The Fiery Panther watched as the small human fought against the Alpha Bear and it was fascinated.
How was a small human able to contend with the Alpha Bear, not just in strength but in speed and magic too. It was almost appalling.
And the soul essence it sensed coming from the human was the purest and richest it had ever felt. It would be more than enough to push it several levels higher and then maybe…a glint of greed reflected in its clear red eyes.
But then it noticed something different.
The human was struggling against a single tendril of purple lightning and this puzzled the beast for a moment.
Just seconds ago the human had been shattering the tendrils left and right but now he seemingly struggled with this one? What was going on?
Before it could ponder any further however the tendril of purple suddenly curved away from the human. It travelled across the air so fast that it only took a single blink for it to be upon the Panther.
Purple lightning struck. A wave of pain shooting throughout the Panther's body with merciless malice. Its coat of fur was burnt black, its fiery mane was a mess and its insides were partly charred- they would have been worse had it not circulated its mana on instinct to dispel some of the damage.
But the damage was done.
For a moment the Panther was confused and dazed but when its gaze landed on the Alpha Bear, it didn't see the human who was on the ground, it didn't see that the Alpha Bear was about to claim the prize.
All it saw was an enemy who had just tried to kill him while his guard was down. After all, that was the only explanation. It couldn't comprehend or consider the possibility that the human had deliberately and skillfully deflected the lightning in a way that it glanced off his sword and headed right in its direction.
The Alpha Bear, The Fiery Panther and the Bone Ape weren't allies per se. They had been forced to work together by an even stronger entity…one that Huey was already familiar with, that was the only reason they were here to begin with otherwise as Second Star Order existences they weren't affected by the blood lust effect of the world's evolution.
So when the purple lightning struck the Fiery Panther, it took it as a threat. A slight to its pride and the fact that it had also been hit didn't sit well with it. Though it had evolved to the Second Star Order and had gained intelligence and sentient thought, it was more like a child first learning of the world with curiosity it didn't understand the complexities of the world at all and didn't even bother to think that maybe the human had deliberately directed the attack in its direction.
So there was only one thing it knew.
The Alpha Bear had attacked it and for that it had to pay in the only way possible.
It had to die.
The Fiery Panther stirred its mana and opened its maw exposing rows of razor sharp canines. In the space between its open teeth, energy begun to gather and condense. The temperature around the Panther rose, the very molecules in the air seeming to boil and move at higher frequencies than they were used to.
Sparks of orange ignited and a fiery ball of intense flames gathered and expanded. It grew, in diameter and in temperature- so much that it easily passed over the 1000C mark.
The Panther released what sounded like a howl and the ball of fire launched into the air as though shot through a canon.
The air around it super heated and whatever loose water particles were in the air were evaporated with little to no effort or waste of energy. It curved through a wide path, rising over the ground by ten meters while following a parabellum heading right towards the Alpha Bear.
The Alpha Bear was caught slightly off guard.
But a Second Star Order existence was above the First Star Order for a reason.
Its mana stirred and a purple magic circle managed to manifest just above its head. Purple lightning shot forward to intercept the fiery ball. It exploded on impact sending waves of heat and scattering volatile energy in all directions.
The Alpha Bear was too close to the focal point of the impact. A sheet of flames washed over its entire body burning off fur and flesh alike. One half of its face almost melted off. The Bear reacted as fast as it could given the circumstances.
Its mana circulated within its body as the Bear used it to offset most of the adverse effects of the heat and jumped back as far as it could.
The destruction of the land was palpable and both beasts found themselves standing at the center of a 6 meter deep crater where the heated rocks still glowed with an intense orange hue. The air here was thinner as the heat used up most of the oxygen making breathing a difficult endeavor.
Yet as Seconds Star Order existences this had little effect on them. They could for hours without breathing so it was fine.
Both beasts stood apart facing each other off.
The human that was the cause of it all simply stood to the side watching as these events unfolded. The two beasts completely oblivious as to who was the cause of this confrontation.
…
I held my breath. The air here was thinner and hotter too. I managed to stand on my feet, still reeling from the effects of the lightning energy that was still rampaging in my body. I bit back a groan and looked down on myself.
And my appearance…looked like a mess. The sleeves of the [Full Coat] were completely burnt off exposing my forearms, still raw and tender from the pushing the lightning off earlier.
