Chapter 61 | A Lamb for Slaughter!?
The Shade Panther pressed its paws forward while its eyes focused on me. I responded by activating the Solar Breaker skill in my right hand and coating my left fist with a layer of Nullification.
The panther was the first to make a move, as it lunged at me and attacked by swiping its claw at me. I ducked and rolled.
Getting to his side, I moved forward with the punch, straight to the gut. My right hand connected neatly, but there was nothing more than scorch marks and an angry panther.
It growled at me while wincing in pain. I went for the second attack without giving it much chance to retaliate. However, sensing my attack, it evaded my punch at the last moment.
As I turned around to see, suddenly it was nowhere to be found. I kept my sense focused; its main strength was sneak attacks, so I prepared myself for it.
Soon, I felt something coming at me from my left side; using a trunk in my right as a stepper, I jumped to the side.
But my danger bells started ringing as I felt another attack from above, and I was in the air without the ability to maneuver myself.
Immediately, I activated all my sigils and used the skill, Aegis Instinct, to mitigate damage from the unexpected attack.
The attack hit; I felt something like paws hitting me, and I was thrown to the ground. Thanks to the skill, the impact was much less.
Before the panther could pounce on me again, I forced myself to the side as I stood up with the same focus.
"Okay, you got me, but that’s the last," I commented.
It still wasn’t visible as my eyes searched for him. This time I choose to focus entirely on my vampire sense; my eyes turned crimson slightly.
Instead of sensing the monster, I started sensing blood—moving and warm blood. Suddenly, everything became so clear, and the Shade Panther was visible to me as clear as a spark in the night.
He moved again, but this time, I understood the reason for my failure earlier. It was some kind of illusion attack disguised as a real one.
Now that I knew the difference, I didn’t make a move and stayed still. It expected me to dodge its fake attack so it attacked in real life. There was a slight moment of hesitation as the monster movement fumbled.
Sensing the opportunity, I charged ahead with my fist, Solar Breaker still active. I put about one-tenth of my mana in the punch while I activated the sigils for maximum impact.
The punch connected, and the monster slammed directly into the tree hard, causing a split in the trunk.
But the thing that happened next was the most satisfying to watch, as the monster tried to stabilize itself from the attack and tried to stand up.
Suddenly a whimper came out of the panther, and the next second, the yellow-striped body turned black as it started melting from the inside.
The next moment, it fell on the ground as it burned from the inside. Confirming its death, moving both my score and origin points further.
The time limit for the first round was supposed to be around 24 hours, and it had been only around 4 hours. Without wasting much time, I moved forward looking for my next prey.
– – –
[3rd Person POV]
<Arena of Roxaban City>
While on the balcony, the atmosphere was tense and intriguing in anticipation of the unexpected participant, Aiden Origin. However, on the outside, the arena was filled with chatter and cheers.
Many people were betting among themselves watching the screen, and many were cheering for their favorite. As expected, most cheers were for Marion Moonken, the expected champion.
The host would also add his commentary once in a while, noticing the confrontations on the screen. The movement of Marion was visible every moment, as one large screen was solely dedicated to him.
Out of nowhere, a new screen popped up, similar in size to Marion. Many people started yelling and cursing, as they felt the new screen was taking the spot of Marion.
"Hey, why is that extra screen here? We are not here to watch some nobody; we want to see actual fights," shouted one man from the arena, supported by many other voices.
Before this could escalate further, the host appeared and spoke with an amplified voice using mana.
"Calm down, folks, that screen is special. It’s where we would see desperate fights and fights with area bosses of the wild. Now let’s take a look at our first lamb that has come for slaughter," he gestured at the screen.
The screen settled a bit as an image of a man wearing average clothes and no armor. He was standing in front of the yellow-striped monster, looking like he was ready.
"Well, it’s a shame, guys; it looks like we won’t see much fight this time. That monster is a Shade Panther, also known as the assassin of the Sandramoor. He is good as dead," the host declared.
The crowd had a mixed reaction; some were thrilled, some complained that it was just a waste of time, and still watched. Expecting him to try to run or make faces as the monster tore him apart.
However, the next action of Aiden stunned them a bit, halting the cheerful atmosphere. Just as the monster jumped to attack, there was no blood or cries, at least from the supposed human.
There was finally silence when that man, Aiden, punched the monster. It fell to the ground hard.
"Well, well, it looks like we have a fighter, people. Let’s see how long this struggle lasts," the host’s loud voice thinned the tension while building anticipation.
Now, all eyes were glued to Aiden’s screen; Marion was sidelined for a moment. When the surprise attack of the panther landed, a set of cheers erupted; a few also complained, urging the guy to turn back and run.
"As I said, people of Roxaban, this struggle ends here. The stealthy attacks of Shade Panthers are dead‐..." He halted midway as he and everyone else saw Aiden immediately get up and roll to the side. Without having much injury to show, he saved himself from follow up attack.
The panther attacked again, but after watching him stand still, many in the audience screamed their heads off.
"Move, you idiot; can’t you see the attack?" one shouted.
"Save yourself goddammit, I had an entire A-rank stone bet on you that you will escape," another one in the crowd added.
However, they all stopped as the first attack just fizzled out, just as the monster moved to attack. Aiden moved slightly and punched so fast, many didn’t even notice.
Suddenly, the panther slammed into the nearby trunk, but what happened next brought a pin-drop silence to the arena.
The monster started to melt from the inside and was dead in seconds.
Everybody’s eyes were still glued to the screen when they further noticed that Aiden didn’t rest or drink potion but simply sprinted ahead in the forest, likely looking to hunt more.
After a few seconds of silence, the chatter erupted as everyone started speculating.
A few gambling addicts ran towards the office outside to see if they could still place their bets on him.
"It looks like we have an underdog among us; I just got the name of our unknown participant with flaming hands capable of burning his foes from inside. His name is AIDEN ORIGIN!" the hot announced with a newfound enthusiasm.
While people talked about the changes in potential ranks, many tried to find out where Aiden came from.
However, on the balcony an entirely different scene was unfolding as their eyes caught many things that people on the outside missed.