Chapter 316
Chapter 316
The Hunters were catching up with the fugitives.
The leader stopped, rubbed fresh blood between his fingers and claimed confidently: «The tiger was here only five minutes ago. The animal is badly injured and losing strength. We’re almost there. Get ready to meet the beast!»
«Yes, sir!» – The hunters said in unison.
Meanwhile, Kyon asked himself: {How to lose a tail?} – If he didn’t come up with anything in ten minutes, the hunters would get them. The bleeding tiger was doomed against twenty people with royal phasers among them (6). They would harness the beast and kill the fat freak.
If he only had the superior (3) grade of the wind element, he would have carried the tiger on his back, isolating the smell from the outside world with a vacuum barrier, but alas.
An attempt to throw the best hunters of the empire off the trail with the water element was doomed to failure. The supreme beast’s blood had a strong smell. Besides, the wet trail would convey the idea about the tiger’s helper. Why else hadn’t the beast used this method before?
Using pungent stuff like Demonic mushrooms would have the same result. Where should the tiger get them? Why hadn’t the beast used them before? It was no brainer, either. Kyon would hate to lose the identity of Dick Baker. He had a recommendation letter to the imperial investigator under that name, after all.
He had enough ingredients in the ring to create an odorless powder that would confuse the hunters, but he had no time to do it. Every minute counted. Besides, he had only one working hand! Kyon deeply regretted not spending a few days studying at least the most basic healing techniques from the Grand legacy.
And suddenly, it hit Kyon. He ordered the beast at once: «Run to the North!»
At some point, the group of hunters turned north.
«Mr. Murat, why did the tiger change the direction so suddenly?» – A promising young hunter named Rizat asked the leader.
Murat thought for a while and then cried out: «The river Stream! The tiger wants to cross the river and throw us off the trail!»
The group of hunters rushed forward even faster than before.
Meanwhile, Kyon approached a cliff over the river and ordered the tiger: «Jump down, swim with the current until that rock. And don’t shake off the water!»
{Why is he so excited? Is anyone chasing us? I can’t hear anything, and neither should he.} – The tiger thought carelessly and obediently jumped down. After two hundred meters, the fluffy beast climbed up a large rock and was about to shake off the water instinctively but stopped just in time.
Kyon clenched his teeth. In two minutes, the hunters would run to the cliff and see them! He was running out of time. He had to hurry.
The tiger opened its fanged muzzle in amazement, watching the man’s actions. He dried up himself, the beast, and the rock under them with the heat element; created ridiculous stone shoes with long shovel-shaped soles that left no trace; and finally, threw the tiger on his back and ran in the forest, holding the beast like a bag of rotten potatoes!
«Rr-oo-o-o-ar!» – The tiger roared indignantly.
«Shut up, kitty! I order you not to make a sound during an hour!» – Kyon hissed irritably. It wasn’t too easy running with two hundred kilos on the back! Anyway, it was something he could do. The Scourge weighed a hundred kilos. So what? He waved it with no effort. The sticky blood trickling down his back was the most annoying part of it all. He had to dry it with the heat until it turned into a crispy crust. It felt sickening.
Suddenly, the tiger shuddered: {Huh! I can hear more than twenty people and dogs. They are already on the cliff! Did this human hear them before me?} – The supreme beast stood rooted to the spot. Now it became clear why the man was so anxious to run away. The newly-minted master was no ordinary human. The beast hadn’t met anyone with such extraordinary skills! Only supreme beasts were capable of this.
Kyon created an acoustic barrier and hid behind a huge tree. Royal phasers had sharp senses as hell. Smell, hearing, vision… With only cursory scanning, they could feel living beings within half a kilometer around them. He should have spent a couple of days learning at least the elementary barrier of concealment!
Kyon had to use Synergy to calm down his heart jumping out of the chest. The decisive moment, and… The hunters went further along the river bank. The disaster had passed. It was another close call. Which one for today? Kyon had chosen the leeward side to leave the river for a reason or else…
The Hunters had been searching for the tiger for about an hour, all to no avail.
The leader destroyed a thick ancient tree near him with a careless blow and shouted angrily: «Shit! The fucking cat was no bright spark! This beast is a hothouse flower that grew up in the center of the forest. How could it possibly outwit us? I smell a rat!»
If the tiger had drowned, the hunters would have found the body by scanning. If it was out of the water, the bloodhounds would have taken the trail. They couldn’t understand how the beast had managed to slip away.
