Chapter 88 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, But It's Aware of the Oriole Behind
Brother Fist brought two of his close confidants in this mission. The Young Mistress of the Tetsui Clan employed him to capture any children that met her criteria. First, their age must be below fifteen, second, they mustn't have a cultivation base and third, they must be good looking.
A small smile lifted on his lips, although he didn't understand about why the Young Mistress of the Tetsui clan would lower herself and capture mortal children for her own bidding. Why would he care about it in the first place? As long as there's money, the people would move and everything in the world would become achievable.
"Brother Fist, it seems like they located the Fire Panther, what should we do? Do we attack now?" A masculine voice echoed from behind and Brother Fist lifted a smile, his expression turned vicious as he said, "You're really too green about this, Brother Arrow, since those kids are about to die under that noble's hands anyway, let's have them dispose of that Panther first and reap the benefits for ourselves..."
The other member of his group licked his lips, "So we're gonna play the fisherman?" He glanced at Brother Fist and said, "Remember what I said to you earlier, Brother Fist, I'll take that juicy newcomer of their group, his supple, yet tan skins looks delicious..."
Brother Fist and Brother Arrow's figure shivered for a moment as they thought about their brother's sexual orientation, they sighed in relief, after remembering that their brother didn't hold any interest in them.
But still, when they remembered the facts about the fates of the young men that their Brother Poison managed to capture, they couldn't help but endlessly shiver in fear.
Returning on the task at hand, the three men maintained a safe distance and extinguished their presence, though their enemies were just kids, they didn't have the habit on holding back and would always use their full power even if their enemy was a rabbit.
"Look, isn't that the Panther?" Sandra pointed and the three followed her index finger. Indeed, atop a thick, tree branch, a Panther with reddish fur calmly sat, its eyes closed and its breathing regulated.
"Don't just carelessly approach it! The Fire Panther is a cautious beast, it would never leave itself open like that!" Dan warned and Kasun turned to him with shock before nodding his head. The four of them decided to circle around the beast, looking for any traces of traps. After discovering that there were no traps, The four of them nocked their arrows and aimed at the Fire Panther.
"Looks like this will be an easy one," Jacob commented as all of them released their arrows. Their arrow whistled as it neared the beast under the anticipating gazes of the three. But Dan shook his head. In the next instance, a wall of fire engulfed the arrows and the Fire Panther's eyes snapped open.
It scanned the four as all of them shivered. Kasun clicked his tongue, "As expected, it really won't go that well! Let's go, First Formation!" The children nodded their heads and sped towards their respective location.
Their movements were fluid and their expressions were calm throughout the ordeal, making Dan who was older than them by several years, astonished.
'The calmness of these children and their cooperation could beat the National Army of my country...' Dan commented as Kasun neared the beast and shouted, "Come here, you retard! You're hungry, right? Come, bite me!"
The Fire Panther roared, it became angry when it saw these measly mortals that dared to trespass its territory. Its knees bent and Kasun mumbled, "It's coming, Danilo!"
Dan nodded his head and at the same time as the Fire Panther leaped. He pounced and unsheathed his dagger, slicing horizontally at its tendons. A dull thud rang out along with the sound of crashing as dust flew towards the skies, the Fire Panther growled, Dan retreated backward and the group found that the right hind leg of the Fire Panther looked bloody and mangled.
Kasun's expression flickered, he glanced at Dan with an astonished expression. When he called out to him earlier, he didn't really expect much, but to think that he would manage to injure the Fire Panther.
"That's a good hit, Danilo!"
"Uwaaa, you're strong!"
Jacob and Sandra cheered and they walked towards the Fire Panther as Dan's expression suddenly changed, his figure flickered and reappeared between them and the Fire Panther as he pushed the two on the ground followed by a burst of a heatwave which scorched their initial location.
"Goddamned it, it can still move! Everyone, go and retreat for a moment, maintain a safe distance and kite it down!" Kasun moved forward and used his shield in defense, but staring at his shaky figure, it could be said that he wouldn't last that long.
In support, Jacob and Sandra took their bows out and sent a flurry of arrows towards the Fire Panther's direction. But before it could hit its target, the arrows were turned to ashes by the high temperature that surrounded the Fire Panther.
"Damn it, so long range attacks won't work?" Kasun clicked his tongue and Sandra's expression went pale, it was the first time that they tried hunting such a beast, and since the adults denied them some information about it, they were forced to hunt it without prior knowledge.
"It's backside is a blind spot! attack it on its butt and it won't be able to block the arrows with flames!" Dan dished out orders as he sped towards the side of the Fire Panther and attacked in hopes of reducing the pressure on Kasun.
Though with his cultivation base, he could instantly annihilate this beast. He didn't unveil his power, lest those bastards observing at the side would be scared off.
Jacob and Sandra regained their calm and repositioned themselves as another flurry of arrows flew towards the direction of the Fire Panther. As expected, it didn't notice the arrows as a miserable shriek echoed from its throat.
Its asshole looked bloody and mangled, and the intense pain that it felt made it berserk as it spewed flames around the area. The green grass around them turned into dust as Kasun instructed, "Retreat for now! It's berserk and its close combat power is doubled!"
The berserk state of the Fire Panther would increase its firepower, but it will also lose its reasoning. It trampled the area around and even forgot about Kasun's group. Dan, along with the two children stood beside Kasun, observing the fiery inferno that the Fire Panther created.
The sound of rustling leaves echoed behind them as a malevolent voice echoed from behind followed by the appearance of three burly men whose expression distorted into vicious ones,
"Game time is over, kids, the adults will take over, now..." Brother Fist licked his lips and his gaze swept over at Sandra's figure, Jacob knitted his eyebrows, "Who are you?" He asked he stretched his hand towards his weapon, but before he could do so, a sharp pain struck his nape as his consciousness darkened.
"Kasun, you..." He mumbled, his eyes widened in shock and despair as he crumbled on the ground.
Brother Fist stared at Kasun's display of betrayal in amusement, clapping his hands together, he said,
"Good one, Kasun, now come over this side and receive your reward..."
Kasun's expression flickered in glee, his figure couldn't help but tremble in excitement as he approached Brother Fist's side.
Staring at Kasun, Dan inwardly thought, 'And here I thought that he's smart and respectable, it seems like he's just a fool that blindly worships money...' He stared at Brother Fist's vicious expression and shook his head, Kasun will never be able to take his reward.
"Guah!" Kasun's figure froze, a blood arrow spat from his mouth which drenched the ground in a crimson color. Lifting his head, he stared at Brother Fist and said, "B-b-brother, you said that you will give me..."
His eyes widened as his body stopped its struggle. Just like this, a young life was lost.
"No! This is..." Sandra's expression went pale, despair suffused on her pale visage as she staggered backward, staring at the depraved expressions of the three adults before her and the cruel actions of them, killing her comrade, she couldn't help but tremble and fear as she snuck behind Dan's back.
Brother Fist licked his lips, his gaze landed at Dan before saying, "Hoooh? What do we have here? A wannabe hero?" His comment made the two other men chuckle in disdain.
"A wannabe hero?" Dan lifted a smile, "I didn't intend to be like that," He shook his head, lifting his head, he stared right into Brother Fist's eyes as he said, "But since you decided to include me in your hunting list, you should expect to be hunted in return, right?"
Consecutive gunshots echoed throughout the entire forest, followed by several deep thuds as a blood river formed on his feet. Dan didn't even hesitate to pull his trigger and reaped the lives of these three men.
Sandra fell on her backside, her eyes widened in terror as she saw Dan lifting his weapon and pointing it at the berserk Fire Panther, "Bang!" Another gunshot echoed, the berserk Fire Panther crumbled on the ground with a bloody hole in its forehead.
Turning around, he kneeled and stared right into Sandra's eyes, "Let's have a discussion as to how we shall explain this to the Adventurer's Guild, shall we?"