Morrigan, Caoineag, Keening, Aoibheall, and Moira stood outside the cave, far away from it, as they could feel how much the thunder was pulsating inside the mountain.
They were all extremely shocked, as they never thought the fight would go on for so long.
Yet the longer the fight went, the more excited they became.
All five of them clenched their fists and cheered for the three humans internally, hoping they would all survive and "contribute" to become their strength.
If not for the Thunder Element being one of their direct weaknesses, they would have already charged straight inside to watch the shocking battle that was shaking the entire mountain so much.
Caoineag pondered a little and informed the others of her guesses: "I think all three of them are heavy weapon users, and perhaps Ground Element users."
The rest of them nodded and thought that would most likely be the case.
After some thought, Aoibheall shook her head. "Whether it is so or not, we cannot be sure yet, as it's still a question if all three of them are still alive or not. Perhaps one of them has already fallen, with how violently they are fighting."
The rest of them agreed. With how the whole mountain was shaking periodically, how the Thunder Element was pulsating constantly, and the loud roars and noises coming from inside the cave, they could guess how vigorously they were fighting each other.
Perhaps one or two of them had already fallen, so the remaining ones were doing everything to take revenge for their companion. Only this explanation made sense; otherwise, there was no way a few mid-stage Rank 1 humans could keep fighting an Elder-stage Rank 1 Mana Beast for so long, not to mention it was Thunder Element, which was known for being swift and powerful.
"No matter who is alive, with how powerful that person is, they should be far more powerful than an Adult Rank 1 Mana Beast—no, perhaps these humans' real strength has reached Elder stage! They should be able to fulfill our requirement." Keening spoke her thoughts.
The rest of them immediately got excited.
They glanced at each other warily, but they were smart enough not to begin quarreling at this moment. Moira, being the strongest among them, would definitely claim one. Now only two remained, yet they were four—so the competition was fierce.
Half an hour after the battle began, the fight slowly came to a complete end. No more rumbles or loud noises echoed from the cave.
A few moments later, they sensed the Thunder Element weaken and then disappear entirely. The powerful Elder-stage presence released during the battle also vanished—proof the Elemental-type Rank 1 Elder-stage Beast had actually died!
All five stood shocked and dazed. After a breath, they charged toward the cave without hesitation.
Since it was dead, who cared about the shocking result? All that mattered was seizing their prize before their sisters did.
Moira didn't race forward immediately. She turned her head, glancing behind.
Noticing everything was in place, she smiled malevolently and followed after her sisters toward the cave. She intentionally lowered her speed and lagged behind them as a precaution.
Back inside the cave, Eric, Lyria, and Livy breathed out an exhausted breath.
The Thunder Panther seemed to have used everything to fight them after getting "motivated" by Eric.
Eric wondered why he had never tried to fool others with this secret talent in his past life. He might have already fulfilled his great aspiration to burn trillions in cash while laughing "happily" a lot sooner.
They had been holding themselves back during the entire battle. They didn't use their abilities or their weapons—this was to create difficulty for themselves and also to extend the fight.
However, it wasn't an easy battle. The Thunder Panther wasn't weak; its stats were higher, so they had to use their Mana to defend themselves occasionally. And what's more, although the panther had lost its right paw, it still had four extremely powerful long tails, which were as swift as whips, so all three of them took quite a beating from its tails.
They wanted to check their Constitution and finally came to the conclusion that they were all fairly sturdy. Of course, they also had to use Mana to protect themselves, as some of the Thunder Panther's attacks were far stronger than what their pure Constitution could casually withstand.
No matter how many times they were smashed against the cave walls, they didn't take any internal injuries—except for a few scratches, they were mostly fine. Sadly, their Tier 1 cloaks and outfits were in tatters.
This battle was both fun and interesting, as it was almost their first time battling so long against someone with higher stats than them.
Even the Thunder Panther had a smile on its face and didn't make a single protest when Eric stabbed it with a greatsword at the end of the battle. It could no longer continue to fight due to the injuries it had suffered for so long.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy leaned on its massive body and rested.
