Chapter 597: I’m Going to Die
’Damn.’ Marcus’s heart sank the moment he shouted, "Heavenly Thunder Leopard!"
There was no mistaking it. The creature covered in crackling blue lightning, with horns rising from its head and the sleek, predatory body of a black panther, matched the description in the Silas’s map notes exactly. This was their target, the elusive Mythic Beast that prowled Ten-Thunder Mountain and specialized in hunting its prey through ambushes.
According to Silas’s notes, the Heavenly Thunder Leopard rarely confronted its enemies head-on. It preferred to roam the mountain in silence, using its exceptional stealth to conceal itself and wait patiently until its prey lowered its guard. Then, at the perfect moment, it would strike. And that was exactly what it had done.
Princess Phoenix was already engaged with the Thunder Fang Wolves farther ahead, while Princess Celeste had just scooped Marcus’s Seven-Colored Divine Eagle into her arms. With both women distracted, the Heavenly Thunder Leopard finally revealed itself and unleashed a devastating Heavenly Thunder Explosion.
’Damn.’ The beast was far more cunning than Marcus had expected. It had immediately identified him as the weakest link in their group, the easiest target to kill, and launched its attack before either Princess Phoenix or Princess Celeste had time to react.
Crackling bolts of lightning screamed toward him. Marcus reacted on instinct. He raised his Adamant Shield and immediately activated its Divine Artifact skill.
"Adamant Shield Wall!"
Brilliant golden light erupted from the shield, expanding into a massive, spinning barrier that enclosed both him and Princess Celeste.
But against a level of power like this, Marcus, who was only level fifty, was hopelessly outmatched. The Heavenly Thunder Explosion descended like a pillar of lightning from the heavens, engulfing everything within a five-meter radius.
BOOM! The lightning tore through the golden barrier and slammed into both of them.
-14,500
A red damage number burst above Marcus’s head. Even with the Adamant Shield Wall protecting him, the attack had completely wiped out his health in a single strike. His vision went black, and his body collapsed. He was dead.
At almost the exact same moment, Princess Celeste suffered a staggering -150,000 damage.
Players, monsters, pets, and system characters all followed different stat systems, and Princess Celeste’s health was on an entirely different scale from Marcus’s. She had proudly mentioned earlier that she possessed 800,000 HP, while her sister had more than two million.
As a mage, however, Celeste’s defensive stats were naturally low, and because the attack had come without warning, she had not even had time to cast any of her protective buffs.
Even so, the fact that the Adamant Shield Wall had absorbed enough of the attack to reduce her damage to 150,000 was enough to demonstrate just how terrifying the Heavenly Thunder Leopard was. It was clearly a top-tier Mythic Beast, and suddenly the stories of how it had terrorized Ten-Thunder Mountain for a thousand years no longer sounded exaggerated.
The Heavenly Thunder Leopard let out a victorious roar, the horns on its head crackling violently with electricity as it prepared its next attack. This time, its target was directly in front of it: Princess Celeste.
"Heavenly Triple Thunder!"
This was a single-target skill even more powerful than Heavenly Thunder Explosion. Three bolts of lightning would strike in rapid succession, with each one carrying tremendous destructive force. The total damage was at least twice that of the previous attack.
’Run!’ Marcus was already dead, but even as his consciousness faded, that was the only command screaming through his mind.
Then the system notification appeared.
Ding!
[Stonehaven, you have been killed by the Heavenly Thunder Leopard. Your Ring of Resurrection activates. All stats restored. You are invincible for three seconds.]
Golden light suddenly enveloped his body. Marcus came back to life with his health completely restored, and for the next three seconds, no attack could harm him.
The Heavenly Triple Thunder was already descending. The leopard was charging toward them. And Princess Celeste had not moved an inch.
"You have a resurrection skill!"
Princess Celeste stared at him in shock, but when she noticed his bewildered expression, she hurriedly shouted, "Stone, run! I’m paralyzed! I can’t move or cast spells for five seconds!"
’Damn.’ That explained why she had remained completely motionless. Five seconds of Lightning Paralyze. If Marcus ran now, the Heavenly Thunder Leopard would tear her apart before she could even move.
"Go to hell!"
Marcus snarled at the approaching beast as the first bolt of the Heavenly Triple Thunder screamed through the sky. He reached toward Celeste without hesitation. "Celie, ride with me! I’m getting you out of here!"
He grabbed her hand.
Ding!
[Princess Celeste, player Stonehaven has invited you to ride together. Do you accept?]
