Redfield could actually use Geppo already. He flew toward the Qilin Lion and thrust his sword at it, but the beast knocked the blade aside with its sharp claws.
"Humans, you really are invaders! We'll drive you off Rare Beast Island!"
Wuzhu squawked loudly. With little fighting ability, it immediately flew back to the herd and ordered them to attack. Countless rare beasts charged at Brook and the others.
"Captain Brook, there are so many rare beasts! Hurry and use that ability of yours that knocked the Marines unconscious!"
Seeing thousands upon thousands of rare beasts charging at them, even Shakky, who feared nothing, started to feel nervous.
Brook didn't waste words. He simply stepped forward and raised his presence, unleashing an endless torrent of Hell Underworld Qi.
Hell Underworld Qi: Death Deterrence.
Countless running rare beasts were cowed by the Underworld Qi Brook unleashed. As if they'd encountered their natural enemy, their bodies stiffened. Their momentum sent them crashing to the ground, where they tumbled several times. Some were so terrified that they wet themselves, leaving them in a pitiful state.
The beasts behind them trampled those who had fallen in front, and their charge immediately fell apart. The whole situation descended into chaos, and Wuzhu's orders became useless.
The Qilin Lion was tied up fighting Redfield and couldn't order the beasts around. Most of the more timid species had already been frightened into fleeing for their lives, escaping the terror of death.
"Captain Brook, that was incredible! One man holding the pass against ten thousand—what a sight!"
Shakky and the others weren't the only ones shocked. Even the Qilin Lion and Redfield, locked in combat, were affected by Brook's aura of death. Watching its people flee in panic, the Qilin Lion began to roar, trying to rally their spirits.
But most of the terrified rare beasts had already fled. Seeing Brook's display of power, Redfield gave the fight everything he had, darting this way and that as he tried to defeat the Qilin Lion King.
When Shakky saw that some of the beasts had recovered their nerve, she led Fish-Man Tom into the fray. Silvers raised his sniper rifle and began picking off the rare beasts that looked strong.
Antonio gazed at Brook's back with admiration, and the desire to become stronger stirred within him. He couldn't remain the sort of support crewman his captain said would run away.
Brook kept his eyes on the battle between the Qilin Lion and Redfield. The flying Qilin Lion held a significant advantage in the air. Whenever its Golden Beast Horn glowed red, its strength increased dozens of times. A single swipe could smash out a crater more than ten meters wide and one or two meters deep. It was immensely powerful.
The Qilin Lion King's Beast Horn glowed red again, and its claws grew scorching hot. With each swipe, it could send three Hot Air Blades flying, but Redfield dodged them again and again.
Growing angrier, the Qilin Lion King roared in midair. Its shockwaves pressed outward like solid waves of sound. Antonio immediately covered his ears, his face twisting with discomfort.
In Brook's eyes, the Qilin Lion grew enormous. Its body, originally only three or four meters tall, became that of a giant beast more than ten meters high. It seemed to be showing its true strength.
Its massive body flew through the air as it repeatedly swung its forepaws, sending a relentless barrage of scorching blades of wind toward Redfield and the others...
Brook drew the Seven-Star Sword and unleashed a Demon Ghost Sword Qi, slicing the scorching blades of wind to pieces. At the same time, the Qilin Lion King's enormous body plunged toward Redfield.
Redfield was incredibly fast. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood, and the Qilin Lion King's pounce hit nothing but the ground, leaving a deep crater. Soil flew everywhere, and a muffled boom rang out.
If that strike had landed, even Brook might have been flattened. But Redfield would one day become a pirate whose name was known across the seas, a powerful figure with exceptional talent and instincts. His battle sense was formidable.
He was now using his speed to his advantage, carving one wound after another into the Qilin Lion King's massive body. The Qilin Lion King grew increasingly anxious and violent as the battle wore on. With Brook, who was even stronger, watching nearby, its mind was in turmoil.
The other rare-beast elders had also been beaten by Shakky and Tom. Under the tradition of their kindhearted Beast King, the rare beasts on Rare Beast Island had given up eating meat. They all lived on plants and fruit.
Aside from the Beast King, whose inherited Beast Horn granted it powerful fighting ability to protect Rare Beast Island, the other rare beasts were basically weaklings. With no carnivores around, they had lived far too comfortably and lost their wild instincts. They were all kindhearted herbivores.
Wuzhu, the talking parrot, had also been hit in the wing by Silvers and fallen to the ground. Shakky caught it. She wondered how it had learned human speech on an island like this, with no people.
Under Shakky's intimidation, Wuzhu finally told the truth. Humans had reached the island long ago and lived peacefully alongside the rare beasts, leaving behind some books. The parrot family was good at learning to speak, and the knowledge had been passed down ever since.
The Qilin Lion King's power forced even Redfield to avoid confronting it directly. After being driven back once more, Brook attacked without hesitation, carving a deep gash into the Qilin Lion's belly.
The Seven-Star Sword's strange, violent aura immediately seeped into the Qilin Lion King, carrying with it the cold Underworld Ghost Qi and making its limbs grow stiff!
Redfield felt a little helpless about his captain stepping in. It seemed his own strength still wasn't enough; his captain had finally lost patience with him. He'd double his training from now on and strive to catch up with his captain as soon as possible!
"Don't hurt our king!"
Wuzhu, its wing injured, desperately struggled free of Shakky's grip. It hopped over to Brook, trying to stop him from attacking the wounded Qilin Lion King again.
The Qilin Lion King seemed to have exhausted much of its strength. Its giant body, more than ten meters tall, shrank back to its original size of two or three meters, and its breathing grew weak. It had more than a dozen sword wounds, the worst of which was Brook's slash across its belly.
"You're pretty strong. How about coming to sea with us?"
Brook was quite fond of this magnificent, powerful Rare Exotic Beast, the Qilin Lion King, but all he got in response was a low, hostile growl.
"Captain, it looks like it won't give in easily. Why not beat it up again? Keep going until it submits!"
Redfield was eager for another fight, too. The injured Qilin Lion King was no match for him now. It wouldn't take long to knock it down.
"Please, let our king go! It has to protect this island!"
Wuzhu kept pleading as it hopped forward. Blood still seeped from the wing struck by the sniper rifle, and it looked rather pitiful.
"A rare beast with exceptional talent, yet it eats nothing but plants here and has such poor fighting ability. This world is about survival of the fittest, not making every rare beast eat plants and lose its fighting instincts!
"Without the Qilin Lion King, these rare beasts will gradually recover their nature and fight to choose a new Beast King!"
Brook came up with a rather flimsy excuse for forcibly taking the Qilin Lion. He liked this Qilin Lion, and today he was going to tame it. No one could stop him!
Before you continue