Soon, their heads collectively turned toward the entrance as they could sense four—no, five—powerful late-stage Mana Wielders' presence charging toward their location.
As they felt the five "allies" rushing toward them to support them in great haste, they all breathed out another sigh of "relief" and smiled. They were ready to welcome them with "open arms" after such a "hard" victory.
But soon, they all frowned deeply.
Unlike before, when they only felt these Village Elders' presence was a bit odd for a Mana Wielder, now they could clearly sense it wasn't any Human Mana Wielder's presence at all—it was unmistakably the cold element of a Mana Beast or some other creature. This presence differed starkly from any Mana Beast or Mana Wielder they'd encountered.
After experiencing that eerie cold presence, something inside Eric snapped. The illusion shrouding his mind and vision dissipated like mist under noon sun.
The full truth surfaced in his mind, vivid and clear.
After understanding the real situation, Eric felt a little emotional, but soon he shook his head and smiled.
"Well, that's how life is..."
Livy, meanwhile, was silently weeping. Today definitely wasn't her day! Cold elements such as ice or snow were clearly another weakness for her Water element.
It was definitely because she missed getting touched by Eric all due to Lyria!
She turned and glared furiously at Lyria.
Lyria was confused but didn't argue with the wild Livy as their guests had arrived.
Four of them appeared at the entrance, while their female leader stood a few meters behind.
As soon as the five arrived, they were shocked to find the beast was actually a panther—in other words, not only strong but also twice as swift with its own agility and Thunder element.
They had never seen the beast personally and thought it was strong but a less agile type of Mana Beast.
However, as soon as they noticed all three humans were still alive, they dropped their shock and grew impatient.
Keening couldn't help but stride toward the trio while trying to act as calm as possible. "You guys are really amazing..." In her excitement, she subconsciously blurted out.
After she spoke, everyone looked at her weirdly.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy did too.
If your voice was so terrible, shouldn't you shut up and not give away your cover?
Keening tried to keep things cool and giggled, which sounded even more disturbing to the human trio.
"Ah... My voice is a little bad from the cold—don't mind it. I see you guys are tired—let me help you."
By the time she finished speaking, she arrived beside Eric to give him a shoulder to help him stand up.
Eric smiled and lifted his hand to receive Keening's kind intention.
Just as Keening was about to help Eric, she suddenly changed her hand movement and tried to stab his bare chest with her fingers, which were all of a sudden covered with sharp ice—almost like daggers.
Eric calmly slapped Keening's hand away and swiftly took out his dagger from his waist, chopping her head off in one swift motion.
It was suddenly pin-drop silent within the cave.
After noticing the awkward silence, Eric laughed and tried to cover it up.
"I thought she was trying to attack me. I'm sorry—I was a little too heavy-handed. Please continue helping us—we still can't walk properly yet..."
"Y-you..."
"You bastard! This brat killed Keening—let's kill him!" Aoibheall tried to justify herself by finding the "righteous" reason to attack.
Eric was disappointed. "Are we no longer playing?" While saying this, he pulled out a sword from his ring and stabbed the dead body behind him.
Keening wasn't actually dead after being beheaded and was planning to sneak attack the moment her sisters drew the human boy's attention away—but sadly, before she could take action, a sword stabbed her stomach, just near where her "essence" was. But that wasn't the worst. As soon as the sword stabbed her, her body lit up in flames.
Keening's head, which was rolling a few feet away, immediately started screaming as if someone had ripped her skin from her flesh. It only lasted for a few short moments, and soon she was completely silent.
The three who were charging toward Eric stopped and watched the scene in horror.
Eric pulled out the Fire Rune-inscribed sword from the burnt body, which was turning into mist. He calmly spoke: "Ly, Liv, use 'white' inscribed Rune weapons. They are 'Soulweavers.'"
Lyria and Livy were astonished. They had already guessed that these five were not humans, but rather some unique type of Mana Beast—yet they still hadn't been able to identify what creature they were.
The details related to Soulweavers surfaced in their minds, and their astonishment deepened.