Rizat squinted suspiciously: «Unless someone is helping the beast…»
Kyon carried the tiger on his shoulders, scattering newly made powder that would throw the dogs off the scent. From now on, the hunters wouldn’t find them in this huge forest.
«Are you kidding me?» – Lovr cried out suddenly.
The tournament participants were approaching him from both sides. Two of them had miraculously found him in this wilderness. It would be alright, but the complete absence of ammunition made Kyon absolutely defenseless. He could rely only on his recently acquired trophy.
Kyon carelessly threw the tiger off his neck, but contrary to his expectations, the beast landed on the back, not on the paws.
«No… Not now!»
The whiskered beast gave the master a plaintive look and tried to get up, but then it fell on the side and lost consciousness. Its energy, as well as life, was running like sand through the claws. If the wound wasn’t treated soon, the tiger would die of blood loss.
Kyon felt a bit sorry for the supreme beast, but he felt even more sorry for himself. If the tiger died, it would mean that he had risked his life and resources (the artillery shells) for nothing. He couldn’t let him die! Kyon grabbed the striped cat and dashed off. The two participants ran into each other. As expected, they started a fight for the keys.
He hadn’t run too far away as another opponent appeared, the third prince himself.
«Damn it! Fucking timing! Is it coincidence or what?» – Kyon grumbled and rushed in the opposite direction from the prince. It wasn’t too hard to get rid of him. Kyon didn’t have any spare time to waste.
Five minutes later, Kyon cursed again: «Fucking shit!» – His zombie birds had spotted Artie Grand. According to the rules, the tournament bracelet should not indicate the participant from the same school and must vibrate within a kilometer range, but nothing of the kind was observed.
{I see. Someone has forged the tournament formations just to finish me off. And I thought I was a total loser. Anyway, who could it be? It’s a trick at the royal level?} – Kyon wondered on the run.
At the most inopportune moment, Artie used the tracking function in the tournament bracelet and changed his direction, scanning the area to detect any possible opponent.
With the tiger on his back and the damaged arm, Kyon was moving much slower and failed to escape. Artie could feel someone a hundred meters ahead, behind the trees and said out loud: «Dear sir! Would you be kind enough to stop? I challenge you to a duel!»
{*$%#@№!} – Kyon’s reaction was obvious. He had had enough trouble today. He wouldn’t get off easy this time. It was impossible to make a deal with someone whose dear girl he had fucked. Fighting with the opponent four stages stronger than even Timothy Brown was pure madness, especially without the light flash or a single shot in the ring. Even if he managed to shoot from a sniper once, Artie would be ready for the fight. He would have time to react. What was left?
However, Kyon didn’t despair. First of all, he dug a hole with the earth and hid the unconscious tiger. Just at that moment, he heard the former fan club leader’s familiar annoying voice.
«Is it… You?!» – Artie’s face lit up. – «Come on! Did the gods hear my prayers?»
The fat guy turned slowly around: «Dear Artie, what’s up? How’s your arm? Doesn’t hurt anymore?»
Artie’s evil smile distorted and disappeared for a second but quickly reappeared again, even broader and uglier than before: «Are you cracking wise? Okay… It’s even more interesting! Shit! Who’d ever think that I will be happy to see Dick Baker! If I told it myself in the past, I’d spit in my face, and you know why?»
«You don’t like your face?»
«That’s not what I mean! But what can I expect from a degenerate with intelligence at the level of a snail… I wonder what you will come up with to save your fragile inner world when I strangle you with your own guts like a pathetic pig you are.» – gloated Artie.
«It’s not funny…»
«Not funny? Fucking scum, you fucked the girl I loved! Well, Kara turned out to be a demon, but what difference does it make if she was the best of the best? You’ll pay me for everything!» – Artie took the dagger out of the ring and, roaring like a beast, attacked at dazzling speed, against which an advanced phaser was totally powerless.
Dick backed away, covering his face with his hand that made his opponent flash a thirty-two teeth smile.
«Take that, pig!» – Artie swung his dagger, intending to rip the fat freak’s stomach open.
However, Dick caught his opponent by surprise, putting his hand in front of him with lightning speed.
Artie could dodge the blow, but he changed his mind. The pathetic weakling’s empty hand without a bit of energy wouldn’t do any harm to him. He didn’t want to show undue fear. It would only make him a laughing stock. Instead, Artie decided to exchange “blows.” He thrust the dagger into Dick’s guts and received a harmless slap in the face. The sharp weapon plunged into the fat guy’s flesh up to the hilt, but it couldn’t rip him open: his skin was as hard as the dragon scales!
