CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 81 - FIGHT OR DIE

Logan gripped his glaive tightly, activating his basic flaming body technique.

A thick layer of ice suddenly spread across the floor toward them.

No words were needed. Logan and Livia dashed in opposite directions, splitting up instinctively.

Derek stood his ground, narrowing his eyes as he observed the ice on the ground and the panther in the distance.

Suddenly, massive icicles shot up from the ice on the ground, heading straight for him.

He slammed his hand into the ground, creating an earth barrier that barely managed to block the icicles from piercing through.

Logan and Livia, who’d sprinted around the panther, glanced at each other.

’’Go now!’’ Livia shouted, turning to the right with her rapier drawn.

Without hesitation, Logan followed her example, heading straight for the panther from the opposite side.

The panther responded instantly, a barrage of icicles bursting from the ground and blocking Logan and Livia’s path.

’Dodging won’t cut it. I have to break through,’ Logan thought, pouring energy into his glaive.

He stopped dodging to the sides, heading straight for the panther once again.

A sharp icicle shot up from the ground in front of him, rapidly growing in size.

Swinging his glaive down with all his strength, Logan met heavy resistance as it clashed with the icicle.

Logan pushed forward, slicing cleanly through the icicle and continuing his charge.

Realizing its wall had been broken, the panther turned to face Logan, dashing at him as ice began coating its body.

Logan narrowed his eyes, lowering his stance as he charged straight at the panther.

The panther lunged across the icy ground, swiping at him with terrifying force.

Logan immediately ducked down, sliding beneath a paw large enough to crush him.

As he slid beneath it, Logan swung his glaive upward, aiming for its stomach.

The glaive collided with the thick layer of ice the panther had created as armor.

As his momentum came to a halt, Logan felt something sting underneath his shoulder while the panther jumped to the side.

Logan immediately tried pushing himself to the side.

But it was too late.

An icicle burst upward and slammed into his back, hurling him through the air with overwhelming force.

’’Logan!’’ Livia shouted, holding a bright golden light in her hand as she dodged icicles.

The panther didn’t hesitate, jumping after Logan while some kind of strange mist started appearing from its open jaws.

Livia released the golden light she’d been preparing in her palm, sending a massive golden beam towards the panther.

The beam melted through countless icicles before crashing against its ice armor, just barely pushing it away from Logan and creating a large hole in the armor.

Spinning in the air, Logan positioned his glaive in front of his head to shield himself from a sharp icicle as he hit the ground.

At the same time, the panther landed gracefully on the ground several tens of feet away from him, roaring loudly.

A cold, thick mist started to pour out of its mouth, erasing all visibility within seconds as it spread through the room.

’’Damn it,’’ Logan said, standing up. ’’I can’t see a damn thing.’’

’This isn’t a simple panther,’ he thought. ’Its combat experience and strength are above normal C-ranks.’

He instinctively turned to where Livia had been.

But he saw nothing.

’’Liv—’’ Logan called out, before his instincts screamed at him to move.

He immediately jumped back as a chilling gust of wind hit his side, followed by the sound of claws scraping across ice.

The panther had moved fast, using the mist as cover while it circled them, forcing them to waste energy reacting to feints.

A shape burst through the mist behind Derek, barely giving him enough time to slam his spear into the ground to raise an earth barrier.

But the panther didn’t attack. It vanished into the mist again as it continued circling them.

Each of them had activated their mana detection abilities, but it was little use.

’There’s tiny bits of mana in the mist,’ Logan thought, his Mana Sight still active. ’Unless it gets really close, you won’t be able to tell the difference.’

Glancing at his red skin, Logan started thinking.

’It’ll be risky,’ he thought, remembering the improvement he’d been testing for the flaming body technique. ’But it might give me an edge.’

"Behind you!" Logan suddenly heard Livia’s voice in his head. A split second later, his instincts screamed at him to move.

Jumping forward, he barely managed to evade the panther’s claw.

’’Thanks,’’ Logan said, before confusion hit him.

Shaking it off, he drew large amounts of mana from his core into his body.

Keeping it contained with all his might, Logan felt his body burn from the temperature.

’This is it,’ he thought, in pain but determined.

He felt his strength and speed increase as the mist around him slowly turned into steam from the sheer temperature his body was releasing.

’’It’s 30 feet to your left,’’ Logan heard Livia’s voice in his head once again.

Without hesitation, he dashed forward with his glaive.

’’15 feet, 45 degrees to your right.’’

Following her guidance, Logan leapt through the mist behind the panther.

Finally, he also caught track of it with his Mana Sight.

Sprinting at speeds he’d never reached before, he caught up to it within a second as it stood still to attack Derek.

’’Wait,’’ he heard in his head. ’’It’s almsot ready.’’

Barely a second later, a massive light beam burned through the mist, colliding with the panther’s stomach.

The panther was blasted into the earth wall Derek had created, stunning it as the mist around its body temporarily cleared.

Immediately following up on Livia’s attack, Logan jumped up, aiming his glaive down.

He pierced deep through the open wound on its stomach, causing large amounts of blood to splatter out.

’I’m not done yet,’ Logan thought, his eyes determined as he transferred the heat from his body into his glaive.

Gripping his glaive tightly, flames erupted inside the snow panther’s stomach, melting its flesh away as it roared in pain.

It pushed Logan off with all its might, throwing him several feet away.

But it was already too late.

’’Once my flame hits your skin,’’ Logan muttered, staring at it from afar. ’’There’s no stopping it.’’