The Reynbow Beam pierced the night darkness, illuminating the mountain forest.
In the bright light, the silhouette of the Shadow Thunder Panther flashed. The beast's speed surged; it dropped low, tail whipping to shift its massive body aside—in a split second, the panther dodged the attack.
In the next instant, it was right before Reyn.
The enormous body—nearly five meters nose to tail tip—moved without a hint of clumsiness. Jaws agape with dagger-like fangs, the panther lunged for Reyn's throat.
"Damn!"
Reyn was caught off guard but didn't panic.
With a dull thud, the panther knocked him down. Massive fangs snapped at his throat, powerful forepaws raking and clawing. His light leather armor shredded instantly. Claws sparked off the under-armor protection; fangs ground against the neck metal but inflicted no harm.
An explosion erupted with a shower of electric sparks.
Before the panther comprehended, it was hurled aside. The over-two-thousand-pound sterling beast flew like dragon-struck and crashed dozens of meters away.
Rolling, the panther sprang up. Bewilderment filled its huge pupils.
Reyn rose too, eyeing his fist.
In the fall, he'd landed a blow under the beast's belly. With his strength—even without Dragon Power boost and from an awkward prone position—the punch exceeded thirty thousand pounds sterling, enough to kill a high-rank Superhuman.
But upon contact, Spiked Thunder Armor flared on the panther's body.
The attacked armor exploded with several powerful lightning bolts.
Reyn breached the defense, but the shock numbed his body. Not fully invested, the blow spared the panther serious injury.
"R-r-roar..."
The panther growled low and charged again.
This time, it activated "Swift Run," hitting peak speed. It covered the dozens of meters instantly. Reyn aimed at its head and punched.
Whoosh!
His fist cleaved empty air, blasting it ahead.
"Too fast," Reyn thought bitterly. Thanks to Will of Truth, he saw every panther movement clearly—its side shift for a bite—but his body lagged like a clumsy puppet.
He wanted no close combat with the panther. With a mental command, he activated Blink from the Book of Runes.
Blink's cast time was minimal, a blink of an eye—the fastest spell in his arsenal, limited to three uses per day.
Snap.
The panther's jaws clamped empty space; landing, it whipped its head around.
With night vision, it spotted Reyn over twenty meters away and charged instantly.
For the panther, that distance was a heartbeat. Reyn couldn't cast in time, so he activated Charge, rushing to meet it.
Man and panther collided head-on.
The impact flashed brilliantly—dozens of lightning bolts burst out.
Reyn jolted from the shock but was unscathed—far from wounded. The panther flew back. Without Spiked Thunder Armor absorbing most of the force, it'd be bloody pulp.
With a pained whimper, the panther rolled and rose. Fear entered its gaze at Reyn.
It was wounded.
Reyn unhesitatingly Charged again.
Wind whistled in his ears. He reached where the panther had been, but it had dodged onto a large rock, snarling down.
Reyn realized—the panther was scared.
He immediately began casting. A flame orb formed in his hand and rocketed toward the rock after two or three breaths.
Boom! Earth and grass erupted, incinerating instantly in the fiery vortex.
But the panther dodged easily.
Without waiting, it wheeled and fled, leaving a blurred afterimage. Moments later, it vanished into the dense forest.
Reyn stood stunned.
This magical panther was surprisingly clever—realizing defeat, it fled at once.
The Voice of All Things still tracked it—a massive noise source receding rapidly. In seconds, it covered great forest distance. Another minute or two, and it'd pass hearing range.
Reyn gave chase.
His running speed was turtle-like compared to the panther. Like hare and tortoise reversed, he fell far behind in under half a minute.
To keep up, Reyn activated Charge.
Fifth-level Charge covered thirty meters at a time. Trees, bushes, grass on his path turned to dust.
He didn't Chain Charge continuously, pausing ten seconds.
With third-level Steel Body stamina, ten-second intervals let his body recover without damage.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Reyn raced relentlessly, speed surging. He barreled through the forest like a high-speed train, bulldozing everything.
The racket flushed countless birds and startled wild beasts.
Some time later, Reyn halted abruptly. He'd lost it. The Voice of All Things no longer detected the panther.
He narrowed his eyes and quickly found escape tracks.
Fleeing, the panther wasn't as cautious as usual, moving nearly straight. Its tracks were far more obvious, easy to follow.
Reyn pressed on without hesitation, using Charge less often to conserve energy.
Hours passed. The sky began lightening.
Reyn had covered significant ground. Entering another forest thicket, he froze. A familiar noise source was near. The same Shadow Thunder Panther rested on a large nearby tree. Its heartbeat and breathing were rapid—clearly, the flight had drained it.
"Can't let it recover."
Reyn decided and crept cautiously toward the tree where the panther lurked.
He checked wind direction and approached from upwind, scent unbetrayed.
At a hundred meters, he spotted it.
The panther had just killed a boar and was eating on the branch, glancing warily every few bites.
Suddenly, it froze, staring puzzled toward the grove.
A massive Fireball hurtled from there.
BOOM!
The blast splintered the tree. Flames and branch shards soared skyward. The panther, forgetting food, leaped down and roared furiously.
But seeing the approaching foe, it hesitated half a second and fled again.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Reyn Chained Charge three times. Trees on the hundred-meter straight fell like scythed wheat. The panther's silhouette appeared ahead.
Distance shrank to twenty meters.
Reyn's gaze was calm. The Book of Runes in hand was ready. Soul force stirred, and he Blinked away.
Whoosh!
Next instant, Reyn materialized nearly at the panther's tail tip—so close he could touch it. Terrified, the beast didn't dare look back, activating "Swift Run."
