling itself the king of beasts, acted without any royal demeanor, employing despicable tactics typical of wild predators, including ambushes and dirty tricks. Seeing BEN MAO protecting Raymond, treating him as more important than itself, the Black Lion wouldn't miss such an obvious weakness.
During the fight, it constantly attempted to attack Raymond whenever it had the chance.
Distracted by these attacks, BEN MAO sustained severe injuries, almost getting disemboweled at one point!
"Meow…" BEN MAO called weakly.
It was in a terrible condition, with life-threatening injuries and blood loss gradually draining its strength.
Though the Black Lion had lost a wing, it was still in much better shape.
Even so, BEN MAO couldn't retreat!
As long as it was alive, how could it watch its master die in front of it?
"Meow…"
BEN MAO tried to move forward again, but with its weakness and broken leg, it stumbled after a few steps. Yet, it quickly struggled up, staggering toward the Black Lion.
At this moment, it suddenly felt light, being lifted up.
"That's enough," said the familiar voice.
"Meow…" BEN MAO turned its head, looking at Raymond with its barely open left eye, feeling both aggrieved and stubborn.
"That's enough. You've done well enough," Raymond said softly, his voice gentle but firm, "Listen to me!"
It was probably the first time he spoke to it so gently, after all… he was a tough but soft-hearted person.
"Meow…" BEN MAO's eyes showed guilt and regret.
It was blaming itself for not being strong enough.
Raymond smiled warmly, gently patting its little head. BEN MAO squinted its eyes in comfort.
Raymond then looked up at the Black Lion, his gaze growing cold.
Thinking it had won, with Raymond and BEN MAO both having no fight left in them, the Black Lion took a moment to rest, recuperating from its own injuries.
Raymond withdrew his gaze and walked to the window.
The Black Lion just watched, confident that neither the man nor the cat could escape its grasp.
Raymond walked to the window, opened it, and looked down at BEN MAO in his arms, saying, "See you in a bit." Then he threw BEN MAO out the window.
The Black Lion watched in surprise, then snorted disdainfully, "It… can't run… far. After I… kill you… I'll… kill it too!"
Raymond ignored it, quietly looking at his blood-stained hands.
Suddenly, he smiled coldly.
He walked to the nightstand, picked up his phone, and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
The Black Lion snorted disdainfully, ignoring him.
"Don't know, huh?" Raymond opened his right hand to reveal a small remote control button, which he had grabbed when the Black Lion first broke in. "Do you know what this is?"
The Black Lion remained disdainful, not responding.
"That's why your first move after gaining intelligence should have been to learn about human civilization," Raymond said. "Otherwise, you won't even know how you died."
"Arrogant!" The Black Lion finally spoke, roaring furiously. The idea that a human, akin to an ant, could kill it was outrageous!
Raymond suddenly burst into laughter, "Arrogant? You're the truly arrogant one, dismissing thousands of years of human civilization!"
Saying this, he pressed the button on the remote control.
In the next moment, an ear-shattering explosion erupted, with violent shockwaves and raging flames engulfing the entire room, turning it into a death zone!!
Moments later.
Amid the thick smoke from the apartment building, the front door on the first floor was suddenly flung open.
A young man, wearing barely more than rags, rushed out, covering his mouth and nose.
Once outside, he released his hand, greedily gulping down fresh air. But after only a few breaths, he anxiously looked around until he spotted a severely injured fold-eared cat lying in a corner, weakly watching him with one open eye. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Luckily, there's no second one," he thought, hurrying over and gently picking it up.
The young man and the cat were, of course, Raymond and BEN MAO.
Looking up at his now-ruined bedroom, Raymond felt a pang of regret.
Furniture, appliances, food, personal items, and even… the guns in his room.
Yes, Raymond had guns in his bedroom.
After the incident with the big yellow dog, he had specifically gone to the nearest military base to gather some firearms. He didn't take the heavy or difficult-to-use weapons, but he did take some common firearms.
He had practiced with them since, and his shooting skills were decent.
Unfortunately, the place where he stored the firearms was precisely where the Black Lion had destroyed the wall to break in, so the guns were buried under the debris before he could use them.
So Raymond had to resort to his final plan.
However, after witnessing the Black Lion's terrifying speed and strength, even if he had a gun, Raymond had no confidence in using it effectively. In such a confined space, facing such an opponent, firearms wouldn't help much.
Raymond wasn't a highly trained, battle-hardened special forces soldier. If the Black Lion lashed out with its tail, he wouldn't even see it, let alone dodge it or shoot accurately.
And if he let BEN MAO entangle the Black Lion and then tried to shoot, he risked hitting BEN MAO instead.
