###120 Collective Hunt Part 5###
The human and beast rolled together, the shadow panther relying on its strength and agility advantage, knocking Charlie to the ground, its jaws suddenly opening wide, the two long curved fangs going straight for Charlie's neck.
The biting force of this beast reaches three to four hundred kilograms, not to mention the fragile neck, even the thigh bone couldn't withstand it.
The knight's sword was squeezed out of the circle, with nothing at hand to block its sharp biting, as expected, this panther had extraordinary hunting skills.
Charlie's forehead flushed hot, the anger surging to his head, punching directly into the shadow panther's throat, in an instant, his upper arm felt like it was gripped by a steel clamp, the canine teeth piercing the muscle, the pain excruciating, blood gushing.
And at the moment the shadow panther's fangs clamped down, a blazing stream of fire burst from Charlie's hand, rushing into the panther's stomach and abdomen, exploding violently inside...
The panther's body trembled violently, under the agony, it instinctively clamped down on Charlie's arm, rolling constantly, making Charlie a mess, but its death throes did not last long, it soon perished.
Ambushed by the shadow panther, the human and beast fighting for their lives, Charlie unleashed all his potential, after killing the beast, the pent-up breath in his chest finally escaped, then his vision blackened, head spinning, sweat pouring out, instantly soaking his clothes.
Charlie painstakingly pried open its mouth, slowly withdrawing his left arm, the upper arm a mass of bloody flesh, the wound painful and itchy, mixed with a bone-chilling icy feeling.
Tearing open his chest, there were over a dozen large and small lacerations, crisscrossing, the small wounds merely a red line, the large ones reaching two to three centimeters deep, peeled open to reveal the pink granulation tissue, blood gushing out, and a faint black mist swirling in the sea of red, constantly eroding the wound, hindering its healing, not only that, the insidious corrosive shadow energy would also erode the body's functions, causing a more terrible necrotic effect than physical wounds.
Fortunately, Charlie's shadow resistance is as high as 31 points, the necrotic effect greatly weakened, he consecutively used three 'Holy Light Flashes', completely driving out the remaining black mist on the wound, then did a simple dressing, the scratches on his chest barely treated.
Then, Charlie tore off the entire left sleeve, seeing the upper arm pierced by the fangs, covered with four wounds of varying sizes, swollen and bruised, a dense black mist lingering around the wound, he couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
This wound was much more serious than the scratches, Charlie tried to release a Holy Light Flash.
Whizz!
The holy light energy and shadow energy intertwined in the air, innately antagonistic, mutually extinguishing, emitting a series of strange sounds, Charlie's arm feeling as if it had been soaked in boiling hot water, the burning pain making him cry out involuntarily, the holy light energy quickly dissolving in the black mist, with no signs of improvement.
At this point, the chip prompted in his mind, "Detected a large number of unknown bacteria invading the body, left arm muscle tissue infected."
"Is there any way to stop them?"
"Lack of effective medicine, and unable to determine the type of bacteria, unable to stop, host please treat the wound as soon as possible, otherwise the infection will affect mobility in three hours."
The chip advised Charlie to treat the wound immediately, but couldn't provide an effective solution, how frustrating!
Charlie could only pin his hopes on light magic, the purification effect of Holy Light Flash was not enough, Charlie thought for a moment, and a pure holy flame appeared on his fingertips, he applied the holy flame to the wound to burn it.
An attacking spell, at this moment displaying an astonishing purification effect, the dense black mist in the holy flame gradually trembling, as if having a life of its own, transforming into various shapes, rushing towards the holy flame, and with Charlie's magic pool supporting the holy flame, continuously supplying energy, the two extreme energies fighting each other, while Charlie roared in satisfaction during the purification process.
"Can the holy flame suppress the bacteria's growth?" Charlie inquired in his consciousness.
The chip provided feedback, "From the current microscopic battlefield, it should be able to."
Nicely done! Charlie breathed a sigh of relief, but making holy light and shadow love and kill each other, it really f***ing hurts!
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from the distance, Charlie was focused on cleaning the wound, his attention lowered, auditory sensitivity reduced by 80%, only detecting people approaching within twenty meters.
"Huh! A shadow panther!" "It's quite intact! The condition is good!!"
Then, the two groups met.
