The clearing beyond the trees that had once been a battlefield was silent. The earth was cracked and scorched, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and smoke. Arthur’s thunderous duel with the demon had rattled the entire forest. 

But in another part of the forest there was another battle ongoing, Finn and his group were face-to-face with the beast-kin ambushers who had followed them out of the Oracle’s temple.

It was five against five, both their numbers and strength were similar, with the strongest reaching near the peak of 5th Circle.

“Spread out! And watch the flanks!” Finn shouted, wind whipping violently around his body as his sword gleamed with faint blue-green mana. His heart hammered against his chest, but his gaze was sharp. This wasn’t the first deadly battle he was going to face, he had come out of  worse situations before.

The scarred warrior beside him, a broad-shouldered man with a broad sword snorted. “They’re weaker than the ones in the trial.”

Finn sighed faintly, still keeping his eyes on the five beast-kins forming a semicircle around them. “Don’t underestimate them.”

The beast-kin at the front, a tiger-type male with orange fur streaked with white across his forearm, let out a guttural growl. “Humans… always walking around like you own the world.” His claws extended, glinting faintly.

“At least we are not like you who are serving their oppressors,” Finn said.

The tiger roared in rage hearing Finn and lunged forward. It was kind of a taboo topic even though it was true, while the demons attacked their continent some fled and the others chose to stay back and serve the demons, they include the beast-kins, dwarves and many other demi human races. So, hearing it from Finn made the beast-kins rage.

Finn spun his sword, conjuring a wall of compressed wind that burst outward like a cannon. The impact met the tiger’s charge midair, slamming him back into a tree with a heavy crack. Making dirt and leaves scatter into the air.

But the other beast-kins were already in motion.

A wolf-kin vanished into the shadows, too fast for the untrained eye. A moment later, he reappeared behind one of the human mages, his claws gleaming with mana.

“Behind you!” Finn shouted.

The mage barely twisted his body in time, raising a hasty mana shield, crash! The claws tore through the barrier like paper, but it slowed the attack just enough for the scarred warrior to step in.

Blade flashed, and blood sprayed.

The wolf-kin roared as one of his ears was sliced off. The scarred warrior growled, “You missed your chance, mutt.”

The wolf snarled, leaping back into the shadows.

Meanwhile, the second mage, a woman with red hair tied in a messy braid raised her staff and murmured an incantation. Circles of blue light spun around her wrists as spears of ice took form in the air.

“Keep them off me for five seconds!” she yelled.

The martial artist of the group, a bare-chested man. His body was covered in Chi, glowing golden as he grinned. “Five seconds? I can give you ten!”

He dashed forward, intercepting two beast-kins, a bear and a fox. The bear swung his arm, the force alone sending wind blasting through the clearing, but the martial artist met it head-on. Their fists collided, shockwaves bursting outward due to the impact.

The fox-kin used the distraction to circle behind him, a blade flashing toward the martial artist’s ribs.

The scarred warrior appeared again, he moved like a shadow, parrying the blade with his off-hand dagger. “You’re open!” He may appear bulky, but if someone underestimated his speed they would be in for a surprise.

He attacked, cutting across the fox’s thigh. “Tsk…” 

The fox-kin appears to be faster than him as he was able to minimize the damage by dodging just in time. The beast-kin hissed and retreated, his amber eyes glowing faintly with fury. But they were able to buy the mage enough time even though they were unable to cause much damage to the beast-kins.

“NOW!” the red-haired mage yelled, and the air temperature dropped instantly.

Whum-whum-whum!

Dozens of ice spears, each the size of a bus launched at once, like a storm of frozen death targeting the beast-kind. The tiger and the bear raised defensive mana barriers, but shards of the attack broke through, cutting their skin and drawing streaks of blood. The fox was just dodging from the attack of the scarred warrior as one spear buried itself deep into his shoulder, pinning him to a tree.

Finn grinned, wind flaring around his legs as he propelled himself into the air. “Don’t let up!”

He pointed his sword downward, wind condensing at its tip until it glowed a violent teal. “Wind Art: Tempest Drill!”

He fired the spell like a missile. The air screamed as the spiral of wind slammed into the tiger-kin, forcing him to his knees.

The tiger roared in agony, his aura flaring as he tried to push back. His claws dug into the ground, but the sheer pressure of Finn’s spell carved trenches beneath him.

The fox screamed from the side as he dislodged himself from the tree, “You worthless brute! Use your bloodline ability!”

The tiger’s eyes glowed crimson. His aura became stronger, his fur bristled, and his muscles swelled with beastly power. His strength multiplied in an instant, and with a guttural roar, he slashed upward, tearing through Finn’s spell.

The backlash sent Finn spinning backward through the air. He hit the ground hard, rolling twice before sliding to a stop. His ribs ached, and blood started running down his chin.

“Finn!” the red-haired mage screamed.

“I’m fine!” he coughed, pushing himself up with his sword. His chest burned, but his eyes stayed fierce. “I’ve been through worse.”

