932 The Fight in a Cave - Part 2 (1/2)
When Tanke used his flanking position to try and hit the Sui Lion with its Warhammer from the back, the Nian underling worked its hind legs to kick the Panda Guardian away.
Tanke thought that merely blocking would suffice, but surprisingly the Panda Guardian got knocked backwards from the impact and even fell on his back from the attack. The others had also not expected this kind of strength only strengthening their belief that this one must be some veteran version, Sui Lion.
Bu Dong took the opportunity to dash forth and attack its side. However, the Sui Lion once again reacted in time and turned around to use its front paw to block the attack. The fire from Bu Dong's chi technique hurt, yet it was better than getting slashed by the side.
Despite its reaction speed, the Sui Lion was fully occupied with the close quarter combatants missing the incoming fire bolt shot by Archy's crossbow. ”Bullseye.” Archy proclaimed as he reloaded his weapon. As soon as the coast seemed to be safe Yue Wen proceeded to heal her brother.
”Let's not take any chances!” Bu Dong thought and smashed his fist onto the Sui Lion's face while adjusting himself for a stab at the monster's neck. Tanke rolled on the ground like any Panda would, and while holding on his Warhammer, he used the rolling momentum to stand up. It would probably take too much time to stand up if Tanke did the 'normal' way and even more to cover the same amount of distance. The Panda Guardian then used his newly recovered strength to hurl his Warhammer at the monster's legs, attempting to cripple it so that it would be unable to defend itself any longer.
Despite the struggle of either getting bitten by the Sui Lion or being mawed by its paw, Bu Dong successfully plunged his sword into the Sui Lion's neck. He then tried to block the Sui Lion's mouth with his hand by pushing it away during its attempt to bite, but its giant paw inadvertently swiped hard towards Bu Dong.
”Fuck! His paw attack hurts so fucking bad! URGH!” Bu Dong cursed as he retracted his left arm to block against the paw while ensuring that its claws did not plunge into his flesh. The Angry Ape Cultivator even went sidewards to prevent the Sui Lion's series of angry biting.
Meanwhile, Yue Han had healed to a point where he could sit upright, and as soon as he came to his senses, he immediately noticed the third one and shouted out a grim reminder: ”THERE ARE THREE OF THEM!!!”
It startled the party for a moment, but not the Sui Lion who had been hiding within the side cave and took this scream as his sign to attack. Yue Wen instinctively reached for the pistol at her side waist, but she recalled that she had yet to reload the near-empty pistol, causing her to hesitate about whether to use the longbow or not.
A loud screech was heard, this time from Archy who uncharacteristically stood up from his lazy sitting position and countered the Sui Lion with raw strength. His mini workshop of tools and arrows were flung away along with his crossbow just to intercept the third Sui Lion. Those two animals tousled and grappled furiously while the party members tried to regain their pace in combat.
For the whole trip, this was the first time Archy was seen being so aggressive as it tried to counter pin the Sui Lion but, unlike Tanke, it barely had the strength to match the Sui Lion on equal grounds. However, thanks to his quick and decisive direct interference, Archy saved his other party members from certain death. Seeing how powerless she was, Yue Wen decided to step up her game and ditch her pistol as well as the longbow she borrowed from Archy and reached for her sword crane along her waist.
The Healing Maiden Cultivator initially wanted to help out as a long-range supporter since the group did not want her to get injured when she was the only capable person able to perform emergency heals. But in these circumstances, when their secondary fighter was incapacitated, it was better to work on something she was proficient with.