Seeing Charlie sitting alone by the shadow panther's carcass, this team almost couldn't believe their eyes, they carefully examined the surrounding situation before reluctantly accepting the scene before them.
"Friend, did you... kill it by yourself?"
These people were up to no good, Charlie saw their greed for the shadow panther in their eyes.
Charlie nodded silently, continuing to dress the wound in an orderly manner.
Someone stepped in front of Charlie, squinting his eyes, tilting his neck, "Not bad in strength! Too bad your luck is bad, you ran into us, now I declare this panther belongs to us!
If you don't want to die, get the hell out of here! You have thirty seconds, before we change our minds!"
Charlie remained silent, not yet responding.
Another person on the opposite side looked at Charlie's apprentice badge, pondering, "No! Don't let him go! To be able to slay a shadow panther alone without sustaining too much damage, I believe an first-year apprentice cannot accomplish this by their own ability.
So, he must have some good magic equipment on him, we shouldn't miss the forest for the trees, those things are the valuable ones, the shadow panther is just an extra bonus!"
"Well said! He's a crystal badge apprentice, he must have high-end stuff given by his mentor!"
A girl giggled, "Wow!! A crystal apprentice, you bunch of scoundrels! Aren't you afraid of his teacher? At least a great magus, maybe even a High Mage!"
Hearing this term, the scene paused, the awe of the High Mage's presence seemed to be everywhere.
"Oh! The High~ Mage~ Wow, how powerful!"
One apprentice let out a reckless cackle, "Haha! So what if it's the High Mage, what's it to me? This is the Twilight Forest, guess if I'm afraid or not!"
"What nickname?"
"Canned crystal, of course!"
"Brother, I don't get it?"
"It means he's full of good stuff!" The group chatted casually without a care.
Finally, a slightly older young man spoke up in a deep voice, "Alright, stop the idle chatter! It's noisy here, easy to get sidetracked, let's just get this done!"
He seemed to be the leader of this team.
"What about him?" A question that gathered all eyes on Charlie.
The air suddenly stilled.
"Of course we kill him! To eliminate any hidden trouble!"
"Must kill him!" The members of the team one by one voiced their decision, even the sole girl made the choice to kill.
Boom!
Two water mists exploded in the crowd, instantly permeating an area dozens of square meters, the thick fog filling the forest, unable to discern even five fingers.
"D*mn it! Don't let him get away!!" An enraged voice arose from the forest.
Not everyone in the group was so careless, like their leader, who kept his attention focused on Charlie, the moment Charlie released the fog spell, he raised his hand with a knife, chopping towards Charlie's legs.
At the same time, the archer facing Charlie, losing sight in the mist, drew his bow and fired, relying on perception to lock onto Charlie's position.
In an instant, the chip issued a fierce warning in Charlie's mind, although vision was lost, the two threatening attacks were clearly tracked.
D*mn it! They're too close!!
Charlie instantly calculated the best evasion plan, bursting with full body strength, lunging outwards.
Dodging the arrow, unable to avoid the knife mere inches away, the blade cutting a long gash on Charlie's buttocks, a burning sensation, blood flowing down the pant leg.
Charlie let out a muffled groan, staggering and breaking out of the encirclement, striving to maintain a quiet state, not rushing to leave, crouching somewhere, making himself invisible in the mist.
"Ah! You hit me! Can you be a little calmer!"
"Gale Spell! Hurry! Use the Gale Spell!"
"I know! Casting takes time, why are you yelling? Can you yell out a spell?"
"Shut up! What's the yelling for? The more you yell, the harder it is to catch him!"
"Useless! A bunch of useless! Let one person get away! D*mn it! Wait for his teacher's retaliation!"
Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, Charlie quickly fled the scene, reluctantly abandoning the shadow panther.
Compared to the rage of this group, Charlie was even more annoyed, he was already seriously injured, the holy flame hadn't completely cleansed the residual shadow force in the wound, and then he encountered another team fighting for resources, these people not only mindlessly robbing resources, but also not giving Charlie a chance to negotiate, directly going for the kill!
Charlie ran for 500 meters, feeling no one chasing behind, then stopped to pant heavily.
Holy Light Flash, Rain Soaked, Natural Healing, one after another applied to the wound, the buttocks injury gradually starting to heal.
Then, Charlie climbed up a tree, quickly hiding himself in the dense forest, disappearing without a trace.