The Rui Tiger Beast resembles a tiger but has two horns on its head and possesses powerful earth element magic.
The larger one is two sizes bigger than an elephant, while the smaller one is about the size of an adult panda. Judging by the patterns on their fur, they appear to be a male and a female, but by size, it's clearly a mother with her son.
And in the Phantom Beast Naz's perception, the aura of the larger one is even stronger than its own, but it's very chaotic, as if it's severely injured.
The Earl felt Naz's vigilance and unease through their contract, knowing that these two Rui Tiger Beasts posed a strong threat to Naz.
But if left unchecked, with just this Earth Knight squad, it would be impossible to drive them away or corner and kill them. Even if they fought to the death, they wouldn't be able to do anything against these two Rui Tiger Beasts.
"No, I can't let this go. As a lord, if wild beasts invade the castle and are not expelled or killed, then I will inevitably lose the people's support and damage the family's honor."
The Earl turned to Butler Will and said, "Send someone to bring me my Knight Armor."
"Yes, My Lord."
"My Lord, what's wrong with Naz?" Lady Anna added, "Has something happened?"
"Don't worry, it's just two Rui Tiger Beasts that have entered the farmland and won't affect the castle," Avis said softly. "And Commander Guli is driving them out from the rear, but one of them is quite strong, and they probably can't handle it. I'll go help him."
"Hmm, be careful. May knight's glory protect you."
With the help of his servants, the Earl donned his armor, hung his sword at his waist, mounted Naz, and flew towards the two Magical Beasts.
At about a thousand meters, Naz's flight became stiff for a moment, followed by a trace of fear from its bloodline—it was Dragon's Might!
The largest Rui Tiger Beast was actually a Dragon Beast that had just advanced, but in an instant, the fear was crushed by excitement and greed. Although the opponent was a Dragon Beast, it had only recently advanced, the Dragon's Might it emitted was very weak, and it was also severely injured. In this situation, it was entirely possible to try to hunt it down and then devour its bloodline.
When they reached 500 meters, the Earl was wondering about the emotions in Naz's mind just now, why fear suddenly appeared, and before he could think deeply, the fear turned into excitement and greed, and he himself felt the Dragon's Might.
Immediately, he understood that this was a Dragon Beast, and its bloodline would be very helpful for Naz's advancement.
But reason told him that this was a Dragon Beast, a Dragon Beast that could go 46 with a dragon.
And he was just a Sky Knight, still far from completion. To clash with a Dragon Beast with this strength, haha, was he not fully awake? To clash, he wasn't even qualified to scam someone.
These are Magical Beasts, wondrous creatures like dragons and elves. Magical Beasts are classified by strength: Junior Magical Beasts, Intermediate Magical Beasts, High-level Magical Beasts. The strongest among the High-level Magical Beasts can also be called Phantom Beasts, and those stronger than Phantom Beasts are called Dragon Beasts, powerful enough to rival giant dragons.
Just as he was about to turn back and retrieve the family treasure to see if he could drive it away, he noticed the injuries on the Ruihu Dragon Beast: a large chunk of flesh torn from its right side, and three wounds on its right side that went deep into the bone. With such injuries, it didn't seem like an active invasion, but rather an escape.
So, should I ignore it and let it leave on its own, or should I strike while it's vulnerable?
If I ignore it, it will traverse the entire territory, from the southern forest to the northern forest, which would likely result in significant loss of farmland.
Moreover, if it wants to eat to recover its strength, it can only eat the people and livestock in the territory, and by then, the losses would likely multiply by dozens.
While hunting it down would result in many casualties, success would allow Naz to take another step forward, touching the threshold of a Dragon Beast.
After weighing the pros and cons, the Earl made his decision: he could only strike while it was vulnerable.
Naz, fly above Commander Guli.
"Lord Earl!" The knights saluted from their horses.
"Lord Earl, I am deeply sorry. Due to my mistake, I failed to stop these two Rui Tiger Beasts, allowing them to enter the territory and causing you immense losses," Commander Guli said, his face filled with guilt and regret, his brows tightly furrowed, and his eyes slightly lowered.
"We'll talk about this after it's over. Guli, you've already touched the threshold of a Sky Knight. Work with me to deal with this large Ruihu Dragon Beast first. The rest of you, led by Vice Knight Commander Hartfilia, capture the smaller one alive and distract the Ruihu Dragon Beast's thoughts." Having said that, he ascended to a higher altitude.
He drew the treasured sword from his waist, circulated his battle qi, and a faint light emanated from a ruby on the sword. Then, he unleashed a full-power sword qi strike towards the Ruihu Dragon Beast's hind leg.
"Yes, Lord Earl!" Commander Guli's tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed. The Earl's tone indicated he wasn't angry. He turned his head and said earnestly, "Vice Commander Hartfilia, the rest is up to you."
"Hmm, you don't need to worry about this side," Hartfilia said expressionlessly, then paused and added, "It's you, though. That's a Dragon Beast. Even with those injuries, a mere touch could kill you. Be careful, otherwise, your position as Knight Commander will be mine."
The large Ruihu Dragon Beast in front twitched an ear, then suddenly accelerated, dodging the sword qi strike. The strike directly tore a large, several-meter-deep gash in the ground.
It's rude not to reciprocate, and the Ruihu Dragon Beast clearly understood this principle.
It accumulated magic in its mouth, then turned its head and opened its maw. Countless magical particles shot out, coalescing into shattered stones in the air, whistling directly towards Avis and Naz in the sky.
Naz in the air, using its wings to manipulate wind magic, sharply veered to the right, avoiding the larger shattered stones in the middle. However, its left wing was still pierced by some smaller fragments, causing it to suddenly lose balance and plummet towards the ground. Fortunately, it managed to stabilize itself during the descent.
The Earl was startled, he had still underestimated the Dragon Beast's power.
Although he had seen Dragon Beast Knights fighting in the sky on the battlefield, the knights were always the main focus.
He truly hadn't expected the speed at which the Dragon Beast released skills, its timing, and the flight speed and penetration ability of the shattered stones after release, all without a knight's guidance, to exceed his expectations.
Without experience fighting a Dragon Beast, he was still somewhat caught off guard. The Earl suddenly had a hint of doubt about his previous judgment of striking while it was vulnerable. Should he have let it pass through the territory instead of putting himself in a dangerous situation now?
Looking at the Ruihu Dragon Beast's injuries, he suppressed the doubt and a trace of retreat in his heart.
He glanced at Commander Guli, who was rapidly catching up on horseback.
After both sides exchanged two more waves of skills, their injuries worsened, and their speed also slowed due to the mutual skill releases.
It was at this moment that Commander Guli seized the opportunity. He adjusted his riding posture, activated the battle qi in his feet, and stomped hard on the horse's back, leaping up. He plunged his knight's spear into the Ruihu Dragon Beast's right-side wound, then frantically channeled battle qi into the spear.
The Ruihu Dragon Beast's aura was already chaotic and it was severely injured. Being stabbed in the wound by this spear not only worsened its injuries but also further stimulated its chaotic aura.
And this chaotic aura caused its magic to lose control and surge wildly throughout its body, further stimulating all its wounds.