Back at the top of the mountain Roro and the rest were still being chased by the shadow beast.
After Harper fell off the cliff, Professor Sun was overtaken by despair. Although he couldn’t see if she died in the darkness of the night, he knew that the drop was at least 200 ters. Even a Martial Warrior would have a hard ti surviving such a drop, not to ntion Harper who was only a Martial Apprentice.
Under these conditions his old body had completely shut down as grief filled his mind, forcing Roro to carry him on his back while they ran.
Unfortunately, this had slowed them down and prevented their escape from the shadow beast. Roro honestly thought about dropping Professor Sun down and leaving him for dead.
However, Roro had a conscience that prevented him from doing this for several reasons. Firstly, it was his mission to protect Professor Sun and the rest through this mission and until now all he had done was watch powerlessly as they all died. Secondly, Roro felt responsible for Harper falling off the cliff. When he tripped and fell, it was him who sent Harper stumbling near the edge. He wonders if things would have turned out different if he had just held on to her when he tripped.
However, Roro didn’t have long to think before he heard another high pitch roar erupt from behind him, sending several waves crashing into the mana barrier he had created around his brain.
Right now, the beast was chasing them while hiding in the shadows. Roro couldn’t see it but every now and then it would release a loud roar that would cause a severe headache if they didn’t protect their brain with mana. Unfortunately, everyti the roar crashed into the barrier, it would drain a large amount of mana.
Roro had managed to rest for a few minutes unlike Harper and had recovered around a tenth of his total mana. It would have been enough to last him another day or two under normal circumstances but with the constant drainage from the protective barrier around his brain and strengthening his body with mana, Roro wasn’t sure if he would be able to hold on for another 10 minutes.
It was worth ntioning that the environnt wasn’t in their favor either. With cliff walls and ledges on every side Roro was constantly thinking of where they would go next before they ran into a dead end.
"Think, think! There has to be a way out of this situation. I am not letting another person die!" Roro thought as his eyes shifted around their surroundings, looking for a possible escape route.
It was at that point that Professor Sun, who was on Roro’s back softly spoke.
"Leave behind... You two are still young and shouldn’t have to die because of this useless old man..."
His eyes were dark and his voice hoarse. His words may have been ant to save Roro and Eliza, but Roro could tell that what he truly wanted was release from this nightmare.
This only made Roro grit his teeth as a deep sense of powerlessness overwheld him. If only he had the strength to protect Harper and her brother, this situation wouldn’t have happened.
At that mont, Roro had decided.
"Eliza, take the Professor and go! I’ll stay back and buy you so ti to escape."
As he spoke he dismounted Professor Sun from his back and handed him over to Eliza.
"What?! Absolutely not, I am not leaving you behind!" Eliza imdiately rejected the idea.
"There’s no ti, just go! I’ll buy you a few minutes! Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you after I slow it down a bit."
Eliza wanted to reject the idea again but before she could speak Roro cut her off.
"Just go! As the leader of this escort group I order you to protect the target and get him out of danger!"
When Eliza heard Roro’s words she gritted her teeth as she turned around, prepared to run.
Professor Sun, who had seen the entire exchange, felt his mind clear up a bit at this point. Although he still wanted to die he didn’t want to allow so young kids to die for him.
Releasing himself from the support of Eliza, he got up as he looked at Roro.
"Enough! I will get to decide whether I live or not! And I am sure as hell not going to let a group of kids decide that for ."
As Professor Sun spoke he looked at Roro before jumping forward, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him to his side.
*Snap!*
The large maw of the beast snapped down where Roro was previously standing. After seeing it, Professor Sun circulated the mana in his body before focusing it on strengthening his legs.
With a light shout, Professor Sun sent a kick flying upwards.
*Bang!*
With a loud dull sound, Professor Sun’s kick hit the beast’s jaw, sending its massive lion head rocking backwards.
Imdiately after, he dashed back, grabbing Roro and Eliza who were shocked by his sudden movents.
"You kids are Hunters, right? There is a beast in front of us that’s responsible for the death of my granddaughter. Now, I may not be a fighter like you two, but I am going to fight and kill that demon even if I die in the process! We have been running for days on end, without any stopping in sight. This led to our inevitable exhaustion and forced us into the situation where we are now. But no more, I don’t care if I die fighting today but I am done running! I am going to fight and kill that beast in front of . I won’t let kids like you die for so you should take this chance to run."
As Professor Sun spoke, the Shadow Beast had already gotten up. Its massive head swayed from side to side as its vicious eyes glared at the man that had just kicked it.
At that point, Roro felt like a burden had been released from his shoulder. All this ti he had been running and trying to survive because it was his duty to protect Professor Sun and the others. However, with each death of the escort group, Roro felt the responsibility to protect the remaining few increase.
Now however, after hearing Professor Sun’s resolve to fight till the end, Roro ca to a realization.
Since they were all most likely going to die here anyways, what was the point of running? Since the escort target has already chosen to fight till the end, then I just have to follow him and fight with him! Screw running, I choose blood!
As this thought ran through Roro’s mind, his body relaxed as a burning fighting spirit began to well up within him. This feeling was both familiar and unfamiliar at the sa ti.
The last ti he felt it was back when he had just graduated from the Royal Dragon Martial Academy. Back then he had achieved the Martial Warrior Realm before he graduated, a feat few have ever achieved. This filled him with a sense of arrogance and freedom. He was prepared to fight the world and take on every challenge that ca his way.
