Lion

'Is it regeneration?' asked Laura mentally, before continuing to watch the fight. Even though Kevin appeared confident, Laura was still ready to rush to help at any moment.

The lion itself didn't seem strong, but the god powers it wielded would definitely bother everyone. The roar that can cause some fluctuation in mana, disturb from the battle and a power to control fire is a deadly combination.

However, considering the earlier attack, the control and solidity of the flames are still not too strong and can be countered with ease, especially by someone like Laura, a Water-type mage.

'So that roar doesn't seem to have any effect on my servants,' Kevin thought as he unsheathed his dark blade, preparing to attack at any moment.

After shooting that fireball, the lion had not moved yet, apparently waiting for something. Kevin didn't move much either, but deep down he knew the beast wasn't abiding for simple matters.

It was a minute of silence to pay respect to its opponents. After all, the lion's natural pride hadn't disappeared even after the mutation.

Instead, over time, the hubris of the lion bloodline grew until something like showing respect to powerful opponents was natural.

"Formation five," Kevin ordered, and everyone immediately moved to their positions. In the five months of training, Kevin had not only increased overall strength but had also developed an immense amount of tactics that would help during battles with powerful opponents.

"Markus, you know what to do," Kevin smiled as the dark servant nodded. Without disturbing anyone, Markus silently floated into the air, disappearing from sight. The lion didn't seem to be bothered by such actions as his gaze was fixed only on Kevin.

The only one who was still displeased was Laura, who watched the disappearing silhouette of Markus in the air with a scowl on her face. Laura didn't have a problem with Markus dying, since he wasn't that relevant in her life, but watching him get orders from Kevin didn't bring too much joy to her either.

The worst part was that there was nothing she could do about it, there was no way for her to defeat all these beasts with the current power alone.

Unless they were on the water, but even that could possibly lead to defeat.

'Why am I always thinking about defeating him?' Laura noticed the unexpected interest that shone from the depths of her heart towards Kevin. No matter the situation, Laura had never been interested in someone her own age, so such feelings were quite intricate for her.

Perhaps it was because Kevin's god power was unique in some way or the fact that she was defeated.

"Spread," Kevin commanded as he himself charged forward, preparing to execute a swing towards the beast. The lion wasn't just waiting for the attack to land either as a few sparks of fire formed on his mouth.

"Rum," Kevin shouted, and before the lion could send another fireball in his direction, a ball of brown fur rolled in from the side. Unprepared, the lion was hit by Rum's huge body, distributing his fire attack.

Still, despite being several times smaller than the bear, the lion was only knocked by a few inches.

Golden light flickered on the lion's pelts as it spread throughout his entire body, making it look somewhat devilish.

The ground beneath the lion's body began to turn black from incredible heat as he attacked Rum, who was still hidden deep beneath his own skin.

But before he could attack, a sense of danger came over, forcing him to look around in anguish. Three similar wolves could be seen running towards the lion from different sides.

The lion was not caught off guard like earlier, causing the situation to servants to turn severe. Exhaling a deep breath, which immediately turned into fire, the golden light around his body prolonged even more until starting to turn sideways.

Before the servants could close the distance, a vortex of fire formed, covering the entire area around the lion's body. Slowly, the vortex was getting more solid until it shone with golden color.

*ROAR*

Another roar echoed through the surroundings, surprising everyone as Kevin paused again and adjusted his mana flow.

The lion's body was nowhere to be seen due to the glowing vortex that was growing larger by the second.

Although Kevin believed in his ability to defeat this beast, the cunning of this lion still surprised him.

The way this lion used the divine power was undoubtfully ample. Creating a vortex that can be used as both an attack and a defense could already be said to be clever. However, the fact that the vortex kept the lion's body hidden was the biggest advantage in the current situation, because the lion can pop up at any moment or keep on distributing Kevin's movements further by roaring.

'However, the beast will never be as smart as a human' Kevin said mentally, seeing the vortex already growing to an even greater degree. It was already about to overwhelm the wolves, who wanted to retreat, but the command they heard forced them back into place.

"Push through," Kevin smiled under his mask. While the attack is indeed dangerous, there are many ways to counter it. The easiest, of course, is to simply retreat until the fire loses its stability, but that will only prolong the fight and give no advantage.

The other way is to push through the fire and ruin the lion's concentration forcing the fire to diffuse.

But such a way is dangerous because of the possible injuries.

This is where the servant's task begins.

"Are you finally accepting the fact that you need my help?" Laura, standing behind a tree, finally spoke up after seeing the unmoving figure of Kevin.

"Wolf, lead the way," Kevin ordered, ignoring Laura's words, which angered her even more.

The three wolves charged towards the barrier of incoming fire, forming a symmetrical line. Soon, the Wolf, who was in front stepped his foot into the blazing fire, causing it to instantly evaporate into nothingness.

However, it didn't seem to bother him much as he jumped into the fire and disappeared from the horizon altogether while Huru and Hulu followed his actions.

"Did you just tell them to kill themselves?" asked Laura, unable to contain her curiosity.

Kevin ignored her again as he felt the mana disappear from his storage, causing an even wider grin to appear under the mask.

After a few seconds of waiting, the barrier of fire could already be seen losing its solidity until it finally disappeared altogether.

Kevin looked down at the scene beneath the vortex. The ground was completely dark from the heat.

In the middle of such darkness, three wolves could be seen biting into the golden body of the lion, whose eyes flickered with frustration.

Although the lion tried to kill this trio of wolves, they would instantly reappear and attack again.

"What? Didn't they just die?" Laura grew confused when she saw the wolves' bodies constantly reappearing, "Are they immortal?"

But Kevin again didn't answer as he blasted forward with a sword in his grip. The huge figure of Rum obligated from behind, instantly forming into a ball of fur and rolling forward.

Promptly, Rum moved past Kevin, concentrating on the lion, who still couldn't escape the wolves' snarl.

"ROARR!" the beast roared loudly, making the ground shake itself. But to his surprise, the dark beasts didn't seem to mind the noise and continued to attack.

Only Kevin suffered some insufficient injuries, but after a few moments, he proceeded to run.

The beast grew angrier from the constant lunge as his skin turned red and a hint of fire arose around. The wolves were instantly engulfed by the heat, causing them to disappear once again.

This time, however, Kevin didn't summon them again, instead, focusing on attacking himself. Rum was already several feet away from the lion, but just as they were about to collide, the lion extended his claw forward.

Red sparks appeared on the edges of the lion's nails as he performed a swing forward, letting three huge slashes of flame from his paws. The slashes of fire cut through Rum's body like butter, making him disappear in seconds.

The lion was already ready to launch another attack, but the dark beast did not reappear. Confused, the lion looked around for any opponents, but only Laura could be seen hiding in the distance.

Suddenly, the lion felt an immense pain coming from behind. Unprepared, the lion was imprinted into the ground, creating a loud bang. The only thing the lion perceived was two pairs of feet standing atop of him, causing his skin to burst into flames.

"ROAR!!!" with another agonizing roar, the lion turned its head towards the attacker. It was a dark human who was already trying to fly away from the scene, but the lion would not let him go so easily.

Mana fluctuated around his mouth as he fired a huge ball of flame that spread heat across the area. Not able to evade in time Markus was completely engulfed by the flames.

'Now' Kevin, who was hiding directly under the lion, finally saw a chance to attack. Extended the dark blade forward, Kevin swung straight at the lion's neck.

The lion wasn't even able to react in time as he felt his vision blur. With a slight thud, the lion's head fell to the ground, followed by his own body.

'Finally,' Kevin thought as he retracted his blade back into its sheath without bothering to clean it.

Without much thought, Kevin muttered:

"Obey, Judo"

Immediately, the lion's body was shrouded in darkness as the head moved towards the body and collided with it. After a few seconds, the lion was already kneeling, its dark fur touching the burnt ground.

The previously proud eyes were now filled with admiration and excitement as they looked at Kevin.

"Good boy" Kevin let his hand slide through the Judo's soft fur as he also glanced towards the blue screen that popped up after killing the lion.

****

[Servant: Judo]

[Cultivation: Superhuman Stage 2]

[Species: Fire Lion]

[God Power: Lion Pride, Fire Control]