Kyon actually didn’t intend to punch him. By a dexterous sleight of hand, he took a Demonic mushroom out of his sleeve and slapped Artie on the nose with it, releasing a dense green gas directly into his lungs.
«Fucking asshole!» – Artie barked, realizing what Dick’s plan was.
~bam~
The blow sent the fat freak flying ten meters away straight into a tree.
«Cough… Cough-cough… COUGH-COUGH-COUGH…» – Artie coughed violently. His lungs seemed to have filled with hot dry air from the sauna. His mind was clouded, his vision blurry at times and focused at others. – «What did you do, imbecile? Cough-cough…»
Kyon spat blood to the ground. The energy at the tip of the dagger had almost destroyed his spleen. The impact of the blow had cracked his carbon ribs and torn a lung. The bones had consumed 99% of the blow, but the remaining 1% was enough to do the damage.
«Cough-cough… Cough… Ha-ha-ha! Cough… Ha-ha-ha-ha! Did you seriously think that you could defeat a noble phaser with some poisonous gas trick? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!» – Artie threw his head back and laughed like a madman. – «I’ve never met anyone so naive and stupid like you! Ha-ha-ha! You aren’t even a human. You are a spawn of goblin! Ha-ha-ha-ha!»
Artie laughed another minute, then rushed to the fat freak and delivered a heavy blow straight into his head: «DIE ALREADY! HA-HA-HA!» – He cackled like crazy, beating the fat ugly body to a pulp: «HA-HA-HA! I am so happy, I am so happy! Ha-ha-ha-ha! THANK YOU, GODDESS! Ha-ha-ha!»
Artie kept beating his sworn enemy until there was nothing left but a greasy spot. His soul gradually cleansed from burning hatred. Finally, he had found the long-awaited peace. He meant to torture Dick as long as could be, but it was impossible to restrain himself!
All of a sudden, Artie heard a delicate, ephemeral voice behind him that sent shivers down his spine.
«Purr, my sweetheart. You have finally finished him off. Come here, I will thank you properly…»
Artie turned around and saw gorgeous, half-naked Kara, love of his life. Her skin shone with a glow of its own, her enchanting eyes gave him a playful glare, her magnificent hair seductively disheveled, a wet spot clearly visible on her panties.
Artie’s jaw dropped. He almost fainted in disbelief. His soul perked up with happiness, and his body trembled with excitement: «Your Highness… What are you… I… I’ve always wanted to tell you that I love you!»
«I love you too, honey… Purr, wanna get frisky?» – The princess beckoned Artie with her long, thin finger, giving him a sexy wink.
Without hesitation, he jumped into her embrace. Kara growled with excitement. Passionate kissing with tongues intertwined, his back scratched with passion… They looked like the world’s best lovers. Artie’s face blushed with emotions, his heart leaping out of his chest.
«Naughty girl! What are you doing? Оh… О-о-оh… A-а-а-аh! Wow!» – Kara ripped his briefs off so vehemently that Artie was at a loss for words. When her soft lips wrapped around his penis, her teeth playfully biting him, Artie was in seventh heaven, wriggling like on the frying pan. – «Yeah! Deeper! Take it deeper! А-а-а-а-а-аh! O-o-o-oh! А-а-а-аh!» – He moaned in ecstasy, rolling his eyes.
Meanwhile, Kyon was watching Artie “making love” with a black panther. He was deadly pale, his jaw askew. At first, the wild beast growled, scratched, and bit the prey. Then the bloodthirsty panther sank the teeth into his soft tissues, namely into the crotch. The poor guy lost his testicles and penis, moaning blissfully. The wild cat was eating him alive while he was kissing and hugging it tight. The sight was clearly not for the faint of heart. Even a battle-hardened warrior might throw up watching it.
Bit by bit, the insatiable panther tore Artie’s stomach apart and briskly pulled out his guts, meter by meter devouring its lunch. Artie begged the beast not to stop, moaning with pleasure…
{This mushroom is… Really demonic!} – Lovr thought, shaking his head with an indifferent expression on his face. He felt a bit sorry for Artie. On the other hand, he would die in the arms of his beloved one… He would give her the best of himself… literally.
Initially, Kyon did not have a single chance to defeat the noble phaser. He had to use a trick, pretending that he wanted to exchange blows. If Artie had been a little more careful, nothing would have come out of it. A strong body was an important resource. During a battle, protection could be neglected to deliver an irresistible and fatal blow. Regeneration would help to get back from the dead if need be.