Chapter 123: The Destruction of the Flame Mercenaries
“Jian Chen, hurry up and escape. I’ll stall it for you!” Xiao Dao cried out suddenly as he pulled out his small dagger and raised it to stab the body of the tiger.
However the Class 5 Golden Fur Tiger King was far too strong for Xiao Dao to inflict any injuries at all with his Saint strength. Even when the dagger stabbed into the body of the tiger, not a single trace could be seen.
The tail of the tiger disappeared once more as it flew at Xiao Dao.
“Pa!”
A loud sound rang out as the tail of the Golden Fur Tiger King smashed against Xiao Dao’s chest. The clothes around his chest blew apart as he sported a huge indentation on it. The unbelievably strong tail had completely smashed through his chest bones as well as broken apart the inner organs of his body.
Blood mixed in with pieces of his inner organ were belched out of Xiao Dao’s mouth as he flew 10 meters in the air before smashing against a tree.
“Xiao Dao!” Seeing Xiao Dao in such a miserable state, Jian Chen’s face paled as he cried out in shock. However just as he was about to go over and examine the extent of Xiao Dao’s wounds, the tiger immediately appeared next to him and ruthlessly bit at him. The jaws of the tiger carried an exceptionally bloody odor, making breathing very hard for Jian Chen.
In a split second, Jian Chen forced himself to the right in an attempt to dodge, unable to bear with the pain in his chest. Rolling onto the ground, he moved away from the Golden Fur Tiger King. Against a Class 5 Magical Beast like the tiger, Jian Chen couldn’t retaliate at all. With the Soul Sword he was so proud of not even being a threat to the Golden Fur Tiger King, it went to show how big of a difference there was between the two schools.
“You guys hurry up and run, I’ll stall it for you guys.” Jian Chen yelled at the Flame Mercenaries behind him.
Hearing Jian Chen, everyone looked at each other in a daze, but other than that, they didn’t move. There was still quite the distance until they would be able to escape from the Magical Beast Mountain Range, but with their speed, how would they be able to outrun a Class 5 Magical Beast?
“That won’t do, Jian Chen. Out of all of us here, only you have the chance to get away, I’ll stall the Golden Fur Tiger and you hurry up and run. Just remember to take revenge for us.” Hu Po cried out with his Saint Weapon in his hand as a way to show his defiant nature against his imminent death. “None of us are capable of shaking off a Class 5 Magical Beast, so there is no hope for us. Everyone come and block the Golden Fur Tiger King, protect Jian Chen as he leaves!”
Seeing the heroic Hu Po dash toward the tiger, everyone had a look of despair in their eyes.
“Hu Po is right, no matter what we do we will die today. in that case, then why not sacrifice our lives in one spectacular finale and protect Jian Chen. Everyone forward! Block off the tiger!” Chang Ning Feng roared as he brought his giant sword up and chased after Hu Po.
“Jian Chen, remember to avenge us!” The heroic actions of both Hu Po and Chang Ning Feng seemed to have infected the rest of the mercenaries. One after another they carried a grim determination on their faces that seemed to defy death itself and then chased after the Golden Fur Tiger King.
Seeing every single member charge in at the tiger defiantly, Jian Chen was momentarily stunned. Immediately snapping to his senses afterward, he roared, “Out of the question, everyone run away! I’m still able to temporarily stall it a little longer!” Jian Chen immediately connected with the Light Wind Sword, causing a large amount of Sword Qi to once more levitate the sword. However, just one look at the sword everyone could tell that the amount of Sword Qi was weaker than before.
Although everyone had seen the strange thing that was Jian Chen’s sword, it was far too late to actually care about it at that point.
“Jian Chen, hurry up and go, don’t let us sacrifice ourselves in vain!” Chang Ning Feng called out once more.
The tiger’s crimson eyes looked at the humans that were charging at it with disdain, however, it did not move a paw to do anything.
Hu Po was the first to reach the body of the tiger. With an explosive yell, the Saint Force within his body entered his battle axe and immediately smashed itself against the tiger’s body.
However as strong as Hu Po’s blow on the Golden Fur Tiger King’s body, it had only managed to cut away a few strands of the fur. With him only being a Great Saint, there was a very low chance of being able to do a lot of damage to the Class 5 Magical Beast.
Soon after, the rest of the Flame Mercenaries attacked the tiger’s body with their own Saint Weapons, but to no avail. Aside from Hu Po who had succeeded in cutting away a few strands of fur, no one else had been able to do any damage, but the tiger hadn’t moved at all either.
