Early the next morning, Linley and his two companions continued north.
Bebe led the way, sometimes leaping onto the treetops, sometimes landing back on Linley's shoulder. That wisp of wind moving against the breeze last night had kept him wary.
After traveling roughly five kilometers, Bebe suddenly stopped on a branch.
"Boss, it's still following us."
Linley gripped Edgeless's hilt and swiftly spread out his spiritual energy.
The woods ahead were quiet.
The wind blew from the northeast, and all the leaves swayed in the same direction. Yet several dozen meters to the left, a clump of bushes stirred gently against the wind.
Linley did not turn his head, merely saying through their souls, "Bebe, get ready for a sneak attack."
Doehring had already walked away.
He completely concealed his aura and did not release his divine sense to pressure their opponent. According to his agreement with Dylan, this battle belonged to Linley and Bebe.
"Come out," Linley said.
A black leopard slowly emerged from the trees.
It stood a full two meters tall and was nearly four meters long. Dense, curving markings covered its glossy black fur, and a pair of golden eyes stared coldly at Linley.
The black leopard walked very slowly.
Every step was light, making not the slightest sound even as it landed on dead leaves.
Linley took down the heavy sword Edgeless.
Judging by the speed this black leopard had displayed, it was at least a level nine magical beast, and certainly no ordinary one.
"Hmph."
Linley's body immediately began to change. Black scales rapidly covered his entire body, spikes emerged from his forehead, elbows, and knees, and a powerful dragon tail grew out behind him.
Complete Dragonform!
The black leopard's fur bristled slightly. Clearly, it had not expected the human before it to be able to transform.
The next instant, it pushed off hard with all four limbs.
It crossed nearly a hundred meters almost in the blink of an eye.
Linley's dark golden pupils locked onto that black blur. Just as the leopard charged up to him, the dragon tail behind him lashed out like lightning.
Smack!
The black leopard was sent flying more than ten meters and landed heavily on the ground.
But it stood up the moment it landed, without a single wound on its body. It let out a low growl, the chill in its golden eyes deepening.
Linley's heart tightened.
Even his tail strike in Dragonform had failed to break through its defenses.
The black leopard charged again.
Edgeless slashed out like lightning. Dragonblood battle qi flowed constantly over its bluish-black blade.
The black leopard did not dodge. One sharp claw reached straight for Edgeless.
Clang!
A single blow from its claw knocked the heavy sword aside.
Its other claw had already landed on Linley's right arm. Two black dragon scales cracked on the spot, and blood seeped through the gaps between his scales.
Linley kicked at the black leopard's belly.
The leopard used the force to retreat, landing steadily ten meters away.
Man and beast faced each other once more.
Linley glanced at the wound on his right arm. It was not serious, but the speed, strength, and defense the leopard had just displayed together already far surpassed those of an ordinary level nine magical beast.
"Boss, let me do it," Bebe's voice rang out in his mind.
"Wait." Linley tightened his grip on Edgeless. "Let me try again. You're our last resort."
Bebe reluctantly withdrew to one side, but his eyes remained fixed on the black leopard.
Black light suddenly appeared around the leopard.
Its body rapidly expanded, growing from two meters tall to five, and reaching nearly ten meters in length. Its limbs grew thicker and stronger, and its slender tail was a full seven or eight meters long.
"Roar!"
The enormous black leopard lunged again.
It was twenty or thirty percent slower than before, but the pressure it gave off was several times greater.
A pale blue-green glow appeared over Linley's body.
Wind-style support magic, Extreme Speed!
He swiftly dodged sideways, skimming beneath the leopard's belly almost flush with the ground. Edgeless thrust upward with the motion.
The leopard's sharp claw swatted down.
Clang!
The sword's tip was knocked toward the ground. The leopard twisted at the waist, its slender tail already lashing toward Linley.
Linley kicked hard against a nearby tree trunk with both feet, snapping the entire tree. Using that force, he leaped up, avoided the leopard's tail, and gripped Edgeless in both hands, chopping down at its back from above.
The heavy sword descended lightly.
A trace of puzzlement flashed through the leopard's eyes. It had not sensed much power from the heavy sword, and its tail continued lashing toward Linley in midair.
The blade touched the leopard's back first.
"Rushing Thunder!"
The strength and battle qi accumulated within Linley erupted simultaneously.
Boom!
The leopard's legs buckled, and its enormous body abruptly sank down. Its jet-black hide rippled like waves, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of its mouth.