Perhaps the only chance was to catch the Black Lion off guard, exploiting its ignorance about firearms for a fatal shot. But even then, hitting it successfully and ensuring a lethal shot were uncertain. Aiming and firing a gun was an obvious attack behavior, and Raymond estimated that, even if the Black Lion didn't understand firearms, it would instinctively dodge.
Of course, these were just hypothetical simulations. In reality, the Black Lion had inadvertently buried all the guns under debris when it first broke in, leaving Raymond with no chance to use them.
"Meow…" Suddenly, BEN MAO let out a weak cry.
Raymond quickly looked down at it and saw it trembling, raising a paw and pointing towards the bedroom.
Raymond was shocked.
Damn! Could it be that the lion isn't dead yet?!
He hurriedly looked up, only to see a pile of rubble, thick smoke, and occasional flames flickering out, but no sign of the Black Lion.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
And as he relaxed, he remembered that he had personally confirmed the Black Lion's death.
When he was in his soul state, he had done three things:
1. Waited.
2. Observed the escape route. Although Raymond could have waited longer before reviving, he couldn't leave BEN MAO, which he had thrown down, alone.
3. Confirmed the Black Lion's death.
The Black Lion lay miserably on the ground, not even twitching as it burned, clearly dead.
So, if it wasn't still alive, what was BEN MAO pointing to in the bedroom?
Raymond frowned, suddenly recalling that BEN MAO, although unable to beat the Black Lion, seemed to have gotten significantly stronger since the last battle with the big dog. Why was that?
His thoughts turned rapidly, and an image of that dog meat hotpot flashed in his mind!
Although the only result he got from that hotpot was repeated trips to the bathroom, perhaps BEN MAO had benefited from it?
Thinking this, he quickly asked, "Can that lion be eaten?" If someone who didn't know the situation heard this, they would surely think he was a hopeless glutton.
BEN MAO weakly nodded.
However, worried that this silly cat might just think he was asking if it was edible, Raymond quickly added, "I mean, will it help you heal?"
BEN MAO nodded again.
Raymond was stunned for a moment, then looked up at the room, dumbfounded, "It's charred, can you still eat it?"
…
Raymond's original plan was to leave immediately.
After all, the commotion was huge and would likely attract nearby evolved creatures. These creatures inexplicably harbored a grudge against Raymond, making it very dangerous to stay, especially after witnessing the terrifying power of evolved creatures this time.
But knowing that the Black Lion's flesh could benefit BEN MAO and even help it heal, Raymond immediately abandoned his original plan.
He looked around, then ran to a bush and gently placed BEN MAO inside, saying, "Hide here. I'll be right back."
Given BEN MAO's current state, leaving it here was somewhat dangerous, but taking it into the fire was undoubtedly even more dangerous.
After that strange rain, the once overgrown, unmanaged vegetation in the community had grown much taller and thicker, providing a good hiding spot for a cat for a short time.
Additionally, these plants seemed different from before.
However, Raymond didn't have time to study them.
After hiding BEN MAO, he asked, "The lion is too big to move. What part is the most valuable?"
BEN MAO weakly extended a paw and pointed to its own heart.
"The heart?"
As expected, Raymond thought. It was either the heart, the brain, or the wings.
With the answer, he immediately turned and rushed back into the smoke-filled apartment building.
Grabbing a fire extinguisher at the stairwell on the first floor, he dashed up the stairs.
Time! Time!!
Ignoring the risk of injury, Raymond charged forward with the fire extinguisher, barging his way through.
He quickly made it back to his home.
The living room was in ruins, but he still managed to find the military knife he had placed there, which he had taken from the military base, and it was very sharp.
"Cough, cough…" Raymond, holding the fire extinguisher in his left hand and the knife in his right, covered his nose with his forearm and ran towards the bedroom.
Before he even got close, a wave of scorching heat hit him.
Thick black smoke, flames dancing wildly…
This was the explosion site, the most severely damaged area, and the biggest fire.
Raymond rushed in without stopping.
The Black Lion's body was still burning. He emptied the fire extinguisher on it and, without checking for remaining flames, pounced on the still-hot corpse.
By the time he struggled to extract the Black Lion's heart, his hands and arms were already covered with several severe burns.
Due to the smoke and lack of oxygen, he started feeling dizzy and suffocated.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
The thick smoke made him cough uncontrollably. Staggering towards the wall, he didn't look down and jumped straight from the third floor.
Crack…
The sound of bones breaking.
"Hiss…" Raymond sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, nearly screaming but managing to hold it in.
Then, he flipped his hand, holding the knife backward, and decisively stabbed his own heart, twisting it fiercely.
Seconds later, Raymond was back on his feet, alive and well, clutching the knife and the Black Lion's heart as he ran, "Damn it, suicide really hurts!"