None of that mattered right now.
My plan worked.
Even though the price I had to paid was an injury that would have risked my guaranteed survival, the opportunity this had created was well worth it and I'd pay it a hundred times over because now I had an 80% chance of victory.
If I was to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to defeat the Alpha Bear in a head on fight and that was with me using everything at my disposal. And even if I did win, my body would have been in a state too injured and the Fiery Panther would have taken advantage and finished me off.
But now…
These two would do most of the job for me.
The beasts burst into action. The ground exploding beneath both of their feet as they lunged at each other. The Alpha Bear roared in contempt while the Panther merely growled dangerously as it closed the distance.
Bear and panther clashed. The Bear's paw slamming down with the force of an anvil dropping from the fourth floor of a building. The panther dodged, leaping to the lift just as the paw hit the dirt.
The ground shuddered.
Springing off its hind legs, the panther burst forward with an open maw. It sunk its teeth into the arm of the paw that had just descended. Its canines digging deep enough to draw blood, just past the muscle.
The Alpha Bear roared.
Whether it was from the pain or as a show of strength, no one but the bear knows. What I did know was that the bear had enough strength to raise its arm, bringing it up together with the panther who was still clamping down on its flesh, its teeth sinking deeper with every passing second and drawing more and more blood.
Realizing that its feet were no longer on the ground, the panther was smart enough to release its hold and let go its arm. It didn't let go fast enough, the Alpha's other arm was already swing on a wild arc. Its paw smashing into the panther and its claws partially tearing through the flesh its side.
The panther was sent hurtling. It crashed into the ground four meters away, the ground depressing on impact and cracks spreading around as though a spider's handy work.
A whimper of pain escaped its throat. It sounded more like a wounded puppy than a vicious Second Star Order beast
The Alpha Bear was already charging forward. A purple magic circle taking shape above its head.
The Fiery Panther shakily got to its feet. It was slightly dazed but its focus was fully locked onto the beast barreling towards it. It opened its maw and there was a spark of orange before a fire ball took shape and launched forward.
Just then a spark of purple ignited and a lightning tendril shot forward, only to be intercepted by a ball of flames. There was a beautiful but deadly clash of purple and orange and the surrounding heat rose to even greater temperatures.
All while this was happening, the Alpha Bear continued its forward charge.
By the time the Alpha Bear was upon it, the Fiery Panther was already on its feet and ramrod straight and attention.
The Bear bared its paws, sending them in its direction but the panther managed to evade the blow. The Alpha Bear had strength on its side but with the current state of its body it didn't have the speed.
The same couldn't be said for the panther though. It managed to circle around the large beast, appearing to its back and attacking its hind legs. It only took two swipes of its claws before the ligaments that connected to the Bear's feet were torn asunder.
Losing the support of its hind legs, the Alpha Bear lost balance and fell forward leaving it no choice but to use its front arm for support as a result…
The Bear left itself vulnerable on the sides and the panther wasn't shy to take advantage.
It attacked viciously, with almost rabid intensity and eagerness. It clawed, scratched and bit into the beast tearing through flesh and causing blood to flood from the wounds. The Bear made several attempts of swiping with its two remaining arms but that only ended with it falling on its belly giving the panther more room to work with.
…
I watched all this from the distance and came to one conclusion.
'The bear is out of mana'
It was the only explanation to the situation. I had personally witnessed and experienced the horror of the purple lightning so when it said it was by far one of the deadliest skill to boot and far more destructive so it was only natural that it would consume large amounts of mana.
So what other reason did the Bear have that it could use its destructive skill to suppress the panther? The only logical answer was that it either used up all of its manner or it had lost so much mana that what little it had wouldn't be enough to activate the skill.
As the Panther tore more and more into its flesh and back, drawing more and more blood in the process, the Alpha Bear lost a lot of blood and as a direct result it slowly lost its strength, growing weaker with every passing moment
And the panther, it was getting wilder and more unrestrained becoming more and more engrossed in its feelings of triumph.
This was it.
This was the chance I had been waiting for. The invisible trap that I had set was slowly closing in.
It was time I got into a favorable position as well.
With a thought I sunk into a pool of shadows at my feet.
'[Shadow veil'