The tiger-kin laughed darkly. “You’ll be dead meat soon.”

The wolf reappeared beside him, now flanking Finn’s side, and in that moment, Finn realized he was being boxed in.

‘They’re coordinating to take me out first,’ he thought grimly.

He planted his sword into the ground and exhaled slowly, and the air pressure around him shifted.

Mana poured out of him, swirling into a miniature tornado that whipped through the battlefield. The beast-kins staggered, struggling to move against the violent current.

The wolf snarled, forcing his way forward using mana reinforcement. But before he could strike, the scarred warrior intercepted him again, his broad sword glowing with mana.

Their clash was vicious, steel against claws, as sparks started flying everywhere. The wolf bit into the man’s shoulder, blood splattering across his fur, but the warrior didn’t even flinch. He shoved a dagger he took out from his waist pouch  into the wolf’s gut, twisting it before kicking him away.

The wolf fell, clutching his stomach, as his breath became ragged.

The scarred warrior spat blood and smirked. “You bite like a bi*ch.”

The bear roared and charged at the martial artist, who crossed his arms, Chi flaring around him in a defensive move, their collision echoed through the forest. The bear’s brute strength cracked the ground, but the martial artist refused to back down.

The red-haired mage ran to Finn’s side, chanting. “I can heal you, but it’ll take a few seconds…”

“No time,” Finn said through gritted teeth. “Cover me. I’ll finish this.”

He raised his sword again, channeling every ounce of mana left into a single attack. The air thickened, as his hair whipped violently from the force.

“Wind Art: Gale Execution!”

The ground exploded beneath him as a massive blade of sharp wind tore through the battlefield as he slashed his sword towards two of the beast-kins.

The fox tried to dodge but couldn’t, as the sharp winds ripped him apart midair. The tiger roared, raising his claws as a barrier, but the pressure of the spell pressed him flat to the ground. The bear tried to shield him, but both were flung backward, blood spraying as trees shattered behind them.

The wind died down, and the forest was silent except for the panting of the survivors.

Finn fell to one knee, his breath appeared ragged, and sweat poured down his face. “Damn… that one took everything…”

The red-haired mage crouched beside him, placing a hand on his back. “You’re insane, you know that?”

“Yeah,” he panted.

The scarred warrior wiped blood from his jaw, looking over the battlefield. Two beast-kins were dead; but there were still three who were alive, groaning on the ground as they got up.

The martial artist limped over, his knuckles bleeding and his clothes were torn in several places. “I think we should be able to take care of them.” As he looked at the three remaining enemies, then he looked at the condition of his team mates and shook his head. They quickly downed some potions to recover a bit.

Finn managed a weak smile. “Good… we should finish before Athur return.”

The scarred warrior raised a brow. “You think he’s alive?”

Finn chuckled dryly. “He’s Arthur, if anyone’s walking out of that fight, it’s him.”

As if on cue, a faint golden light approached them from deep inside the forest. 

…

Arthur appeared just on the outskirts of the clearing where Finn and his group were fighting against the beast-kins and looked around, seeing the outcome of the battle.

Arthur raised an eyebrow as he saw there were only three beast-kins alive out of the three. The beast-kins froze as soon as they saw Arthur, since Arthur had appeared, which means Draz’gul had died. They started to back away, but as soon as they took a step back they felt they were frozen in place and it was not their doing.

Arthur, after restricting the beast-kins movements by increasing the density of the air around them, approached Finn and his group, who appeared injured. He could have directly increased their density, but it would have killed them, as they were not as strong as the demon. 

The demon was able to bear the increased density of his body due to the immense strength of his body and his regenerative power. And if Arthur increases the density of these beast-kins they would either die due to organ failure or go splat.

“You guys looked roughed up.” Arthur said as he appeared before Finn.

Finn shrugged as he put his sword away, “Well… it was a tough fight.” 

Arthur nodded hearing that and took out five vials that contained blue liquid and handed them to the injured. Finn widened his eyes and said, “You are giving those out like candies.” 

As he had previously used one of them in the trial from the three he received from Arthur before, so he knows their efficacy. And he was surprised that Arthur was handing them out so casually.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, “Are you going to use it, or do you want me to take it back?” Finn hurriedly snatched one vial and said, “Who said I was not going to take it…Humph!” and downed it. 

Arthur chuckled hearing Finn, and the others also took the vial and widened their eyes in surprise seeing Finn’s injuries healing at a rapid pace. It was not that they haven’t heard of high grade healing potions, but seeing someone casually handing them out still surprised them.

Arthur then said suddenly, “We should separate from here.” 

Finn, who was recovering, looked at Arthur and sighed, “Yeah…we will only hold you back if you stay with us.”

Arthur shook his head and said, “It’s not that you will hold me back, but you would face much greater danger if you stay with me.”

Finn nodded and didn’t argue back, he then looked at his team mates and after a short farewell they separated from Arthur.

Arthur looked at the group as they vanished from the clearing and looked back at the three beast-kins who stood frozen and approached them.

***

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