The generals exchanged doubtful glances but nodded in agreement. They had no better options.

“On my signal,” Ethan said, drawing his daggers.

The three spread out, forming a triangle with the Mid-Silver general at its point. The Panther watched this reorganisation with interest.

“Now!” Ethan shouted.

The Mid-Silver general flared his aura provocatively, drawing the beast’s attention. It responded immediately, disappearing in a blur of motion to reappear directly before its chosen prey.

The general met its charge with a horizontal slash aimed not at stopping the attack but at striking the beast’s flank. As predicted, the Panther activated its Speed talent, vanishing before the blade connected.

“Three!” Ethan counted, tracking the beast’s energy signature.

“Two!”

“One!”

The Panther materialized fifteen meters away, exactly as the cooldown ended. In that same instant, all three Silver-ranks attacked from different angles.

The Low-Silver general’s spear thrust toward its hind leg.

The Mid-Silver general unleashed a concentrated energy blast aimed at its head.

Ethan targeted its exposed throat with Enhanced Speed, backing his daggers.

Victory seemed certain—until the impossible happened.

The Panther twisted in midair, contorting with feline flexibility that defied anatomical limits. Its body flowed between the attacks like water between stones; its Speed talent was still powerful, even without using its full potential.

The spear grazed its haunch, drawing minimal blood.

The energy blast singed fur as it passed overhead.

Ethan’s daggers cut empty air as the beast arched its spine beyond natural limits.

“Impossible!” the Low-Silver general gasped.

The Panther landed lightly, silver eyes gleaming with what might almost be amusement. Then it vanished again, reappearing behind the Low-Silver general with claws already slashing toward his spine.

Only Ethan’s warning shout saved the man’s life, allowing him to partially deflect a blow that would have severed his spine.

‘Plan failed. We need something better.’

“Fall back!” Ethan called, mind racing through alternatives.

The three regrouped, creating a defensive triangle facing outward. The Panther circled them, occasionally feinting but never fully committing.

“It’s studying us,” the Mid-Silver general growled.

Ethan nodded grimly. “It’s smarter than the Ape.”

“The Crystal Ape at the northern wall?” The general’s eyes narrowed with sudden suspicion.

“How do you know about that?”

‘That was stupid and careless. Shouldn’t have said that.’

“I saw it from afar,” Ethan deflected. “I need to know everything about its attack patterns. When does it use its Speed talent most predictably?”

The Low-Silver general winced as blood seeped through his makeshift bandage. “When it’s wounded. It always disappears immediately after taking damage.”

That’s something I can use.

“I have another plan,” Ethan said. “This one’s simpler. I’ll wound it, forcing it to activate its Speed talent. The moment it reappears—”

“We’ve tried that,” the Mid-Silver general interrupted. “We can’t predict where it will reappear.”

“You don’t need to.” Ethan smiled coldly. “I can track it during the jump.”

Both generals stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and newfound respect.

“How?” the Low-Silver general finally asked.

“I have my ways.”

The general nodded, he had asked by accident. Asking about someone’s talent and methods was a known taboo.

“It’s now or never,” Ethan pressed. “Trust me or don’t, but decide quickly.”

The generals exchanged a look, decades of battlefield partnership communicating volumes in that single glance.

“We’ll follow your lead; we weren’t able to do much anyway,” the Mid-Silver general decided. “What’s the plan?”

“I engage directly, forcing it to wound me.” Ethan’s voice remained clinical, detached. “When it does, it will retreat using its Speed talent. I track its trajectory and call its destination. You intercept with everything you have. As I have noticed, its destination is usually within a thirty-meter radius.”

“You’re willing to take a potentially lethal wound for this?” The Low-Silver general asked incredulously.

“I can survive one hit.”

Without waiting for further discussion, he stepped forward from their defensive formation. His silver aura flared, deliberately provocative as he advanced toward the circling predator.

“Come on, cat,” he called. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The Panther’s silver eyes fixed on him, assessing this new threat. It began circling closer, muscles bunching in preparation.

Ethan presented a deliberate opening in his stance—subtle enough to seem realistic, obvious enough to be tempting. He held his daggers at an angle that left his left side apparently vulnerable.

The Panther charged, not bothering with its Speed talent for the initial attack. Its claws slashed toward the perceived weakness.

Ethan barely parried the first strike. But there was no time to celebrate as the second strike came faster than the first.

The panther’s claws already on their way to his chest.

‘Crystal Hardening!’

Ethan immediately activated his new talent, crystals appearing on his chest.

Claws raked across his chest, Crystal Hardening preventing disembowelment but not stopping the sharp pain as flesh tore. Blood spattered the ground.

The Panther, following its established pattern, immediately activated its Speed talent to retreat from potential counterattack.

Time slowed in Ethan’s perception. The beast’s form blurred, but his eyes kept tracked of it, barely. Following the silver energy trail as it arced across the battlefield.

“SE!” he shouted, pointing to a position thirty meters southeast. “One second!”

The generals reacted instantly, moving to intercept with weapons primed. The Mid-Silver general gathered energy for a devastating blast while his subordinate readied a spear thrust aimed at where the beast’s vital organs would appear.

Two seconds.

One.

The Panther materialized exactly where Ethan had predicted, already turning to assess its next target.

It had no time to register the trap.

The Mid-Silver general’s energy blast caught it square in the chest, the concentrated power shattering crystalline bone beneath midnight fur. Simultaneously, the Low-Silver general’s spear pierced its flank, sinking deep into vital organs.

The beast yowled in genuine pain—the first such sound it had made during the entire battle. It staggered sideways, blood flowing freely from massive wounds.

But it wasn’t defeated yet.

With desperate fury, it activated its Speed talent once more, disappearing from the generals’ attack.

“Behind you!” Ethan shouted, tracking its movement trail again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep