The ground split.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the earth, swallowing rocks and bodies alike. The armadillo's rampage had carved a scar into the landscape—a trench of blood and bone and shattered stone.
"Come on! Let's help him!" a Lion's Dude hunter roared.
He summoned two giant bear mounts. Massive. Furious. They charged at the armadillo with everything they had.
Other hunters followed. Some shape-shifted to their beast soul transforms. Others summoned their mounts. A wave of fury and desperation crashed against the ancient beast.
The armadillo fought.
It flung hunters mid-flight. Shattered bones with a single swipe. Crushed mounts beneath its weight.
Boom!
Shrek!
Its armor began to crack. Bite marks appeared along its sides. Arrows rained down on its belly—the one weak spot—again and again.
The armadillo roared in anger. It dove toward a large group of hunters, ready to stomp them into nothing.
BOOM!
Lion's Dude's feet slammed into its back.
"Take this!" he roared.
Blow after blow. Left. Right. Left again. The armadillo staggered under the assault.
Lion's Dude dove, landing a heavy kick to its chest.
CRACK!
The armadillo roared. Its claw swung back—landing a blow that sent Lion's Dude reeling.
BOOM!
He staggered. The armadillo lunged for another punch. He dodged.
"Yaaaaa!"
His knee drove into the armadillo's belly.
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CRACK!
ROAR!
The armadillo screamed—heavy, pained, ancient. It grabbed Lion's Dude by the neck. Flung him left. Right. Left again.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
It raised him high.
ROAAAAR!
The armadillo's voice tore through the air.
It flung him.
WHOOOSH!
Lion's Dude crashed into the ground. Hundreds of hunters were crushed beneath his massive ape body. Blood sprayed. Cries filled the air.
His ape form was battered. Broken. Bleeding.
A green leopard moved through the branches.
Effortless. Graceful. Camouflaged against the leaves.
It descended—spinning in the air, transforming mid-flight. Priceless emerged like a blue angel, her curly wig flowing with the wind.
Her spear materialized in her grip.
She spun like a tornado.
SHRREK!
The spear drove into the side of the armadillo's head.
CRACK!
Blood sprayed—bathing nearby hunters in red. The armadillo paused for a single second.
Then it screamed.
Priceless's spear cracked. She dove away immediately, narrowly dodging its swinging claw.
The armadillo became berserk. It started crushing and shattering hunters, roaring, turning in blind rage.
Arrows still fired at it.
But it didn't stop.
Lion's Dude panted.
He had transformed back to his normal self. Sweat filled his face. His muscles burned. His energy was almost gone.
His transforming time had only a minute remaining.
He clenched his fist.
"I..." He panted heavily. "WILL MAKE YOU..."
Golden lightning shot into the sky.
"PAYYY! "
He ran. Landed a blow to the armadillo's head. His fist moved again—to the forehead—again and again.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Arrows fired at the head. The armadillo staggered. Groaned.
BOOM!
The armadillo's foot blasted him away.
Lion's Dude flew through the air. He hit the ground hard. Blood flowed from his body.
He didn't get up.
The armadillo staggered.
Blood poured from its wounds. Its armor—once impenetrable—was now cracked and broken. Its knees were wounded severely. It was losing balance.
Hunters ran toward it. Summoned their soul weapons. Attacked its knees.
The armadillo struggled.
But it couldn't hold on.
THUD.
It fell to the ground.
Arrows flew—a storm of metal and fury—aimed at its head.
But one arrow flew above them all.
Unique.
Angled at the perfect point.
Fired at the perfect time.
SHREK!
Kael was already falling from the branch of a tree. He had released the arrow.
The armadillo's eyes closed.
It fell dead.
[Mid-Tier Sacred Rank Armadillo Killed.]
[Sacred Beast Soul Gained.]
[Soul Type: Armor.]
Kael's black screen displayed. He stared at it for a moment.
Then he laid down flat. Pretending to be dead. Surrounded by corpses. Hidden in plain sight.
No one would see him.
If they did, they wouldn't recognize him.
"What the?"
Lion's Dude's voice cut through the chaos. He was shocked.
He had seen the arrow. Watched it hit the armadillo's head. Watched the flesh melt into yellow liquid.
"Wh—Who the hell did that?"
His scream tore through the atmosphere. He placed his hand on his head. Turned around.
Stunned hunters looked at each other. Panting. Brutal. Angry.
No one answered.
"No way," a hunter fidgeted. "No way."
He turned to his companions.
"If this is going to happen—if Lion's Dude doesn't get the beast soul—then no one will. Because we're all going to die."
He stabbed his fellow hunter.
Soon, all hunters started fighting against each other.
The mass slaughter had begun.
"Priceless. Let's retreat," one of her gangsmen spoke.
"You all should go on. I'm coming." Her voice was calm. "I just need to carry someone first."
She vanished into the slaughtering crowd.
"Damn. What should I do now?"
Kael crawled behind a tree. His mind raced.
Hunters fought around him. Blood sprayed. Bodies fell.
"I guess I have no choice," he muttered.
"Yay! Yay!" Crucify's voice erupted in his skull. High-pitched. Excited. "Isn't there a pond of blade-tailed crocodiles at the front? Let's go there so they can taste our flesh!"
Kael swallowed.
"I'll summon my armor," he thought.
He ran.
Hunters spotted him. They chased after him.
His boots pounded against the grassy ground. His high-speed biogenes made him incredibly fast—but one hunter was closing in.
He reached the pond.
He dove in.
Narrowly dodging a spear thrown at his back.
Black scales covered his body. They hardened into armor as crocodiles began to chase toward him.
"Suicidal maniac," one hunter muttered.
"Maybe he thinks it's better to get killed by crocs," another replied. "That guy is really going to go through hell."
The hunters laughed. Turned back. Returned to the slaughter.
They were Lion's Dude men.
The wind blew.
A black-masked man stood on the branch of a very tall tree. His long black coat flapped in the breeze. His hands were folded.
He stared at the pond.
Watched.
Waiting.
End of Chapter Twenty-One.