Reynbow Beam flashed.
Focused on flight, the panther couldn't dodge this time. Spiked Thunder Armor ignited on its hide.
The armor resisted magic but excelled against physical. Holding half a second, it shattered; the beam struck the hindquarters.
A agonized howl rang out. In pain, the panther accelerated.
Reyn's face darkened.
Third-circle Reynbow Beam randomly triggered one of three debuffs: blind, petrify, or burn. The last two would've stopped it dead.
Luck favored it—blind.
Back to the beam, blind had no effect.
"This surprise hit worked, but the next will be harder."
Three Charges and one Blink closed the gap for the Reynbow Beam hit. Now alert, it wouldn't let him near.
Reyn pursued, Eye of the Soul tracking the fleeing panther.
With "Swift Run" active, its speed doubled or tripled. The ability lasted about five minutes—impossible to catch then.
But "Swift Run" guzzled stamina, cooldown at least half an hour.
Reyn trailed for half a minute, watching it vanish.
He tracked via Voice of All Things.
After five minutes, "Swift Run" ended; panther speed dropped. Reyn heard its labored, ragged breaths.
Reyn's eyes gleamed, a smile forming.
He'd found the panther's weakness.
Like many fast magical beasts, it lacked stamina. Post-sprint, its speed fell below normal. Without rest, exhaustion was its Achilles' heel.
His speed lagged, but stamina outclassed it manyfold.
Just deny food and rest, wage war of attrition, wear it down until it couldn't run. Then easy prey.
With that, Reyn calmed.
He Charged every ten to fifteen seconds, doggedly following.
En route, he spotted other wild beasts. Drawing Song of the Azure Sky, he slew them with one strike, absorbing souls to restore his own forces.
By noon, Reyn caught up again.
This time, no ambush—he appeared openly and charged. The panther, hiding at a cliff base, bolted in terror and fled anew.
Passing its hideout, Reyn noted no prey traces—clearly, no time to hunt.
Perfect scenario.
Hunger and fatigue would break it eventually.
Sun rose and set.
Reyn hounded the Shadow Thunder Panther across Grey Dragon Mountain, pursuing day and night. Wherever it fled, whenever it thought it'd escaped, Reyn reappeared soon after, denying any respite.
One fled, the other pursued.
Save the initial strike, Reyn attacked no more.
Two days had passed. The panther's speed had noticeably dropped, now less than half of what it had been before. She used "Swift Run" with great caution now.
Ryne could feel her irritation and desperation building.
"She'll hold out for a maximum of one more day."
Ryne was confident in his assessment. Two days without food and with nonstop running—the panther was at the limit of her capabilities.
He, meanwhile, after pursuing her for two days, felt no fatigue at all.
In that time, he had killed several dozen wild beasts, including three low-rank magical beasts. Their souls weren't particularly strong, but it was enough to replenish his own energy expenditures.
The third day arrived. Toward evening, Ryne caught up to his prey again.
When he spotted the panther, her eyes were sunken, her fur dull. She growled at him with her last strength, her gaze full of malice, as if she wanted to launch a final desperate attack. After hesitating for a moment, she turned to flight once more.
Watching her go, Ryne smirked.
This panther was on the brink of death.
He charged after her again. He hadn't run even a few hundred meters when he heard a drawn-out cry. Several kilometers away, a black eagle shot into the sky.
"Red-Eyed Eagle."
Ryne frowned. He saw the eagle circling rapidly in the sky—clearly, it had spotted the panther.
A few minutes later, the eagle began to descend, emitting sharp cries.
Ryne realized: the panther was deliberately heading toward the hunter. She wanted to use herself as bait, pit the two enemies against each other, and escape in the chaos.
"Not a dumb beast."
Ryne, of course, had no intention of falling for the trick. Unless the panther threw herself right into the hunter's hands, he could easily avoid an encounter without giving cause for conflict.
He continued the pursuit. The Red-Eyed Eagle soon noticed him too, fixing him with a steady gaze.
Ryne ignored the bird. Soon he heard voices. Judging by their auras and heartbeats, they were Superhumans—four in total.
The distance between them was closing rapidly. Ryne raced along the panther's trail.
The Red-Eyed Eagle circled overhead.
"Careful, he's heading this way," a male voice rang out. Immediately, the other three drew their weapons, their hearts beating faster.
In half a minute, Ryne's gaze pierced the undergrowth, and he saw the four.
Eye of the Soul instantly assessed them: leading was a fifth-level Tracker armed with a longbow, quite strong. Beside him sat a massive Polar Wolf. His three companions were a fourth-level Iron Guard, a fourth-level Ranger, and a third-level Sorcerer.
The moment Ryne saw them, they noticed him.
Wariness filled their eyes.
The Tracker had keen senses. The instant Ryne's gaze touched him, a chill ran down his spine. The Polar Wolf beside him growled uneasily.
He was about to shout, but he saw Ryne activate Charge with a boom.
Three Charges in a row—and he vanished in an instant.
Staring at the clearing blasted through the forest, the Tracker and his companions exchanged glances.
The Iron Guard was especially stunned. He knew Charge too, but he'd never seen anyone use it for travel, covering dozens of meters at a time!
"Who was that?" the Iron Guard asked in amazement.
The Tracker's eyes gleamed. He shared vision with his eagle and saw the tall figure charging through the forest, sweeping everything aside in pursuit of the Thunder Shadow Panther.
That panther was their target too. They'd been searching for her in Gray Dragon Mountain for over half a month, but someone had beaten them to it.
And that someone was clearly very dangerous.
Though the eagle, with its aerial advantage, could keep tracking, the Tracker hesitated—should they continue the pursuit?