Everyone’s faces were already the color of ash, they had long since known that the strength of a Class 5 Magical Beast was tremendous, but it was only at that moment that they truly understood the extent of its strength. The defense of the Golden Fur Tiger King wasn’t all that strong, it was just the fact that the Flame Mercenaries were too powerless to do anything major.
“Hou!” The Golden Fur Tiger King thundered as it swept its claw forward, catching the weakest member there, Yun Xuan, in the chest. His heart was immediately ripped into many pieces before the tiger disappeared once more before arriving at where Zhou Da Kai stood.
“Pa!”
Another crisp sound rang through the area as Zhou Da Kai’s body was sent flying far into the air by the tiger’s tail. Like Xiao Dao, his chest had completely caved in as his inner organs were smashed as well.
“Brother!” Zhou Xiao Kai cried out in grief before turning back to the tiger in anger. With a snarl, he lifted his giant broadsword up in an attempt to cut into the beast. However to the tiger, Zhou Xiao Kai’s attack was like a scratch to relieve an itch and would not harm it at all.
Against the Flame Mercenaries, the Golden Fur Tiger King was only using the most basics of attacks and bites. Despite that, the Flame Mercenaries had no ability to fight back at all, and in such a short moment, three people had already succumbed to the tiger, leaving only 5 people left to fight.
“Jian Chen, hurry up and go! Don’t squander our valiant sacrifice.” Chang Ning Feng roared at Jian Chen who was still standing there.
“Jian Chen, what are you doing just standing there, hurry up and go! Remember, when you are stronger in the future, come back to the forest and kill this Golden Fur Tiger King and take its monster core!” Hu Po yelled before the maw of the tiger descended onto the top part of his body. With a heavy clamp, Hu Po’s sturdy body was split into two pieces as the tiger swallowed the top part.
Seeing the death of Hu Po, Jian Chen’s body shook in grief as he looked at the remaining few members of the Flame mercenaries. Biting his lips in frustration, he controlled his Light Wind Sword back to his hand and immediately disappeared into the forest.
His heart knew that even if he were to stay behind, it would change nothing. He would die along with the others since a Class 5 Magical Beast was not something he could take on.
However, each one of the Flame Mercenaries were throwing away their lives in order to hinder the Golden Fur Tiger King just so Jian Chen could gain some time to escape. This was something that hurt Jian Chen far more than what the Tiger had done to him.
Entering the forest, Jian Chen forced himself to ignore the screams behind him as he forged onward with all of the speed he could muster. The grasses within the forest were many, and the shortest of grasses reached up to half his height. While the pain in Jian Chen’s chest was unbearable, he was using the trees to boost himself forward as he flew at top speeds. Not only was this faster than walking on the ground, but he could avoid the swamplands below.
“Hou!”
No longer than ten breaths after Jian Chen had escaped into the forest, the loud roar of a tiger could be heard. It had appeared that the tiger was getting closer to Jian Chen.
Jian Chen’s face grew unsightly knowing that the Golden Fur Tiger King must have already disposed of the Flame Mercenaries and was resiliently pursuing after Jian Chen.
The Golden Fur Tiger King was extremely fast, even before Jian Chen could finish his thoughts, he could already faintly hear the tiger run through the forests, bringing a strong gale that flattened the nearby grass.
Jian Chen’s face grew solemn as he thought; against a Class 5 Magical Beast, other than running away, there was no other way to win. And right now with the frightening speed of the Golden Fur Tiger King, even if he wanted to flee, he didn’t have the power to. After all speed was the specialty of a tiger type of magical beast, and even more so for a Class 5 Magical Beast.
His Saint Force coiled around his body even faster, increasing Jian Chen’s speed by triple the amount. Right now, he was going all out, he was going the fastest speed he could muster. At the same time, he was desperately trying to think of a counter measure, but even after a long time, Jian Chen couldn’t think of any way.
Unless he were to come across someone who was at least at the Earth Saint Master level or another beast that could compete against the Golden Fur Tiger King, he would have no chance to escape. With the speed of the Golden Fur Tiger King, it wouldn’t be long before it would overtake him.
However the chances of meeting a Earth Saint Master or another magical beast on the same level as the Golden Fur Tiger King outside of the Magical Beast Mountain Range were slim to none.
“Hou!”
Another roar of the Golden Fur Tiger King came from behind. This time, when Jian Chen took a look behind him, he could see the large body of the tiger come within 20 meters of him.
Jian Chen’s face grew even more unsightly. Death, he did not fear. He had already died once, so dying again was not all that bad. Although, in this world, he still had people he was worried about and so he did not want to die in a way like this just yet.
Suddenly, the tiger transformed into a blur as it leapt towards Jian Chen.