Yuto's body tensed the moment he felt jaws full of sharp fangs gripping the back of his shirt.
"What!?"
His eyes widened as he felt his body fade, as if disconnected from the world itself, then reappeared far from the abysmal monster.
Yuto fell to the ground, barely avoiding a spray of black fluid from his enemy. The ground in front of him sizzled and melted as if gnawed by lava.
The boy swallowed hard and abruptly stood up. He glanced at the black cat beside him.
"You!"
His hand gripped his sword hilt, seeing the monster's yellow eyes reflecting his pale face.
A silent tension hung between them. Both understood what had transpired in their previous meetings, as they tried to kill each other.
But today, Yuto saw no ferocity in the cat's eyes; instead, it fixed its gaze on the abysmal monster.
"Kid!?"
A worried shout came, and the man immediately stood before Yuto, pointing his spear at the Jaguar.
"Why is a Phantom Jaguar? …Is he yours, kid?"
Taking a short breath, Yuto shifted his attention to the side and said.
"He's not mine, nor is he an enemy."
The man's brow furrowed, and he gripped his spear tighter.
"Rawr!"
Its bestial cry drew the attention of both the spearman and Yuto. The boy gritted his teeth when he realized the opening he had created was starting to close again.
'Regeneration? Tch, what a troublesome monster that is!?'
Yuto cursed inwardly, and then the abysmal monster let out a roar.
A strong wind hit Yuto's body, which was still standing, along with the other two: the man and the Jaguar.
"Kid, what's your name?"
His head tilted back when he heard the unexpected question from the man beside him.
But, seeing the man's steel expression, Yuto sniffed hard and answered.
"Yuto, my name is Yuto."
"Yuto, good name. Call me Kaelion!"
"Rawr!"
After the black cat gave a signal, the ground began to rumble, as the abysmal monster used its thousands of sharp legs to crawl toward them.
Without any command, Kaelion coated his body with a divine aura that pushed Yuto and the Jaguar away.
The silver spear was ready in his hand, and the man clashed directly with the enemy.
"I'll be the distraction. Can you two do something?"
Clang!
His hand blurred, moving as fast as lightning, parrying enemy attacks.
Kaelion weaved through the barrage of attacks as if he could see a few seconds into the future.
Each time the two collided, sparks flew, creating a loud clanging sound of metal against metal, even though Kaelion was facing limbs.
Yuto turned his face away and deeply inhaled the miasma and Mana in the atmosphere to replenish his dantian.
His focus crumbled seeing the long body with a shimmering shell approaching rapidly. He gritted his teeth and leapt into the sky.
However, far from safe, his eyes immediately narrowed, seeing the tip of its centipede-like tail lift and spew thousands of black, slimy threads.
"Rawr!"
Faster than the threads, the Jaguar arrived. It dragged Yuto from the air and landed dozens of meters out of the monster's reach.
'This cat, again!?'
Yuto's shirt was released, and his body fell to the ground. He looked at the cat for a moment until he shrugged his shoulders.
'Who cares!'
He stood, about to close his eyes, when a loud impact shook the ground beneath him.
Glancing to the side, he saw one of the abysmal monster's spider legs was severed and twitching.
A tremendous shockwave hit his body, almost throwing him from his spot. Not only him, but the cat also dug its claws in, trying to withstand the storm.
Then Yuto's breath hitched, watching the battle between Kaelion and the abysmal monster.
The man's body, which was previously full of red color, was now coated in a pure divine light that banished evil.
"Hooooo!"
Kaelion's roar resounded across the frontier city, where his subjects belong and hope for his victory.
Kaelion thrust his spear to defend against the enemy's attack. The air exploded, leaving a lingering horror in one ear. The man twisted his wrist to gain momentum before swinging it, applying pressure to his enemy.
Yuto swallowed hard as sweat began to pour down his forehead.
Their battle seemed even, but Yuto realized that the abysmal monster's intensity grew rapidly as time went on.
If this continued, the man would lose.
Yuto gritted his teeth, then took a long breath. He looked at the black cat beside him.
"Oi, Blacky!"
His call made the Jaguar turn its head, its yellow eyelids furrowed, knowing well how dire the current situation was.
"Protect me for a while."
Without waiting for an answer, Yuto turned and stared at the severed spider leg.
As he expected, the object was covered in thick miasma, far exceeding what was in the air.
Since the monster absorbed and refined so much miasma to serve as its main power source, now, it was nothing but a gift for him.
