CHAPTER 35: FARMING (2)

"Eat this!"

Having escaped a brutal fate, Ray drew in a deep breath, sucking in as much air as his lungs could hold. In the next heartbeat, he exhaled with all his might.

Full Power Fire Dragon Breath!

A wave of raging flames erupted from his mouth, surging forth like a living inferno, rushing to engulf the Emberhorn Goat.

Ray’s eyes gleamed coldly. He hoped that the flames with temperature over 1000 degrees would make it feel threatened. He hoped that it would choose to dodge it. If that really happened, he would instantly grasp victory in this battle!

After all.

If the Emberhorn Goat dodged it, the flames would crash straight into Tristan, forcing him to use that mysterious ability once more.

From Tristan’s own words, Ray had already pieced together the truth. The cost of that ability was the life of one of his tamed beasts.

A Bronze Rank Tamer could only command two beasts. Tristan had already sacrificed one to save himself. If he was forced into another life-or-death crisis, he would have no choice but to sacrifice the Emberhorn Goat to survive, and once that happened, once he was stripped of his strongest shield, he would be left completely at Ray’s mercy.

Mercy, however, was something Ray had no intention of showing Tristan. After all, if Tristan lived, he would definitely do everything in his power to get him killed. Therefore, Tristan must die!

The Emberhorn Goat’s eyes flickered with a rare trace of intelligence.

It understood Ray’s intent.

It understood what would happen to its master if it abandoned him.

As a result.

Though it had the ability to dodge the flame wave, it chose not to.

Instead, it braced itself, planting its hooves firmly as though becoming a wall of flesh and steel. It would take the blow head-on to protect its master.

"Don’t block. Break it!" Tristan roared.

At his command, the Emberhorn Goat shifted its strategy entirely.

The glow of its fiery horn intensified until it blazed like molten steel.

Lowering its head, it aimed its brightly glowing horn straight at the incoming flames.

With a violent surge, a spiraling tornado of fire burst forth from its horn.

The fiery whirlwind collided with Ray’s wave of flames, shredding it apart in an instant before heading for Ray!

Had Ray not reacted in time and leapt aside, he too would have been torn apart by the overwhelming force unleashed by the Emberhorn Goat to overcome his Fire Dragon Breath.

"That was close." A trickle of cold sweat slid down the side of his face as he dodged death by a hair’s breadth.

"If Tristan hadn’t ordered the Emberhorn Goat to counter my attack with its strongest move, that exchange would have ended in my favor," Ray thought bitterly.

Demonic beasts were among the least intelligent of all demonic creatures. In the face of crisis, they often failed to make the best decisions.

The duty of their masters, the beast tamers, was to compensate for this flaw until they could learn from their mistakes.

It was the tamer’s duty to observe the unfolding battle with clarity, to see what their tamed creatures could not, and to make the choices their tamed creatures would fail to make.

Tristan, being a veteran beast tamer, hadn’t failed in his duty. He had corrected the Emberhorn Goat to make the best choice.

It wanted to defend against Ray’s Fire Dragon Breath relying on its innate defense, but Tristan made it overcome it with its ultimate as he was unsure whether it would be able to withstand it!

"Experienced beast tamers are very dangerous."

It would not be wrong to say that facing Tristan, Ray saw clearly for the first time the vast gulf in power between himself and Bronze Rank Tamers. They were not existences he could defeat through brute strength alone!

Seeing the look on Ray’s face, Tristan sneered. "Are you finally realizing it? The difference between us is as vast as the heavens and the earth. If you are a candle, then I am the blazing sun. Even ten of you wouldn’t be enough to so much as harm a single hair on my head when I am vigilant."

Ray ignored his vain remark.

"I need to devise an appropriate strategy if I want to drag them down from their high horse."

Ray’s mind raced

A viable idea quickly formed in his mind.

"That might work."

He thought.

From his interspatial ring, he pulled out Kane’s sword and instantly refined it into his flying sword with the Intermediate Weapon Refinement skill.

At once, Ray felt connected to it in an inexplicable way.

It was difficult to describe in words, but using this intangible link that connected them, Ray could will his flying sword to carry out his commands without needing words or performing any actions that might arouse suspicion.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the sword toward the Emberhorn Goat. He did that intentionally to mask its ability to fly and move according to his will. Masking its ability and keeping Tristan and the Emberhorn’s Goat in the dark about the true extent of its abilities was crazy crucial for his plan to work.

"Please deflect it like the overconfident piece of shit you are," Ray hoping that the Emberhorn Goat would deflect the sword he had thrown towards it.

This time the Emberhorn Goat was unable to see through his intention.

With a swift downward-to-upward swing of its head, it struck the sword Ray had thrown towards it with its mighty and fiery horn, sending it spinning into the air. Then, lowering its head, it charged like a raging bull towards Ray.

Ray retreated, maintaining the wide gap that existed between himself and the beast, and as his feet carried him backward and away from the charging beast, he willed his sword that had been sent flying into the air to strike down Tristan from his blind spot.

Swoosh!

From above, the spinning blade steadied itself, halting midair, and then streaked down behind Tristan, exploiting his blind spot to attack him from behind.

Neither Tristan nor his tamed beast had eyes behind their head, they could not see it coming!

Puchi!

A wet squelch echoed as the blade pierced through Tristan’s broad back before bursting out from his chest.

Blood spurted from his lips, and his eyes filled up with disbelief and shock, widening to an unprecedented decree.

One moment, he had been dominating the battle, towering in confidence. The next, a fatal strike had run him through. Such a cruel joke, he wasn’t expecting it. It left with him shocked to the core!

"How...?"

The situation was so unexpected and ridiculous that even as he came closer to dying, his mind reeled as he wondered how it had happened.

How did Ray manage to turn the tables? Did some hidden expert intervene?

The possibility that Ray had accomplished this on his own was so terrifying Tristan refused to even consider it, as that would mean that Ray had four superpowers, meaning he was a unique rank seal holder. Such a being was too monstrous, too terrifying to even offend!

Fear crept into Tristan’s gaze.

After all, for the second time, he was forced to rely on his superpower to escape death at Ray’s hands!

If he activated it, he would live, but his last remaining tamed beast would die. Then he would be left utterly helpless.

If he didn’t use it, death was certain.

In the end, Tristan, who feared death above all else, made a choice befitting his nature.

The Emberhorn Goat dissolved into dust mid-charge, its body vanishing like smoke scattered by the wind. At the same time, Tristan started to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The gaping hole in his chest was sealed shit.

His flesh regrew, his shattered ribs reformed, and a new heart formed where his previous one had been before it was destroyed by Ray’s flying sword!

’It truly is an impressive ability. No matter how many times I see it, it never fails to astonish me. It’s definitely worth adding to my arsenal of skills.’ Ray’s lips curled into a terrifying smile as he watched Tristan with immense greed like he was a treasure trove that should be pried opened.

A chill crept down,Tristan’s spine as Ray’s intense gaze wierded him out.

He turned and bolted, running with all his might. Panic painted his every move.

Watching him flee, Ray’s gaze turned colder than ice, "Where do you think you are running? Leave your life behind!"

With a single command, his flying sword flashed down the sky like the judgment of heaven, mercilessly cleaving through Tristan.

Blood sprayed. Flesh tore. Tristan’s body split grotesquely into two equal halves, each collapsing to the ground with a heavy, sickening thud.

This time Tristan had no way to save himself. As there was no being linked to his soul left to sacrifice, he couldn’t use Destiny Swamp to save his life,

He could only accept his death unwillingly!