Celeste barely had time to process what was happening. Only moments ago, she had watched Marcus die right in front of her, only for him to return in a burst of golden light, standing before her as though death itself had failed to stop him.
For the first time, she found herself thinking that perhaps this rogue knight really wasn’t as bad as she had originally thought. And now he was trying to save her.
She did not resist when he pulled her toward him. His arms wrapped firmly around her waist, drawing her against his chest, and the sudden closeness left her completely flustered.
She had never been held by a man like this before. The warmth of his body, the unfamiliar scent that reached her from so close, and the strange sense of security that came from being protected by him all stirred something inside her that she had never experienced.
Her cheeks quickly turned crimson. She wanted to say something, perhaps protest at how close they were, but the paralysis had locked her body in place. She could neither move nor cast a spell, leaving her with no choice but to remain in his arms as he held her tightly against his chest.
"Finally got you in my arms."
Marcus’s voice was low as he spoke near her ear, and Celeste’s face grew even hotter.
"Heavenly Thunder, First Strike!"
The first bolt of the Heavenly Triple Thunder crashed down.
-120,000
Celeste’s health dropped sharply, but before the second bolt could strike, Marcus made his move.
"Nightmare Teleport!"
There was no time to fool around. Blackie had just unlocked this new skill upon reaching level fifty. Marcus activated it immediately, and in a flash of black light, the mount disappeared from its original position and reappeared fifty meters away.
CRACK! The remaining bolts of lightning slammed into the ground where they had been standing only a moment earlier. They had missed.
"Yah!"
Marcus did not hesitate. He urged Blackie onward, putting as much distance as possible between them and the Heavenly Thunder Leopard. The farther away they could get from that monster, the better.
"Shit!"
They had barely managed to rise two steps into the air when Ten-Thunder Mountain’s signature random lightning struck without warning, catching both of them in its path.
Marcus was still protected by his three-second invincibility, so the natural lightning did nothing to him. Princess Celeste was not so fortunate. Her health dropped by another ten percent, more than 80,000 HP disappearing in an instant.
And then Marcus’s invincibility ended.
’Damn it.’ When it rained, it poured. More natural lightning crackled through the sky around them. Marcus immediately abandoned the idea of escaping upward and instead urged Blackie straight ahead, activating every speed and defensive buff he had available.
The Heavenly Thunder Leopard was intelligent. It had no intention of wasting time fighting Princess Phoenix head-on when there were weaker targets available. Just as it had done from the beginning, it would go after the easiest prey first. And right now, that meant Marcus and Celeste.
His only hope was to rely on his superior speed and somehow outrun the beast.
Marcus glanced over his shoulder. It was a mistake. The Heavenly Thunder Leopard was practically flickering through the air, its body disappearing and reappearing in bursts of lightning as it teleported from one point to another. Every time it appeared, it was noticeably closer. It was faster than him, much faster.
Marcus’s expression tightened. He should have known better than to compare his speed with a Mythic Beast that had ruled Ten-Thunder Mountain for a thousand years.
Now that he thought about it, he also realized something else: Princess Phoenix had been deliberately holding back during their journey here, slowing herself enough for him to keep up with her. And now the Heavenly Thunder Leopard was showing him the difference between their levels of strength.
Then the beast came within thirty meters.
"Heavenly Thunder Explosion!"
Its horns flared, and another enormous mass of lightning erupted toward them.
Marcus’s heart sank. This was insane. The leopard was simply too strong. His Ring of Resurrection had already been consumed.
If he died now, there would be no second chance. He would really be dead, and the consequences would be severe. He would lose equipment, levels, and suffer an especially brutal death penalty for being killed by an enemy so far above his level.
’Run!’ He could still use Cicada Sheds Its Shell to escape and then teleport to his Wanderlust waypoint. But that would only save him. Princess Celeste, still trapped in his arms, would be left behind to face the lightning alone.
Marcus looked down at the woman against his chest. Her face was still flushed, and despite everything that had happened, she looked strangely delicate in his arms. He tightened his grip. No. He wasn’t leaving her behind.
Maybe it was foolish. Maybe he really was throwing his life away for a beautiful woman. But if he had to choose between saving himself and abandoning someone who had trusted him enough to stay in his arms, he could not bring himself to run. That was his excuse, anyway.
Marcus held Celeste even more securely as the Heavenly Thunder Explosion descended in a deafening roar, filling the air around them with blinding lightning.
There was nowhere left to run. ’I’m dead.’ His heart pounded. ’I’m really dead.’ That was the only thought left in his mind as the lightning came crashing down.