"How do you want to set this up?" Leon narrowed his eyes, slowly retracting his Clutch Claw.
"They want to see a 'hunting accident,' so we'll give them one." Flora's lips curled slightly as she pointed at the two unconscious Great Jagras. "I'll kill one first to try and draw those guys out. You hide and wait for your opening."
"Fine." Leon's gaze was cold. "Dumpling, with me. Let's go catch those rats."
Leon and Dumpling quietly left the battlefield, using the cover of rubble and low shrubs to circle around to the west.
They climbed the cliff face.
Leon and Dumpling hid behind a large tree.
He crouched low against the trunk. A damp forest breeze rustled the leaves, carrying the scent of moss and earth.
Dumpling squatted at Leon's feet, perfectly still. The Felyne's ears were pricked, and its short fur bristled slightly.
Relying on his enhanced perception, Leon soon sensed something off ahead—
There were three of them, crouching in the nearby tall grass, seemingly holding ranged weapons.
Faint rustling came from the brush, sounding like crawling insects or perhaps the hem of a lurker's cloak brushing against the foliage.
"There really is someone." Leon tightened his grip on his bone scimitar and lowered his voice. "Don't alert them. On the count of three, we'll flank them for a surprise attack."
Dumpling raised his bone club and nodded.
Leon could feel his heart thumping powerfully, like a war drum beating in his chest.
He exhaled, fingers tracing the hilt of his blade, and counted silently: 'Three, two, one.'
Just then—
BOOM!
An explosion suddenly erupted from the direction of the battlefield, kicking up clouds of dust. A Great Jagras collapsed with a thunderous thud.
Leon's eyes narrowed.
He knew Flora had begun the hunt.
Perhaps they hadn't expected two Great Jagras to fail at pinning Flora down. One of them cursed under his breath, and the group quickly stood up to move toward the battlefield.
The chance he'd been waiting for!
Leon and Dumpling had already slipped around behind them.
Just as they were about to strike, something unexpected happened—
Thwack!
A heavy bolt tore through the air, heading straight for Flora!
Leon held his breath, suppressing his anxiety. He knew worrying wouldn't help; he had to finish his own task first.
His feet moved like lightning as he lunged out. The bone scimitar cut through the air, aimed directly at the neck of one of the ambushers!
The man tried to turn and check the noise behind him, but he only had time to widen his eyes before his throat was slashed. A spray of blood erupted, and he fell backward.
The second man hurriedly turned to draw his bow.
But before his hand could even touch the string, a short bone club slammed precisely into his wrist joint.
"Meow!" Dumpling swung his club like a small whirlwind, knocking the longbow to the ground.
Leon took the opportunity to kick the man over. With a flick of his blade and a flash of cold light, blood spattered.
Seeing this, the third person drew dual blades and lunged at Leon.
He moved incredibly fast and with great agility, clearly the strongest of the three lurkers.
Leon judged at a glance that the man's strength was far from ordinary.
He didn't dare be careless, raising his blade to parry.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bone scimitar and dual blades clashed repeatedly, sending sparks flying and creating gusts of wind from the impacts!
Leon possessed great strength, but his opponent's moves were cunning and strange—agile as a cat. He nearly fell for several surprise strikes.
'Good thing I have the small shield...'
"Dumpling!"
"Meow!" Dumpling pounced at the command, attempting to disrupt the lurker's movements from the flank.
But the assassin was prepared. He spun on his heel, flipped onto the ground, and yanked out a burlap sack with one hand.
"Sleep now, little one."
Whoosh—
A yellow mist exploded!
'Paralysis powder?!'
"Meowoo..." Dumpling's vision blurred. He wobbled and collapsed into the bushes, letting out a weak whimper.
"Dumpling!"
Leon was momentarily distracted.
"Hmph, damned outsider..." the lurker sneered, lunging forward with dual blades aimed straight for Leon's heart.
Leon blocked with his blade, but the impact numbed his arms!
In an instant, Leon's muscles tightened, and his vision widened. Just as the blades reached him—
He rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the lethal blow.
He immediately followed up with a backhand slash!
Slash!
This time, the lurker couldn't react in time. The bone scimitar pierced his armor, forcing out a muffled grunt.
But before Leon could fully suppress him, an explosion rang out from below the cliff!
BOOM!!
Leon whipped his head around, his pupils shrinking.
—Flora was down?!
She was down on one knee, her Flower Dagger snapped in two. Standing before her was a heavily armored hunter carrying a terrifying Great Hammer. His presence was as oppressive as the abyss itself.
"Flora!" Leon roared, but he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
A cold flash of steel thrust from behind!
"Damn it!" Leon spun around, but he was half a beat too slow. A sword plunged accurately into his side.
Blood surged out...
Agony spread through him!
In this life-or-death moment, Leon gritted his teeth.
"Assign points!"
[STRENGTH +1, CURRENT STRENGTH: 22]
[UNASSIGNED ATTRIBUTE POINTS: 0]
A warm stream of light flowed through his body. His wound began to heal rapidly, and the pain subsided significantly.
The lurker was stunned.
"Die!" Leon suddenly grabbed the man's wrist and swept his bone scimitar upward.
Squelch!
Blood sprayed, and a severed arm flew into the air!
"AAAAAAAGH!" The lurker let out a heart-wrenching scream, clutching his stump as he retreated frantically.
Leon kicked him in the chest. There was a sickening crunch of breaking ribs as the lurker was sent flying several meters, slamming into the cliff face where he breathed his last.
After it was done, Leon stumbled.
Dark purple blood seeped from his wound. A numbing sensation spread rapidly throughout his body, and his eyes began to bloodshot.
While assigning points could restore stamina and heal injuries, it clearly couldn't neutralize toxins.
Leon pulled an Antidote from his pouch.
As he gulped down the medicine, the toxins in his body were quickly broken down, and the uncontrollable numbness gradually faded.
But he was still weak...
Leon could only rely on sheer willpower to support his frame as he dragged his heavy feet toward Flora's location.
He saw Flora struggling to stand, only to be smashed down again by the heavy hunter's hammer. Blood spurted from her mouth.
"Stop!!"
Leon roared and lunged forward!
But when he was still ten meters from Flora, a massive black hammer swung down at his head.
CRASH!!
The earth shook.
Leon raised his small shield to block, but his arm bones groaned under the unbearable weight.
"Quite tough, aren't you?" The heavy hunter sneered, easily hoisting his hammer for another strike.
WHAM!
The hammer caught Leon in the chest. He went flying like a broken kite, crashing into a pile of rubble.
Blood blurred his vision.
'I can't go down... no...'
'Flora...'
His consciousness began to crumble.
Through the haze, Leon saw someone drag Flora away, bind her roughly, and haul her onto an old carriage.
"Flo... ra..." Leon's fingertips scraped weak bloody trails on the ground as he tried to crawl upright.
"Goodbye, outsider." The heavy hunter looked down at Leon coldly before waving his men over to finish things up.
A whip cracked, wheels crunched against the mud, and the receding silhouettes were soon lost within the woods.
Blood trickled down from Leon's temple. His vision went black, and he slowly lost consciousness.
However, before his eyes closed completely, he caught a faint glimpse of Coco pushing a wooden cart.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+40 chapters) patre0n.c0m/Royal_ink]