'Dangerous!'
Both Alaric and Darian tried to save Ren, but they were quite far from him, so they could not reach him on time.
Ren stopped attacking the magical beasts the moment he sensed something coming from behind him.
After he turned around, he saw a big leopard jumping toward him with its claws ready to rip him apart.
'Not good!'
It was already too late to dodge it, so he decided to face it.
But before its attack reached him, a sharp pillar of ice suddenly erupted from the ground, protecting him and stopping its strike.
After saving Ren, Hayden took Ren away from the Leopard. Ren was still a 1-star shifter, so the Leopard was too strong for him.
"Ren, I will handle this. You deal with its subordinates," one successful strike from the Leopard could be fatal for Ren, so Hayden told him to face its underlings.
"Alright." Ren agreed instantly.
He didn't try to play the hero by offering support because he knew his limit.
"Hayden, we will help you," Alaric and Darian stood on either side of him.
Hayden nodded before attacking the Leopard with his magic.
With three 2-star awakeners attacking it, the Leopard had a hard time protecting itself. Blood dripped from its wounds, and pain spread across its body.
But even so, the Leopard didn't run away.
The Leopard saw itself as a hunter, so it was either kill or be killed.
*Swoooosh…
The red crystal on its forehead gleamed as a blue sphere of liquid slowly formed before its mouth.
The orb of water grew in size quickly, and when it was big enough, the Leopard shot it toward them.
Hayden and the others didn't panic.
They channeled their energy into their feet and leaped to the side, causing the water ball to hit the trees behind them.
After dodging, Hayden used Ice Spikes magic to counterattack, but he failed to injure it as its reflexes were good.
While the Leopard was rushing toward Darian, Alaric appeared in mid-air.
'Got you!'
His right arm transformed into that of an elephant, and he shot toward the Leopard at an incredible speed.
Boom!
The ground beneath the Leopard shattered as his elephant fist slammed into its head.
Hayden and Darian didn't stay still.
It was a good opportunity to kill it, so Hayden launched another ice spike while Darian dashed toward the Leopard to attack it directly.
"GRAAAWRR…!" the Leopard let out a hoarse roar as Darian tore its body apart with his sharp claws.
The moment an ice shard pierced one of its legs, a soul-piercing howl of pain reverberated in the entire area.
But despite being bombarded with many deadly attacks, the Leopard was still alive.
Not only that, it became even more aggressive than before.
It abandoned all defense and focused solely on attacking, as if it had decided to die along with Darian and the others.
Bang!
The Leopard hit Darian with its tail, sending him flying into the air.
Since it was a golden opportunity to end his life, the Leopard jumped at him and launched another strike.
"Ughk!" blood splashed out of Darian's mouth as its claws tore into his chest.
Several of his ribs were broken when his body was thrown hard to the ground.
Alaric and Hayden launched simultaneous attacks to shift its attention to themselves, but the Leopard ignored them and rushed to Darian.
"Darian!" Hayden shouted worriedly when the Leopard was about to bite him to death.
Since Darian was heavily injured, he could not move his body immediately and could only stare at the Leopard.
A few meters from him, Ren was killing a goblin. The moment he noticed Darian in a life-and-death situation, his expression turned worried, and he stopped fighting instantly.
'No! He is in danger!'
Maybe it was because the distance between them was quite far, or perhaps because his predator instinct had kicked in.
At the moment, he turned to the Leopard and let out a thunderous roar.
*Roar…
The ground trembled slightly as shockwaves swayed the surrounding trees.
The Leopard, which was about to bite Darian to death, froze for a moment. Even though it felt no fear or terror, Ren's powerful roar shook its soul for two seconds.
The Leopard was already at 2-star, so his Roar of Dominance only managed to startle it. But in a real fight, a single moment could change everything, especially in a critical moment.
When Alaric and Hayden realized the opportunity to save Darian had arisen, they acted without hesitation.
Alaric shot two ice needles at the Leopard while Hayden dashed toward Darian to take him to a safe place.
After Darian escaped death, everything was far from under control because it was now Ren who was in danger.
He shifted his attention to Darian for a moment, so he didn't notice that four magical beasts jumped at him from all sides.
'I made a mistake!'
Just as they were about to bite him, a pair of white wings materialized, enveloping him and blocking their attacks.
But since Elara hadn't fully mastered the Wings Guard skill, her wing shield shattered into countless feathers shortly after that.
However, her efforts in protecting him were not in vain because Ren managed to escape from the dangerous situation.
"Thank you, Elara!" Ren slipped between the magical beasts and rushed toward her. "Let's kill them together."
"Un." She nodded.
The duo charged at the magical creatures together.
Even though it was their first time fighting side by side, their teamwork was amazing. Whenever an enemy attacked him from behind, she was there to protect him.
The same thing also happened when she was in danger.
The villagers who saw them even widened their eyes in disbelief because their movements were in perfect sync as if they had trained together for a long time.
No!
It was as if they were born to fight side by side.
While Ren and Elara were facing a group of magical beasts, Sofia was shooting fireballs continuously.
She was a flame mage who had mastered long-range magic, so she could kill enemies while protecting Aveline.
'Great! If this continues, we will win this war soon.'
The smile on her pretty face grew bigger after she shifted her gaze to the 2-star Leopard because Hayden and the others almost killed it.
"Die!" Hayden shot two ice needles at the Leopard, piercing its legs and causing it to cry in pain.
Once the Leopard could no longer move, more townsfolk joined in.
They unleashed their skills, shot arrows and stabbed it with their weapons. It was a perfect moment to end its life, so they attacked it relentlessly and mercilessly.
"GRAAAWRR…!" After enduring countless strikes, the Leopard let out a final roar before its body fell to the ground.