The boy was fearless; he immediately sat down, crossing his legs, and took the spider leg onto his lap.
'Time to begin!'
Closing his eyes, Yuto inhaled the miasma and Mana in the atmosphere simultaneously, making the refinement process almost collide.
His heart pounded wildly as if it would burst, but thanks to that, the chaos of the battlefield faded.
Carefully, Yuto channeled the refined energy to the two suns in his dantian.
As usual, the red sun filled up quickly due to the cruelty of war. Its red color grew brighter until it shone like a clump of blood.
Meanwhile, his blue Qi rose slowly, like an elderly person climbing stairs one by one, which felt like hours had passed.
Yuto was so focused on his cultivation. He didn't realize that a large-scale attack was happening.
The abysmal monster spewed its poison in all directions after another of its spider legs was missing.
Kaelion's hands twisted as he spun his spear, creating a whirlwind that protected himself and the surrounding area.
On Yuto's side, several batches of black fluid flew and were about to hit Yuto. But the shadows around them swelled, flooding the ground, originating from the Phantom Jaguar.
"Hiss!"
The black cat hissed, and the sludge-shaped shadows rose, forming a black curtain that protected them.
Unfortunately, due to the power difference, the curtain melted, and a few drops penetrated it, and the cat moved to stand in front of Yuto.
"Rawr!"
Its sharp claws extended, then with one swing of its leg, shadows followed and successfully protected the boy, who was doing something unimaginable on the battlefield.
Even so, the Jaguar clung to the white-haired boy, as it still felt a throbbing pain in its left eye.
The two fought fiercely; Kaelion, with his spear, stood still in front of the abysmal monster, receiving all its attacks.
His breathing grew heavy; every time he inhaled, his lungs felt burning, but he gripped his spear. Waiting for the variable in this battle to arrive.
'The fate of my territory is in your hands, kid!'
The battle that shook the land paused for a moment when a sudden shift happened in the air.
Inside Yuto's dantian, the blue sun shone like a neutron star.
'I'm ready.'
The two Qis began to spin and flow throughout all the meridians in his body with concentrated energy.
Raw emotions and his thoughts clashed, merging into a symbiotic unity and strengthening Yuto's body to a new level.
Both his eyes opened, exhaling a faint purple mist, residue from his blended powers.
The spider leg in his hand turned dry and only had an abnormal hardness. Yuto stood up, greeted by the black cat's bestial roar.
"Grrrr?"
"Let's end this!"
With a black sword, enveloped in red and blue energy that had not yet perfectly merged,
Yuto's hand trembled, hearing a joyful hum from the object in his hand. His red eyes stared directly at the spot where the gap he had created had closed.
Without command, he and the Jaguar moved in unison, vanishing like ghosts and approaching the abysmal monster with high intensity.
Kaelion, seeing them, had his body explode with blinding pure silver light.
The abysmal monster shrieked, but after fighting closely for some time, the three of them were immune to it.
The first to arrive was the Jaguar. Its four legs bulged with muscle, covered in pure darkness.
In a blink, a dark slash from the cat cracked the monster's shell. Then the cat retreated, looking towards Yuto.
The boy stood a few steps from the abysmal monster's shell-belly and raised his sword. Yet the monster's instinct flared up, striking Yuto with its sharp spider legs.
Tension rose, but his eyes calmly reflected the enemy's attacks.
With a slight shift to the left, a step forward, deflecting the attack trajectory, Yuto danced with his footwork, and for the last, he spun while avoiding the last attack.
He used his momentum to swing his sword.
Crash!
The shell fragments disintegrated like dust, revealing a larger gap and twitching black flesh inside.
"Kaelion!"
Yuto shouted, disappearing from the spot using his Netherworld Step.
"You've done well!"
The man stood tall, his feet perfectly aligned vertically. His lips curled into a grin, and the silver light on Kaelion's body was getting absorbed by the spear.
"Heavenpierce!"
His left foot struck the ground hard until it cracked, followed by a fluid power transfer through his finger that launched the spear like a ballista.
Yuto stopped breathing momentarily, stunned by the man's devastating attack. He saw the spear obliterating the monster's spider legs as it still went on for the main body.
When it hit the hole he created, colors ceased to exist.
A blinding white light dominated the atmosphere until a massive explosion occurred. The abysmal monster split, and half of its body was destroyed.
'What in the world?'
Yuto froze. His sight was still blurry, and the buzz in his ears completely erased his respect for the man.
'If he has that much power, why did he need my help?'