Rushing Thunder had still failed to break through its hide, but it had injured its internal organs.
Almost at the same instant, the slender leopard tail struck Linley's waist.
Smack!
Several dragon scales on his side shattered on the spot. Linley was sent flying, breaking a branch before he caught hold of a tree trunk. Blood flowed from the wound at his waist.
The black leopard raised its head to look at Linley, wariness appearing in its eyes for the first time.
Linley stared back at it.
After growing larger, the leopard had lost speed and gained attack power, but its defenses had not changed noticeably. Rushing Thunder could hurt it, but one strike was nowhere near enough.
Linley stood on a tree trunk thirty meters above the ground and rapidly began chanting a spell.
The leopard growled and kicked off the ground, its enormous body actually leaping more than thirty meters into the air.
Linley snapped the trunk with a palm strike.
The crown, more than ten meters long, crashed toward the leopard. The leopard tore it apart with one claw, but lost its chance to attack Linley.
The incantation was complete.
Hummm...
A pair of translucent blue-green wings appeared on Linley's back.
Eighth-rank wind-style magic, Wings of Wind!
With a gentle beat of his wings, Linley immediately flew high into the sky.
The leopard landed back on the ground and raised its head with an angry growl. It leaped again, swiping its claws at Linley in midair.
Linley swiftly climbed higher.
After reaching the highest point of its leap, the leopard could only fall.
Now.
The blue-green wings beat fiercely, and Linley dove. Using the speed of his descent, he chopped Edgeless savagely at the leopard, which had nothing to push off against.
The leopard raised its sharp claws.
Clang!
The first strike sent its falling body downward even faster.
Linley followed close behind, and Edgeless descended again.
Boom!
The second strike landed directly on the leopard's shoulder and back.
Then Edgeless became like a gust of wind, delivering more than a dozen consecutive strikes in a single breath. Each appeared light, yet erupted with its full power upon touching claw or hide.
With nothing to push off against, the leopard could only keep blocking.
Each strike was heavier than the last.
Crash!
The leopard was smashed into the ground, making the entire forest floor tremble. A crater several meters deep appeared, and the surrounding earth split in every direction.
Linley beat his wings and hovered in midair.
The leopard in the crater slowly stood up. There were still no obvious wounds on its body, but blood-red spots had appeared amid its black fur, and blood dripped constantly from its mouth.
More than a dozen blows of Rushing Thunder had finally inflicted considerable internal injuries.
"You're no match for me," Linley said. "I don't want to kill you. If you're willing to submit, I can form a soul contract with you."
The black leopard understood human speech.
It did not answer, merely gazing coldly at Linley with its golden eyes.
High-level magical beasts had their own pride. In particular, a top-tier magical beast standing at the peak of level nine like this one was clearly unwilling to bow its head simply because it had been injured once.
"Roar!"
The leopard lunged again.
It used a large tree to leap into the air, its sharp claws reaching for Linley. Linley turned sideways to avoid it and struck its belly with a backhand slash.
The leopard was knocked flying, smashing through two large trees.
Linley did not pursue.
"If we keep fighting, you'll die."
The leopard slowly rose.
The black light around its body suddenly intertwined with white light. Its enormous body rapidly shrank, returning to a height of two meters and a length of four.
But its appearance had changed.
Its once-dense black markings had become sparse, while the fur on its limbs had turned completely snow-white.
Linley's dark golden pupils contracted slightly.
The black leopard vanished.
It had not truly vanished. It was simply too fast.
It charged from fifty meters away to right before Linley in the blink of an eye. Its speed was nearly fifty percent greater than in its initial form.
Linley was just about to beat his wings when its sharp claws struck his chest.
Rip!
The dragon scales on his chest shattered, and blood immediately seeped out.
The claw strike sent Linley flying backward. His blue-green wings beat fiercely, and he swiftly climbed several dozen meters before putting distance between himself and the leopard.
The leopard landed on a thick branch, its four limbs slightly bent.
Linley lowered his head to glance at the wound on his chest.
In this form, its speed far surpassed his.
"Boss, I'm going in!" Bebe could no longer hold back.
A black afterimage shot up from the ground.
But the leopard did not move to meet Bebe. It used the tree trunk to leap again, leaving several afterimages in midair. Its target was still the wounded Linley.
"Behind you!"
Bebe's voice exploded in Linley's mind.
Linley immediately turned.
There was no black leopard behind him, only a turbulent gust stirred up by high-speed movement.
The true movement of the wind, however, came from behind and to the right of his throat.