248 Two A-Ranks

The next day, in the afternoon–

A beautiful girl was running through the forest, moving between the trees at great speed without daring to stop.

Her movements were so fast that a normal person would be unable to keep with her. Despite that, though, she could not escape the chase of the monster behind her.

"Dammit it! Bloed, how long!?" The girl, Liu Ying, shouted to the air.

One second later, the answer came through a dragonfly on her shoulder.

[The others will be ready soon. Just a bit more.]

"It's easy for you to say that! You are not the one being chased by an angry cheetah!"

[Come on, it's not like it has injured you. Right, you should jump to your right.]

"???"

Liu Ying did not hesitate to follow Bloed's advice.

One second later, an enormous wind blade swept through the place where she was just one second ago, destroying several trees in the process.

"That is crazy!" Liu Ying's face twitched when she saw the destruction caused by the attack.

Even worse than that was the fact that the monster chasing after her had caught up to her, again.

In front of Liu Ying, a light green cheetah walked towards her slowly, measuring its steps as though calculating the perfect moment to attack her.

"… Bloed?"

[On it.]

Suddenly, a barrage of energy bullets rained on the cheetah!

The monster jumped aside to avoid them immediately, however, the bullets chased after it without rest.

Making use of that opportunity, Liu Ying left the cheetah behind once more.

However, the cheetah seemed ready for it. Suddenly, mana gathered around it, creating tens of wind blades that torn apart everything in its surroundings.

Liu Ying's expression changed. Instinctively, she twisted her body to avoid several of the wind blades. At the same time, her arms and legs were filled with mana, unleashing several punches and kicks against the wind blades she could not avoid.

But during that time, the cheetah and thrown a wind blade towards Oculus, destroying it momentarily and once more focusing on Liu Ying.

"Bloed! It did not work!"

[I'm aware. It looks like using the same trick more than once taught it how to cope against it.]

"What should I do then?"

[Just endure for a little bit more. I'll find ways to support you when you need it.]

"Bloed, you owe me at least five kisses for this!"

[Aye, aye, ma'am.] Bloed's laughing voice was transmitted through the dragonfly.

Liu Ying did not have the leeway to pay attention to it right now, though. While she was bantering with Bloed, the cheetah had kicked the ground and threw itself towards her.

Liu Ying grunted and took a step aside, avoiding the attack of the cheetah. At the same time, her right fist flew towards it in a beautiful uppercut.

However, the cheetah was already aware of the power behind Liu Ying's punches. It had suffered once due to it, so it was wary now.

Its body moved agilely, using the trees in the surroundings to propel itself and avoid Liu Ying's punch. At the same time, it gathered mana in its tail and created a wind whip that attacked Liu Ying's neck.

Liu Ying did not dare to take it on. She did not hesitate to kick the ground and jump backward, barely avoiding the wind whip.

But the cheetah continued attacking her, moving through the forest like a ghost and using its speed advantage to force Liu Ying to receive its attacks.

It was obvious Liu Ying was in the losing side in this fight. In fact, it was normal. It was already very miraculous that a recently advanced B-Rank could endure for so long against a middle A-Rank monster.

However, if the battle continued like this, it was obvious she was going to fight.

But at that moment, Liu Ying heard a roar from the distance.

*ROOOOAAARRRR!!!*

It was a roar filled with pain and helplessness, and at the same time, a plea for help.

And surprisingly, the cheetah stopped attacking abruptly.

[It's done.] Bloed's voice came from the dragonfly on her shoulder. [Follow the plan.]

"Okay okay!"

Liu Ying kicked the ground and jumped on the branch of a nearby tree, distancing herself from the monster.

The cheetah growled softly. It glared at Liu Ying as though it wanted to attack her, but when it remembered the roar of just a moment ago, it hesitated.

It was the roar of its mate. A female cheetah.

And it was asking for help.

Growling one last time, the cheetah stopped hesitating and rushed towards the direction of the roar.

"It's going towards there!" Liu Ying said.

[Good. It was easier than I thought.]

"I was the one being chased around, remember!?"

[... Good job. You are a good girl.]

"You are dreaming if you think that will be enough. And I'm not a pet!"

Both Bloed and Liu Ying chuckled softly. In the meanwhile, Liu Ying chased after the cheetah while Bloed observed the situation through Oculus.

Less than thirty seconds later, they arrived at another battlefield.

A second cheetah was fighting fiercely against a cougarkin and a batkin.

It was severely disadvantaged, though. Its body was filled with several injuries and blood was flowing from its mouth and nose. Even moving seemed difficult for it.

The male cheetah roared in rage. It released absurd amounts of mana from its body and threw it towards the pair.

But at that moment, the shadows behind it materialized forming the figure of a girl.

It was Aya!

Brandishing her daggers, the cat girl cut towards the legs of the first cheetah.

*Spurt!*

Both daggers pierced the cheetah's legs, severing its muscles and reaching until its bones.

Unfortunately, the cheetah managed to react at the last second and avoided losing its legs.

The monster was angry. With a snarl, it tried to bite Aya's neck.

But the cat girl vanished like smoke. In her place, Liu Ying was standing with her fist ready to punish the monster.

*Bam!*

Liu Ying's punch hit the monster squarely.

The immense strength behind the attack was not something an A-Rank could easily endure.

Without surprise, its body was sent flying and crashed against a nearby tree.

The second cheetah saw its mate being injured and panicked. It tried to help its mate, however, Atai and Rhone attacked it fiercely, worsening its injuries and stopping it from moving.

And at that moment, Rana's spell was prepared.

"Be caught, [Flaming Mana Chains]!"

*Whoosh!!!*

Flames surged from the ground, turning into several burning chains that wrapped around the two cheetahs and burned their skin.

The monsters roared in pain. They instinctively released several powerful currents of wind that blew everything in their surroundings away, creating a massive amount of destruction, but it was useless.

However, the male cheetah did not give up. Making use of its powerful mana, it broke several flaming chains apart, trying to release itself and its mate.

Unfortunately–

*Spurt!*

A ray of light came from the distance and hit one of its legs, burning it into cinders.

It was Bloed's sniper bullet!

And that was the last straw for the cheetah.

The male cheetah collapsed in pain, and the mana it had gathered dispersed helplessly.

In the end, it could only watch how Atai, Rhone, and Rana made use of their arrows, sound bombs, and magic to blast it and its mate apart.

A few seconds later, the two cheetahs were history.