However, it was two months ago that this arrogance was completely destroyed when he lost his duel against Don. That loss had destroyed him and his arrogance and fighting spirit had been utterly crushed.
Now however, the arrogance was still gone, but Roro felt like he had achieved a higher state of being in that mont. Fighting spirit filled his body, making his blood boil as his mind beca inexplicably clear.
Turning his head to Eliza, he saw that she had also gone through a similar transformation. He could see that the fear had vanished from her eyes and all that remained was clarity as if nothing was weighing her down.
Eliza turned to look at Roro and after making brief eye contact they both walked forward to stand in front of Professor Sun who raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Old man, you said it yourself. You’re not a fighter, but I’m not going to ask you to not fight. If you want to avenge your granddaughter, stay back and follow our lead. Let us show you how hunters hunt."
As Roro spoke he got into a fighting stance, raising his fist and relaxing his body as he stopped trying to preserve the remaining mana and focused it all into strengthening his fist.
A relaxed smile slowly ford on his face as he lowered his body, like a predator ready to lunge forward at a mont’s notice.
At that mont, the blue fate above Roro’s head started to tremble.
"GRAHH!!"
The Shadow Beast took this chance to release another roar as a shockwave spread out.
However, before the Beast could continue roaring, Roro dashed forward.
*BANG!*
With the sound of an explosion, Roro’s fist slamd into the lion’s jaw with an uppercut, interrupting its roar and sending its malford body stumbling backwards.
As the creature stumbled backwards it started to blend into the shadows, prepared to retreat.
However, before it could fully vanish, it felt sothing crash into its small hind legs forcing its already uneven body to topple over and fall, once again interrupting its ability.
Eliza, who had just swept out with her legs quickly got up as Roro took this chance to rush forward and jump on top of the creature’s large head, hamring blow after blow into its cranium.
Eliza and Professor Sun also took this chance to rush up and slam several more blows into the creature’s body, venting the pain and anger out of their hearts.
Under the beating from Roro and the rest along with its out of proportion body that had already given the beast a hard ti getting up, it couldn’t move an inch.
Roro and the rest were constantly raining blows onto its body, causing it imnse pain. The shadow beast wanted to roar in response but it would soon find its mouth getting beaten shut by the joint assault of the small group.
This assault went on for over a minute in which the beast found itself in a miserable state. Roro, who positioned himself atop the creature’s large head continued to drill his mana-imbued fists into its skull.
He took this chance to vent the frustration that had been piling up in his heart all this ti. The crushing feeling of losing to Don, getting captured by the Wolf King, losing his teammates in the rift, moving for days without rest. All of this had caused him great pain and left him extrely frustrated. However, with no way to vent it and needing to constantly look out for the remaining survivors, this frustration only continued to quietly grow in his heart.
However, now that he found a target to vent his emotions and had let go of all his duties, each punch he threw was fueled by the rage flowing through his blood, releasing the pent up stress and pain that he has been keeping to himself.
At that mont, the feeling of his fists smashing against the creature’s skull left an addictive aftertaste that brought him great joy and satisfaction as a wild smile ford on his face.
However, even after being beaten by the entire group, Roro could tell that the creature still hadn’t suffered any injuries. All their attacks served to do was cause it pain.
But so what? Roro already knew that he wouldn’t be able to kill the creature with his current combat strength but still chose to continue the fight. In his mind, this was already his final battle and he planned to fight till the end, even if he ended up dying in the process.
In that instance, Roro had shed all pretense and had completely indulged himself in the endless pleasure of his fists pounding into this shadow beast’s flesh and bone. As if responding to his endless fighting desire, the strands of fate above him that were vibrating started to show another change as they slowly started to take on a golden color.
However, this constant attacking had greatly accelerated the rate of his mana consumption and after another minute, his attacks started to weaken.
The Shadow Beast who had noticed this imdiately took the opportunity to release a loud roar as it rolled its body, throwing Roro off.
Roro took this chance to roll away as well, regrouping with the rest. His mana had been exhausted after that last round of attack and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to continue to fight like before.
With the threat of death looming Roro felt strangely at peace. Even if he died in this mont he knew he had died as a warrior, not a coward.
At that point, Roro felt two palms land on his back as a steady stream of mana flowed into his body. Roro turned around in shock only to see Professor Sun and Eliza transferring their remaining mana to him.
"Take it, I can’t fight like you, but I still have a few drops of mana left. I might as well give it all to you so that you can continue fighting till the bitter end!" Professor Sun said.
Eliza also nodded her head to confirm that she was of the sa sentint as Professor Sun.
When Roro saw this his face turned solemn. The Professor had already said enough and Eliza had also chosen to follow this path. Closing his eyes, Roro started to focus on integrating the mana that was flowing into him.
This process took so ti, in which the Shadow Beast had already gotten up. Its ferocious eyes turned towards Roro and the rest. After being humiliated by the group, the beast’s killing intent was burning.
With another loud roar, it lunged forward, its large maw opened wide and prepared to bite down on Roro.
However, in that instant, the strands of fate above Roro’s head had fully turned golden as it blossod into a brilliant light.
Suddenly, Roro opened his eyes as he focused all the mana in his body into his right fist, a bright golden light enveloping it.
Looking at the beast before him, Roro roared as he t the malford demon in the air with a fighting spirit burning just as bright as the mana-filled fist he was intent on crashing into the Shadow Beast’s face as he flew forward.
*BOOM!!*
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