Not far away, the Thunder-Winged White Tiger's gaze turned grave.
It realized that it seemed to have underestimated this human.
Lightning covered its entire body. The Thunder-Winged White Tiger tried to use its lightning power to heal the wound on its paw, but found that the lightning couldn't enter the wound at all. Two kinds of Wind-element cutting forces, one fast and one slow, clung to the injury like bone-deep parasites. Not only did the wound show no signs of healing, it was slowly growing deeper with time.
This made it even more wary of the human before it.
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger didn't rush to attack. It paced slowly through the sky, seemingly trying to find an opening in Garen's defenses.
Garen was in no hurry either. He could tell that this Thunder-Winged White Tiger was very clever, and he wanted to see what tricks it had up its sleeve.
In the face of absolute strength, all flashy tricks were meaningless.
Just as Garen was growing impatient waiting and was about to make his move, the Thunder-Winged White Tiger beat its wings. When it was still several dozen meters away from Garen, it suddenly opened its jaws wide.
"Roar!"
The terrifying tiger's roar wasn't a mental attack, but it was just as effective. The sound was so loud that Garen's ears rang and his head went fuzzy for an instant.
Fortunately, his Soul Power was strong. Especially after his Soul Mutation, his Soul Power had condensed into something tangible and was indestructible. His mind cleared in an instant.
The roar had only affected him for a moment.
Even so, by the time he recovered, a pair of purple lightning wings, like two sharp swords, were already right before him—one aimed at his head, the other at his heart.
The power radiating from the lightning wings was astonishing. If they hit him, even with the Tiger God Armor protecting him, he could be injured by the impact if he didn't transform.
Garen hurriedly dodged, appearing hundreds of meters away in the blink of an eye.
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger saw that Garen had easily evaded its entire combo. After witnessing his speed, it realized that it had no chance of winning.
Whoosh!
A rush of air sounded as the Thunder-Winged White Tiger turned and fled, moving as fast as lightning.
"That human's burst of speed just now was about the same as mine. Even if I can't beat him, surely I can outrun him."
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger still clung to that hope.
All tiger-type magical beasts were solitary creatures. Except during mating season, they were very cautious and usually wouldn't challenge opponents of the same level. It was in their nature.
"Heh, you've got it all figured out, don't you? Your big move's on cooldown, so you run."
Garen didn't want to waste any more time dealing with the Thunder-Winged White Tiger, so he transformed.
A terrifying aura erupted, and his overall strength increased at least tenfold. Garen pushed his speed to the limit and caught up with the Thunder-Winged White Tiger in just a few breaths.
When the Thunder-Winged White Tiger saw Garen transform, it was stunned by his speed.
"Hm? This human seems to be one of the legendary Ultimate Warriors. He must be even stronger after transforming. How is he so much faster than me?"
The Saint Realm magical beasts knew of the powerful humans, too. The Four Ultimate Warriors were renowned far beyond human society.
But the Thunder-Winged White Tiger still didn't want to simply roll over and die. It decided to fight with everything it had.
"Thunderous Might!"
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger roared. The lightning power throughout its body gathered in its mouth, forming a huge ball of lightning, which it then spat out.
The lightning ball carried the power to destroy everything as it slammed toward Garen.
"Hmph. Let me show you my true strength."
The killing aura of the God-Slaying Blade erupted. One slash shattered the raging lightning ball, and a Wind Blade formed from the fusion of fast and slow Mysteries streaked toward the Thunder-Winged White Tiger.
Rip!
A deep wound opened across the Thunder-Winged White Tiger's body. The terrifying force of the attack didn't weaken; it sent the beast crashing downward. Its body slammed into the ground like a cannonball, leaving a crater dozens of meters deep.
If Garen hadn't held back, that strike would have killed the Thunder-Winged White Tiger instantly.
Garen flashed over again and hovered above the Thunder-Winged White Tiger, looking down at it.
"Die, or submit to me."
At that moment, Garen's voice sounded unbearably imposing to the Thunder-Winged White Tiger.
"Can you tell me why you're so fast?"
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger's weak voice drifted up from below.
The rest was understandable. It couldn't grasp how anyone could be so much faster than it. There were magical beasts whose attacks surpassed its own, but someone who could completely outclass it in speed was beyond its comprehension.
"Because I've comprehended a Law and Mystery."
Garen replied calmly.
"I've comprehended a Lightning-style Mystery, too. Lightning-style Mysteries are among the fastest. There's no way the difference should be this great."
"That's because you haven't comprehended yours deeply enough. If you submit to me, I guarantee you'll gain a deeper understanding of the Mysteries. If you refuse to see reason, I have no qualms about killing you."
Garen offered the Thunder-Winged White Tiger exactly the temptation it needed. He really could help it comprehend the Mysteries more deeply. If he was willing to spend the experience, he could even raise it to the God Realm.
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger breathed heavily in the crater, seeming torn.
Faced with the choice between submission and death, it ultimately chose the former.
Garen smiled faintly. He'd finally succeeded. He had his father's living Saint Realm tiger blood, and one of his worries had been laid to rest.
A mysterious Magic Array appeared above the Thunder-Winged White Tiger's head. It didn't struggle as Garen let a drop of his blood fall onto its head.
The magical contract was complete.
"Master," the Thunder-Winged White Tiger said respectfully.
"Mm. Your name is Tornest. It's too complicated, so from now on I'll call you Little White. It's easier to say."
"Yes, Master."
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger didn't dare object.
Garen looked at the terrible wound on Little White's body, deep enough to expose bone, with blood pouring out nonstop. He waved his arm, and the fast and slow Wind-element Mysteries within the wound disappeared.
"Thank you, Master."
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger was overjoyed. It hadn't been able to get rid of those Wind elements, and they'd tormented it terribly. At last, it felt better.
Lightning flickered across the Thunder-Winged White Tiger's body, and the bleeding soon stopped. Its wound slowly closed.
Just then, the Golden Sun Eagle watching from the sky flew down, shrank in size, and landed on Garen's shoulder.
"Master is truly invincible! There's probably no one in the Saint Realm who can match you."
Xiao Pa buttered him up.
"You rascal, spend more time working on your comprehension of the Laws and Mysteries. You've taken up one of my three pet slots. If you're too useless, don't call yourself Garen's pet."
Garen was exasperated with Xiao Pa. During the years he and Linley had spent together in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, they had often discussed the Laws and Mysteries of the Wind element. Xiao Pa had been exposed to all of that, so he should have found it easy to comprehend them. Yet he still hadn't mastered even a single one.
He hadn't comprehended any Laws and Mysteries, but somehow he'd learned to flatter people.
The Thunder-Winged White Tiger was still healing, and it wasn't something that would be over quickly. Garen found a smooth rock to sit on and opened the Thunder-Winged White Tiger's status panel.
Heh heh, last month's total was only 110 monthly votes. Can we beat that by a little this month?
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