Chapter 329 - Ten. (1/2)

”Uhu, you guys are joking, right, right!? There is no way a Rank-10 Beast will be fighting us to death!? Right?!-”

*KGHREE!!*

Yet another beastly screeching interrupted Zier.

”Does this seem like a joke to you?” Blaze scoffed. His voice carried a sense of seriousness that further aroused fear in Zier's heart.

He took a few moments to digest this unfolding situation before running towards the city at twice the speed before. After comparing the roars, Zier immediately knew that this Rank-10 Beast was approaching at an astonishing rate.

”Huh?!” he turned his head around when he noticed that his newfound companions were quite slow in their reaction. He couldn't help but shout in worry, ”What are you doing!? It will be here in no time!!”

As if unmoved by the threat of a Rank-10 Beast, not only Ozul, but Raven and Blaze also remained unperturbed.

Zier didn't know whether they were confident to deal with this Rank-10 Beast or was it just the result of their battle-hardened heart honed with countless battles. If he had to make a guess, he would never think of choosing the former since it appeared quite impossible to fight such a monster.

Though the actual reason they didn't seem to be in such a hurry was different; it didn't matter how fast the Sovereign. Old Gu was controlling the barrier and Ozul was confident that his barrier could hold out against the Beast.

Even if the barrier wasn't strong enough, he knew that Old Gu was.

If the old man kept his word, they'd have enough time until the barrier closed in on the city. As a result, panicking was pointless. All they had to do was stay ahead of the barrier.

”Even if we stayed here and napped, we'd be there faster than you. Worry about yourself,” Ozul said flatly, without a hint of mockery in his tone.

Hearing this answer made Zier curse himself internally for even thinking about their wellbeing. Though it was completely true. They were at least Rank-8 Mages while he was merely a Rank-5 Fighter, both stood at an immeasurable distance apart in terms of speed.

After that, he didn't stop to call for them again and continued to run as fast as he could. Though he kept taking glances behind him to see if the three were still there or not.

Even without his concern, Raven and Blaze were well aware of the dangers posed by a Rank-10 Beast. After all, they'd seen personally how devastating it could be. They merely stuck around Ozul and didn't say a word as they noticed that he was deep in contemplation.

'I don't understand...'

Ozul was confused because he himself had confirmed the Sovereign's death.

Despite this, the flaming aura of magma that could suffocate an entire country and melt mountains of ice in the blink of an eye felt strangely similar to the Sovereign.

'Not only that, but it feels as if it has gotten stronger!'

This was a concerning matter for Ozul since he had complete trust in his abilities. When Darcia had fired the beam of light, it had certainly hit the Sovereign, burying it under the sea of magma. He didn't even find any traces of life floating around that area anymore.

'It must have been saved by someone-' Just as that thought occurred to Ozul, he remembered that the only person who could avoid his sensing abilities was the same man who was not only hosting this competition but had also set survival against this Rank-10 Beast as the ultimate challenge in this trial.

There was no other man who had either the capabilities or any reason to help the Sovereign.

'Hah... that only means I wasn't vigilant enough. I shouldn't have let my guard down so much that I didn't even notice him snatching a beast of that size,' Ozul sighed in his mind before his thoughts wandered to how Kure might have been dealing with the Beast for so long.

.. .

Somewhere around the shrinking barrier, Old Gu floated in the air while occasionally mumbling and giggling to himself.

He seemed to be in his best mood as he watched everyone desperately make a run for the city in the center.

Old Gu seemed uncaring of the giant flaming fox madly running towards the barrier that continued to shrink faster than her.

Only by observing thoroughly would one realize that the Sovereign wasn't anywhere close to her maximum speed. Even as a fox, her grinding teeth and the luminescent glare in her eyes were enough to suggest that she was struggling with something.

It was as if something heavy was weighing down upon her. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to reach the barrier.

”Hah! She is already close to the 'true stage'. I would have recommended her to stay away from those mad perverts, but I guess it's too late now,” Old Gu muttered to himself as he closely observed the flaming red fox.

'This will be my last time here anyway. There is a chance I will meet her in the future,' Old Gu paused as he remembered something that interested him even more than this Rank-10 Beast, 'Huhu~ I never expected to meet an 'anomaly' like you. I will never take my eyes off of you...'

The image of a certain black-haired boy wearing plain clothes appeared in his mind as he chuckled to himself, lost in his own plans and schemes.

'Tsk! Someone should be watching now, I can't enter the barrier to have a chat with him either.'

He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he looked up at the sky, particularly at no one.

Tracing his sight back to the ground, he excitedly waited for the barrier to cross the outskirts of the Neutral City that he could already see in the distance. While he had full control of the barrier, he couldn't just go back on his own words.